Opinion Queen

You asked for a series of product reviews for new moms, babies and toddlers – and we listened!  Our team searched high and low to find the very best baby products on the market.  And what better way to launch this series than with the Stokke Xplory Stroller and Infant Carry Cot, which is truly the crème de la crème of strollers!  If you have walked through the stroller section of any store carrying these products, surely you were overwhelmed by the proliferation of strollers available on the market.  After much research (and lots of hours in our local baby stores discussing the pros and cons of all of the strollers with employees as well as moms and dads), we felt strongly that the Stokke Xplory was among the best strollers on the market.   So when Stokke (pronounces stoh-kuh) graciously offered to send us a Stokke Xplory Stroller and Infant Carry Cot to review, we were thrilled!

Stokke Xplory Stroller Features Review:

1. Stokke Xplory Adjustable Seat Height

After passing the Stokke Xplory around for testing by several Opinion Queen contributors, we sat down to discuss our favorite features of the stroller.  And the number one feature that kept coming up over and over again is how much we loved the adjustable seat height.  No other stroller on the market (at least that we have seen in America!) has the versatility and adjustability of the Stokke Xplory.  You can easily move your baby up and down with a simple lever underneath the seat.  Why does this matter?  The majority of babies being strolled around town get a lovely view of the ground, feet, ankles,  and, possibly, knees.  But babies who use the Stokke Xplory can sit higher up, and therefore their view is much more stimulating and similar to the view that we adults have as we walk around.  In addition, since your baby is at your height, you are likely to interact with your baby more often than if you had to squat down or bend over to talk to your little one (talk about a major backache saver as well!).  Studies have shown time and time again how important it is to stimulate your baby.  Think about how much we spend on “educational toys” that claim to stimulate our children and make them smarter.  But chances are that your baby will spend many more hours in the stroller that you buy than playing with the toys you so carefully select.  So around here we have nicknamed the Stokke Xplory the “Educational Stroller” because it exposes your child’s mind – at an earlier point in his or her development – to a whole new world.  In addition, since your baby is sitting closer to you and other adults, the amount of adult interaction increases which helps to build social skills.  See how the name the Educational Stroller makes sense?

Why would you ever want to lower the seat on the Stokke Xplory?  Ah, I am so glad you asked that question!  For strolling around the mall or the park, I love to boost the seat up to the highest position.  But what about when it is lunchtime and you stop in at a cafe to grab a bite to eat?  You can hope that they have a highchair (and then pray that it is not disgustingly dirty and full of germs from all of the previous babies who used it), or, if you have the Stokke Xplory, you can pull it right up to the table instead.  You can adjust the seat height (without even removing your baby from the Stokke) so that your little one can sit at the table in the stroller.

2. Stokke Xplory Seat Positions

Not only is the seat height adjustable in the Stokke Xplory, but you can also pick from five different seat positions.  There are three seat positions where your baby faces towards you (fully reclined, slightly reclined, and upright) and an additional two seat positions where your baby faces forward (upright and slightly reclined).  Have a sleeping baby?  Then the fully reclined position facing towards you will be super comfy.  And if your baby is still an infant, you can use the infant seat insert (which comes with the stroller) for added comfort in this position.  Or maybe you have a super curious toddler who wants to explore the world?  Then the forward facing and fully upright position will be his or her dream come true… your child won’t miss a thing!  Here are some photos to give you and idea of the difference between the various reclining seat positions:

The photo above shows the Stokke Xplory in its fully reclined position facing towards you.

The photo above shows the seat slightly reclined, facing towards you.

The photo above shows the Stokke Xplory in its fully upright position facing towards you.  See how easy it would be to talk to your baby in this position?

The photo above shows the Stokke Xplory in its fully upright position facing forward.  There is one other position while facing forward, which is slightly reclined (similar to the photo above where the seat is slightly reclined facing towards you).

