Kroger's The Truly Awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies

How does one judge a cookie?  Every person has a cookie that just does it for them and there is no other cookie that compares.  So, trying a different brand, style, or recipe is something that many people never do.  Fortunately, I am not one of those people unwilling to take the plunge and try something different.

This nondescript box is something that thousands of people will most likely walk past on a daily basis.  It's not super-colorful, it's not got cartoon characters, it doesn't even have a bunch of different font types.  I, however am willing to take a plain box off the shelf and give it a shot.

Let's talk about the ideal cookie.  Lots of chocolate is a must (if we're talking chocolate chip, which we are).  It must not be too brown-sugary nor should it taste like flour.  It must be the right size, shape, and texture.

So, when I opened up these cookies, those are the things I made sure to pay attention to.  First, the level of chocolate was really good, far better than I was expecting.  The dough used is pretty good.  I don't feel like I need to rinse any extra brown sugar or flour out of my mouth after I finished eating them.  The size is good, they're small enough to dip but big enough that non-dippers can still feel like the cookie is right for them.  The shape is good, nice and round without looking like they came off of a long tube.  The texture is a bit crunchy HOWEVER, we are a family that loves softer cookies, and the crunch was perfectly avoidable for us.  First, we had the option of the old-fashioned milk dip method.  The cookies are also made to soften up in the microwave, so we tossed them in for about 20 seconds (we have a really low-wattage microwave) and they were nice and chewy (and warm and yummy).  So, the crunch is perfect for those who like them, but for those of us that don't there is a fail-safe built in.

All things considered, these cookies are a good buy.  It is definitely worth looking into the nondescript blue box the next time you are cruising the isles looking for something to satisfy your sweet-tooth.

A Special thanks to Kroger and BzzAgent for giving our family the opportunity to try these cookies.

Tonka XT Ricochet Tricksters--Child's View

So, I promised to let the little guy have a go with these little toys to see what he thought of them.  Now, we ran into one big problem; the big guy.  The big guy didn't want to give it up for the little one.  So, we hoarded it for ourselves for a week or better, then one rainy day when the little one couldn't play outside I broke it out for some indoor fun.

The little guy was in heaven.  Apparently this is all it takes to combat the rainy-day blues.  My little guy broke into a grin, gave me a huge hug, and tore off with the big guy to the basement for a little fun (consequently leaving me to start supper in peace).

Now, there were some definite things that I learned from his first day with these.  First, they really are "Tonka Tough".  It took all of 10 minutes for my guys to decide to run it full tilt down a flight of stairs.  Not only did it live, it had no ill effects from the trip that has maimed countless other toys.

My second note was that this car, fully charged, does not quite meet the attention span of my little guy.  Of course, he does have an abnormally large attention span so many toys don't.  At a full charge you can expect just under a half-hour of play time.  That is plenty for most kids, but you add my little one with the giant one and their imagination and it could stand a bit of a boost.  However, a charge is completed fairly quickly, so it was nothing to worry about.

Another important thing that I noticed was that this toy had to have some mom input somewhere along the way.  After hours of play in my living room (where it's not supposed to be of course) my walls are still white along the tire line.  I know for a fact that this car has been driven along the walls more times than they will admit to, and the lack of paint scrapes tells me there was a mom somewhere.

All things considered the little guy loves it as much as the big one does (perhaps even a smidgen more).  The only advice I can give to the moms out there thinking of purchasing this for the little ones is to keep plenty of batteries on hand, make sure that the boys have an area free of breakables to play with it in (no, I haven't learned this this hard way, but I can only imagine a ramp pointing at the china cabinet), and to keep something on hand to dig it out from under furniture (we just grab the nearest hockey stick, but I'm sure a broom handle would work just as well).

As always, thanks to BzzAgents and Tonka for the opportunity to let my little guy (and big one) have some fun with this car, words can't describe how much the two of them enjoy it.

