Buyer's Remorse & Buyer's Joy

**I've been having a rough couple of days here and I have some appointments coming up. It might be a minute before I can post anything else. This is one of those posts I put together quickly just for days like this.**

I thought I would share some of the photos I send back and forth with a long-time G= pal. We keep in touch and are both just too silly. We both like to do our own Siskel & Ebert routine when we discover new stuff. Yeah, we are silly. And we really miss Google Plus. We've been doing this off and on for about a year and it's our quirky little way to kind of stay in touch. I will only share my photos because my buddy doesn't want theirs posted. I almost hate posting my own because we both use crappy webcams that don't produce the most flattering photos...

Chicory for my coffee when 
I'm out of Cafe Du Monde

This is better (and cheaper) than the G.M. pods

I wanted to try this SO badly and...
YUCK!

Not only was WTRMLN WTR hard to track down in my area (Target had it) but it was overpriced and badly flavored. If you are going to do watermelon water - and it is almost pure melon with a touch of lime, I think - then use tasty melons. When I eat an actual melon, there is nothing worse than getting one of the weak, watery, almost tasteless ones. There is a reason people study the choosing of a good melon. If this had been an actual melon, I would have returned it. I ended up dumping this out and using the bottle for a while as an apple juice container.

This was both pricey & subpar.
Big-time buyer's remorse...

If there is one purchase I regret more than WTRMLN WTR is this Blue Monkey sparkling juice. I don't care about the stereotype. I LOVE watermelon-flavored beverages. Aldi's has the absolute best one around but it doesn't ever stay around very long. As soon as it's available, it's sold out. It's under 4 bucks for 4 almost 9-ounce cans. And it's yummy-licious.  Which is why I wanted so badly to try the Blue Monkey juice. What a mistake that was. 

Now, this is a tasty sparkling beverage right here...

Accept no substitutes, people.
This is the Neo of beverages.

I think I have already reviewed or talked about the chocolate tea craze I'm on. JusTea makes my favorite. When I told my buddy about it, they ordered some in the cheaper, compostable package, then they order more in a tin. They are now more hooked on it than I am.

Sadly, I could not recommend this one from JusTea. It's a total Nope. For my taste, it's far too weak and I can't find any flavor notes. My friend is a real tea freak so they might try this small, cheaper bag. I think their palate is more sophisticated. Hah.

And we don't just talk about food or beverages. Mostly but not all the time. This is the latest thing I am sending. It's kind of overly floral and feminine for a guy, but the brand has them in other designs.

This is the cutest and most useful pocket-sized planner ever. And it's just around 5 bucks. I have to keep something like this around for doctor appointments and the notes I take there. I got this one because I splashed coffee on my old one that I got as a freebie from the pharmacy. It was very, very basic and pages were already falling out of it. This one has so many features that I still can't believe the cheap price. (**The seller of this product infuriated me. They offer a "free" pen but ONLY for a 5-star review. I didn't leave a review. I hate coercion.**)

Anyway. There you have it. Maybe I will start sharing these "shares" more often. I usually don't like showing photos of myself but, with age, I care so much less about stuff like that.

By the way, if anyone can recommend a juice as good as Aldi's, do run tell dat! LOL

Peace

--Free

Looking Back on 2019 Reviews

I'm late doing this because I forgot to schedule the post Anyway...
Here are some products from 2019 (and a few from before) that have made a lasting impression on me

Of all the beauty stuff - hair, makeup, skincare - I have almost too many I want to mention, but let me try to hit the mains:

Curel HydraTherapy & Garnier SkinActive Moisture Mask  are both from this review. Love both products and still buy the Garnier on a regular basis (check recent posts).

With all the rage about Asian skincare products, I want to mention the KOSE SOFTYMO Speedy Cleansing Oil and Kikumasamune Sake Skin Lotion High Moisture. I like them both but have to use sparingly. The oil will break me out if I use too often and the lotion is great but has that yeast-like odor...

This toner from Whal Myung is awesome, but... I cannot afford to indulge. If you can budget this in, you might want to.

The Aquafor Body Spray and Pantene Foam from this beauty box will always be in my arsenal.

Lumify Eye Drops are pricey as gold but so worth it. Haven't found anything that comes close.

I'm sorry, but the more I think about the FabFitFun box, the more ridiculous it seems to spend $50 on a box of random items of possible regret. I will stick with my $5 mood-lifting Walmart and Target boxes. If I had $50 a month to toss away, it would be on vape devices.

