Review of Giant Eagle Market District in Pittsburgh

I drove about 3 hours to Pittsburgh PA last December 2010 to go to the Giant Eagle Market District Store.  I wasn’t even sure that it was the actual grocery store that I was going to, until I was there. (shows what a dingy I am).  I just knew it was called the Market District and I also knew that I was going to do some cooking!  There were five bloggers,  Kim from www.Crafty Mama of 4.com and Beth from www.The Plus Size Mommy.com were both there, and they were from the Pittsburgh area.  The couple from Columbus Foodies, along with myself.

I loved the candy section, can you tell?

and one more!

Ok… now for some healthy stuff!

The store was pretty amazing.  Of course you had your normal food items, but then there were so many speciality foods – get this… they grow their own lettuce there!!  They also sell other lettuce, but isn’t this cool?

How often have you seen sugar cane at your grocery store?  Beth was laughing because her husband is from Jamaica and she said she wanted to get him one for Christmas.

Just how items were displayed was unique. I loved this sausage … it reminded me of garland.  Maybe I’m just a little too much into the Christmas decorations right now?

This was a bin of coffee beans…oh did it smell good there.  There are things like oil and vinegar bars there. You purchase your bottle and you can come back and refill it from all the different kinds of oil and vinegar. Who knew?  Not I…. I don’t use enough oil and vinegar to even think about it.  Obviously…. gourmet cook I’m not.

There is an entire area for cheese!  I looked at what looked like some really crazy fancy dessert and asked about it.. it was a dessert cheese! Never would have thought!  I am realizing I am just a regular ol’ gal! LOL

Just had to take this picture!!  I just thought it would be a cool picture.  Big barrel of pickles….. now I do know what those are!

We toured around this massive grocery store, stopping at the beginning of our tour for a smoothie. I got a peach one and had supplements added of antioxidants and protein.  It tasted pretty good… maybe a little too yogurtery for me (in other words…. it had that healthy taste to it – although it was still very good)

There is a restaurant in the store. You can sit down and eat a meal – tour the open food bars, get a piece of pizza or make a crepe – and then sit down with a glass of wine and eat.  In Pittsburgh being able to buy alcohol in grocery stores is something unusual. But they got a permit with some very stringent regulations. The alcohol has to be rung up on separate cash registers and there has to be a separate entrance – those are just two of them, I’m sure there are others.

After our tour we went up to the cooking school as you saw on the video. That is something that I would take advantage of if I lived close. What a fun evening for a group of ladies or several couples to have a date night. They also have kid classes – we saw the beginnings of the gingerbread houses that were going to be decorated the next day by the young class.

Our cooking class was fun! There were two teams of 4 people each. We each had our own stove tops and food trays. I did some cooking, but I was having too much fun taking pictures to cook much.

My favorite was the Porcini scented mushroom risotto. I’ve never made it. After you sweat (yes sweat.. a new cooking term for me too) the shallots – you add the Arborio rice. It has to toast and the shell start to crack….you then add in the broth slowly… I mean really slowly. You add 1/2 cup and then stir, until it soaks in… another 1/2 cup…and so on and so forth – until you add 4 cups. It took us about 20 minutes to make it. Then you add in heavy whipping cream and Parmesan cheese.
Then cooking sous vide was of course all new too. Sealing your food in a bag… then cooking in a hot moving water bath… just seems almost simple to me. I mean, it makes me think of cooking frozen food – like vegetables. But the water bath units are very expensive, and they move the water around. The advantages – you can cook the food all the way through evenly adn uniform every time. So for the filet mignon, if 4 people want medium rare steaks – you just set the temperature to the specific temp to get that done and they will all cook the same, all the way through.

Donna was such a great hostess to us! As we toured Giant Eagle we had several people behind the counters telling us we couldn’t take pictures. All I had to say was, “I’m with Donna” and point to her. They would all say, oh.. ok. LOL

I always love to do things with Kim and Beth. We have such a good time together.

