My Fitness Pal

What if I told you there was an iPhone/Android app that has helped me lose 11 pounds in 1 month…..and it’s FREE?!! Well there is such an app and it’s called My Fitness Pal and it is 100% free!

Friday Find: Bas Bleu

Confession time: I love information. I like knowing things. And I love books, because they give me information. And that, my dears, is why I PPH Bas Bleu.

What’s that you say? What is a Bas Bleu? Bas bleu (baa blue) is French for blue stocking. And a bluestocking is a literary woman. What this lovely little site does is sell books. Odd little books. Quirky little books. Interesting little books, both fiction and non-fiction. Most of these books you probably have never heard of, but if you read them you’ll be damn glad you did. I get this catalog at my house every holiday season and I always make a nice l “I need to read this” list.

My Bas Bleu Wish List 2011

• Who Put The Devil In Deviled Eggs? The Fascinating Stories Behind America’s Favorite Foods
• Signing Their Lives Away
• Deadly Dictionaries
• How To Write A Sentence And How To Read One
• The Bible: A Biography
• The Thinker’s Thesaurus

In addition to books, they have some great gift ideas that will work for anyone in your life: paint your own watercolor postcard kits, Roman numeral candles, uncommon sticky notes and even toys and books for kids. There is something about this site that just makes me very happy. I think it’s a wonderful destination for the woman who wants something more than what the big box stores offer. I dare you to poke around and not find something you’d love have for your very own.

You can also join the Bas Bleu Society for $30 a year and get free shipping, 15% off most regular-priced items, discounted gift wrap and special offers via e-mail. Oh, and a nifty little membership card.

Oh, come on. You know you want one.

Featured photo credit

A Procrastinator’s Shopping List

Now that Christmas is over, I forget that there are other occasions that require gifts to be given. If I could, I would put blinders on and forget everything between now and then, but I can’t. I am a huge fan of mail order gifting and relatives are always telling me how wonderful and thoughtful my gifts are. Here’s the secret…I forget until the day before their birthdays and then spend 15 minutes swearing and kicking myself before logging on. I am not a flowers or plant gifter and I don’t really like sending gift cards. I prefer to make things a little bit more personal.

I know a lot of women are like me, so I’m going to clue you in on my favorite last minute gifts that send waves of delicious joy to your loved ones.

Last-Minute Gifts

Fairytale Brownies

These amazing brownies arrive via next day delivery to your friends and family in their signature purple box. The best thing about them is the variety of flavors! Regular brownies, peanut butter, chocolate chip, walnut, the choices are endless. Not only can you choose your flavors, you can also choose the size brownie you would like delivered. If you want to send someone an assortment of flavors without breaking the bank, you can deliver their Magic Morsels for as little as $20 a box! For a more substantial snack pick the Sprites and for a huge mouthful of flavor you can send their original brownies. Each of these are 3 x 3 inches of mouthwatering decadence. Not a fan of brownies? They also have assorted cookies and truffles to choose from!

Wolferman’s English Muffins

Perhaps the person you are celebrating isn’t a dessert lover. What then? Everybody loves breakfast! In that case, the best you can send are English m

uffins from Wolferman’s.

Everything I have tried from Wolferman’s has been fantastic. They offer a variety of English muffin flavors, jams and fruit butters, crumpets and other breakfast treats that will make anybody drool. The prices fit every gift size. Their gift baskets start at $19.95 and end where you choose to stop. You can use one of their preselected assortments or elect to make your own. Last year I sent my each of my Aunts a box of individually selected jams and fruit butters so that could all have the flavors they liked the most. Nobody was disappointed.

Shari’s Berries

If you remember to order a few days ahead of time, the hand dipped strawberries from Shari’s Berries can’t be beat.

Look at those things! The first time I heard about Shari and her amazing berries was when I received them as a thank you gift from a former client. I practically had to lock my office door to keep the beggars out.  In addition to the assortment of dipped berry flavors, Shari’s also offers dipped cookies, cake pops and delicious mini cheesecakes that can be added to any order or sent alone. Like my other options, these are available no matter how slim your wallet may feel. You can send a sweet Happy Birthday box of six HUGE dipped berries for $19.95 or if you feel more generous, you can splurge on an assortment of $50 or more. What does a candy maker know about baking cookies? I’m not sure if she bakes, but Shari and her berry fairies have great taste! Their cookies come courtesy of a partnership with Mrs. Fields, so there’s no way to go wrong with adding a few to your present.

