Product Reviews

Since we enjoy cooking I decided to start sharing some of our family's favorite products...keep looking, as I'll be adding more and more!

Added 19 June 2015:

KitchenAid KAICA Ice Cream Maker Attachment

We have a very old KitchenAid mixer that my husband inherited from his grandmother.  We love it and until now, have only used it as a “mixer”.  I ordered the KitchenAid KAICA Ice Cream Maker Attachment from Amazon.com last week and froze the bowl for a couple of days.  Last night I decided to make some ice cream from our fresh goat’s milk.  I cooked the custard/ice cream mixture and chilled it in the freezer for a while.  I attached the drive piece to the shaft of the mixer, twisted the bowl onto the base, then added the dasher to the bowl, and poured in the chilled ice cream mixture. 

I locked the tilt head, turned the mixer to “stir” and walked away.  Half an hour later, we had delicious soft serve ice cream!  The way I see it is, why buy a $19.88 stand-alone ice cream maker from the big box store that may last you a full year, when you can pay a little more and have a sturdy, long lasting attachment to a piece of equipment we already have?  I know that I will be using this many, many more times.  We can’t wait to start experimenting with flavors!  Thank you Kitchenaid, for a well-made product.  

added beginning of June 2015:

Mocha Mate's Refillable Filter Cup vs. Melitta's Java Jig

At my office building there is a Keurig coffee machine for everyone's use -- you just have to supply your own coffee. At first I bought some packs of K-Cups, the little disposable plastic cups filled with coffee that you just pop in the machine. Well, each one costs between .60 and .90 each, depending on sales and coupon availability.

About October of 2014 I switched to the Java Jig, which consists of a green bottomless “cup” with a filter holder and a lid. The initial package/system with two Java Jigs and 30 filters runs about $5 at Walmart and $6 on Amazon. You use any kind of ground coffee. Already this is a big savings! It’s easily washed and assembled, but a downside of using it is that the Keurig brews VERY hot and the Java Jig is VERY hot when you remove it to dump out the filter and grounds. If I had a Keurig at home, I’d probably just let it sit to cool off. However at the office, there is usually a line for the Keurig and I need to get it out of the machine ASAP.

Eventually I couldn’t find the replacement filters. Our Walmart quit carrying them, Bi-lo doesn’t have them, and Publix gets maybe two boxes of filters a month, LOL. A box of 60 disposable filters is $3 or so at Publix but on Amazon they run $6. (Why so much on Amazon?)

Last week I was down to 3 remaining filters and I was thinking about cutting down larger filters to fit my little Java Jig. I stopped in Wal-Mart and found on the coffee pot aisle, where the Java Jigs used to be, a new product (to me) called the Mocha Mate Refillable Filter Cup for $4.97. It’s close to $8 on Amazon. This system uses a one-piece mesh-lined cup with an attached lid. Add coffee, pop in the Keurig, then dump the grounds in the trash and rinse. I’m loving it! This is easier than assembling the filter and snapping together the Java Jig. Although it does get VERY hot, I found that by picking it up with a paper towel, I can hold it and then dump the grounds much better. Mocha Mate, you have won me over. Better buy a backup or two! :-)

Carbona Stain Devils

We love to cook with olive oil and use it as salad dressing, but when we get splattered with it when cooking or drip it on our clothes, it NEVER comes out.  I tried every method I could find to get out these pesky stains.  I washed and gooped and sprayed and soaked and dabbed and rubbed but nothing would get the olive oil stains out.  We were on the verge of throwing away six (6!) shirts until I found a little miracle that I want to share.  It's called Carbona Stain Devil #5.  I found it at Wal-Mart for $2.12 in the laundry aisle and I figured, why not?  It's also available on Amazon for $6+.

I followed the directions:  place an absorbent cloth beneath the stain, drip the liquid on the stain, and tap on the stain, pushing it into the cloth below.  Rinse and wash as normal.  IT WORKED!  All of the shirts now are olive oil free!  They make several different stain removers for different types of stains, like grass, rust, and blood.  The "Fats and Cooking Oils" product works really well!