3. Stokke Xplory Handle Features

Does your family have a tall daddy and a short mommy?  Or are you a tall mommy and a shorter daddy family?  Any permutation of different heights makes no difference with the Stokke Xplory.  The handle height is completely adjustable so that it is comfortable for any height.  We tested the Xplory on a man who is 6’3″ and on a lady who is 4’9″, and both of them said it was perfect for their height.  In addition, the handle (shown in the photo below), can flip up or down to various positions so that your hands and wrists will be comfortable as well.  If you are familiar with the ergonomics of the Herman Miller Aeron office chair (which is one of the most popular and ergonomically-sound chairs used in offices around the world), I think the Stokke Xplory is the baby stroller counterpart for it!

4. Stokke Xplory Adjustable Footrest

If a stroller is going to take your baby comfortably from being a newborn through the toddler stage, then surely an adjustable footrest is a must.  No more dangling baby feet and no more toddler’s knees up to their ears because they are “too tall” for their stroller.  All you do is push on the gray lever (shown in the photo below), and the footrest can be moved up or down to adjust to the perfect length for your child.

5. Stokke Xplory Visor Features

Too hot?  Too cold?  Too much sun?  Not enough light?  None of these are an issue with the Stokke Xplory because of the versatility that the visor over the seat offers.  You can extend the visor fully, collapse it (or even remove it) entirely, or adjust it with snaps to something in-between.  And one of my favorite features of the visor is that you can unzip a portion in the back to reveal a mesh panel, which is great for giving your baby some extra ventilation if it is a hot day but it is also ideal for keeping an eye on what your child is doing when the seat is facing forward and away from you.  It is like a peek-a-boo panel (as you can see in the photo below)!

6. Stokke Xplory Safety Features

A stroller can have the most amazing features in the world, but if it is not safe, who would want to put their child in it?  Stokke did not miss a beat in making sure that the Xplory has all of the safety features to help mom sleep easier at night.  There is a 5-point harness that holds your baby in place, in addition to a bumper bar that attaches to the front of the seat as an extra safety precaution (it is removable as well).  Plus, Stokke even took into consideration the safety of the adult pushing the stroller by leaving plenty of extra legroom so that people with longer legs (and longer strides) will not trip over any part of the stroller.  In addition, there is a bright orange footbrake next to one of the wheels to make sure that your baby and stroller are not going anywhere unless you unlock it (see the image of the brake below).

7. Stokke Xplory Carry Cot Review

Do you have trouble getting your baby to fall asleep?  The Stokke Xplory Baby Carry Cot has been the saving grace for many parents!  After interviewing several moms (and happy owners of the Stokke Xplory System) at our local baby store, we kept hearing the same thing over and over again – buy the Infant Carry Cot because it is one of the few surefire ways to get your baby to sleep!  The Carry Cot is sold separately, but it is perfect for newborn infants who cannot yet support the weight of their head.  A stroll around the block in the Carry Cot and your infant will be asleep in no time.  We even spoke to a mom who said that she has her infant take naps during the day in the Carry Cot so that she does not have to run up and down the stairs to her baby’s room every time her baby wakes up.  The Carry Cot (shown in the photo below) comes with a baby blanket / wind cover that snaps on top, plus a mosquito net and a rain cover.  So no matter what the weather is like, your baby can get use out of the Stokke Xplory!

8. Stokke Xplory Storage Bag & Accessories

I always worry when I see mothers balancing heavy diaper bags on the handle of their strollers, but Stokke came up with the perfect solution to this issue.  The Xplory comes with a storage bag that conveniently (and safely!) clips onto the base of the stroller.  This means you do not have to worry about the stroller tipping over from a heavy bag.  You can easily fit in the roomy bag the mosquito net and rain cover (both of which come with the stroller!), a few changes of clothes, several diapers, pacifiers, bottles, and anything else your baby may need while you are out.