Disclosure: I was sponsored to go to the Pittsburgh store for the night I had to stay over by Giant Eagle.  I also received a gift bag.  I did not receive any cash compensation for the actual traveling to and from Pittsburgh. The pictures, video and thoughts are all my own.

(I reposted this blog post from my Chat with Sandy blog. It was originally posted 12/16/11

Share your DIY, crafts, decorating or organizing projects!!

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Looking for other link parties? I have a whole list of them. Thumbnail via day above and keep scrolling down to find a more extensive text lists by day on my link party list. If you aren’t sure how to link up… see my link party tutorial here. It is simple. If You Are On A Reader and Want to View All the Great Link Up’s on this post please Click Here.
This party will be open until January 15, 2012

Do You Have A Skin Regime you Love?

If not I can highly recommend Therapon.  I didn’t set out looking for this, even though I knew I needed something!

I’ve been so discouraged lately at the lines and wrinkles and age showing on my face. I tease that I get my own facelift by not wearing my glasses when I look in a mirror. (and that really does help! lol) When I do have my glasses on and see my reflection, my heart sinks.  My once fresh skin is now aging dramatically, the wrinkles are jumping ahead of one another to race to see who can multiply my face quicker – the area around my eyes, or the area around my mouth and chin.

There have been many a video that I did not use because they showed way too many details of my face deterioration.

I’ve gone the Mary Kay, Ogai and other over the counter routines.  Most of them call for different routines each day. You might do the scrubs once or twice a week, a night time regime that is different than the daytime one, etc.  To tell you the truth, I usually end up getting lazy and go back to my routine of  just using good old soap and water and which ever moisturizer I have on hand.

I went to Gleek Retreat in MI a few months back and met  Christina Stumbaugh, who was giving facials.  I didn’t want to get one done because I just had my skin graft done on my nose and still wearing a band-aide. But I did go in and talk to her, and we got a sample in our swag bag.

It was a four part system, and what was nice about it was that it was the same…. morning & night.. everyday of the week.  Easy Peezy!

I have been using these products for a couple months now.  I had a video I recorded for you, but I’m having big time technical problems with not only my flip software, but also my imovie clips since I had to clear off my computer last week.

Results I Noticed

1) Dramatic change in the softness of my skin  - my skin has always been dryer since I’ve aged and much dryer since I went through menopause two years ago.  I LOVE the feel of my face again!  It feels smooth again.

2)  My pores are smaller – the pores on my nose have always been larger. They have gotten much smaller since I’ve started this.

3) My fine lines have decreased.  I can’t say they are gone or I look 20 years younger, but I have noticed an improvement in the last couple months.

4) The scar from my skin graft is much less. I really think this regime has decreased the scaring on my nose. I’m thrilled with that.

5) I was diagnosed with rosacea shortly before I started on this. Since I’ve been using it, I’ve had no outbreaks of the rosacea. I can’t say they are related because I don’t actually know. But I really wonder if this is why I’ve not had more problems with it.

6) I don’t have problems with flakey dry skin at the junction of my eye brows and bridge of my nose. The lines there are still pretty deep (too much frowning!) but better – but I used to get all this flakey stuff at the edge of my eye brows and that crease.. I don’t have a problem with that anymore.

The products

I am using a four step process

1) Cleansing Wash – Mild, suds really nicely. The smell is mild and clean… not flowerly.

2) Fruit Acid Exfoliant – I expected this to be thick with those little rough pieces in it.. that you use once a week. Instead this is a clear, think liquid. You use their pads (but I thought were too rough and opted for my softer ones, before I read that the purpose of the roughness was to help the exfoliant action… duh!) and put it on twice a day.  It feels nice and you wonder how it is acting as an exfoliant.

3) OPC Reparative Gel – This is an amber clear but slightly thicker liquid than the exfoliant.  I use a little on my finger and put it all over my face.  The color always reminds me of betadine (the nurse in me). The smell isn’t bad, but there is a bit of a distintive odor to it. It does not give or leave any color on your skin. It soaks into your skin very nicely.