I have not ordered any skin or fragrance oils from Piping Rock in a long time. They usually have good products at good prices but when you get a stinker, they don't care. Customer service is everything, people.

I use Pumpkin Seed Oil or another good oil almost every night as a cuticle treatment and I use it on my hair when it gets ridiculously dry. This or another oil mixed with emu oil is so good on cuticles.
Greek Remedy Oil is another multi-purpose oil. It smells so good and is soothing just before bedtime. I also love their soap and foot cream.

I haven't used this beauty brush since I don't know when. I'm not good about keeping up on batteries for things. It's one of the reasons I haven't gotten a milk frother - the affordable ones are all battery operated. Ugh!

I have tried a few different brands of Magnesium Oil but the basic product is so good for helping me to relax and sleep through the night. I've recommended this to friends and family members.

By the way, I still get the Walmart Beauty Box and have no regrets (most of the time). It's a five-buck-for-handling deal so you can't beat it.

   

For around the house

Cosco 2-Step Steel Folding Step Stool (Can't recommend this enough. I use mine at least 3 times a day.)

I have not been able to kill this little coffee pot. It's so perfect for me as a single. When it wears out, I plan to get another just like it.

I probably don't have to mention that the Instant Pot is a fave. I did upgrade to a larger size. Best thing for singles and families.

Flour Sack Towels for the kitchen are essential. If you get a good brand, they are so worth having.

The Eco-Friendly Reusable Towels are... they are good if you don't mind replacing them fairly often. Once they have been washed about 5 times, they start getting lint-y and kind of gross. I kept some old ones to wipe up floor messes but I don't want them near my dishes once they get too worn. Honestly, I prefer using paper towels at this point.

This steam cleaner is the business. I don't use it as much because it's sometimes easier to just wet mop the floor, BUT... it's great for steaming to disinfect things. Also, I use it to clean the floors when they are super icky from a spill or on the carpet to kind of fluff it up. The only con to this is setting it to use and then dumping any leftover water.

The seller replaced this food sealer once and I still use it probably 5 times a day. Seriously. As a single person not wanting to waste products sold in large quantities, this is a must.

The stick blender is another love of mine. I use this almost every single day - or twice a day - to make smoothies, add stuff to my coffees, or to prep food for cooking. (I just realized that I never reviewed it here I'll have to do a quick post on it!)

I am in LOVE with my Dutch oven. Of all my cast iron, that's probably my favorite.  Nah. I can't pick a favorite piece of cast iron!

Okay. Another year has rolled around so let's talk about this juicer... So I am not doing all the juicing I thought I would. I hate cleaning a juicer. I hate dealing with the mess of juicing. Fruit is so freaking expensive in the winter. And blah blah blah. I need to sell this thing and get me a good milk frother for my coffee.

And pantry & fridge

I still do a large part of my grocery and household shopping online. Hy-Vee went and raised their delivery rates and that sucks, but, still...

I'm still a huge fan of Monk Fruit Sweetener. I do my coffee black most of the time now, but use the sweetener in green smoothies to take off the edge...

While I haven't gotten any more Golden Tea, I am using my regular Tumeric in my a lot of my food and coffees and teas. 

The Hoosier Hill Farm All American Whole Milk Powder and the heavy Cream are both worth it. If you are single or need to store a lot of milk for kids, this is the best way, IMO.

I cannot rave enough about having some Manuka honey around - any good quality raw honey.

After having this fresh nutmeg, I don't think I can do with canned variety anymore. I like the fresh so much that I am looking for other spices to get. Just getting bougie!

While I still love using Miracle Berries, I haven't been buying any. The prices are not great for using these on a regular basis and the quality from purchase to purchase can be iffy. Still, this is something I use every now and then.

And the vape life...

I am still on the vape. I love it. I don't think I have had a cigarette craving in a few months now (and I am close to 2 years quit! I am to the point now where I can go days using only zero-nic juice but when I get cranky...

The Voopoo Caliber vape pen let me down, design-wise. It's still a great device but the center pin is a mess. I still use it but I have to use my Smok Beast tank with it to connect to that pin. Booooo, Voopoo!

The Boulder Rock Vape Pen is still one of the best (and cheapest) devices. Love this thing, but I gave it to my sis in law.

The Voopoo Alpha Zip is probably the most discreet pod device I've seen. For something this sleek and streamlined, it's a good vape. So Voopoo can do something right.

