Another Review for You!

I promise you I do other things besides review products! I also homeschool my two girls. I may post about that sometime. But, for now, I have another item that I wanted to tell you about that I was sent for free to review. It's an armband extender.

OOOHH!!!!!!

AAHHHH!!!!!

OHHHH!!!!!


I know, right? Totally exciting!


Ok, maybe not real exciting, but it is a handy little item to have! I got an armband cellphone holder (also through a review offer) a few weeks ago. However, when I wore it, it felt like I was losing all circulation in my arm.

NOT FUN!

So, I put that little puppy up and away. Then, I received this offer and thought I'd give it a try again. Well, this has made a big difference in how the armband fits! It is so much more comfortable now! The extender is made of the same material as my original armband, although they are from two different companies. There were no directions on the box, so I wasn't crazy about that. But, it's not a complicated product to figure out (you know, after you do it the wrong way two times.....) http://www.amazon.com/Armband-Extension-Iphone-Samsung-Armbands/dp/B00XPUC834/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1442057066&sr=8-1&keywords=red+star+tec+armband+extender

Vegetable Spiralizer

I received this vegetable spiralizer at a discount in exchange for writing a review and blog post about it.
The first time I tried this, I used carrots. That did not work out really well at all. I think the carrots are just too hard for this machine to work properly. It took me about 5 minutes to get through one carrot. It was frustrating and I was ready to throw the whole machine out the window. Then, I got it back out again last week and tried some potatoes. i was going to make mashed potatoes and was hoping this would help them cook quickly because I had decided on mashed potatoes kind of late into my supper preparations. I didn't have much hope, since this had worked so poorly for carrots. I was pleasantly surprised though at how quickly this whipped right through the potatoes. I was able to prepare enough potatoes for five people in just a minute or two. I think the softer vegetable really made a difference. And, this did make a big difference in the cook time of the potatoes. They cooked up quickly and didn't require much mashing since they were so thinly sliced. They tasted great too. 

 I do find the handle and the lever to move the contraption very awkward to use. The whole thing stays secure to the countertop with four suction cups. It is rather hard to unstick them when you are done though. The whole thing is a bit of a pain to wash up, so I'm really not sure if this is something I will be using very often.

Making Soap With Neem Oil

 The other day, I decided to make some soap with some neem oil that I received for free from Amazon in exchange for testing it out and writing a post and review. I have never used neem oil before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew it had a strong scent, but I was unprepared for HOW strong it was! It may be a case of just growing accustomed to it, that may come in time. Anyway, I did some Google searching and decided to make some soap. Neem oil is suppose to help skin conditions, which we have some of in this family. I like to make hot process soap, instant gratification and all. Let me tell you, if you think neem oil smells bad when cold, it gets much worse when you heat it up!!! However, once the soap was finished the smell was barely noticeable. I also put lavender essential oil in the soap once it was finished. So, it smells really good now. So far I am really liking the soap. It's a harder bar than some of the soap I've made in the past, which means it lasts longer. That's always a plus. The soap is quite gentle and cleans well. It doesn't foam up too much, but enough. I haven't noticed it it's helping with any of the skin conditions (skin yeast rashes mostly), but I'm hopeful. Overall, I really like this oil, except for the smell! I am no soap making expert, but this is the recipe I came up with, you will want to double check it before using it yourself:

Neem Oil Soap

22.17 ounces of Coconut Oil (76 degree)
38.01 ounces of Olive Oil (Pomace)
3.17 ounces of Neem Oil
9.05 ounces of Lye
21.13 ounces of water

Look up ways to make soap before attempting this, you can't just mix it all up or you will get hurt. There are tons of crockpot soap tutorials out there. This is the one I started with: http://chickensintheroad.com/house/crafts/how-to-make-soap
This recipe will fit in a rectangular cake pan. I oil the pan before I poor the soap in to make it easier to get out later.