There are tons of other accessories that are sold separately (and which we did not review), but sound fabulous.  For example, you can get a car seat adapter that will allow you to snap your baby’s carseat directly onto the frame of the Stokke Xplory.  Or if you have a new little baby and an older toddler (with tired little legs), you can attach a Toddler Standing Board that allows you to push around both your older child and the new addition to your family.  And if you are all about style, you can buy things like a parasol, a foot muff or even sheepskin lining.  One accessory that seems like a must-buy if you have the Carry Cot is a few fitted sheets so that you can have an easy cleanup if your baby makes a mess while sleeping.  There are even summer kits (to keep your baby cool in the summer) and winter kits (to keep your little one as snug as a bug in a rug)!  And the colors and patterns that you can choose from are a fashionista’s dream come true.   If you have a little girl, I simply do not know how you can resist the Limited Edition Pink Stokke Xplory.  I have not seen any other hot pink stroller anywhere!  Other colors that the Stokke comes in include beige, a light gray-blue, red, an eggplant purple, light green and dark navy.

We have put together the video (below) to review the features of the Stokke Xplory Stroller, because if a picture is worth one thousand words, imagine how much a video is worth!

How To Assemble The Stokke Xplory

Along with having a new addition to your family comes the joy of assembling loads of baby products.  For those of you who love putting things together, this might sound like fun.  But for the majority of us, I think it is safe to say that this is one of the things that we do not look forward to.  Luckily, the Stokke Xplory’s intuitive design means that you can put the entire stroller together in 5 minutes!  Just to show you how easy it is, we put together the following how-to video:

For more information about the Stokke XploryStroller and Baby Carry Cot, please visit Stokke’s website here.  You can purchase the stroller here: Stokke Xplory Stroller and the Infant Carry Cot here: Stokke Xplory Carry Cot.

Blendtec Review

The Blendtec Blender – the queen of blenders or is it just a bunch of hype?  Being one of the biggest fans of Dr Oz, I am forever testing out his healthy smoothie recipes.  From Dr Oz’s Green Drink to Dr Oz’s Red Drink, and everything in between… I have tried them all!  However, a lot of these smoothies are very hard on blenders because of the ice crushing that is involved.  Plus, since a lot of the drinks contain whole vegetables, quite a few of the blenders I have previously owned produced vegetable smoothies with a less than appealing texture.  So, I set out on a mission… to find the most powerful and versatile blender that is truly worth the counter space that it requires.  I had read amazing things about the Blendtec Blender and when they offered to let me test out their product, I was ecstatic!  I will give a complete review of the Blendtec below, but the bottom line is that I love the blender (and all of you!) so much that I bought another Blendtec to giveaway to one of my readers (details on how to win are below)!

Blendtec Blender Smoothie Review

Ever since I got my Blendtec, I have started every morning with a healthy smoothie.  I either try one of Dr Oz’s recipes or I create my own based on what I have in the house.  One of my family’s favorite smoothies consists of plain organic yogurt (here is my Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Maker Review in case you missed it!), ice, frozen strawberries, bananas and flax seed (shhhh, nobody even notices when I slip in this healthy ingredient that is full of omega 3′s because the Blendtec grinds it up so finely).  With previous blenders that I have tested out, I would end up with large bits of frozen strawberries or big ice chunks in my smoothies.  But the Blendtec creates completely smooth, thick smoothies…even better than the ones that you get at the mall.  And you do not even have to watch the blender.  You literally push a button and it stops on its own when your smoothie is done.  Perhaps this is why Panera and Starbucks both use Blendtec Blenders to create their yummy smoothies and frappucinos!  Here is a video that I took one morning while making my daily smoothie:

