Bellemain Stainless Steel Mesh Strainers, Set of 3

Need a strainer that can be used on the finer foods in the kitchen? Well I believe these could do the job for you.

This is a set of  hand held stainless steel mesh strainers by Bellemain and you get the 3 different sizes to help with many different kinds of kitchen straining duties.

From straining loose leaf teas (that my mom likes and shares with me), to pastas and most sifting of dry ingredients as well. These 3 will probably take care of almost all those needs.

Upper left area of picture.

Even when rinsing tiny grains of quinoa.

These mesh strainers are well build and just the right sizes, with the thicker outer ring around each one giving them more strength and stability when resting on a cup, bowl, or pan. There is a long handle at one end and a nice thick short loop at the other to help them rest on something with a larger opening than their size and for hanging from if you prefer. The mesh is very smooth and easy to clean. I just rinse and then put in the dishwasher. Due to the mesh all you need to do to dry them is the backs gently with a towel or paper towel.

I use all three a lot but the small one mostly for making my teas and the large one for placing over an old pan to dump foods I cook in oils from extra drainage while I do more frying or prep of our dinner plates. So I do get a ton of use out of these 3 mesh helpers.

I have not been able to try the powdered sugar trick in these as of yet but pretty sure it will work great.

They also come with a limited lifetime warranty. What more could you need with these?

Do I think they are a great buy? Yes I do. I get so much use out of them, I reach for them without even thinking sometimes.

Bellemain 1.75 Quart Cordless Electric Stainless Steel Kettle

 The hot water kettle that is way more. 

This kettle is far more than the kind you use to buy and set on a stove to whistle while they worked. You can use it anywhere you have electricity. I filled it up with very cold water, turned it on and in about 5 minutes I had boiling hot water for just about anything I need or want. Soup, tea, coffee, or coco. Even get a jump start for cooking pasta. Get your water boiling in this kettle while you get all your other stuff together and ready, then when the boiling is finished just pour into your pan and put in the pasta with the burner on. Much faster than waiting for the stove to boil the water. Using a measuring cup, this unit will hold 7 cups of water for boiling. That is quite a bit of water.

Now I know there are coffee and tea brewers out there that will do a whole pot or one cup at a time too but some can not afford those and what if you have a bunch of people over that want everything from coffee to soup or you want both? Well here is your answer. Boil a full pot and you have cup o soup and coffee or tea at the same time with less work and equipment. And you know those powdered over the counter medicines for when you are sick? Well this works great for that too. Oh and do not worry if you do not use all the water you heat. Its fine to leave it in this kettle because once the boiling is done its no longer heating the water but the stainless steel keeps it hot for a long while after.


The kettle sits on a base that has all the electric contained within the base. You can not submerse this kettle in water but you can just lift it off its base to pour out the boiling water without worry about cords getting in the way. It has 1500 watts making it boil faster thank the stove top or microwave and much safer and easier too.

Now for the very best part of this kettle. Yes even better than what I have already spoken of above. The safety features. I love this part. Not only does the kettle lift off the base but the cord stores in the underside of that same base so you can have it as long or short as you want. This base truly holds the cord under it. It does not unravel on its one like a lot of them out there do. To turn the unit on just push down the white button and as you can see in the pictures below, when on the button glows with a blue light. It does make some noise when working but it is not loud at all. The lid locks down and this kettle has a very important feature. When the water boils it will automatically shut off so if you do forget it for a bit there is never any overheating or boil over. It will also shut off if you do not have enough water in it preventing the unit from boiling dry. There is also a 1 year limited warranty on this kettle.

I love it. I enjoy using it and I use it almost daily. This one is a great investment.

Large Deluxe Sphere Ice Molds

#1 Sphere Ice Mold Pack

This is the first time I have seen or used anything like this product. I was excited to find out that I was going to get one for reviewing. Some of you out there may have already heard of or used this unique ice mold but I really had not heard of a sphere ice mold until this one came up for review. I have used many of the shaped ice tray kinds and some were ok but a big ball of ice? I thought to myself I have got to try this one. Well as you can see from the pictures, these are on the larger side but I was still able to fit the ball of ice into almost all my glasses I own. 

This set comes with a 3 ice balls, a collapsible funnel, and are flat on the bottoms for easy filling. The set I received came in a clear tube packaged in a box with bubble wrap kind of stuff to keep them safe in the mail. On the top is a good sized hole with a black fill line around it. They are made of a thick high quality FDA food grade silicone that is BPA free with a split in the middle for easy removal of the ice ball. Kind of like the plastic Easter eggs you get for the kids. These are dishwasher safe too, but I would only recommend the top rack just to be on the safe side. There is also a NO RISK 100 % GUARANTEE. I did find that it was a little hard to see the black water line when filling these so I played around with them until I found just the right water level so that when they froze it did not displace the water out of the hole. If you take a measure cup and put just under 1/2 a cup of water in it, ( just under the line for 1/2 a cup ) that is the perfect level for each ball. Then once frozen, just twist the halves apart and WALA, a ball of ice. Push the flat bottom with your thumbs and in seconds the ball is out. Just do not pop these out of the mold straight into an empty glass due to the size and weight they hit the bottom hard. I have not broken the bottom of a glass yet but I have also learned to tilt the glass and use the top rim to help the ice ball out of the mold and it then rolls down the tilted glass without the force that could cause your glass to break. I also made a soda pop ice ball with Sprite and used the same measurement and due to the carbonation it did over flow out of the hole a tad but the ice ball was just fine and still worked. I just removed the soda ice sickle from the outside of the ball and was able to get the frozen soda ball out with ease. It was so nice to drink a cold glass of sprite outside on a hot day and not have the soda watered down and there was still 1/4th of the ball left when I finished the actual soda.

