I Need Your Help: Kitchen Gadgets Edition
Posted: March 22, 2013 Filed under: favorites, meal prep, product review, survey, thoughts | Tags: favorites, meal prep, product review, survey, thoughts 2 Comments »I’ve been in the market for some new kitchen gadgets for a quite a while now. I’ve really needed (wanted) a food processor for a long time, but I’ve also recently decided that I want a juicer. The thought of buying two separate singular-use appliances makes my budget-conscious mind a little nervous, so I thought about trying to find a 2-in-1 deal, but usually those just don’t work as well. In my constant cost-vs-benefit world, I’m always trying to get the best deal, but I also don’t want to waste money on junk, so I think I’ve decided that purchasing them separately is the way to go.
In general, I pretty much have a fear of spending money, so despite the fact that I’ve made the decision to buy them separately, I have still had a hard time pulling the trigger. I’m one of those people who does all kinds of research and will go to the store three times before I actually buy something, so it always takes me forever to make purchasing decisions. (I’ve frequently left stores empty handed after browsing for a while, so now I generally shop online where I can back out a million times in the comfort of my own home.)
After mulling it over quite a bit (yes, I know I overthink everything), and decided that if when I pass my CPT exam, I’m going to treat myself to them as a reward for working so hard. That’s a totally acceptable explanation, right?!
Here are the ones I’m thinking of getting:
Breville BJE200XL Compact Juice Fountain 700-Watt Juice Extractor
This brand was recommended to me by a friend who has one, and the reviews on Amazon are pretty stellar. I like that it seems powerful, durable, and effective… and yet, at $100, it’s a lot cheaper than some of the other Breville juicers.
Cuisinart DLC-10S Pro Classic 7-Cup Food Processor
It seems like Cuisinart is one of the top brands (in my price range) for food processors, with a solid reputation. The reviews on this one were great, the size and price are about right, and it seems to have most of the bells and whistles I think I’d need.
Now, those were the only two appliances I had in mind to buy… until I read Janae’s post about the Yonana maker. From the reviews online, it seems like it really works well and makes some seriously delicious sorbet, which (with dark chocolate chips added) is right up my alley.
Buuuuuuut.. do I really need that one right now? Probably not. So I guess it’ll have to wait.
Now here’s where you come in, friends:
Do you own any of these items? What do you think of them? Which brands do you prefer? Do you use one more than the other? Where did you buy them? What do you use them for?
Clearly, I need all the support I can get during this period of ever-so-critical life decision making.
I’m also now taking applications for a life coach/personal shopper so I don’t have to think about these things anymore…
The Color Test
Posted: January 10, 2013 Filed under: survey | Tags: personality test, survey, the color test Leave a comment »A couple weeks back, I came across Janae’s post about The Color Test. (By the way, if you don’t already read her blog, you should. She’s hilarious. And her baby is adorable.) I’d heard about this personality test before, but I had a little time to kill that day, so I figured I’d give it a shot. I have kind of a love/hate relationship with these kinds of things, but my curiosity usually gets the best of me, and this time was no different.
I feel like no matter what answers these kinds of quizzes spit out at you, you can usually find something about it that makes you think it’s spot on, and that’s what annoys me. I’m sure that me and someone nothing like me could end up with the same results and we’d both be like wow, they’re so right! That’s how these things often work. But at the same time, I kind of love seeing how accurate they are and hearing what they have to say about me. It can sometimes make you realize things about yourself that you never really considered!
The Color Test is a personality test that claims to “not only identify what you do, but why you do it, allowing you to gain much deeper and more useful insights into what makes you and those around you tick.” There are four personality types: reds, blues, whites, and yellows.
The format of this test kind of threw me for a loop, and I didn’t really like it, but I eventually got through it. They ask a whole bunch of multiple choice, one-word-answer questions and you have to answer them based on how you were as a child. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel like I don’t really even know how I was as a child, so that was a little tough for me.
When it gave me my answers, this is what it said:
Even though I’m only about 50% blue, it was apparently my largest result. I do think that I’m totally motivated by intimacy, as the results suggest. I’m constantly trying to please others, and I always worry about being able to connect with people. I have what I consider to be a flaw in that I’m often worried about how others perceive me, and I feel like as a result of that, I’m usually keeping people around longer than I should and working harder than I should to try to get them to understand me. (I’ve been working on some of that stuff lately!)
