Concord Foods, Banana Pops- just add fresh bananas!!

Walking through the grocery store, I saw a kit to make chocolate covered bananas hanging in one of the displays. After reading the ingredients (below), I decided to try it since they were not that bad for a sweet treat.
All you need to supply is bananas and hot water, everything else is in the box. I was surprised to see that there were sticks in the kit. I know the back of the box said there were sticks in the box, however I have had a product say something like sticks were included but there were none, or it was missing some. In addition, they were quality sticks, sticks you would not be afraid to use. They were smooth, and strong enough to hold a frozen banana with ease.
When I made my Banana Pops, I enlisted my younger friend to help me test the kit. The only aggravating step to this kit is the first step, cutting (in half) and freezing the bananas; of course, this is only because I hate to wait. While you wait find a tall skinny (glass) glass, you want it to be just a little bigger (around) than the bananas and get a piece of wax or parchment paper to place dipped bananas on. After the bananas are frozen, you fill a medium to large bowl with the hottest tap water your faucet can produce. Than place the bag of coating in the water, letting it sit for 3-4 minutes. You are melting the coating in this step. Pour the melted coating into the tall skinny glass. Note: At this point you should have everything set up and ready to make the pops, no messing around.
Coating the bananas is the best part. Watching the coating harden quickly over the frozen banana is cool. For thicker coating of the bananas use only 3 and dip them several times; dip the banana and let stand on wax or parchment paper while you dip another banana and then re-dip the banana(s) that are on the wax paper. After you have dipped a few and the coating is about half gone be prepared to tip the cup and turn the banana to coat the whole thing. So let young kids (if applicable) dip their bananas first to avoid any messes.
I really liked the Bananas Pops, the chocolate coating was not too sweet but sweet enough that people who like sugary treats will like it as well. I would like to see it in dark chocolate, which would make it even healthier for you
It was the wrong time of year (winter) to be eating something frozen, but I will defiantly be getting another one of these Banana Pops kits in the summer. I had a little of the coating left in the cup after dipping all the bananas so I decided to throw some frozen strawberries and blueberries in the cup. They were as good as the bananas, so I have concluded that you can coat anything that is edible while frozen.
Ingredients: Vegetable oil (coconut, soybean), sugar, cocoa (processed with alkali), whey (milk), soy lecithin (an emulsifier) salt and vanilla.
Concord Food’s also has Strawberry and Peanut Butter flavored kits available.

Lasko, Designer Series Oscillating Ceramic Heater

When my old space heater died on me, I went shopping for a new one. I had browsed though the stores (Wall-Mart, Kmart, etc.) and their online counterparts. Once I decided on The Lasko Ceramic Heater was because of it’s design. I love the metal scrollwork base. I read as many reviews on it as I could and I could not find one that had something bad to say about it.
Features: Electronic touch-control operations
Adjustable Thermostat
Off Timer- up to seven hours
Oscillates
Self-Regulating Ceramic Element
Limited 3-year warranty
The more expensive version of this heater comes with a remote control.
Right out of the box, I noticed how tall it was (16”). It was at least 6” taller than my old one. When the heater is plugged in it beeps, letting you know it is working (at least power is getting to it). The circle button in the middle (top) is the on/off button. Pressed once the heater is on high, twice on low, third time turns it off. I would prefer a straight on and off button and not have to go though all that, but it is not that big of a deal. I like being able to set the temperature, the degrees start at 60 and go up by five degree until you reach Max (90 degrees). A decent size room (12’ x 15’) with the door closed takes under thirty minutes to bring up to 70 degrees. Much faster than any space heater I have had. However, the real test was heating the living room that included the kitchen and hallway because it is open (no walls or doors); almost three times the size. That big of a space took a little over thirty minutes to bring up to 70 degrees, which is good for a space heater.
At first, when you turn it on and feel the heat coming out of it you may be disappointed. Because heat does not come blasting out. You will feel heat but not as hard as you would think, however stand back a few feet and you will be surprised how well you feel the heat. Take a few more steps back and you will still feel it. I am very impressed with the heat circulation and how quiet it is, aside from the beeping when pushing the control buttons, it is as quite as a mouse. I have never understood that saying since mice are not quiet, lol. The Ceramic heating element produces a nice heat, not a dry heat like space heaters with the typical type of heating element.
With all the beeping this heater does, it should beep when it comes back on to bring the temperature back up just to let you know it is on with out having to look at it. Of course, I do have a fear of house fires so maybe I am just paranoid.
The only maintenance required is occasional vacuuming of the air intake, which is the back vent (opposite of where the heat comes out). If you do anymore than that you can kiss your warranty goodbye. Read the manual for full details!!
Observation: When the heater is in oscillating mode you will know when the heater has almost reached it designated temperature because it will stop oscillating about half a minute before it turns off.
Heater is rated 1500W, 120/AV.
Power Use:
High- 1500W/ 5116 BTU
Low- 900W/ 3070 BTU

