Crock Pot – I wish I’d gotten one of these years before I did. You can make a huge variety of things in it beyond just soups, stews and casseroles. I’ve made sauces, appetizers, side dishes, and you can use it for hot drinks (like cider) or even desserts. Use it for parties and it’s one more thing you can prepare ahead of time. It’s a great gift for someone with a baby, too. I can quickly prepare dinner early in the day, during a nap or when my daughter is playing, and avoid having to cook in the evening when babies and toddlers are usually so clingy and fussy.

Rice Cooker – Throw away any ideas you have about rice cookers being a big waste of counter space. We use ours to cook varieties of rice, but if you’re adventurous and trying to improve your diet, you can also use it to explore other whole grains, like quinoa, spelt, bulgar, or millet. Cooks perfectly every time. You can steam vegetables in it, as well. You can mix in spices or veggies in to make Mexican rice or a pilaf. Unlike most of them, this cooker does not have an aluminum pot, which is a big bonus.

Scooter

As every cook knows, a knife is an essential kitchen tool. And most cooks I know have a whole rotation of knives they use on a regular basis, so the question becomes how to store them. Sticking your good knives in a drawer will inevitably dull the blades, and those fancy (expensive) wooden knife blocks tend to have only one or two slots wide enough for a chef’s knife or santoku knife, the ones used the most often, and a million and twelve slots that are only big enough for a boning knife. Those magnetic strips hold a variety of knife shapes, but don’t work with ceramic knives and seem awfully lethal for anyone who is even a little bit klutzy.
read more from "Kapoosh! It’s a Knife Block"

Cold season is here, and in an attempt to ward off the sickies, millions of people are reaching for their Airborne - those fizzy little tablets you throw in water and chug (pretending they don’t taste like crap) because it boosts your immune system (or so the package claims) and helps cure the common cold.

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If you’re anything like me (and considering the average American gains, what, 10 pounds over the holidays?) the traditional November-December season is fraught with peril. Everywhere you look you are greeted with gobs of pumpkin pie, piles of gingerbread, and decadent, sticky fudge….mmmm….fudge. And booze. The holidays are entirely and inextricably linked to indulgence.

However, if you’re trying to avoid the temptation of a 1000 calorie dessert while still surrounding yourself with the scent of holiday cheer, never fear, your intrepid scores of bath and body retailers are standing by and ready to assist you. For a grand total of zero calories, you can slather yourself in potions and lotions that fill your senses with seductive smells, without the worry about your New Year’s Eve outfit popping a button on the 31st.

I am an admitted perfumista. I chose that word. My husband calls it “hoarder of bottles, creams and salves”. I guess we are both right, as any visitor to my cluttered master bathroom vanity will attest. Everyone knows about the big names in the smelly stuff biz- Body Shop, Bath and Body Works,  etcetera, all offering some variation of the typical apple cider, pumpkin pies or gingerbread scents. But if you’re looking for something a little different, there is a huge niche market in the etailer world for small businesses, many of whom specialize in one type of scent category or bath product. Allow me to enable you to a few:
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Recently, my mom turned me on to a new laundry detergent. And when I say “turned me on”, I mean “she tried it and liked it and ordered a bottle of it for me”. Hey, I’m not one to refuse free stuff, so I started using it.

The detergent is Charlie’s Soap and it’s unlike any other laundry detergent I’ve tried. First, you only use 1/8 of a cup for each load. A one gallon jug lasts for 128 loads! It contains no dyes, phosphates, UV brighteners or perfumes. It totally cleans your clothes, leaving no residue behind. Just perfectly clean clothes.

We’ve been using it for about 6 weeks now, and I’m hooked. Our clothes are perfectly soft, without any fabric softener, and they smell great. No perfume smell, just the smell of clean clothes. My son’s sensitive skin is looking better than it has before.

Give it a try. You’ve got nothing to lose; there’s a money-back guarantee: “If you’re not completely satisfied, Sutherland Products will, but not gladly, refund the buyer’s purchase price.”

-emschwar

No, I’m not talking about some game show like Supermarket Sweep, nor a lame board game, or even an arena for singles to meet. The Grocery Game is a fantastic way to save a bundle on your groceries.

I started “gaming” in early 2006. Both years, we’ve had grocery savings of over $1000.

