Mom Life in the PNW

Ozeri INSTAVAC Green Earth Food Storage Container Set Review

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.
Have you ever made a big meal and wondered where you’re going to store the leftovers to make it as fresh and delish as the day you made it? Often times, I am making casserole dishes which are too much for my husband and I to eat alone, even as a second meal. I usually just keep the leftovers in the casserole dish and stick it in the fridge. It might work for a next day meal, but it’s not going to keep it fresh for long when bacteria and other stuff start producing because it’s not tightly air-sealed. Then after the third or fourth day, if there is still leftovers, I end up tossing it. Not only is it a waste of money, but it’s not effective.
That’s where the Ozeri INSTAVAC Green Earth Food Storage 8 Piece Container Set comes in. These are BPA Free and feature an airtight instant vacuum seal technology when you press down on the container in a pumping motion with your hands. But first, you must make sure the lid snaps and green tab are closed. When you do the pumping motion on the lid, it pushes the air out and the green plastic valve in the middle of the date dial sucks itself in; you want to do this until it goes in completely. This is to let you know that it is sealed from as much air as possible. Then, you set the date on the dial to the date you initially stored your food for easy monitoring.


These also nestle inside one another for easy storage. The unfortunate part is, these are bigger than the average size containers, so if you’re like me and have limited cupboard space, these might be too big for you. I found the 2nd to largest one perfect size for my leftovers. The largest one I can see using for crock-pot meals, or perhaps all of my fresh vegetables that seem to spoil fast by sitting in the crisper drawer of my fridge.

I was also surprised that these can be used in the microwave or even the freezer. When in the microwave, it automatically releases the valve to prevents spills, splatters, and bursting. They claim to be stain resistant and shatter proof. I can’t tell you how many times my plastic Tupperware have stained from spaghetti sauce or having the lid break because I dropped it on the ground, so I am really hoping these claims are true. So far so good though!

I highly recommend these containers as they will save you money, time and space!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.


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Zaycon Foods Chicken Review

Image from CAMonkeyMomma, as I forgot to take a photo.

 

I got a chance to receive a 40 lb box of Chicken from Zaycon Foods when they arrived in my city for their monthly food dispersing travels for posting about them previously. All opinions are my own and no monetary compensation was received besides the free chicken.

Zaycon Foods was actually quite easy to deal with. I placed my order online, chose a date that they would be in my town, and then waited for their arrival.

Once it was time for me to pick up the chicken, I printed my receipt from my email, drove to the area they had set up and waited in line in our cars. It was literally a drive-thru chicken pick up and took less than 10 minutes tops. They opened our cars back door, laid down plastic over our cars interior and dropped the box of fresh chicken on our seat in a total of 1 minute. They’re fast!!

They did have a bit of difficulty with the truck they used for shipment, but they made sure to call me and let me know they would be a half an hour to an hour later than normal since they were having mechanical problems with the truck. But that was fine because I had to go grocery shopping anyways and just stopped on the way there when I was done with that. I liked that they called me to let me know thoug, as well as sent an email out.

When we got home, my husband and I had to vacuum seal 40 lbs of chicken and let me tell you, it was a daunting task LOL but so worth it. I didn’t pound the chicken with a meat tenderizer and I think this helps to make it more tender and less chewy when you cook it since its going to be easy to over cook it as its so thick and huge. Maybe even best to slice the breasts into halves or even thirds, cause 1 person could definitely share 1 chicken breast. I found that cooking on a pan though without doing any of the mentioned above made the chicken taste rubbery and chewy, even cooking it in the oven gave me the same results. I tried the crock-pot and that seemed to work a little better but there were still a couple of chunks that were a little bit chewy, but overall much better.

Thank you Zaycon Foods, you were a pleasure to work with, hope to be a repeat customer if the prices are still right!

Nuvo Cabinet Paint Review

When I heard about Nuvo Cabinet Paint, I thought it would be perfect for updating the color of our kitchen cabinets to the cocoa couture color to match the rest of the furniture of the house as it’s an open concept space. My husband didn’t like that idea since he thinks the color of the cupboards is fine as they are. As you can see, they’re not a bad color, just not a color that I prefer!

So I decided to give the paint to one of our friends since he just bought a house that needed quite a bit of updating, which included needing fresh paint in his kitchen. Now, this is not a brand new spanking house, or he wouldn’t need any updates at all. I think it was built in the early 1900’s, so it needs quite a bit of work. We actually went over there just to help him repaint the entire house, except for the living room area, because the ceiling was being refinished with sheetrock, etc.

My Nuvo Cabinet Paint Kit arrived about a week after it was ordered and it came with everything we needed to get the hideous yellow-green color off of the cabinets; 2 quarts of paint (covers 100 sq ft area), paint sticks, paint can opener, rollers, sandpaper, and instructional information. Having everything in this bundle made the process that much simpler to deal with and do.

We just traveled back in time yo!

First, we sanded our friends’ cupboards to help get the tacky yellow color lighter so the paint would adhere to it better. We removed the drawer pulls, and then we went to town and finished his small kitchen area with the slate modern gray color with the small paint brushes that were sent. He didn’t have any updated cabinet fixtures yet since he just bought this place not that long ago, but I imagine everything will be in tip-top shape when he has the funds to proceed. Even with just the paint, it has improved the look drastically. He was unsure if which color to go with, and in fact, wanted to pick a lighter color, but I mentioned that with having the countertops white, as well as the appliances, the entire kitchen would look like a dreary hospital. If he updates the countertops with some of Giani’s granite countertop paint, I think the kitchen would pop, especially if he bought some stainless steel appliances and new fixtures to go along with!

Our friend did mention that it has chipped some, but he had leftover paint which can be used to touch up the chipped areas any time he needs to. It’s probably a good idea to put a topcoat over them even though it says it’s not needed just to get that added layer of protection. Overall, I love it! Maybe next time we can get some Giani Granite Counter Top Paint.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.