Blendtec Blender’s Many Uses

The Blendtec Blender passed my smoothie test with flying colors.  No matter which ingredients you put in…even if you add something with tons of fiber (like spinach) to your smoothie, it comes out smooth and delicious.  I finally actually enjoy Dr Oz’s Green Drink Recipe, whereas before I had to try and force it down because of its texture.  Frankly, even if the Blendtec could only be used to make smoothies, it would be worth the counter space!  But I tested out quite a few other uses for the Blendtec.  Next stop, Hummus!  My family loves to snack on fresh veggies dipped in hummus, but after tasting homemade hummus, I promise that you won’t be able to go back to the store bought variety.  Usually, hummus is made out of chickpeas and tahini (which is a sesame paste).  However, the Blendtec is so powerful that it can actually puree the sesame seeds into tahini on its own.  I placed into the blender 1 TB water, 3 TB olive oil, 4 TB lemon juice, 6 tsp sesame seeds, 1 cup garbanzo beans, 3 cloves garlic, a small piece of raw onion, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp cumin and 1 TB dried parsley.  You can use canned garbanzo beans, but I decided to go with the garbanzo beans that you buy in the bulk section and soaked them overnight in water.  After a minute or so on speed 5 in the Blendtec, you will have the most creamy and delicious hummus that will totally wow everyone who tries it!

My house goes through almond butter and walnut butter like its water!  So, I tried making my own nut butters.  Much to my delight, nuts are not a challenge for the Blendtec.  It could not be easier, you just place raw almonds or walnuts into the blender, and let it go for around 10 minutes.  With other blenders, you have to let the nuts run for a couple of minutes and then let the machine cool down for a few minutes, and continue repeating this process until you get a nut butter consistency.  Otherwise, the blender overheats.  However, I do not have to do this with the Blendtec.  I can just let it run for 10 minutes and it produces the perfect nut butter.  Also, if you stop the blender sooner, you can make your own almond flour (which can be used in quite a few recipes as a healthy substitute for white flour).

Next up, hot soup?  Really?  A blender can make fresh, hot soup?  Yes!  Minestrone is a family favorite, but ever since we have been moving away from canned foods, soup has made an appearance at our dinner table less and less.  What is great about soup in the Blendtec is that it is quick and easy, plus it is a great way to hide certain veggies that your kids say that they hate.  The tomato base that I start with is 1 cup of hot vegetable broth, 5 tomatoes halved, 1 cup purple cabbage, 1/2 onion, 3 cloves garlic, and a handful of basil leaves.  But you can add any other vegetables that you want to use up as well!  Run the Blendtec on speed 5 until you reach your desired consistency.  Then I add to the soup leftover plain pasta from the night before (any shape!) and some frozen vegetables that I have warmed up.  I love that I know exactly what is in my soup and can control the sodium, plus it only takes a few minutes – including clean-up!

I could go on and on, but I have to share just one more treat that I recently discovered – Dr Oz’s Banana Ice Cream.  You can make ice cream with only one ingredient – bananas!  No sugar, no cream, and nothing unhealthy.  Sounds like a dieters heaven, but would it actually work and taste good?  I have heard complaints from people who say that it does not come out creamy like ice cream.  And you know what I tell them?  That must be because of your blender or food processor, because when I make Banana Ice Cream, it comes out tasting like a bite of heaven.  All you have to do is freeze chunks of bananas, throw them into the Blendtec for a minute, and you will have a tasty frozen dessert that even the pickiest eater will love.  I have been experimenting with the concept by adding chocolate syrup, caramel or even peanut butter for an even more special (and slightly less healthy) treat… and every “experiment” has been devoured by my family with absolutely no leftovers!

Best Way To Clean A Blendtec Blender

The final requirement for any kitchen appliance in my house is that it must clean-up quickly and easily.  All I have to do with my Blendtec is to fill it up with some hot water, add a few squirts of dish soap, and let it soak for a couple of minutes.  Then run the blender for a minute or less, pour the soapy water back into the sink (on top of my other dirty dishes to give me a head-start!), and rinse out the blender jar and lid.  Only a few times have I even had to go over the blender jar with a sponge.  Even my husband, who hates doing the dishes, volunteers to clean the Blendtec because it is so simple.  Here is a video that shows just how well the Blendtec cleans itself:

How to Enter the Blendtec Blender Giveaway:

You can buy one here: Blendtec Blender

How to Win: Each of the following will give you a certain number of entries into the Blendtec Blender Giveaway, so do as many of the following as you would like to increase your chances of winning!  Good luck everyone!

