Bargain Hunting Moms Reviews

You've found our reviews section! This is where I tell you what I think of various products. Also, to fully disclose, in most cases, the products reviewed on this blog have been furnished to me by the manufacturer. When the product has been given to me, I make note of it in my review. I do disclose and I also only review items that my family and I will use.

Kaboom Foam-Tastic and Kaboom Scrub Free Toilet System Review

The other day, I was reading the status of a friend on Facebook and had to laugh. It seems that she puts off all her big cleaning jobs and hopes that her kids mess up so she can dole them out as punishment.

I thought I was the only one who did that!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I hate to clean. Yes, I love it when everything is clean and sparkly, but I really don't enjoy doing it. There are some people who revel in cleaning. They enjoy making everything all sparkly and the manual labor that goes along with it.

That's just not me.

That's why when Great Cleaners asked me to try out their Kaboom Foam-Tastic with the Kaboom Scrub Free Toilet system Kit and review it, I jumped at the chance. I mean, who doesn't want to NEVER have to scrub a toilet again? (Or at least not have to wait for the kids to do something wrong so I can make THEM do it?)

The kit I received included a can of Kaboom Foam-Tastic Cleaner along with a Kaboom Scrub Free Toilet System. The Scrub Free kit will keep your toilet bowl clean for up to 3 months and the Foam-Tastic Cleaner is a foamy, bubbly cleaner that sprays on purple and changes to white when it's ready to wipe off. Both contain Oxi-Clean, so I was excited to try it. I regularly use Oxi-Clean on my laundry.

As luck would have it, the weekend after the kit arrived, it turned out my son needed to do an extra chore or two. I handed him the can of Kaboom and put him to work. To my surprise, he found it rather fun to spray the foam all over the tub and sink. He told me it was like spraypainting and apparently that's a good thing when you're 13. He waited for the foam to turn from purple to white and then wiped it down.

I admit, he did a good job. That was the cleanest the bathroom had been in a while and I only had to send him back over a couple of spots. After the toilet was scrubbed, we also installed the Kaboom Scrub Free Toilet Cleaning System as well. It was easy to do--even for me. Now, it's been a while(almost 2 months) and while I DO still give it a quick cleaning and a swirl, we haven't had to actually scrub that toilet since. Getting refills is on my list!

Since the initial testing by my grumbling teen, I've since put the cleaner to work and I've been most impressed. It cleans great. It's fast. It's easy and the toilet isn't gross. Now that's a good thing.

For busy moms, I totally recommend both of these products from Kaboom--especially if you don't enjoy cleaning, like me. They're perfect because you won't have to spend quite so much time scrubbing away the dirt!

*I received this product from Great Cleaners to review. The opinions stated in this review are my own and are stated as accurately and honestly as possible.

Food Loop Lace

Do you like to stuff your turkey? If you do, you'll want to check out the Food Loop Lace. Think of it as a silicone and stainless steel needle and thread. Instead of lacing up your turkey the traditional way, use this handy Food Loop Lace to do so. Best of all, you can use it over again.

I generally don't stuff my turkeys because I prefer dressing on the side, but this year, I wanted to try out the Food Loop Lace, so I decided to do a little of both. It was easy to use and did a great job keeping the turkey closed.

One of the things I like best is that it comes with a handy little mesh bag so you can throw it in the dishwasher. It was easy enough after the turkey was done to just pull it off and throw it in the dishwasher.

The Food Loop Lace isn't just for turkeys. You can use it on fish, roasts and anything else that you'd normally stuff and/or need to tie shut while cooking.

Here are some things you should know about the Food Loop Lace. It's:

• Heat resistant to 675 degrees Fahrenheit
• Made from FDA-compliant silicone
• Medical grade stainless
• Arthritis friendly
• Comes with a mesh/ dishwasher storage bag
• Nonstick
• Reusable
• 22” long

You can watch a video about it and see how it works here. You can also purchase it for $10 plus shipping through the site or at Amazon for $9.95. These would make really fun stocking stuffers for the cook in your life.