As for the “about blue” section, I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m controlling (or at least, I make an effort not to be), but I definitely have distinct preferences, and I like things done a certain way. The second sentence is what really got me though because my friend has pretty much said that exact thing to me before: I am honest, trustworthy, loyal (maybe even to a fault), and I expect others to be that way too. Often times, that’s what ends up getting me hurt, when I find out the hard way that they’re not.
If I had to say what else I was made up of, it would probably be about 25% white (“need to be accepted and treated with kindness; logical, objective, and tolerant of others”), 15% red (need to look good technically, be right, and be respected; strong leaders and love challenges’), and 10% yellow (“need to be noticed and have fun; love life, social connections, and being positive and spontaneous”). I’d really like to increase that yellow percentage in myself though!
Questions:
Have you ever taken The Color Test? What were your results?
Do you like doing personality tests?
‘This or That’ Food Survey
Posted: April 30, 2012 Filed under: challenge, daily, survey | Tags: challenge, daily, keep it clean, loveeatrun, survey Leave a comment »Hey guys! I just saw this survey on Courtney’s blog and decided it would be a fun little way to break up the day. Here we go!
Coke or Pepsi? I don’t really drink any dark sodas. If I do drink a soda, it’s going to be a ginger ale, mountain dew, or orange.
Lemonade or fruit punch? Lemonade – preferably strawberry or raspberry!
Caramel apple or cotton candy? Definitely caramel… one of my favorite things in the world, for sure! This place in the Charlotte airport has the best ones, and luckily since my sister lives there, I get to have one every time someone flies through.
(source)
Butterfinger or Snickers? I just recently started liking peanuts nuts, so honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever had either of these.
Pudding or Jello? Definitely pudding – chocolate. The texture of Jello totally grosses me out.
Turkey or chicken? I think I like them both equally, although I eat chicken more regularly.
American or Provolone cheese? Ick, neither. Cheese is another food I just started liking recently, but neither of these have made the list yet. Pepperjack is my favorite.
Crackers or cookies? Is this a real question? I named my blog after my love for cookies.
Pretzels or chips? Eh, either. I usually crave sweet over salty anyway.
Mexican food or Japanese food? I like Japanese food every now and then, but I could eat Mexican any day of the week.
Chinese food or Italian food? Chinese. I don’t get to have it as often as Italian, so it’s more of a treat.
Ice cream or cookies? I’ll take cookies any day of the week, but put cookies in ice cream, and then we’re really talking.
Pasta or pizza? Pizza. I don’t like how pasta feels so heavy sometimes.
Soda or juice? Hm. Toughy since I rarely drink either. I like juice in the morning every now and then, but sometimes I’ll crave the bubbles of a soda at dinner.
Chocolate bars or chocolate truffles? Truffles.
Apples or bananas? Definitely apples. I just started liking banana (I used to be really picky if you couldn’t tell by now) and sometimes the mushiness still gets to me.
Salad or soup? I love soup, but the two paired together are awesome.
Cauliflower or broccoli? These are two foods I’ve never really been fond of, but I need to push myself to eat them more.
Onion rings or french fries? O-rings, every time. And the weirdest part? I don’t even like onions. I’m a freak I know.
Blizzard or McFlurry? McFlurry. M&M. YUM.
Fried or poached eggs? I don’t think I’ve ever had a poached egg, but I do like them fried, over hard and slightly scrambled.
Crepes or pancakes? Pancakes. But only because I haven’t had too much experience with crepes.
Hashbrowns or roasted potatoes? Hashbrowns! Grilled dark so they are nice and crunchy.
Oatmeal or cereal? I just recently got into oatmeal and now I love it, although not too long ago, I definitely would have said cereal.
Hopefully now you know a few more things about me that you never wanted to know in the first place you didn’t before. Feel free to share some of your preferences in the comments section!
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Something else that will be coming your way this afternoon is an update of my daily eats based on Jenny’s Keeping It Clean Challenge.
She decided to try her best to eat clean for at least 80% of her meals this week, and when she challenged others to do the same, I was quick to get on board. (Not that this little food survey helped squash any cravings, but hopefully eating clean for a whole week will!)
Look out for that post later on today, and feel free to join us!!
Hope you are having a great Monday!
