BEB Favorites: October 2016
Happy Thursday to you!
I’m back with another installment of my favorites. It’s been a few months since I posted my inaugural favorites post, and I’ve found some great new things in the meantime, so here we are!
I separated this list out into three different categories – food, home & beauty, and baby/toddler. There are a handful of products in each section that I’ve been loving… hopefully you’ll find something new to love!
Food Favorites
ButcherBox – I mentioned this last time, and we are still loving all of the meat in our freezer from this butcher delivery service. It’s incredibly convenient, I love that the meat is sourced from small farms, and best of all – everything we’ve eaten has been delicious.
SPECIAL OFFER: ButcherBox is offering Brown Eyed Baker readers a special treat! Use the code “browneyedbaker” at checkout and receive two (2) FREE 10-ounce NY strip steaks + $10 off your first box.
Dairy Queen Dilly Bars – I know, this is SO not anything new or unique, but I’m currently on a DQ bender. The day that we came home from the hospital with Dominic, my husband said after all that time in the hospital, I could probably use some ice cream (um, he’s the best). He knows I LOVE Dairy Queen ice cream cakes, so he and my father-in-law ran out to Dairy Queen to get one, but they also came home with a couple of boxes of Dilly Bars. It’s possible that I’ve been eating a Dilly Bar every night since the ice cream cake was finished! I love the chocolate, my husband is all about the butterscotch, which works out so we’re not fighting over the last one in the box ;-)
Jeni’s Ice Cream – It took me quite awhile to finally try Jeni’s, as it’s not sold at my regular grocery store (I found it at Whole Foods), and while I’ve been a die hard Graeter’s fanatic for years, I found there’s room in my heart for two amazing ice creams! I bought the brambleberry crisp this summer and absolutely loved it! Plus, you can order their ice creams online (you can order Graeters, too) and they have street treats – like those little cups you used to get in grade school! Totally digging it!
Lactation Cookies – I know, this really won’t apply to many of you, but I had to throw them in here because they’re SO GOOD. My mom made a batch of Jessica’s lactation cookies right after I came home from the hospital and they are delicious! I mean, what’s better than having to eat cookies for the good of the baby?! ;-) Plus, my husband likes them, too!
Home & Beauty Favorites
Foyle’s War – This is a new-to-us show that we’ve been watching off and on from Netflix. It originally aired from 2002 to 2015 and is set in WWII England. The series centers around one detective and the cases that he works on; even though the show is relatively new, it has a certain Columbo-like old-school air about it. Each episode is 90 minutes, so they’re like mini movies. We’ve really been enjoying it – something very different!
JR Watkins Grapefruit Foaming Hand Soap – I bought this on a whim ages ago at the grocery store when we needed a new hand soap for the bathroom in our basement. Ever since, anyone who has used it asks what it is and where I got it. I’ve since tried other scents like lavender and lemon, but grapefruit is by far the best!
Scrub Daddy – I had been using an OXO scrub brush thing for the longest time in my kitchen, but even with rinsing it thoroughly after each use and running it through the dishwasher on a regular basis, it got pretty nasty. I think you can buy replacements for it, but one Sunday my aunt was telling me about these sponges she uses that she saw on Shark Tank – Scrub Daddy. I bought a pack and love, love, LOVE them. I seriously can’t say enough awesome things about these sponges. You have to use very little soap, they rinse completely clean and don’t get food stuck in them, and they dry super fast. I’m a huge fan and have been recommending them to everyone!
Wool Dryer Balls – My mom always asks us for Christmas ideas and last year one of the things on my list was wool dryer balls. I wanted to do away with dryer sheets and fabric softeners, and had been seeing dryer balls all over the place. She got them for us, and we’ve been using them ever since. We love them! I never have an issue with static except for the fleece changing pad covers from Joseph’s room. That’s IT. Those are the only things that still get static. I’m thrilled with how they’ve worked and even happier that I could eliminate some chemicals from our laundry.
Baby & Toddler Favorites
Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes – I got this as a baby shower gift and Joseph has loved it since he was old enough to hold it on his own. He still walks around with it, playing the music. It took a serious beating being dropped and thrown, and we actually just bought a replacement.
Halo SleepSack – I had two of these when Joseph was a newborn, but he HATED being swaddled. Like, would scream and scream until we released him. Dominic has been the complete opposite – he loves being swaddled, so we have put these to good use since we came home from the hospital! I have both the cotton muslin (use it during the day for naps) and the micro-fleece (use it at night). The velcro makes it so easy to get a nice, tight swaddle, and I don’t have to worry about a blanket coming undone and covering his face.
Leachco Podster – This is another carry-over from Joseph, and something he didn’t really like as a newborn. As he got a little bit older – 3 or 4 months (before he could roll!) – we would put him in there and set him on the counter while we unloaded the dishwasher, or I did my makeup. Dominic has been loving it to nap in… I think between the swaddle and how this lounger kid of cradles him, he’s a comfy little guy!
