The Perfect Brownie Pan for Perfect Chewy, Gooey Brownies Every Time!
I love baking, especially brownies, so I am really excited about the Perfect Brownie Pan I have seen on tv. If you haven’t seen the ads, the Perfect Brownie Pan is an 11 X 17 non-stick baking pan with a removable bottom, collapsible sides and a non-stick grid that you insert into the pan after you pour in the brownie mix. The 18 squares of the grid mean each brownie bakes individually and comes out perfectly square with the delicious crispy crust on every side. Yum!
I don’t know about you, but I hate when a beautiful pan of brownies that I’ve made for a get-together turns into a pile of messy brownie chunks because they tore when I tried to cut them. The gooier they are, the harder they are to make look nice. Sure they may taste ok, but when you are competing with Martha Stewart wannabes, brownie chunks just don’t cut it.
So, back to the Perfect Brownie Pan. It comes with The Gooey, Chewy Recipe Booklet so you can started baking right away. For those of you who are Brownie-bakers-from-scratch, good for you. Applause, applause. Personally, my favorite brownie “recipe” is on the back of the ”No-Pudge Fudge Brownie Mix,” box! (Tangent: No-Pudge is a delicious low or non-fat boxed brownie mix that I first found at Trader Joe’s but now I see in Ralph’s’ baking aisle. There is no butter in the mix, so depending on your tastes you can use non-fat sour cream, non-fat yogurt, or applesauce for people who are avoiding dairy. My husband is a hater of all things healthy and low-fat and he loves these brownies, so I highly recommend trying them if you are watching the fat and/or dairy. /Tangent)
Enough tangents, I am going to talk about the Perfect Brownie Pan! One of the features I really like is the fact that the pan converts to a serving tray and display stand for your finished masterpiece. Simply remove the grid, drop the sides and voila! a pedestal to display your Perfect Baked Goods.
The Perfect Brownie Pan is not just for brownies either – it works as a regular baking pan for all kinds of baked dishes – cakes, lasagna, casseroles, or use it as a cold tray for delights like marshmallow treats. Once you are done preparing these or many other delicious recipes, simply use the grid to slice it into perfectly proportioned servings. Yes, the non-stick surface of the grid will slice cleanly and easily through the gooiest marshmallow treats! Best part, the entire Perfect Brownie Pan is dishwasher safe. How easy is that?
With the holidays coming I know I am going to be doing a lot of holiday baking, so I think I will get myself an early present and try out The Perfect Brownie brownie baking pan. It actually also comes with a set of ten decorative stencils for extra-fancy desserts. I’m thinking Santa might be extra-nice if he gets one or two Perfect Brownies and a tall glass of cold milk; but just in case, I’ll be giving Santa the gooiest, chewiest, fullest-fat brownies I can make.
Order now in time for the holidays: The Perfect Brownie Pan, Chewy, Gooey Recipe Booklet, and set of Ten Decorative Stencils for only $19.95 + shipping and handling.
Smooth Away for Quick, Painless Hair Removal
Smooth Away is a wildly popular pain-free hair removal product in Europe that is just now starting to get some attention in America, mostly through As Seen on Tv type ads. I bought one, and this is my review:
I got the Smooth Away on a whim – I really, really hate shaving, waxing is painful, and I can’t afford lasers. Besides, it wasn’t that expensive, and I was really curious to see if it did what it claims.
You actually get two Smooth Aways, a large one for larger areas of the body and a mini Smooth Away for smaller areas like the upper lip and chin. You also receive 4 pads of each size that stick to the Smooth Away and a handy carrying case. Getting started is easy – simply remove the adhesive from the back of the pad and place the sticky side onto the groove in the Smooth Away. The pad is covered with microfine crystals that actually buff away the hair without razors, creams, wax, or any pain. The pads feel like a smoother version of an emery board, and you just rub the pad in a clockwise motion, then a counter-clockwise motion, until all of the hair is gone. It is safe for anywhere on your body – from face to arms to bikini area, and it works for guys too!
Verdict – Smooth Away works! I read the instructions which tell you to make sure your skin is clean and dry, free of lotions, etc. I stuck the pad on, moved it in a clockwise motion, then a counter-clockwise motion on a small area of my leg, and the hair was gone. Awesome! I finished up with both legs which didn’t really take that long, and noticed they felt nice and smooth. In addition to buffing away hair, the crystals actually exfoliate your dead skin cells so your skin is left feeling healthier than when you started. I didn’t have to get wet, use a messy cream or a potentially painful razor, and while I wouldn’t necessarily take advantage of this fact, you really could use SmoothAway anywhere. Like on the bus. Which you shouldn’t do. But you could.
Right now you can actually get TWO Smooth-Away painless hair removal kits for the price of ONE ($14,99), simply pay extra shipping and handling. Try this great alternative to shaving or waxing today!
Jupiter Jack Turns Your Car Stereo into a Hands Free Phone
Who should buy a Jupiter Jack? There have been a lot of articles coming out around the country about cracking down on cell phone use while driving, especially by teens, but who really looks good in those ridiculous bluetooth earpieces? Personally, I have been using speakerphone but obviously there are limitations with background noise and sound quality. Enter Jupiter Jack hands free cell phone device.