Speaking of good vape devices, this SMOK Veneno is still a workhorse after all this time. Love it, love it, love it.

I still use this regularly. The Uwell Caliburn gets a lot of hype and it is a good device, but it's only a Juul-killer because of the quality of the device - Juul still has the best juice that ever was. Not that it's easy to buy anymore...

The writing and the random

If you have not checked out Bibisco's software for writers... well, just do so.

And I am still using my Livescribe pen, yes, I am.

I no longer use CBD oil or Kratom anymore. I don't trust the variations in quality. I vape because I only use juices tested sources, so I'm sure not going to risk messing with other random things.

There are more faves and regrets among the reviews of the past year, but I don't have the patience to sift through the old posts. This year, I hope to do as much actual blogging about life as I do posting reviews.

Peace
--Free

And for the music today,  a little bit of Beth Hart

This song should end up being a classic

Ah, Sugar, Sugar. (Substitutes)

Slow but steady, right? I'm down 9.5lbs ** after about a month and a half of adjusting my low-carb regimen. That;s great, but I'm impatient. I want to lose more and faster. Recently, I chatted with someone on another social network and he reminded me to up my fats, lower the carbs, and adjust the proteins. I know that he is right because I've been reading other info and trying to head in that direction.

Getting more fat into my diet isn't too hard because I am in love with the new butter I've been using in my coffee. It's from KerryGold brand and it's from grass-fed cows. (And, yes, I remember being a little side-eye-ish about this a minute ago!) I still need to get more fat into my diet, but I'm working on it.

Losing some of the protein isn't a hardship, at least, not mentally. My problem is I haven't been diligent about thinking out my meal plans. Grabbing some bacon, pork, or beef is so easy when you haven't thought about side dishes and all that.

The hardest thing is ditching more carbs. Giving up pasta, bread, crackers, chips, and cookies bothers me not one bit. Those were never my weakness. It's my coffee creamer that I'm mourning. Every kind of creamer I like (and there are only a few) are loaded with carbs - especially because I drink more than a tablespoon per cup. A tablespoon's worth of creamer might as well be no creamer at all. It's like all foreplay and no sex. It's like only getting to watch someone make a cake and not getting even a taste. It's like when you dream you grabbed a handful of money only to wake up clutching empty air. It's- Never mind. I think you get what I mean.

Anyway, I've been trying to jazz up my coffee with lots of cream and different extracts. Vanilla is a favorite. Also, since I never did like table sugar in my coffee but still want something to sweeten it, I've been trying various sweetening substitutes.

Let's take a look at the different ones and why I do or don't like them or can't use them:

Brown Sugar
Love brown sugar in my coffee and, if I just have to ditch more carbs, I will start back using a bit of brown sugar mixed with whole heavy cream as a backup. (By the way, this explains the differences in light/golden and dark brown sugars.) Here are two different brand nutrition labels:

This one is the Bakers & Chefs Light Brown Sugar label. Note the 4 carbs per teaspoon. Teaspoon, ~sigh~














This one is the C&H brand of golden brown sugar. Same carb count. Same sad face for me.



Honey
Y'all know I love my honey, but it's not a great coffee sweetener. At any rate, I've been abstaining until I can get into good keto, but I am never giving up my honey full-time. I still use it on my mouth when I feel a cold sore itch trying to start (and I haven't restocked my Abreva since I started using honey instead). Just in case someone wants to use honey in their coffee (and definitely in tea), I'm including it here. There are too many types of honey to show labels for, so I'm going to show a common raw brand that I love.



By the way, those carbs? Those massive, massive carbs? That's typical for honey. Trust me, I try not to even lick my lips when I dab on some for a honey scrub or to treat a cold sore.

Blackstrap Molasses
First: ick. When I first started using 'strap to treat my low energy, the one way I couldn't stand it was in my coffee. The taste is too much. Like with honey, I am temporarily abstaining but when I do take 'strap, I put it in vanilla soy milk. As you can see, it's high carb but that's for a tablespoon, not teaspoon. Still, in coffee, ick.



Splenda
I have never, ever liked Splenda. Ever. My sister and most of my friends choose this for an artificial sweetener. I just can't handle the after-taste. Also, I hate the powder that puffs up when you open a packet. Just. Gross.