How does it work? Every week, the Grocery Game website has a list for your grocery store. The list tells you what’s on sale - what you should buy that week. But, it doesn’t list everything that’s on sale - only the things that are good values. Sometimes your store will put a product on sale, but it’s a pathetic sale - 10 cents off a $2 or $3 product, for example. With the Grocery Game, you quickly learn that this sale isn’t worth your time. It tells you to buy when the item is at the lowest price the store will have it at. Plus, combine it with the coupon that was in the paper a few weeks ago, and it’s an even better deal! (And yes, TGG tells you which coupon to use.)

Every week, you print your GG list. On it, there are black items, blue items, and green items. Blue items are for stockpiling (rock-bottom prices), black items are things to buy only if you need them, and green items are free. Yeah, you read that right, free. The store puts an item on sale for, say, $1. And you have a coupon for, say, 50 cents off, and your store doubles coupons. So the item is free. And there’s nothing better than free groceries.

It takes a few weeks or months to really learn to shop the GG way. Because you don’t just buy what you need for the week. You buy what you need for the next 12 weeks, but only when it’s on sale. Juice is dirt cheap? Don’t just buy a bottle - buy enough to last you until they’re on sale again.

With the game, we average about 30% savings every week. But we live in a high-priced area outside of DC, and the sales at our store suck. Most players average 67% each week.

TGG does cost money - $10 every 8 weeks (you can get a 4 week trial for $1), but I save more than that in one shopping trip.

Oh - and a GG tip - don’t clip your coupons! Every week, I pull the coupon sections from the paper, write the date on them, and throw them in a folder until shopping day. Since TGG tells me which circular each coupon is in, I cut them out when I need them.

Emschwar

Celebrities endorsing water – how stupid has the human race gotten? Was there anyone out there stumbling around in a delirium before Jennifer Aniston’s face convinced him to consume this magical clear stuff? Has “The More You Know” campaign gotten on this apparent lack of awareness of basic survival skills? Proper oxygen inhalation starts at home. Talk to your kids about breathing, before they turn blue. *ding, ding, ding*

Wire head massagers – That tingle you feel when you try it in the store is because the Cletus who tried it ten minutes ago left behind some six-legged buddies, who are now marching down the tines into your scalp.

Doritos Blazing Buffalo and Ranch tortilla chips – The reason you have never gone to the grocery store with a craving for chicken wings dipped in yogurt is because God never intended for such an unholy union to take place. Choke on some spoiled milk while snorting chili powder and you can get the same effect for less money.

Cook-your-own-steak restaurants – One of the more fascinating consumers-as-sheep phenomena. Go out, make your own food, pay as much as you would for someone else to do it. Next up: housekeepers who charge to watch you scrub your own toilets.

Light-up bras – Because, before, that guy was looking at your eyes. No, really, you need this. Breasts too often go overlooked in our society.

GreenBunny

How the heck do you whittle a list down to 5 when there are SO many great things out there? I’m beginning to understand why Oprah’s lists get longer and longer each year. In the spirit of the season, I’ve chosen five products that capture the Summer Season.

1. Laundry detergent from the Good Home Company. The company was started with the goal of capturing the scents from summer childhood, using all natural ingredients as much as possible.
read more from "Jesvet - Five Things I’m Loving Right Now"

Seeing as I am 24 weeks pregnant, I am all about the food. This list could have been much longer but for now, 5 things I am loving:

1. Southwest Chicken and Veggie Quesadillas

You can find these in the frozen department at Trader Joes and I highly recommend! They are so easy - a little butter or non-stick spray in the pan, less than 10 minutes, add some fresh salsa and blue corn chips and you have a yummy summer dinner!
read more from "Emilie - Five Things I’m Loving Right Now"

There are a lot of products that I love; however, most of them could be replaced with a comparable product. When I think of my 5 favorites, these are things have had a very positive impact on my life. So, without further ado, here are my top 5 favorite, irreplaceable, best things since sliced bread, yadda, yadda, yadda products in no particular order:

CHI™ flat iron - I have no idea how I lived without this phenomenal product. I’ve never particularly liked my hair. It’s somewhere in between straight and wavy.
read more from "Toonces - Five Things I’m Loving Right Now"