*I was provided a Food Loop Lace by Fusionbrands for my review and the opinions in this review are my own.

Men of a Certain Age

Men of a Certain Age is a new show premiering on TNT this Sunday, Dec. 7th at 10/9 central. I was lucky enough to receive an advance preview of the show and I really enjoyed it!

Men of a Certain age stars Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond) Scott Bakula (Quantum Leap, Star Trek: Enterprise) and Andre Braugher (Homicide: Life on the Street.) Now, really. Who doesn't love Ray Romano? The show centers around these three friends and their very different lives. Ray is separated from his wife. Scott Bakula's character is living the bachelor life and Andre Braugher's alter ego is a family man.

The show is about getting older and hitting that "second act" of life. That hits home to me as I hit a milestone this year, but I sure don't feel like I am that "magical" number.

I enjoyed the show and will definitely watch beyond the premiere. It also has a great soundtrack. You'll hear some of your old favorites(well, if your my age they'll be your old favorites) like Styx, Creedence Clearwater Revival and even Air Supply is mentioned in the premiere!

I hope you'll remember to tune in this Sunday at 10/9 central for the premiere of Men of a Certain Age on TNT. In the meantime, enjoy a sneak peak by

Curious Chef Cookie Kit Review

We've all seen baking sets aimed at kids in the toy stores. They're usually flimsy and they don't always measure accurately. If you have a child who likes to help you cook,  what do you do? Your grown up cooking utensils are hard for them to manage and you'd rather not use a toy set. Curious Chef comes to the rescue with their line of specially sized, quality made utensils and kits designed for children to use in the kitchen.

Curious Chef sent me one of their Cookie Gift Sets to review. The six piece set includes a Large Silicone Mixing Spoon, Whisk, Nylon Cookie Turner, Rolling Pin and 2 Cookie Cutters. All items are the perfect size for little hands so they won't get frustrated when they're helping you in the kitchen.

Because I don't have any little ones, I enlisted my friend, Shelley, to help out. Shelley's two daughters, Emma and Eliza had a great time baking cookies!

As you can see, they had a a lot of fun with this cookie kit from Curious Chef. If you have a child who loves to help you in the kitchen, their products--whether you buy the kits or the individual measuring cups, spoons and other utensils--will make them feel like a real cook. The products are durable, kid friendly and affordable, too.

Here's Emma enjoying the finished product.

Curious Chef products can be purchased online at Amazon and other retailers. You can visit www.curiouschef.com to find sites and locations. The Cookie Kit we tried out retails for $19.99. There's also a pizza kit that looks really cool.

Curious Chef provided this product for review. The statements are my opinion.

Hexbug Nano Review

A few weeks ago, my family received a couple of Hexbug Nanos to try out and review. When they arrived, I was surprised when my husband took them over immediately and began playing with them. What's a Hexbug, you ask?

The Hexbug Nano is a cool little robotic creature that I learned will keep not only your kids, but your husband occupied for long periods of time. At just 1.75 inches long, the Hexbug Nano scoots across the floor at amazing speed. The creatures operate on vibration and 12 tiny legs. We quickly discovered almost nothing stops them. If they run into something, they'll just switch directions. One of ours even ran under the stove and after a few moments of me worrying that we were going to have to move the stove to get it out, it re-emerged, totally fine.

We raced our Hexbug Nanos and even ran them through a maze of sorts made out of Legos. If you buy them, you'll probably want to pick up more than one because it's a lot of fun to race them or to let them swarm. Kids will come up with tons of ideas to play with these. I can even see these used in a homeschool environment.

The only downside we found is that they won't run on carpet. It limited the areas where we could play, but it certainly didn't stop us!

Produced by Innovation First, Inc, you can learn more about Hexbug Nano at Hexbug.com. Hexbugs come with a special code that you can enter online for online play, too. There, you can learn about science and famous scientists, and play games in addition to registering your Nano and keeping track of your collection.