As Seen on TV, namely Discovery Channel’s “Pitchmen,” Jupiter Jack is a really convenient and cool device to turn your car stereo into a hands free cell phone device. Hands-free is the only type of cell phone use allowed in California, and Jupiter Jack is the easiest and most convenient way to get great call quality safely hands-free.
Jupiter Jack works on any phone in any car – no wires, no plugs, and no hands. JupiterJack is a small device that fits into your phone’s headset port, then just tune your radio to 99.3 FM and all of your calls will be transmitted through your car stereo speakers.
Parents, do you worry about your teenagers being distracted by talking on the phone while driving? You should. According to this article on MSNBC, studies show that teens are the most likely to be involved in cell phone related accidents due to their inexperience at the wheel: “A 2001 report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that 16-year-old drivers have a crash rate three times higher than that of 17-year-olds, five times greater than 18-year-olds and almost 10 times greater than drivers ages 30-59.”
The article also points out that some states have banned teen cell phone use while driving altogether , but for those states where using a hands-free cell phone is still an option, Jupiter-Jack is a safe and inexpensive solution to this growing problem.
For a limited time, Jupiter Jack is offering two hands-free devices for half the price of one – only two (2) payments of $10 each plus shipping & handling (this offer not available in stores). That’s TWO (2) Jupiter Jacks for only $20 + shipping & handling. Buy JupiterJack today!
PediPaws Pet Nail Trimmer Is Another Way to Save Money
This is the story of how PediPaws managed to save us almost $500 a year and helped us to get more involved in the care of our pets. I am always looking for ways to save money, as I am sure everyone is these days, but one area I will not cut corners in is the health and care of our animals.
One of our pets in particular is a special case – she is a twelve year old mixed breed named G, and she has a weakened immune system due to Cushing’s disease. Her medication and vet visits are expensive, along with her specialized diet, but we would never dream of not giving her everything she needs. Up until recently, that included getting her professionally groomed.
Lately though, since she has gotten older, her immune system has gotten weaker and it has been harder for her to fight even simple infections, which means she can’t really be around most other dogs. Case in point, the last time I took her to the groomer she contracted pyoderma, a bacterial skin condition, and she is still fighting it off so right now I can’t take her out anywhere.
I have no problem bathing and grooming her at home, she has pretty short hair, but I can NOT cut my dog’s nails. Those pet nail clippers you have to use look like a torture device; I can’t use them at all. My husband has been able to trim her nails once or twice, but the last time he tried he cut her too close to the quick and she really yelped in pain – there was actually some bleeding; he couldn’t do it again after that. We needed some kind of pain-free nail trimmer. That’s when I saw a commercial for Pedi-Paws and decided to give it a try.
Pedi Paws is a battery-operated spinning emery band that gently files nails instead of cutting them, and it costs about $20 plus shipping and handling – cheaper than one visit to the pet groomer. When it arrived we decided to try it immediately.
So, G is pretty hyper due to her condition, which causes increased adrenaline, but she was not at all nervous around the PediPaw – it emits a low buzzing sound, like an electric toothbrush. I was able to trim her nails by myself; she just sat in my arms and let me do each paw. If you have a larger dog or a very nervous dog it might be easier with two people, but I had no trouble with my 50lb dog. In fact, I know she was much happier having me do it, so for her it was way better than going to the dog groomer, and it is definitely less worrisome for me. As a bonus, at $40 a month, we figure Pedi Paws pet nail trimmer saves us almost $500/year. Not bad for an As Seen on TV product!
Lower Phone Bills with Magic Jack
So, I want to talk about this product I have seen on TV called MagicJack – it’s a Voice Over IP (VOIP) device that allows you to make free local calls and free long distance calls from your computer using the Internet. Like tons of you, I’m sure, I have been thinking about how to lower my phone bills but I don’t want to rely solely on a cell phone, and I am looking into various options.
Now, I have been thinking about this off and on, and then yesterday I was reading this article on CNN.com about a couple who wound up with an $8000 cell phone bill after the wife went to Indonesia – they almost missed a mortgage payment because of it! $8000? She could have flown her husband to Indonesia and talked to him in person for that! Well, anyway, the article mentions some alternatives to bringing your domestic cell phone internationally, and one of them was a Voice Over IP (VOIP) device. It plugs into your computer’s USB port and allows you to make phone calls using the Internet.
Magic Jack was a PC magazine Editor’s Choice in 2008 and will top $100 million in sales this year – pretty good for a product that only costs $1.67 month ($19.95/year), and you can even get the first year of MagicJack service free. Obviously, for this type of device a broadband or other high-speed connection is desirable, but if you don’t have one it might be worth investigating – in all likelihood it will pay for itself with the amount you save on phone bills. Have any teenagers or college students? When have they ever stayed within the minutes on those ridiculous cell phone “family plans?” Now, for less than $20 a year they can call to ask for more money without costing you more money, and keep the cell for texts and true emergencies.
The CNN article also mentions an American businessman whose plan racked up minutes at international rates, although he was in a Detroit hotel room, because his phone was accruing roaming charges from Canada. The problem with disputing these charges is the fact that whether he realized it or not, he was still using the services. With Magic Jack he could have just used his laptop and the hotel’s wifi and would have been able to avoid roaming charges all together.
In a time when the cost of everything is going up and the amount of money we have is going down, it makes sense to invest in products that are going to save you money not only now but also in the long run. Every college student, traveler, couple in a long-distance relationship or family with members living internationally would benefit from a product like Magic-Jack.