4) Enriched Facial Moisturizer – This is a thick rich white cream. It feels wonderful when it goes on. It does seem more like a night cream in thickness, but once it is on, it doesn’t feel heavy or sticky at all.  My makeup goes on very nicely over it.

I do this in the morning and evening.  I have also tried their Sun Screen product and love it too.  I have to be very careful of the sun exposure as I’ve already had a basal cell cancer and skin graft done on my nose and I’m at high risk for melanoma skin cancer.

I’m extremely pleased with the products and really hoping I can have some more to keep reviewing!   I have a dermatology appointment next month and plan to show my dermatologist what I’ve been using and ask her about it.  (These products were developed by  Dr. Beckman who is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon). I am also driving to VA to see my sister and brother in law at the end of September.  He is an Oral Maxillary  Surgeon and preforms reconstructive facial surgery on accident victims. He also does some cosmetic surgery and researches products that can help his clients achieve better skin health. I’m going to also talk to RW about these products.

Thanks Therapon, I’m a very pleased client.. oh.. and I LOVE the little containers for travel! Perfect size!!

Magellan eXplorist 310 North American

My husband and kids love to go exploring outdoors.  It might just be at our farm this trip, but Dave loves the woods and hiking around.

We had seen a GPS unit (not sure if it was this one we saw or not) on TV months ago. Dave was talking about how nice that would be to have. When I got to review this Magellan GPS I was thrilled because I knew how much Dave was going to like it.

There are several different Magellan eXplorist GPS units that range from about $149 – $550.00.  This is the eXplorist 310 North American that costs $199.00

It is a unit that is hand held and battery powered.  You can take it right with you on hikes or trail rides. It is rugged and has a place that it can slip right onto a clip or belt, or would easily fit in a fanny pack, backpack or clipped on your belt.

You can put in locations or find your location. It gives you the coordinance, elevation etc.. of where you are.

The maps are easy to read and geared for outdoors.

There is an anti glare screen.  In the really bright sunlight it can still be a little difficult to see – you can see by looking at this picture of my step son when he was using it. He was blocking the sun to see it better.

I think it is fun because as you walk around with it… it tracks your progress. I know you do the same thing with a car GPS… but it still surprised me to see it picked up my steps.

The kids used it when they were hiking around the farm. It is easiest enough for them to use (once you set it up)

Dave is excited to use it when we go hiking in Indiana in a few weeks and also said it will be a great addition when we go on our Canada fishing trip next year.

This Magellan eXplorist 310 North American was given to me for review. This does not influence my review. The pictures and opinions are my own.

Magnetic Paint

I want to talk about this great idea for magnetic paint. I love the idea and think it can have so many uses.  We bought a can of it (quart) to use in the remodeling of my son’s basement bedroom.  Then I talked to a company and they offered to send me some to do a review on, which he did.  He told me to make sure I followed the directions carefully because that can make a big difference in the results you get.

My Thoughts on the Magnetic Paint

My son measured out the area that would allow for the 2 quarts of magnetic paint that we had.  I told him to read and carefully follow the directions.  He did and used several coats of the paint. He did use ALL of the paint which I was told was important and if you did not you might not have good “stickability”.  I was also informed that a special magnet called NEODYMIUM magnets were the best to use. I did not buy them, so that might be why I had problems.

It looks great!  He is thrilled with it.  But here are the issues.  The magnetic properties are VERY weak.  The picture of the hand kept sliding down.  I do plan to get some  of the magnets though and if that is the case and they stick good….this is FANTASTIC.  If not…then I would recommend that each thing that goes up has several magnetics to hold it. The magnets that you should use for it are called Neodymium magnets.

If you Plan to Use Magnetic Paint Remember:

1) Follow directions carefully and measure size of space. 25 sq ft per quart.  Use ALL of the paint in the can.

2) Buy the proper magnets.  Neodymium magnets

Peel and Stick Chalk Board.