The other thing that bothers me is when I check the ingredients label, I see what someone just warned me about today. What's listed is Dextrose, Maltodextrin, and Sucralose.

I've heard that these can be just as bad as regular sugar if you're really, really watching carb intake. Also, dextrose = saccharine which reminds me of that nasty liquid stuff my mother used way back in the 70's. Ick. Maltodextrin is glycemically high (and I just made that word up, btw). Sucralose seems to be what gives Splenda it's "flavor", so ick.

Okay, so now that I have grumped and griped about those choices, let me share some other substitutes I've tried recently.

Truvia
I won't go into it much because I talked it to death in this post. I will say that I am learning a little more about sugar alcohols and all that.

As you can see it is not carb-free, just low-carb. Pay attention to that one ingredient of 3 grams in the photo on the left. Now notice the ingredients listed in the photo on the right? Hold on to that for a minute.

Erythritol...
We'll get to that in a moment

Just Like Sugar
I already talked about this in a post here. I like the taste (or lack of aftertaste), but I have to use too much to get any flavor. The stuff is too pricey to use so heavily. Also - and this is bigger for me - I am having trouble deciphering the carb counts.

Wha-?
Is it NO carbs or is it 4 carbs???

Another thing is that that there are nutrition label differences between the "tabletop" and jar versions. I submitted the questions about this to Amazon community and, usually, the Seller will chime in with an answer. Not so in this case.

Swerve
Now this is a sugar substitute I can get down with. There are 2 ingredients listed on the package.

Of course, I'd like this one the most. Look at the carb count...

Another thing I'm wondering about: what exactly are those "natural flavors"?

The best thing about Swerve is that, like Just Like Sugar, it really tastes a lot like table sugar right out of the bag. I did the finger-dip test to figure that out. There's none of the metallic 'twang' that is common with a lot of substitute sweeteners. But, then again, those carbs. If I want to enjoy my coffee, I have to choose between a teaspoon of this or a tablespoon of Almond Joy creamer. (I never use sweetener when I use the creamer anyway because it's sweet enough.) I have to say that I do like using this if I'm just adding butter and heavy cream to my coffee. Next time I make fat bombs, I'm going to try this on a few of them.

Erythritol
I mentioned that we'd talk about one of the ingredients in Truvia. Well, let's talk about this erythritol that is also found in Swerve. (I've heard that substitutes are often combined because doing so enhances their individual sweetness.)

The big positive of this one is that it seems so much sweeter than the other 'fakes'. The negative is that it does have a sort of back taste that sticks to my throat, but only if I use too much. Basically, this one is great if you are careful about measurements. I think it will be the best one to cook or bake with.

Once again, though, check that carb count...

 One last thing: according to the info panel on the back, Erythritol is "derived from non-GMO corn". I need to get my facts on this but, for some reason, I thought "corn" products were not great.

If you want more information about sweeteners, make sure you check out the Sugar and Sweetener Guide. I bookmarked the site so that I can go over and do some reading. Everything sugar is covered - even the history of sugar - and there are links to even more information.

For now, I have to tell you that I am alternating between the substitute sugars. It depends on what day it is. Also, I have been treating myself occasionally by using sweetened condensed milk in my coffee. This is a nice cheat as long as I make a teeny-tiny cup of coffee and add some heavy cream to break up the acidity of the brew. The label on sweetened condensed milk?

So, there you go. I hope this little rundown on the different sugars is helpful

Peace
--Free

P.S.:
** Today, it's official: I'm down 10 pounds!

**PRODUCT GRIPE** Canon Pixma MG series

So, a couple years ago, I bought a Canon printer. I didn't need anything fancy or multi-wonderful. What I needed was a basic machine to print out simple black-ink pages of my writing project. While we are in the computer age of electronic books and all the software we need to write and read them on our PCs, phones and tablets, there's nothing as useful for writers as the printed page. I can't even fully comprehend how to edit and make notes without actual  paper pages in my hand.

I bought the Canon Pixma MG2100 because it looked simple to operate,  didn't take up a lot of space in my cramped work area, and it was around $50 bucks. I remember that when I saw it at the store, I joked to my friend that, even for a simple printer, the price was almost too good to be true. She thought that I'd lucked out big time. So I bought that piece of bitch.