To this

From this to > > > >

These things work. The ice does melt really slow in this form. And they are just down right cool to look at and fun at the same time. I have started making the ice balls and filling an ice bucket in my freezer with them so my family can just grab one and enjoy. 

Yes I have to say I love these crazy ice molds and think they are a pretty good buy. I am having such fun with them.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Bella Sun Luci Sun Dried Tomato Bruschetta

Do you like to cook? Do you cook because you have to? Or do you just do the heat and serve to survive kind of dinner?

 Either way, these products can offer you some tasty help in the kitchen. Created by Mooney Farms, these sun dried tomatoes in olive oil and premium herbs add a healthier Mediterranean new taste to food. Well at least for me. I have not even heard of these products before now. There are four different flavors in the jar form and I was able to try two of the four.

This pot of sauce fed 7 hungry adults

 As you can see from these pictures I was able to try the Italian Herbs and the With Basil flavors and let me tell you that even though they have recipes on their website and bottle caps, I chose to wing it for my taste testing. I mixed some into many different things I made over about a three week time span. I put two to three spoonfuls into spaghetti sauce, I cut some up into smaller pieces and put it into the fry pan when I seared some chicken, and even added it to can chili when I just wanted a home made chili dog. Let me tell you, this stuff is mmmmm good. There is a ton of flavor in each spoonful. I could taste the difference in every meal I cooked using these products.

Seared chicken with Bella Sun Luci by Mooney Farms

 I have used 90 % of both jars and I will be ordering more as soon as I can. The jars have 8.5 oz in each and seem small but trust me, they will go a long way and add wonderful flavor to each dinner you make with them. Once you open the jar, you must keep them in the fridge and the olive oil will get kind of slightly jelly like but the flavor is not effected in any way.

Their website has a wonderful FAQ page to help you get to know this product too. I found it very helpful.

I am a self taught cook meaning I play with flavors and spices and most of the time do ok on my own but I am not a fancy cook or a pro in the kitchen at all. I am a self taught, expermenting along the way kind of cook. There have been many times my family has said, "This was good, make it again soon." and I have thought eeek I do not remember exactly what I did throwing in a little of this and that. Ha ha. But now with this sun dried tomato products, I have a little help now to be able to recreate some of those make it again meals. Thank you Mooney Farms.

The price is not bad for the amount of flavor this product has. Well worth the money. 

They also have many more products to choose from to. I suggest you try adding some to your cooking.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Edible Green Tea

Green tea, but you do not drink this one. You eat it. Yes once a day you mix a pack or tablespoon full into any food that you eat daily and then just eat. Do not worry, the tea is 100 % organic and lab tested for purity and potency. Each pack or tablespoon full contains the same antioxidants found in 30 cups of brewed tea. They come in 3 gram packets equaling a daily serving making it easy to just open and use the correct amount each day or one large bag.

The recommended daily dose is meant to give you an incredible antioxidant boost and an energy boost throughout the day. You can also use it in smoothies and shakes or visit their website for recipe ideas.

You can search Organic Green Tea Leaves on Amazon.com

I was sent seven (7) packets to try and review and I take a lot of vitamins that I stopped taking once I was approved for this product so I could get the complete effect. I was honestly worried more about the taste than anything else. Tea leaves that you eat? They were not bad. I mean they are dried so that was a little noticeable every now and then depending on how I ate them but most of the time I just put them in my soup right before I ate it. The tea itself does not have a taste so it does not alter what you put it into. I did not put it into any smoothies or shakes due to I did not have anything to make a smoothie or shake with.

After completing the seven (7) days of packets and a few days without before writing this review ( to get the possible full effect ), the energy boost was subtle but there and remember I only had a seven day supply and everyone is different so it may take longer using the product for me to see more or better results. As I said in the beginning of this review, I stopped taking my vitamins so they would not interfere in using the Green Tea and for someone who has fibromyalgia (the reason for so many vitamins), I believe that if I had more of the Green Tea, I may or may not have been able to take less vitamins or none at all. I would only know that by using only the Green Tea for a much longer time. I did not get any upset stomach or caffeine crash while using this product either, and trust me I can only drink about 4 cups of coffee in a whole week due to the caffeine and what it does to my tummy. Do I think this product is worth the money? For what I had to review and the amount of time I was able to use the product, I think it could be. Can't hurt.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Epica Stainless Steel Drinking Straws

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D6SRLSW

Stainless steel drinking straws? That is what I thought and just had to try them. They come 4 in a pack with a tiny cleaning brush. They have the natural slight bend in them and are dishwasher safe.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D6SRLSW

I have to say these are a very unique item and fun to review. I thought there was going to be a metallic taste when using them but found that there was not a weird taste at all. They were easy to get use to and even a pleasure to use.