Peel and Stick Chalk Board, Magnetic Board /Dry Erase Board

I also reviewed this 4×4 foot piece of peel and stick Chalk board.  I was pleased with it.  It went up like wall paper. Try to smooth it out so that you don’t get air bubbles underneath. That was good.  The magnetic power was like that of the magnetic paint. If I used several magnets I could get a piece of paper to stay. If I used one…it was not strong enough. My guess is that the Neodymium magnets would work for this too.

It worked fine as a chalk board, and cleaned up better (as most chalk boards do) with a damp towel.

They also have dry erase peel and stick. Tip: Don’t try dry erase marker on your chalk board….it doesn’t wipe off. Don’t ask me how I know…oops!

This review has taken me several months to get up.  I have e-mailed my source several times stating I was finally getting the review up but did not hear back. So I am not going to have a giveaway with it because I can’t be sure he will respond.

Disclosure: I did purchase 1 quart of magnetic paint myself. I did also receive 1 quart and also the peel and stick chalk board to review.

Go check out the review that Angela from Mom’s Fortress of Solitude
She did the review as part of Global Influence Holiday Gift Guide.
She just learned what I learned a couple of years ago…the pouchee is a great product!

There will be a giveaway this Saturday Dec. 11th for a sitewarming twitter party. So watch for it!

These are pictures from Wednesday which was our last full day at Ocean Isle Inn. We had a wonderful time there and this would be a great place for anyone to come. It is what I would call a very comfortable, clean, family friendly hotel. There isn’t carpet in the rooms which is actually nice when you have people coming in and out with wet, sandy feet and shoes.
The breakfast buffet in the mornings is a deluxe continental breakfast. Very nice.
Lee is the GM of the hotel and has been a delight to work with. He did provide us with three nights to stay at his hotel (see disclosure)
As I have told you (my readers) before I am not going to lie about something because it was given to me. This would be a great place to stay and I would love to come back. I would say the only negatives I could even find (and I do look of course when I review anything) would be that I think the room that we had an adjoining room with left their door open. We could hear someone over there a few times. And maybe our bed could use a little oil to keep it from squeezing. :) But that is it…really!! I am ready to go back…miss it already.
You can get a 15% discount if you mention me or Carolina Mama and reading this review or tweets on our blogs.
So I would say any hotel that could top that ….bring it on. It would be one hard review to top!

Click on the picture and it will start the slide show.

How exciting this contest has been for me. I have been so thankful to Walmart and Rockfish for providing me with this wonderful opportunity to transform my sons room. My video should be coming in just a day or so with the story of our bedroom adventure.
But the winner of my contest is Christine from Live Laugh Love. Here is a post she did on her sons room and why she needs this make over. She prepared this post for Dr. Mommy Chronicles blog..who also was having this same contest (and yes…she also won that one too…so this is one very lucky woman. …but she entered both our contest fair and square and was chosen randomly as the winner in each of our blogs…so we certainly can’t say she can not win.) She has let me know that she has a 2nd teenage son that is going to get his room redone also!! They have been through a lot with her as she has been battling cancer and just had a recent thyroid surgery…so this is a true blessing for this family. I will have her before and after pictures once the room is complete….and you can see that post in November. Here is her before post for her first son. I think she will send me pictures of her other sons room before and after for my contest.

See these other posts:

Walmart Room Reveal

Walmart $500 Bedroom Makeover Contest (closed)

Mattress pads are something that I typically hate to spend money on, but it is one of those necessities.  It seems it would be more fun to buy new sheets or a comforter, doesn’t it?   But when you realize the reality of what can breed in our mattresses…you will realize a good mattress pad is well worth it!

I was sent this mattress pad to test out and I am happy to say I have been very pleased with it.  We have been using it for a couple of months now and it is comfortable, no plastic wrinkly noises, no sweating (because it doesn’t breath) and even though I can’t see it..it is nice to not worry about the mites and bacteria. (Mites I know are around and I don’t want to think about them…but bed bugs I have never had and don’t ever plan on having!..uh ..yuk!)