1.  Leave a comment below and share your favorite blender recipe! (1 entry)

2.  Subscribe to my updates via e-mail by clicking here: Subscribe to Opinion Queen by Email, confirm the subscription, and leave a comment below to let me know that you have subscribed to my e-mails (or tell me if you already are). (2 entries)

3.  Tweet about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

4. Make your facebook status about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your page.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

5.  Grab my Banner in the right sidebar and post it on your website (or tell me if it is already there)! (3 entries)

6.  Add a link to OpinionQueen.com from your blog or website, and leave a comment below with a link to where you added the link. (3 entries)

7.  Follow me on twitter: TheOpinionQueen and then leave a comment below with your twitter name. (2 entries)

8.  Tell everyone about this giveaway on Digg, Stumble, in a forum, meme, Google Buzz, blog it, or any other social networking place (2 entries for each one that you do!)

9.  Leave a comment on a non-giveaway product review post on my site and leave a comment below to let me know what you commented on. (1 entry)

The winner will be selected on June 6, 2011 through a random number generator and contacted via e-mail.  If there is no response from the winner within 3 days, another winner will be selected.  Only US Residents are eligible for this giveaway.

UPDATE: Due to the technology problems we have been experiencing over Memorial Day Weekend, we will be extending the opportunity to enter the Blendtec Giveaway for an extra week (through June 6th).  Sorry again for the inconvenience!

Congratulations to Sarah on winning our Blendtec Blender Giveaway!!!

After watching the Dr Oz segment on the Murad Firm & Tone Dietary Supplement Pack (click here for the recap in case you missed it: Dr Oz Murad Firm & Tone), my inbox filled with questions about the Murad Supplements.  Do they really work? Have you tried them?  Luckily, the lovely people at Murad gave me the opportunity to review the Murad Firm and Tone Dietary Supplements!

Murad Firm and Tone Review

First, lets start with what Murad promises with their Murad Firm and Tone Dietary Supplements.  On the box it says “Patented scientifically based complex supports skin strength by encouraging the appearance of firmer skin by up to 78% in eight weeks and by helping to improve the visual texture of stretch marks by up to 47% in eight weeks.”  Each box contains 28 days worth of supplements, so I cannot tell you what would happen if I took the Murad Firm and Tone Dietary Supplements for eight weeks.  However, if 28 days is any indication – this kit rocks!  Every day you have two packets of supplements to take – a daytime packet and a nighttime packet.  The daytime supplements include one multivitamin, two connective support complex pills, two essential fatty acid pills, and one cell energizer.  The nighttime supplements include another multivitamin, two more connective support complex pills, one essential fatty acid pill, and one more cell energizer.  So the only real difference between your daytime and nighttime supplements is that you take one more essential fatty acid in the morning.  What do all of these pills do?  Here is the scoop:

Murad Multivitamin

The multivitamin has the vitamins that you need everyday as well as trace minerals, all of which are optimized for healthy skin.

Murad Connective Support Complex

The Connective Support Complex is supposed to smooth out your skin and increase the elasticity of your skin, which is great for helping your skin to age gracefully.

Murad Essential Fatty Acids

Dr Oz is always talking about the importance of fatty acids for your skin’s health, so I was thrilled to see that Murad included this in their supplement pack.

Murad Cell Energizer

The Cell Energizer protects your skin from cell damage while simultaneously increasing the amount of cellular energy made by your skin’s cells.

I was all set to type up all of the ingredients and the exact percentage of each vitamin and supplement in the Murad Firm and Tone Dietary Supplements, but then I noticed that all of this information is neatly presented and available on Murad’s Website here.