No matter what the occasion, birthday, thank you or anniversary, any of these gifts will be a hit with the recipient and you will be hailed as a gift giving hero!

George Foreman Makes Grilling A Breeze

Brian’s mom has a George Foreman G-Broil Supreme that she uses.  All. The. Time. One weekend while the girls and I were there, she and I did hamburgers on it for the girls.  OMG, it was amazing.  So I not so subtly said “Maybe I should tell Santa to put one of them under the tree for me.”

It came as no surprise when Christmas Eve rolled around and the one gift under the tree for me was a George Foreman Grand Champ Grill.  It’s a bit bigger than Brian’s mom’s, but it’s the perfect size for me and the girls. With just the three of us at home, and me working outside the house, there are a lot of nights it’s just too much effort and electricity to turn the oven on to cook dinner.  With the George Foreman Grand Champ Grill, I can do hamburgers, chicken breasts, steaks, hot dogs, you name it, on the grill in a fraction of the time, using significantly less electricity. And when you’re a single mom on a budget? Every penny you can save, and still provide your kids with healthy, cooked at home meals, is a bonus.

The Grand Champ has the following features:

• At 133 square inches of cooking space, it has the largest cooking area of all the George Foreman grills.  It easily handles 7 servings.
• It has the patented slope design so the fat that cooks off the meat slides into the drip tray away from the meat.
• The Signature Foreman heating elements so that every square inch of cooking space is used and not wasted.
• Preheat indicator light for added convenience
• The dishwasher-safe drip tray offers easy clean up
• It comes with 2 drip trays and 2 dishwasher-safe spatulas for easy food removal.

The girls and I first used ours to cook hamburgers.  I wanted to start off with something easy and with the Grand Champ, they were super quick and easy.  It takes the grill approximately 5 minutes to warm up.  Once the indicator light went off, I put 4 hamburger patties on the grill and lowered the lid.  5 minutes later, I had 4 evenly cooked, right off the grill tasting hamburgers.  In fact, the french fries we put in the oven before we started the burgers took longer to cook.  It was awesome.  Clean up is a breeze.  Once the grilling surface has cooled, scrape the fat, grease and scraps off the grilling surface into the drip tray.  Use a warm soapy sponge to wipe the grilling plates clean, then rinse the sponge and wipe away any soapy residue.  Dry with a paper towel and you’re done.

I have been looking through the cooking guide included with the Grill, and am looking forward to trying out new things.  I also found a website with George Foreman Grill Recipes that I am looking forward to going though.  I am so excited about the possibilities.

You can buy the Grand Champ Family Value Grill, the G-Broil Supreme or any of the other George Foreman Healthy Cooking Products at GeorgeForemancooking.com, at Amazon.com, or at Target.com.

Feature Image: seentvcanada.com

Zagat Smartbox: The Perfect Gift for Couples

If you’re like me, you’re always looking for a way to get away with giving one gift to a couple.  Because, seriously, in this economy, giving individual gifts does not make mathematical sense. Especially (again, if you’re like me), you usually have no idea what to get the person your friend is married to/shacking up with.  I mean, what? Soap-on-a-rope? Whiskey?  A new Sharpie?

Who the hell knows.

The Zagat Smartbox is a great choice.  I’ll be honest, I had no idea what it was (although I was, of course, familiar with the Zagat restaurant guides.  And I’m even hip enough to know that the accent in Zagat is on the second syllable.  And by “hip enough” I mean that my pronunciation  had been corrected enough times for me to finally pay attention).  But once I received a Zagat Smartbox of my own, I was very yes, please! about it.

Here’s how it works.  You get a booklet along with a card.  It’s in a box.  That looks very smart.  The booklet describes the restaurants in the City that are participating in the Zagat Smartbox program.  The NYC booklet contained over  47 restaurants.  Each page has a write up about the restaurant and a description of what the Smartbox entitles the two diners to.  (It’s usually the standard appetizer, main course, dessert.)  The Smartbox recipients then call the restaurant, announce their good fortune and make a reservation.  They proceed to the restaurant, with the gift card, for a night of dining.

What’s really cool about this is (besides the fact that everyone loves a night out) is that the recipients don’t see the value of the card, they just know that they’re being treated to a night out for two.

