The SodaStream Review

I had won a SodaStream machine and several sample flavors through a giveaway on Savvy Coupon Mommy's blog.  I have had it about 2 weeks and thought I would give a little review.

First of all, I thought it was so cool to have won something.  I never win anything and this was something I really wanted.  Okay, my husband is the one who really wanted it but I thought it was a cool concept.  In fact, I did not get to make a soda for about a week.  Vinnie loves to make it!  The first time I made one I did so while Vinnie was out at school.  I remembered how to do it, kind of, but was missing one crucial step.  You are supposed to twist the bottle to the machine before you start the carbonation process.  I did not.  The first hit of carbonation sent the water spraying all across the kitchen and me.  Oh and this was the morning of Lilly's birthday party!

Here are a few things I really love about it.  The regular flavors do not use high fructose corn syrup.  The diet flavors do not use aspartame.  The downfall is that they do taste rather diet-y.  The machine is very streamlined and does not take up much space.  It also does not need to be plugged in!!  I do not have many outlets in my kitchen so this was a huge plus.  It uses regular water.  What is easier than that?

So besides the diet-y taste there are no negatives that I can see for now.  We have made a lot of bottles and have not needed a cartridge change yet.  There is a store in South Orange called Kitchen a la Mode that I understand sells the cartridges and the flavors.  This will be convenient and shopping local is a plus.  I don't know yet how often we will need to change it.  It might be a good idea to keep an extra on hand.

The verdict?  We love it and will continue to use it.  We had a party last weekend and Vinnie did a little tasting for some people.  It was fun and people were awed by the fact that you can make your own soda.

Do you have one?  What is your favorite flavor?

Going green in small ways

I really love the idea of supporting our environment and making little changes to reduce our carbon footprint.  I know I am not the greatest....I buy bottled water all the time, for instance.  Last week I was doing a big shopping order stocking up on things like aluminum foil and storage bags.  I generally use the reusable plastic containers for lunches and leftovers.  However, there are times when plastic storage bags are needed.  I had some great Ziploc coupons and they were on sale, so that was what I was purchasing.  I was happy, and surprised, to see that the Ziplock Evolve bags were the same price as the regular ones.  They use less plastic, so they are lighter but they are good for everyday use.  The cartons are made from recycled cardboard and they are manufactured with 50% renewable energy sources.

I know it is not a big thing, but it is one little step I am making to reducing my carbon footprint.  What small or big steps are you taking?

Clean hands in the kitchen!

Okay, I have a thing about washing my hands while I am cooking. I totally skeeve (sp?) pressing the little pump on my hand soap with chickeny or beefy hands. I have been saying that there needs to be an automatic one like the ones in the bathrooms. Now of course I am sure that one can be purchased if you are re-doing your kitchen. But we rent, so I need a stand-alone model. Enter the Lysol no-touch hand soap system. I just LOVE this thing. I have had it for a couple weeks now but tonight I made meatballs. When I make meatballs I wash my hands a lot. Like, 6 times before they are in the sauce. It just made me so happy to not have to touch the soap dispenser with my hands full of ground beef.

It's okay, you can call me a dork now!

cleaning my tub

I know it is not very "green" of me, but I love new cleaning products. Generally ones that allow me to work less for better results. Enter the Kaboom tub cleaner. It sprays on as blue foam and turns white when it is ready to wipe off and rinse. I used it on my tub tonight after Lilly was asleep. We have really hard water in Union so even when the tub is clean, I don't feel that it is clean. Well, tonight my tub feels clean. That foam works!! I am so excited. The downfall is that I felt like the foam was spraying into my nose a bit. But that is most likely due to my overzealous spraying action. Now if only my tub was large enough to be comfortable for me. I miss my South Orange tub. I could practically lay down in it. In my current tub, Lilly basically fills the tub when she "swims". Yeah, it is that small. I practically had to be pried out when I was pregnant.

Next week I am going to re-caulk the tub. I know that it is really my landlord's problem, but I would rather just do it.

On a WW note, I kind of went off the wagon a bit, BUT I did account for the points. And I did not go crazy, just allowed myself some treats.