Murad Supplements Review: End Results

Now for what everyone really wants to know – so, did they actually do anything?  Do they really get rid of cellulite and stretch marks?  I was surprised, because even in the first week I could already notice a difference in my skin – not so much with respect to cellulite or stretch marks, but my skin looked healthier and really glowed.  I even got compliments from strangers at the grocery store – I kid you not!  I noticed that my skin broke out less during the first week as well.  The results only got more impressive as I used the Murad Firm and Tone Dietary Supplements, and by the 28th day I was so sad to be out of these wonderful supplements!  My guess is that if you take these for the full eight weeks, which means two boxes of Murad Firm and Tone Dietary Supplements, your cellulite will be barely noticeable and the texture and appearance of your stretch marks will completely shock you.  As for me, I totally plan on using Murad Firm and Tone Dietary Supplements again in the future, but for now, I am waiting to hopefully have a baby!  And so the search begins for supplements, creams, lotions, and potions that help to prevent stretch marks in the first place when you are pregnant.  Any suggestions, ladies?

For more information about Murad Firm and Tone Dietary Supplements, please visit Murad’s website here!

To kick off 2011, many of us committed – as we do every year – to a whole bunch of resolutions.  At the top of most people’s resolution list is to get healthier in this freshly minted new year.  I can’t think of a better way to do this than by drinking Zoom Organic’s Zoe (which means “Life In A Bottle” in Greek)!  We were lucky enough to review Zoom Organic’s Zoe, which is a mixture of 100% organic Acai Juice, Goji Juice, Noni Juice, Mangosteen Juice and Camu Camu Juice.  In case you missed the full review, you can see it by clicking here: ZOOM Organic: Zoe Review

Zoe Juice Giveaway

We were thrilled when Zoom Worldwide told us that they wanted to help our readers kick off their new year to a healthy start by giving three – yes, you read that correctly – THREE of our readers a free 4 pack of Zoe.  Looking for a boost in antioxidants?  Do you want to help your skin glow and be perfectly clear from the inside out?  It is amazing what Zoe Juice is able to do for everything from eczema to acne!  Want a chance to win one of the free Zoe Juice 4-packs?  Here is how to enter the giveaway:

How to Enter the Zoe Juice Giveaway:

How to Win: You can win one of three 4-packs of Zoe Juice by visiting the Zoom Organic Website and leaving a comment in the Opinion Queen Comment Section (below) telling us what you loved the most their products.  This is a required step before getting extra points with the optional contest entry opportunities listed below.

Optional Contest Entry Opportunities: Each of the following will give you a certain number of EXTRA entries into the giveaway, so do as many of the following as you would like to increase your chances of winning!  Good luck, everyone!

1.  Subscribe to my updates via e-mail by clicking here: Subscribe to Opinion Queen by Email, confirm the subscription, and leave a comment below to let me know that you have subscribed to my e-mails (or tell me if you already are). (2 entries)

2.  Tweet about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

3. Make your Facebook status about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your page.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

4.  Grab my Banner in the right sidebar and post it on your website (or tell me if it is already there)! (3 entries)

5.  Add a link to OpinionQueen.com from your blog or website, and leave a comment below with a link to where you added the link. (3 entries)

6.  Follow me on twitter: TheOpinionQueen and then leave a comment below with your twitter name. (2 entries)

7.  Tell everyone about this giveaway on Digg, Stumble, in an internet forum, meme, Google Buzz, blog it, or any other social networking place (2 entries for each one that you do!)

8.  Leave a comment on a non-giveaway product review post on my site and leave a comment below to let me know what you commented on. (1 entry)

The winner will be selected on February 14, 2011 through a random number generator and contacted via e-mail.  If there is no response from the winner within 3 days, another winner will be selected.  Only US Residents are eligible for this giveaway.