Win-Win.

The Zagat Smartbox is available for several major cities including NYC, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, San Francisco and Chicago for $99.

Disclosure:  I have been provided with the Zagat Smartbox for NYC free of charge.  I’m trying to figure out if I can go to a restaurant by myself and eat both portions.  I’ll keep you posted!

10 Delicious Gifts for Foodies

Foodies love one thing. Food.

So let’s forget all the kitchen gadgets and gizmos that sit in drawers unused and get the foodies on our lists exactly what they want this holiday season. Food.

Here are ten unique treats that are sure to get you invited to dinner.

10 Delicious Gifts for Foodies

1. Macarons by Macaron Parlour $20 for 9 – With flavors like candied bacon maple cream cheese and Nutella ganache, you won’t find these macaroons at your local grocery.

Bonus: These macarons are gluten-free!

2. Olive Oil from Nudo $119 – Adopt an olive tree for your foodie friend and they’ll receive all the produce from the tree for an entire year. Spring shipment contains extra virgin olive oil and the fall shipment contains three flavored extra virgin olive oils.

3. Fresh Lobster from Catch a Piece of Maine – Who wouldn’t love fresh lobster delivered to their door? You can buy a single lobster, or whole lobster meal, or try the 1/2 trap partnership and receive 7 gourmet lobster dinners throughout the year! (Wonder if Captain John Ready will hand deliver?)

4. Gourmet Cookies from Momofuku Milk Bar $10 for 6 – Milk Bar is the sister bakery to popular NYC restaurant Momofuku Noodle Bar and their cookies are just as good as their Ramen.

5. Local Specialties – Have a farmers market in your area? Pick up a selection of local cheeses, wines, and artisan products. Not only will you be gifting some of the finest foods your region has to offer, you’re supporting local businesses! Great for homesick friends and family and out-of-town visitors.

6. Komforte Chockolates $3.49 each – Godiva is great, but challenge your taste buds with these tortilla lime + salt, french toast, and Ramen noodle chocolates.

7. Spices – This is my frugal foodie recommendation. TJ Maxx and Marshall’s always have unique spices in beautiful bottles that make great gifts. Browse the food section and pick up something exotic to try!

8. Thurman’s Pride Brisket from The Salt Lick $54.95 – Far and away the best BBQ joint in Texas. This brisket has been slow roasted and basted for 14 hours and comes with a bottle of Original Recipe Salt Lick Bar-B-Que sauce.

Bonus: Atkin’s friendly! (Hey, I’m trying to make all these goodies fit in to some kind of diet.)

9. Philly Soft Pretzels from Pretzels Direct $19.95 for 10 – Philadelphia knows their soft pretzels, so send some Brotherly Love with a classic soft pretzel gift box that includes 10 fresh Philly soft pretzels plus salt and mustard.

10. Garrett Popcorn – I’m a Chicagoan and if there’s one thing that makes me think of the city, it’s Chicago-style popcorn from Garrett. The question is, do you make your last bite a cheesy one or a sweet one?

Bonus: Named one of Oprah’s Favorite Things pretty much every year.

Air Popcorn is The Devil. But…

My favorite snack food in life is popcorn.

Specifically, I love buttered popcorn.

More specifically, I like popcorn drenched in warm butter and coated with salt.

Air popped popcorn, as far as I’m concerned, is from the devil.

But oh, how I love my hot air popcorn popper.

I have a Presto Poplite Popper that I am not supposed to use because I am not supposed to eat carbs.  But I make a carbohydrate exception on occasion for a ginormous bowl of popcorn.  Because if you’re going to take health risks you should do it in moderation, and nothing says moderation like the word ginormous.

This is, in my opinion, the closest you can get to movie popcorn without being in a theater.

Read more

Mother’s Day Unique Gift Ideas She Can Eat

Mother’s Day is a month away and retailers are buzzing about holiday gift ideas for women.  Of course you can always buy flowers and jewelry and personalized picture frames.  But let’s not forget the more unique gifts and things you can buy for her, too!

This week at Buy-Her, I’m going to be focusing on some holiday gift ideas for women that you might not have thought of – or heard of – and passing along a few deals I’ve come across online lately.

Today we’re talking about gifts for women who love to eat! (Mom, I’m looking at you… and silently cursing you for passing that on to me.)

Read more