 I really enjoyed using them when I drink soda from a can. Unlike plastic straws that float up and out of the can, these stay down in the can and make is much more enjoyable to drink from a straw.




As for cleaning them, I did stick them in my dishwasher and they came clean but the silverware rack in my dishwasher has holes in it bigger than the straw and they fall through. I just hand wash them with the cleaning brush that came with them.

 They were very easy to clean and the brush does go in and out of the straw with ease. The length of the cleaning brush goes over half of the way into the straw so just clean from both ends and the straw will be ready for its next use. I also did not find any soapy or weird taste left in the straws after cleaning them so they do come clean easily. I even drank milk and milk shakes with these and they still cleaned up just great.

For the price, I find that they are a very good investment. I carry one in my purse to use when I am dinning out too. You can get them from Amazon here at this link :

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D6SRLSW

I really enjoyed reviewing these unique straws and think they would be fun for most ages. I would buy more of these.

It also would be neat to have some of these in a straight form and/or bigger in diameter.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

DRAFTMARK Tap System

This review is about a beer product. Please be responsible when drinking and stay off the roads. Have a sober designated driver or a cab do the driving.

This is a product that I was sent from www.bzzagent.com to do a review on. It is a beer tap system for your home in your refrigerator. The tap system comes with the tap machine, rechargeable battery, charger, instructions, registration card, and 4 different magnetic round discs to easily attach to the tap handle showing what flavor of beer you have in your tap system. 

As you can see they have 5 kinds of beer refills.

Budweiser, Michelob Amberbock, Shock Top Belgian White, Shock Top Wheat IPA, and Bass

This system itself is small enough to fit into your refrigerator on a shelf as you can see in the pictures within this review. That way you can keep your beer cold as you use the tap system. Now I am not one that goes out a lot to bars but I have been and had beer from a tap so I am not a newbie at this. 

First for the Pros to this unit. It is a nice size so it fits in most regular sized refrigerators without much trouble. You can also dispense a glass of beer without having to take the system out. Thus keeping your beer cold. The battery lasts a very long time on one single charge allowing for at least 2 refill bottles to be used. I only used 2 bottles in the unit. The refills are very easy to load if you follow the directions. I only had to follow them on the first refill. The second was a breeze to load without the instructions. I do like the fact that you do not have a bunch of bottles or cans in your fridge and the refills come in boxes so you can stack them using less room if you have a party. The system itself is not that costly and with many repeat uses from it averages out to costing much less than going out for a beer. The refills are around the same cost as most 12 packs and are self contained. And lets face it, the system looks cool in your home. The beer tasted like it was from a tap and did taste good and cold. This system would be the hit at any party.

Frosted Glass

Not a frosted glass

But now for a few Cons. No matter what I did or how cold I got the beer, it just kept putting out to much foam. I followed the directions over and over again. Tilted the glass, got the refill so cold it was close to feeling like it was freezing but it did not freeze, and even used a frosted glass. Kept the system in the fridge even when dispensing the beer. I made sure I was pulling the handle all the way and smoothly. I even let the refills sit for a day before using the system to make sure they were not shook up from traveling from the store. I could be still doing something wrong to cause this but for the life of me could not figure out how to get the foam down to an acceptable level. The refill bottles have a plastic liner bag inside that holds the beer and to me it seems to alter the taste a little in my opinion. Each refill bottle comes with its own dispense tap (yellow thing attached in picture below) that you load into the system first then put the bottle in so that each refill is not contaminated by the refill before it. 

Left - The system with refill loaded      Right - Refill only

You can go to www.draftmark.com to learn more about this system and where to get the refills in your area.

Useful Tip - I do kind of wish the unit had a flat top that you could order to sit on the system so you could maybe put a boxed refill on it or smaller refrigerator items on so for those that do not have the room can keep this in their fridge and still utilize the space around the system. You can see the dead space above my system in my fridge. I am not able to adjust my shelves to sit just above the system thus not having all that wasted space. 

At the time of this review, this product was just coming out into a few stores so getting the refills was kind of a hassle and a long drive but as it grows and becomes popular, the refills should be in a store of some kind near everyone. 

Left - Unfrosted Glass      Right - Frosted Glass

Is it worth the money? Well let me just say if you think you would use the system enough, like beer on tap and can deal with the extra foam and beer in a plastic bag then yes it is. I myself will use mine every now and then since I do have the system already, but do I plan to buy a new one if this one breaks? I do not think my husband and I drink enough on a regular basis for me to replace it. I do plan on having a get together and try it on my family to see if they like it and the taste. I have some family members that drink more on the weekends than I do.