If you are as big of a fan of the Food Network as I am, I am sure that you have seen the beautiful kitchen staple called the Boos Block Cutting Board.  If you have not yet noticed it, pay attention the next time you see someone cooking on TV, because 9 times out of 10 you will see the famous Boos Block logo on the side of their cutting board (like you can see in the photo below).  After the Dr Oz Show aired a segment about the importance of replacing old cutting boards (click here to read the recap if you missed it: Cutting Board Dangers), a bunch of you contacted me to ask for advice on new cutting boards.  So, I went on a mission to find the best cutting boards for my readers.  While on my quest, not only did I get the opportunity to review two stunning Boos Blocks, but Boos Block also offered to give one of their high-end cutting boards to one of my readers too!

Boos Block Maple & Stainless Steel Feet Review:

The first Boos Block Cutting Board I reviewed is the one pictured above (and this is also the one that is available in our give-away – read on for additional details).  The model number is MPL1812175-SSF and it is a phenomenal hard rock maple cutting board with a juice groove around the edge and the perfect, modern, globe-like, stainless steel feet.  This John Boos Cutting Board With Stainless Steel Feet retails for $148.95.  Why such a high price tag?  Because you are getting an extremely high-end cutting board that is of superior quality to most cutting boards.  We are not talking about your 1/4″ thick wood cutting board that will get sliced and destroyed by your knife in a matter of weeks.  The  Boos Block Cutting Board With Stainless Steel Feet is a whopping 1 3/4″ thick, 18 inches wide and 12 inches deep – this is the furthest thing from a light weight, flimsy kitchen tool we are talking about!

As you can see in the photo above, the juice groove on the Boos Block Cutting Board With Stainless Steel Feet is not just a tiny indentation that does not really serve a purpose (as is the case with so many other cutting boards).  This juice groove is as thick as two of my fingers.  I was able to cut an entire watermelon without getting juice all over my counter – and that is a difficult task since watermelons always equal a messy, sticky counter-top with just about any other cutting board!  The Boos Block Cutting Board With Stainless Steel Feet is so gorgeous that you can make an impressive display with a few types of cheese and a handful of grapes at the spur of the moment – like when your in-laws make a surprise visit and you have nothing prepared!

Boos Block Reversible Maple Cutting Board Review

The second cutting board that I reviewed is the R02 or the John Boos Commercial Maple Cutting Board, which is a real work-horse of a cutting board.  This cutting board is what I now use for my serious cooking jobs where I need a lot of cutting board space.  As you can see in the photo above, you can place a ton of apples, pears, and tangerines next to each other on the  Boos Block Maple Cutting Board, which is 24″ by 18″ by 1 1/2″ thick.  Carving a huge turkey? Chopping up tons of veggies for a stir-fry for a big group?  Or making a large fruit salad to take to your friend’s pot-luck?  The Boos Block Maple Cutting Board can handle all of this!  I love that I do not have to chop up some of the ingredients and then dirty another bowl to clear up more space on my cutting board.

John Boos Cutting Board Review:

In addition to looking great and providing me with a huge surface area to chop to my heart’s content, the quality of the Boos Block Cutting Boards really cannot be beat.  I have chopped everything you can possibly imagine on my Boos Block over the past month, and my husband keeps remarking on how it still looks practically new.  Another aspect that I love about using a wood cutting board is that your knives stay sharp for longer.  With how expensive good knives are, it pays to take good care of them.  Yes, you can certainly sharpen most knives (especially good quality knives), but you can only sharpen knives a certain number of times.  Plus, let’s be realistic, how many of us are using dull knives right now because we just cannot find the time to sharpen them?

The bottom line – Boos Block Cutting Boards are popular among professional chefs and on the Food Network for a reason!  Between its superb quality and the beautiful addition it makes to any kitchen counter-top, I think it is safe to say that I (and every person who has visited my kitchen since I got it) am in love with my Boos Block Cutting Boards!