This shows the Miracle Membrane which is described on their web site as “a new age air vapor porous barrier fabric, which is waterproof and protects mattresses from all liquids and bodily fluids.”

The top is a natural terry cloth fabric that keeps you cool in the summer and warm in the winter (who doesn’t love that?). I hope you can see the texture from this picture. It looks like a soft smooth robe.

It is hypoallergenic, prevents dust mites and bacteria from breeding in the mattress. It is recognized as a Class 1 Medical Device by the Food and Drug Administration.

It washes up great and one of the things I noticed right off the bat was that it fit our mattress! We have a large pillow top mattress (you can see where the pillow top starts through the fabric, so that is a tall mattress to cover and I have a hard time finding sheets to fit…but this fits great)  The other wonderful thing about it is that it doesn’t “pop” off the corner of the bed everynight. Literally every morning my husbands corner of the bed had the sheets and mattress pad pulled off (I don’t know what he does over there every night when he sleeps….) but since we have had this mattress pad I have not had one time that has happened. I am 100% satisfied with this mattress pad and thrilled that they sent it to me to try out. (disclosure policy)

To Purchase Your Own:  Go to Protect-A-Bed and order today.

To Win:

1) Go to  Protect-A-Mattress and find the Bed Bug video. Watch it and tell me what can protect your mattress and really work to prevent Bed Bugs.   Come back here and leave me a comment.
2) If your e-mail needs to be either on your comment or easily accessible in your profile

For Extra chances to Win:**Each of these HAS to have a separate comment written please. (I know its a pain, but other wise you won’t have as many chances if you don’t.)

1) Subscribe to my blog with the feeder or by e-mail. 5 extra chances.
2) Blog about this giveaway for 5 extra chances.
3) Follow me on Twitter
4) Follow me on Facebook
5) Follow me on Linked In
6) Fav me on Technorati
7) Stumble Upon me Either add me to your favorites, or write a review.
8) Tweet out this giveaway up to 3 times per day.
9) Add any of my 3 buttons to your sidebar and come back to let me know.

See….lots of ways to enter to win!

This Contest Ends Thursday Sept. 3rd at 11:59 pm est. THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED

This contest is open to US mailing addresses only. Only one person from home can enter.

You will have 48 hours to respond to my e-mail if you win to be eligible. If I don’t hear from you then I will go on to the next winner.

Who can’t use a new cookbook? There is so much packed into this cookbook!!

The difference about this cookbook is that it is all recipes that are “good home-cooked” meals. It claims to be “The only cookbook entirely tested in home kitchens across America!
Cool! Over 1,000 classic, simple, clear cut recipes that taste and smell like they came from Grandma’s kitchen.
It even gives the appearance of one of Grandma’s cookbooks with the hand drawn pictures. (It actually does remind me of one my mom used to have)
I personally would like to have had some photographs of some of the dishes along with the hand drawn pictures. I like seeing what the dish looks like.

To Buy: Go to Abrams Books and purchase it for $29.95.

To Win:

1) Go to Abrams Books and and check out their site. Tell me how many pages are in this book.
Then come back here and comment on it. Please be sure to leave me your e-mail address in your FIRST comment. (Each week I have people who don’t win just because they have not entered their e-mail address)

For Extra Chances To Win!!

1) Twitter about this contest! Come back here and tell me you did.

2) Blog about this contest! Come back here and add the link to your blog.

3) Follow me on twitter. Come back here and add your twitter name.

4) Follow my blogs (add yourself to right sidebar to follow). For each one of my blogs you follow (organizing and review site) you can earn an extra chance. Tell me about each one you followed when you come back here to comment.

5) Add any of my 3 buttons (Organize with Sandy, Review, Pouchee) to your sidebar and earn an entry for each one you add. Come back here with the link to your site where you added them.