Hexbug Nanos are slated to come in several collections--all named after scientists. The first is the Newton Collection and they're available in several colors.

Hexbug Nanos are both educational and fun. At $7.99 and available at Toys R Us, they're ideal stocking stuffers and make it easy to collect them. Younger children will enjoy chasing them and racing them while older children will undoubtedly like to build mazes and race courses along with collecting them and using the online site to learn even more.

Here's just one of the many cool videos you can find on YouTube about the Hexbug Nano.

Walmart Gift Card Winner!

We have a winner in our Febreze Home Collection Giveaway! Congratulations to commenter #22,

Amanda! She said...

Green tea and citrus sounds best to me!

Congratulations, Amanda! Watch for an email from me for details on how to collect your prize!

Febreze Home Collection Review and $20 Walmart Giveaway!

Read below to find out how YOU can win a $20 Walmart Gift Card!

I love it when my house smells good. I think a fresh-smelling house means your house is clean. At the same time, I don't like things that just cover a smell. I like the odors to just GO AWAY!

That's why I was excited when My Blog Spark and Febreze asked me to try out the new Febreze Home Collection. As you know, Febreze doesn't just mask odors. It gets rid of them. I'm a regular user of Febreze(I have a dog. Need I say more?) so I was ready to take my experience to the next level.

Febreze calls this a new boutique line. Not only do you get some awesome premium scents, but the items you use to incorporate them into your home are also contemporary. These aren't your mother's Stick-Ups, people! You can feel comfortable setting out your Febreze no matter what your decor. Seriously. It isn't going to look like you have an air freshener sitting on your coffee table!

My favorite items of all are the Flameless Luminaries. They look like candles, but they're not. If you're like me and have a little pyromaniac in your house, you don't want to use candles, so these are perfect. They have a little light inside them along with a paper like "shade" that emits a wonderful scent. This one is perfect for the bathroom because it not only will get rid of yucky smells, but it also gives you a nice nightlight.

I also enjoyed the Scented Reed Diffusers and would have no problem at all displaying those on a mantle or coffee table. The scent was perfect for the room as well.

I was also able to try both a Soy Blend Candle and a Room Spray--both in the Green Tea & Citrus scent. The scents were not at all over-powering and the room spray really did the job and didn't smell so much like an "air freshener." (You know what I mean!)

My scent of choice was definitely Green Tea & Citrus. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this scent. I actually thought I'd like another scent I received better, but the Green Tea definitely won out. It was light, clean and not at all overpowering.  

Overall, I had a wonderful experience with the  Febreze products I sampled. My house will smell great for a long time. The scents seem to be lasting and I don't smell the "bad" smells under the Febreze scents. I'll give everything I tried two thumbs up.

Here are more of the available scents:

• Apple Spice & Delight™
• Berry Paradise™ & Melon Mist™
• Calypso Breeze™ & Hawaiian Paradise™
• Pomegranate Mango
• Gain® Apple Mango Tango™
• Cranberry Pear
• Green Tea and Citrus
• Linen & Sky™
• Meadows & Rain
• Pumpkin Harvest & Fall™
• Autumn Spice & Crisp™
• Cranberry Pear
• Rocky Springs & Cool™
• Downy® April Fresh™
• Willow Blossom

I didn't get to try the apple spice or cranberry pear and those are two scents I'd pick from this list! Yes, I told you above that you could win a $20 Walmart Gift Card. You can use the gift card to try out something from the Febreze Home Collection yourself or for something else at Walmart.

To win, leave a comment on this post telling me which of the fragrances above you think you'd most like to try. It's that easy!

If you follow us on Twitter, become a Fan on Facebook or Post about this on your own blog or site, you'll get extra entries! Just come back and leave an additional comment with a link to your tweet or post. :)

Thanks again to MyBlogSpark and Febreze for sponsoring this giveaway! This giveaway will close on 10/16 and we'll pick a winner using Random.org.