Wal-Mart’s Site-to-Store: UPDATE

“Screen Shot of Wal-Mart’s Website”
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was trying out Wal-Mart’s new Site-to-Store service where your online order is shipped to your local Wal-Mart store for free. I saved around 9.00 of shipping costs on my order. I made the order online on Dec 31,07, and it was at the store ready for pick-up on Jan 14, 08. It took longer than 10 days, however if you do not count the days it took Wal-Mart to process the order it was within the 7 to 10 (business) days Wal-Mart’s website said it would take. I got the “pick-it-up” email at 9.00 pm on the 14th, but since it was one hour before the Site-to-Store pick-up section closing time for the day (off Wal-Mart’s website: Site to Store pick-up hours are 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., 7 days a week), I decided not to rush down there but to wait until the next day to pick it up.
I had someone else pick it up as I wanted to see if they would give him a hard time. Everything went smooth with the pick-up, my product was intact (not broken). I only have a few complaints, however none of them would keep me from using the Site-to-Store shipping method again.
Problem number one: when you print the email for pick-up ( you must have this form to pick up) it is two pages. Wal-Mart could have squeezed it onto one page and use less paper. What if you lose one on the way to the store? I would really prefer it on one page.
Problem number two: You can only have one addtional pick-up person other than yourself. At least you can change it whenever you want by logging onto the Wal-Mart website and going to your Account section.
Not all items are eligible for Site-to-Store service, look for the Site-to-Store logo next to eligible products, and make sure your local store has a Pick-up section.

Innovage Mini Digital Camera

Some time last year, I was looking for a low-priced but good digital camera. I ended up liking a mini camera I found on Overstock.com. I had no plans on taking pictures for anything other than fun so the Innovage Mini Digital camera seemed just right. At around $15.00 ( yes, fifteen!) I figured even if I didn’t like it I wouldn’t be losing a whole bunch of money. This Mini camera comes in a variety of colors; Teal, Green, and Pink. I chose Teal.

In the product description, it says the Innovage Mini camera is smaller than a credit card. Even though I had read the description, I was still surprised at how small it was. A credit card looks giant compared to this camera. I was worried about its size when I got it, but after I used it a few times, I got used to it. However, my friends with bigger hands had a hard time using the Innovage Mini camera. It can take still pictures, 15 seconds of video (no audio), and has a webcam. The viewfinder is a tiny box that slides up from the left top corner of the camera. You cannot aim this camera as you would a normal size one. You have to hold it at arms length and get your subject in the viewfinder. It is not accurate, I was cutting off heads for a few days until I got used to it.
I noticed how fast it went through batteries. It only needs one AAA battery to operate, but I went though one in two hours. I have no idea how it was draining the battery so fast since it does not have a flash (the usual suspect). The picture quality is okay if you are outside. The colors of indoor pictures are off, more yellow than normal. I did not try it under any Fluorescent lights.

There is an option to change the resolution from high to low, which will change the amount of pictures you can store on the camera. 200 on Low and 20 on High. After owning this camera for a few weeks, I was happy with it. Until I had owned it for over a month and it started to mess with me. It would turn off for no reason, and started going through batteries even faster. Eventually not working at all, and at that point the battery would get hot, really hot, when I would put a battery in it and tried turning it on. I thought it was going to blow up or something, lol.
I thought it was sleazy that it broke just after I could not return (30 days) it to Overstock.com. It has made me not want to buy from Overstock.com ever again, I know Overstock.com does not make the products but if that had happened and I had paid more than 20.00 bucks for a product I would be really mad.
The only thing that redeemed the Innovage Mini camera (a little bit) is the software that came with it (Arcsoft, Photo Impression4.0), to me that alone it worth $20.00 if not more. (Review of Arcsoft, Photo Impression4.0 coming soon)

Liquid Paper

You may think that white out is white out, but Liquid Paper has an applicator that I have never seen before. Instead of a brush applicator it is a foam triangle.






The claim is that the foam triangle makes smoother strokes. Brush applicators can sometimes leave little ridges and cannot hold a load of white out like the foam applicator can so that you are not able to cover your boo boo in one or two strokes. With the Liquid Paper foam applicator you can easily cover a whole line of writing in one or two strokes. It also allows you to have better control of where the white out goes, and makes crisp edges.

Liquid Paper covers pen ink, pencil lead, and permanent markers with ease. I tested it on both colored and black super permanent markers.
Writing on the Liquid Paper (after it is dry) is the same as with any white out I have tried. I hate waiting, but you always want to let white out dry really well before trying to write on it, this brand is no different. Failing to wait could cause the white out to chip or look funny after you’ve written on it. The one thing that I think is wrong with almost all white out (at least ones that I have tried) is the color is wrong, not matching the paper. I hate being able to see where I’ve used it. With all the color matching technology for make-up today, you’d think the makers of white out would be using some of that technology to make the white out match the paper!
For mistakes, if you wipe it off right after you’ve applied it most of the Liquid Paper will come off. However, do not count on it to do so. The same goes for anything other than paper, like fabric, counters, desks, etc… Tip: Use a wet rag when wiping off Liquid Paper from anything other than paper.

I just noticed the warning on the bottle: Concentrating and inhaling Liquid Paper can be harmful or fatal. Contents are Flammable and of course keep out of reach of children. I never knew that white out could be so dangerous, yeah it smells like chemicals but it’s smell is nothing compared to something like the smell of hair dye. Which we all know can kill brain cells.