Burt's Bees Sensitive Skincare Line

So like many other's I have skin issues.  I suppose that mine are a bit more extreme than the norm.  I have horrible allergies (this is a bit of an understatement).  I have to be very cautious what I use on my skin.  The wrong product can lead to a myriad of problems; I will break out in hives, I will get one heck of a rash, parts of my face will go numb leaving me running for an Epi-Pen.

This is all made worse by the fact that I have combination skin that needs to have something used on it.  I get massive breakouts on my chin and nose and dry out horribly on the sides of my face and my forehead.  My skin requires something to be used to keep all this at bay.

So I jumped at the chance to try Burt's Bees sensitive skin care line.  I have a good track record with their products.  Their lip balm is awesome and doesn't cause my lips to go numb, their lotion smells so good and doesn't cause hives.  I could only imagine how much I would love their sensitive skincare line.

This line has some positive and some negative things about it.  Let's start with the negative.  The smell of the line isn't great.  I'm not saying it's bad, instead I'm saying that it's not what I was expecting.  I have never used a product from Burt's Bees that doesn't have at least an undertone of beeswax scent.  This one does not.  It really does smell like cottonseed with a touch of a clay undertone.  It's not a bad smell, it's just not super-yummy.  The other downside (at least for me) is the lack of sun protection.  Okay, I know that adding SPF to it would make it less natural, but while I love makeup I don't wear it every day so some protection in my lotion has become a bit of a standard for me.

Now, the good points of this line.  It's mostly natural (99%) and we love natural products.  The cleanser is great.  It's gentle yet works (no pimples have managed to work their way in since I started using it).  The lotion does not clog my pores (it's specifically designed not to) which helps with the breakout problems as well.  The products contain lots good stuff that is intended to calm the skin and achieves its goal.

If you look at this skincare line from the attitude of someone who deals with natural medicine the line makes perfect sense.  It contains eyebright (which I was completely excited to see).  I have used an eyebright mixture for years to reduce swelling.  It contains aloe which calms and soothes over-worked skin.  Adding these products in (even without all of the other good stuff) just makes those of us who use natural medicine happy.

So, I am now a convert.  This line does exactly what it intends to do without causing any problems.  Of course we all know that every person with sensitive skin and skin allergies is different, but as long as you don't have a sensitivity to aloe I don't see this line being a negative for you.

Thanks once again to BzzAgent and Burt's Bees for the opportunity to try and review this line.

Tonka XT Ricochet Tricksters R/C

So I'm heading out to the store the other day and find a fun little box sitting on my table containing the awesome car in the picture above.  Of course the kid in me said "Open and play now" and the adult in me said "Take it out of the box since the box is wet and wait until you're done shopping".  So, the kid won to begin with and I immediately removed it from the box and checked to see what batteries I needed to be able to play.

So I went and grabbed several packs of batteries.  This little toy takes 5 AA batteries to function so I bought extra knowing how much we'd play with it.  I rushed home and added the batteries to the controller and hooked the car up to the controller to charge.  While all this was going on the biggest kid in the house (of course the man) decided to briefly skim the directions and bounce staring at the car as if the extra energy from his gaze would charge the car faster.

Eventually I gave in and we unplugged the car, turned the remote on, and started playing while there were no kids around to take it from us (let's face it, sometimes the real reason we have toys around the house is so parents can play).  We watched as this little car zoomed from place to place, spun around in circles, and eventually lodged itself so far under my bed that we had to grab a hockey stick to pull it back to safety.  Then we pushed the button.

In the center of the remote is a button that allows the car to do whatever trick it's designed to do.  In our case the car flips over repeatedly.  You see, on the other side of the car is another awesome car.  Instant love.  This car is awesome and now I want the other's to trick with (there are 3 different cars each with a different built-in trick).  I think I just may have to go get them since the three of us could all play with our cars on in the same room with different frequencies.  Nothing says family bonding like trying to run one another over with R/C cars.

