Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Bath & Body Works Hand Soaps

We pretty much use the Bath & Body Works hand soaps exclusively in our home.  There is just something very satisfying about going in there and filling up a blue tote with all sorts of neat smells.*  If you visit our guest bathroom and look under the sink, you'll see multiple bags of Bath & Body Works hand soaps.  Sometimes, we just go nuts in there.

Now, we prefer the normal consistency soap over the foaming soap.  It seems that the foaming soap goes very quickly.  This could just be a weird perception with us, but both Mark and I felt that way.  The foaming soaps clean just as well; they just don't seem to last as long.

Bath & Body Works realizes that maybe you want your soap to look fancy.  As such, they've created metal pieces that fit over the bottles.  This lets you add a bit of flair.**  They will theme them to the seasons too!  It would be nice if the labels would peel off of the actual bottles for a more pleasing aesthetic  but that's not a make it or break it issue.

My only true gripe when it comes to the Bath & Body Works hand soaps is the pumps.  When I pull out a new bottle of hand soap, there is a one in three chance that the pump will not pop up as it is supposed to.  This means I have to dig out the bottle I just discarded to retrieve the working pump that I just threw away.***

I like the Bath & Body Works hand soaps.  Could I get cheaper hand soap elsewhere?  Probably.  Do I want to give up our excursions into Scented Soap Shangir-La?  Heck no.  Mark and I will continue using those soaps, even if the pumps don't always work.  We might be visiting too often; some of the employees even recognize us now.****

*The kitchen lemon is a common go to for us.

**Who needs flair for their hand soap?  We do!  Well, we did...until Mark threw the metal thingy away.  He wasn't thinking.

***Or in the case of tonight, I just throw the unopened, nonworking bottle back in the bag and picked another scent.

****One girl talks to us about wings!

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Roger Ebert

I'm not much of a writer.  I'm not much of a critic.  I muddle about on here, trying to get my ideas across.  I can never hope to be as amazing as Roger Ebert.  Heck, I would settle for being a fraction as talented as he.

While killing time on Reddit, I stumbled upon an article announcing Roger Ebert's death.  Now, I rarely read full articles on Reddit.  I get the gist of it from the title and move on.  Not so with this article.  I sat and read the entire piece, nearly moved to tears.  It seemed the least I could do.

Roger Ebert was more than a talented critic.  He made good use of the internet to disseminate his thoughts to as many people as possible.  Where many people knew him from his television review show, I knew him from his online reviews.  While I had seen the show as a kid, it was his style as a critic that spoke to me as an adult.  I didn't always agree with him, but I loved his passion for movies.  It spoke to me.

I love movies, but I had never really thought much about putting my thoughts down.  When I started my daily reviews*, I was nervous.  When I learned more about Ebert and his career, it inspired me.  It's alright to put your thoughts out there.  There is no right or wrong.  We are all entitled to our opinions, and Ebert didn't mind when people disagreed with him.  He enjoyed the discourse it could create.  That's a beautiful thing.

The world has one less voice today.  The least we can do is share ours.

*Yes, I know...I've been slacking in the daily department.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Cheeseburger in Paradise - Buffalo Chicken Wrap

Mark and I have done a great job not eating out much in the past four weeks.  We went from going out to eat one or two times a day to not going out at all.  We have been out maybe two times in four weeks.  Trust me...this is a huge accomplishment for us.  We decided that when an outside force acts on us, it's okay to go out.  Today, because we were short-handed at work, we had lunch brought in.  I was lucky enough to get a buffalo chicken wrap from Cheeseburger in Paradise, and it was amazing!*

Cheeseburger in Paradise makes their buffalo chicken wraps a bit differently than other places.  They start with one of those fancy, flavored wraps.**  They then fill it with fried chicken chunks that have been coated in buffalo sauce.  They cut the spice with some asiago cheese, blue cheese dressing, and lettuce.  My favorite addition to the wrap are the cucumbers.  They chop them up into smaller pieces and wrap them in there.  The only addition I make to the wrap is to dip it in ranch dressing as I eat it.  The buffalo sauce is quite hot, and I find that the additional ranch is quite necessary for my palette.

If you like buffalo chicken, you'll probably like this wrap.  I've enjoyed it so much that when I order a buffalo chicken warp anywhere else, I ask them to put cucumbers on it.  Cheeseburger in Paradise continues to make good food; eat there!

*Even though I ate it about three hours after it arrived.  We were busy.

**I think it may be a tomato type one.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Perdue Simply Smart Lightly Breaded Chicken Chunks

I don't really like frozen food.  I acknowledge that it is a great way to delay the aging process in food, hence allowing for longer storage, but I just feel it doesn't taste as good as fresh ingredients.  Of course, fresh ingredients aren't always as cost effective and time friendly.  Since BiLo loves to have specials where you buy a frozen entree and get a bunch of other stuff free, I've ended up with a freezer full of various frozen items.  For the most part, it is frozen chicken tenders and frozen pizza.  Today, we tried the Perdue Simply Smart Lightly Breaded Chicken Chunks.  I was pleasantly surprised.

It seems that most breaded chicken is more breading than chicken.  I think it's safe to say that breading is cheaper, so the breading overload saves the company money.  When Perdue labeled these pieces of chicken as lightly breaded, it's actually an accurate description.  I have had frozen chicken tenders before that pretty much required me to pick the meat out of the breading.  This Perdue chicken was not like that at all.  Finally...some truth in advertising.

The flavor of the chicken was also pretty good.  It wasn't dry or stringy.  The pieces were plump and flavorful.  There was no funny taste from being frozen.  I cooked them in the oven per the bag's instructions, and they turned out great.  We just ate them like you would eat chicken nuggets, but I would love to try them on salad.

Speaking of salad, we've been trying to eat healthier.  This chicken was by no means great for you, but it wasn't as bad as some of the other breaded chicken out there.  I believe the lighter breading helps keep the calories down.*  I was able to have a decent portion and still keep my meal at a relatively good number.

I don't often suggest people eat frozen entrees.  Some work out, but I usually think frozen food tastes funny. I'm happy to announce that the Perdue Simply Smart Lightly Breaded Chicken Chunks** are really good.  Next time BiLo has one of those sales, I plan to pick up some more.

*I'm counting calories and fat.  I am not counting carbs, so I can't tell you how they were for carbs.  Sorry!

**They also win for having the longest freaking name.