6) Subscribe to my Review blog. (left sidebar)

7) Subscribe to my Organizing Blog. (Right sidebar)

This contest is open to US mailing address only.
Only one person from mailing address eligible to win.
(will send out an e-mail to the winner and you will have 48 hours to respond back to me or I will pick another winner.)

This contest will run until August 19, 2009 8:00 pm EST  *THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED*

SugarDaddy’s Sumptuous Sweeties Round Brownies!

Meet Mark, Tom, Allison and Brian. This is team Sugardaddy! (Minus Chef who was on vacation for our visit).
Mark and Tom are the creators and owners of all these goodies!
Tom would make up these wonderful brownie creations and Mark loved them and encouraged him to take his love of baking, his marvelous brownie creations, and creativity to the next level.

Together they formulated the name from Blondies their light or butter, brown sugar based brownies and Brunettes from their chocolate brownies. So what worked better than SugarDaddy’s Scrumptious Sweeties?


There are 17 flavors of these round brownies and blondies. For instance you have the Dark Berry, Auburn Original, Rich Mint, Tahiti, Fiery, Zanzibar, Chai Spiced and many more.

I have to say that the Rich Mint is my favorite…although I loved all the others too. I don’t think there would be any of all that I tasted…and I tasted a lot!!! I was trying just one bite of about all of the items.

Why round?

Tom and Mark did a lot of research and found that the majority of people do not like the brownie crust. They want the moist inside of the brownie. So they bake their brownies and then cut them round.
I think this is great. They do not let ANYTHING go to waste when it comes to their deluxe brownies.
They use the pieces that come from in between the round cuts to make 1 lb bags of “pocket change.” These little pieces of brownie are great for munching, using in a trifle, or paring with ice cream.

For those of us who love the crust…we are not forgotten!! They take the crust and double bake them to come up with Brownie biscotti! Oh…are these good! Brownie taste, crust taste, but so light and great with coffee.

So you think they would be finished right? Nope…more small pieces of brownie are used to make these fabulous Brownie Truffles! Oh my gosh!! Loved these too!!
They are color coded so you know what you are getting.

Here are a few that I got to taste. (Wish I had one right now as I am writing this!!)

This is the Auburn Original. It has triplet chocolate, chocolate ganache and kahlua.

The American Beauty with double chocolate, peanut butter, roasted peanuts, chocolate canache and creme de cacao. Soooo good.

So you would think there wouldn’t be anything left right? They take the smallest parts of the brownies and smash them and use them in the crust of their cheesecake!!
We got to sample it…yummy!

They have also begun to make ice cream and are working to develop more flavors. So that will be fun to see what new flavors they will be coming up with!

Ok…here is a really cool part. Not only do we like them….but they have already been discovered!
Tom beat Bobby on Bobby Flay’s Showdown, (you can find the video clips at the bottom of their home page.) enjoyed by Ellen’s Guest in her Green Room, used as the Snack of the Day on Rachel Ray and has tons of write ups.
They have been in business for only 4 years and have accomplished all of this so far!! Can’t imagine how big they are going to be in the next 4 years!
Here is the brownie that Tom beat Bobby with. It is the Tahiti Blondie: Roated Coconut, Sugardaddy’s special curry spice blend and roasted cashews. Now how is that for a blondie?

They have the cutest store!! This was just completed in February of this year. It feels so comfortable. There is a coffee station

Places to sit and eat and drink your coffee.

They have the cutest wrapping station gift bags and lovely ways to personalize your gifts.

Look at the cute personalized Gift Bag options you can send your goodies in to people!! Also note the Brownie cake sitting on the shelf. You can have this made with several days notice and I hear it is the bomb!!

I could go on believe me! But you need to visit their site..and investigate. What a nice alternative to the normal “flowers” that people send.
They only overnight their products. Why? Good question…because it is the only way to be sure their products are as fresh as can be. They bake them package them and send them the same day and then only overnight ship them. Here is another thing that is very unusual. They call you when your order has been delivered. Now how often does that happen?

Visit SugarDaddy’s web site to place your order!