Munchkin Miracle 360 Sippy Cup – I ended up with tons of sippy cups from my baby shower, but once it was time to get Joseph started on them, I was reading a lot of articles about how pediatricians and dentists are not recommending sippy cups with spouts anymore because they can impair speech, something with teeth, etc. So, I came across these spoutless sippy cups and they are the only ones that Joseph has used since. It only took him a couple of times to figure out how to drink from it, and they don’t leak at all (unless your toddler throws it on the floor, which is not uncommon in our house, gah!).
PlanetBox – I bought one of these stainless steel lunch boxes for Joseph about six months ago. With his food allergies, I was constantly packing food for him if we were going to be gone for mealtime. Even if we were just going to see family, it made it easier for me to bring food I knew he could eat than asking about the labels for every ingredient that was in whatever we were being served. As a result, I was plowing through plastic sandwich baggies, and it was getting old. I had seen these lunch boxes all over Instagram, and am in absolute love with ours! I have the Rover version, and love all of the different compartments for different foods. I’ve never had an issue with the food spilling or moving around. I wish I had one of these when I was in school or working – it actually makes packing a lunch easy and slightly fun.
Q: What are you loving right now? Do you have favorite products you’ve found recently? Lay ’em on me in the comments below!
Previous Favorites:
[These are all items that I have used and loved, and wanted to share with you! There are some affiliate links above; thanks so much for reading!]
I’ve had this post stuck in my head because I wanted to come back and ask about these when it got closer to me needing them…what did you think of the lactation cookies? I know you said they were delicious but did you notice a difference with them?
Hi Claire, To be honest, I had supply issues with both boys. However, I was able to exclusively breastfeed longer with Dominic and I DID eat these, so maybe they did help!
We love Jeni’s ice cream – and you have to try her recipe for making ice cream. Hers is the first homemade ice cream that really has the texture of the best purchased, including her own. I did a taste test with the peanut butter with chocolate flecks and my homemade was virtually identical.
I LOVE Foyle’s War too. I’m just sorry I binge-watched it. I should have made it last longer. I’m old and lived through WWII as a child and remember all these things clearly.
I too, LOVE, love, love my Scrub Daddy. I don’t use it as a sponge and it lasts quite a long time used as a scrubber. It is excellent to use on a glass top stove since it can be used either soft or stiff and it is great to use on stuck on food before putting articles in the dishwasher. Love them!!!
My husband and I loved watching Foyle’s War. We started taking notes of the great British phrases that amused us.
I have been using the scrub daddys for at least a year & love them. There is also a scrub mommy version now that has sponge on one side, which I am currently using. They last at my kitchen sink for at least 2 months, when they start to fall apart, I move it to another part of the house to use for grime type jobs. QVC.com sells these, & you will most likely get more for your money buying from there. I do put mine in the dishwasher, & have never noticed them smelling.
Jessica’s lactation cookie recipe got me through breastfeeding! It was my go to recipe and I had one every day of my bf journey (a real struggle, of course). I also had a lactation smoothie for breakfast most days. Those sleepsacks were a great option for us, too. My son started wearing them again now (22 months) because it’s chilly in MA at night and he doesn’t keep the covers on. They make them with leg holes for when they are older.
Oh, and those sippy cups are the best! We went through a ton as well and love those. We also use the take and toss cups with a straw. My son had a tongue tie and using a straw is supposed to help strength mouth muscles to overcome any potential speech problem. Of course, he’s also learned how to blow bubbles with the straw, so there is that challenge to get over.
The wool dryer balls intrigue me. I haven’t seen or heard of them before. Thinking I need to give them a try on your recommendation, but they have also gotten 5-star reviews from others who have used them.
My question is about the sponges . . . the reviews have all pretty much said they do not last long which then makes them quite expensive. What has been your experience on the longevity of those sponges? I like the fact that they do not accumulate food or smell, but they need to last longer than a week as most have stated in the reviews.
Hi Michelle, Regarding the sponges… I bought the three pack at the beginning of August and I’m only on my second sponge. I threw the first one away when it started to crumble (per the instructions on the box). I rinse it very thoroughly after using and let air dry, and put it in the dishwasher about once a week to clean. We have a dishwasher, so it’s not like I’m using the sponge to wash a sink full of dishes every night, so maybe that makes a difference? I’m very happy with how well they’ve lasted!
Great post, wanted to comment on the dryer balls. They are available from individual sellers on Etsy, which is nice to support! But I first saw them on DIY Natural, which has instructions on how to make your own. I use them all the time now and have been making other sets for baby gifts. Have to use 100% wool yarn.
I like the wool dryer balls too. For a light lasting scent on your laundry, I put a few drops of lavender oil (from Doterra) on the dryer balls. Then dry as usual.
Especially nice on sheets and towels.
Michele, I had to lol at the typo. Butcher Box is incredibly INconvenient. I’m sure ya didn’t mean that, but thanks for that lol moment this morning. :)
Yes, I caught that one as well. With her new baby and all, I suspect she’s sleep deprived, so we can cut her some slack. Still, the “incredibly inconvenient” cracked me up!
Yes, a typo, it’s fixed!