First let me point out the positives about the printer - because there are some things I like about it. It is pretty quiet when printing, and  it connects easily to my PC with a USB cord. Also, the printer looks good; it's not some ugly piece of appliance that you want to hide under a cute throw when it's not in use. It was set up to scan, copy and fax. I can scan and copy right from my Android phone so I wasn't worried about those functions but, hey, to have them all in one for a super-low price... Not bad, right? I didn't really have any serious complaints until the ink ran out so fast that I swear I only printed may 20 pages (some color, some black). After that, I had to keep fiddling with the settings to get any more use from the cartridges.

For a while, I had no problem replacing cartridges. Until a few weeks ago.

Walmart was out of the replacements I'd bought previously. When I looked at home for the manual (to see if I could use other brands, etc.) I realized I'd packed the book in  a storage room. Under about 9 million other things I'd put away between moving from one place to another. No problem, right? This is the age of the internet so I should be able to find a manual online somewhere. Maybe even at Canon's website.

You'd think.

Canon's website is perfect for getting driver updates and all kinds of product support. For everything but my model of printer. I decided to use their contact form to ask about the MG2100. That model is not even listed. I can contact them for the MG-this-one or MG-that-one, but not for the MG-one-that-I-have. I had to cheat on the form and use the closest model number (because you can't "submit" the query without inserting a model number).

I'm waiting to hear back from them about obtaining a replacement manual. I won't be surprised if their response doesn't turn out to be a polite version of "What'd you expect for 50 bucks? That we'd keep product info available for owners of the old printers?"

Yeah.

Guess that $50 price wasn't marked as a bargain as much as it was for dumping old inventory.

What I really wish is that I had never gotten rid of the old dot-matrix printer I had years ago. That thing printed from a ribbon that lasted forever. I was a little annoyed that it rocked the printer stand so much that everyone downstairs from me thought we were having a minor tremor, but I loved being able to print and re-print my work every time I made revisions.

My birthday's coming up so, when I was whining to my sister and niece about this cute little Pixma paperweight, they asked if I was hinting for new printer. (By the way, my family has always believed in my future as a writer. Good love from good people.) I wasn't hinting but, since they brought it up... Ha!

Tell you what, I will make sure that if I am getting a printer for my birthday, it won't start with "C" and end with "anon". The folks in my life love me, but I don't think they love me enough to supply me with printers every time Canon comes out with a new one. And, who know? This might be the way things go with all products, but I won't get burned twice by the same flame.

Now, let me go see which one of the fam loves me enough to run off a print of my rough draft...

Peace
--Freee

Love It or Hate It

Love Revlon for their Black Cherry (#477) Super Lustrous Lipstick. Why? Because I have such a hard time finding a good red for my skin type. Oftentimes, the color will be okay, but the formula will dry my lips to the texture of sandpaper. Get it right, folks: all dark black people are not blue-toned; some of us have the red undertone.

Love "Wint-O-Green" Life Saver mints. They are my new addiction since I gave up the tobacco sticks. (Day 33) My only complaint is a petty one: what the hell is up with the Wint-O-Green and Pep-O-Mint names? People all over the world already think Americans are a dumb. I make spelling and grammar mistakes here, but I'm not being paid for writing this blog. Use the correct spelling, guys. (And are the makers of Life Savers even American? Wrigley's?  ~shrug~)

Love Werther's candies, but they cost damn near as much as my cigarettes. Still, love 'em! Just try one of the caramel apple ones and tell me you aren't in love.

Hate Air Wick's Fresh-o-matic Vanilla Cookie Scent. LOVE the automatic dispenser, but that scent is ugh. Smells more like stale cookies. (And I kind of have an attitude about the dispenser's snake-like sound, but...) Thank goodness it's a scent limited to funking up the holidays.

Love the Beyond Belief whipped body creme in the Fresh Cotton scent I found at Sally's Beauty Supply. I got a 4 ounce tube for a whopping dollar ninety-nine (cheaper on the web). Fell in love with the texture, smell and slightly pearl-esque glow it initially leaves on the skin. Most of all, my broke ass fell in love with that price. 

Looking at this list, I'm happy to see that I Love more than I Hate. Still, I need to find more of what I love. 

For instance, what are the best lipsticks for darker complexioned women? Are there any good soy candles out there that I can fall in love with and not go broke buying? Does anyone make a decent air freshener that lasts and smells good? While I'm at it, I'd like to know if there is a good gelato sold in major supermarkets? (Right now I'm down like James Brown with the Talenti brand.)

Ah well. Looking on the bright side,  the less I love, the more I save.

Peace
--Free