An extra-special thanks to BzzAgent and Tonka for giving us the chance to try out this awesome car.  Coming up next will be a report on the Tonka XT Ricochet Tricksters and what the little guy (instead of us grown-ups) thinks about them.

Star Wars: The Complete Saga

How old were you the first time you saw a Star Wars movie?  Where where you at?  What did you eat?  What character in the Star Wars universe can't you live without?  These are questions that nearly everyone is able to answer.

Now the Star Wars Saga is coming to us in a completely new way.  Star Wars meets hi-def.

This is perhaps the best thing that could possibly happen to the next generation of Star Wars fanatics (well, okay, a re-release in theaters would be better, but hey, this is as sweet as it gets aside from that).

Let's take a look at some of the things that these Blu-ray discs will offer:  They're complete with deleted scenes and extended scenes that we've never gotten to see.  They contain a TON of documentaries for the Star Wars lover in all of us.  They're in HI-DEF (okay, so I already mentioned this, but it's worthy of a second mention).

This set is one that many of us never thought would be produced.  Remember back in the early 90s when word was that the original trilogy VHS boxed set was as far as the series was going to be permitted to go in the world of technology?  Remember the excitement when the DVDs first were rumored to be in the works?  Now we have one step better, and a step that should last for a good many years to come.

And the best part of all is that we will finally get to give the next generation Star Wars in a format that is much more "traditional" to them (even if it is nearly-new technology for the rest of us).  This means another generation of children who simply can not get enough and who will fall in love with the characters as many of us did as children and teens.  I for one can't wait to experience the wonder of Star Wars all over again with the next generation.

LunchBots Duo

Is this not the cutest thing ever?

Okay, time for a little story about me.  A few years ago me, the poor college student, decided that I could no longer afford the price of food on campus and that even if I could I could the campus food was anything but healthy (we only had fast food options).  So, I started looking for an alternative.

I soon found the wonderful world of bento.  What's bento?  Nutritionally sound meals served in tiny little boxes.  What's the point in the tiny little boxes?  To make it so your food doesn't bounce everywhere and make a mess (remember smashed sandwiches in elementary school?).  So, I found myself a bento box (or two) and started carrying my lunch.

Now, all the bento boxes are plastic.  Plastic has of course become public enemy #1 for health fanatics.  Let's face it, we've all switched to our lovely aluminum BPA free water bottles.  Yet we still carry our lunch (and pack our kids lunches) in plastic containers.  While I'm not 100% sold on the idea that a plastic lunch container will cause cancer to my child I'm not sure it's something I want to risk.

Which leads us back to the idea of the LunchBots containers mentioned above.  The food portion is made aluminum.  That means it is BPA free by default.  Perhaps more importantly for the bento crazed, IT'S ADORABLE!!!

L'Oreal One Sweep Eye Shadow

I love eye shadow.  Actually, that's a bit of an understatement.  From the time I was old enough to handle a makeup brush I have always worn it.  I remember back in the 80's where there was nothing cooler than wearing tons of blue eye shadow trailing into purple with bold blue mascara.  Now (thankfully) the world has regained some sense of order and classic styles are back in fashion.

L'Oreal has come up with a plan to make even the busiest of moms able to have that great classic eye look and even taken the guess work out of it for us.  Now I can spend all of 30 seconds on my eye shadow and look like I spent some quality time ignoring the kids while making my eyes look great.  Literally all you have to do is sweep the brush across the shadow and apply to one eye.  Flip the brush around sweep it the other direction across the powder and sweep it across the other eye.  30 seconds and my eyes have that depth with no need for blending.  How much easier can it get?

As always, I want to thank L'Oreal and BzzAgents for giving me the opportunity to have a test run with this eye shadow.  Everyone can look forward to my review of the Double Extended Eye Illuminator Mascara as soon as I have time to write about it.