How to Enter the Boos Block Cutting Board Giveaway:

Where to Buy a Boos Block Cutting Board: You can buy one here: Boos Block Cutting Boards

How to Win: You can win a Boos Block Cutting Board with Stainless Steel Feet by visiting the John Boos Website and leaving a comment in the Opinion Queen Comment Section (below) telling us what you loved the most on their website.  This is a required step before getting extra points with the optional contest entry opportunities listed below.

Optional Contest Entry Opportunities: Each of the following will give you a certain number of EXTRA entries into the giveaway, so do as many of the following as you would like to increase your chances of winning!  Good luck everyone!

1.  Subscribe to my updates via e-mail by clicking here: Subscribe to Opinion Queen by Email, confirm the subscription, and leave a comment below to let me know that you have subscribed to my e-mails (or tell me if you already are). (2 entries)

2.  Tweet about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

3. Make your facebook status about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your page.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

4.  Grab my Banner in the right sidebar and post it on your website (or tell me if it is already there)! (3 entries)

5.  Add a link to OpinionQueen.com from your blog or website, and leave a comment below with a link to where you added the link. (3 entries)

6.  Follow me on twitter: TheOpinionQueen and then leave a comment below with your twitter name. (2 entries)

7.  Tell everyone about this giveaway on Digg, Stumble, in a forum, meme, Google Buzz, blog it, or any other social networking place (2 entries for each one that you do!)

8.  Leave a comment on a non-giveaway product review post on my site and leave a comment below to let me know what you commented on. (1 entry)

The winner will be selected on February 7, 2011 through a random number generator and contacted via e-mail.  If there is no response from the winner within 3 days, another winner will be selected.  Only US Residents are eligible for this giveaway.

It is all over the news – from the Dr Oz Show to the NY Times – non-stick pots, pans, and other cookware are quite likely to be bad for our health.  I know that this is an ongoing debate, with one side arguing that you are perfectly safe using non-stick cookware as long as you do not use high heat or scratch the surface of your non-stick pots and pans.  But the other side says that there are no conditions under which you should use non-stick cookware, warning of problems like leaking Obesogens into your food through PFOA or Perfluorooctanoic Acid found in the lining of nonstick surfaces.  However, I will not discuss the merits of either side of this debate in this Mauviel M’Cook Pan Review.  Suffice it to say that I am not taking a chance with my family’s health and so I have been looking into a variety of options outside of the world of non-stick cookware.  So I was thrilled when I received the opportunity to review a Mauviel M’Cook Stainless Steel Frying Pan from France – and even more excited when I got an extra one to giveaway to one lucky reader (details on how to enter the giveaway are at the end of this review!).

Mauviel M’Cook Pan Review

Mauviel has been manufacturing both professional and commercial cookware since 1830, hence the name Mauviel 1830 that you see on their packaging and website.  In addition to being well-known for outstanding quality copper cookware (which I would LOVE to review someday!), they make stainless steel and aluminum cookware that is truly out of this world.  When I bought my first set of pots and pans for college, I bought a combination of a couple of stainless steel pieces and a couple of non-stick pieces.  The stainless steel pots and pans were given away within the first month because I could not get anything to cook in them without sticking – unless I used way too much oil which resulted in unhealthy (and greasy tasting) food.  At the time, I thought that my non-stick pots and pans were fabulous – I could cook eggs, ground beef, chicken breasts and just about anything else with little to no oil, and it would come out perfectly.  Over the years and more recently, when I started hearing about the health dangers of non-stick cookware, I panicked.  Would I have to choose between (potentially) toxic nonstick surfaces or super oily food?  Or, would I be able to find the cookware of my dreams?  I am relieved to say that, after a few tweaks to my cooking routine, my Mauviel M’Cook is exactly the dream cookware I was looking for!

How to Use the Mauviel M’Cook Stainless Steel Pan

I showed two photos above – one with a banana in the pan and one with my hand on the pan handle – so that you could get a good feel for the size of the  9.5″ Mauviel M’Cook Pan.  It is the perfect size pan for everyday dishes, but if you have a big family or cook large quantities, then have no fear because the Mauviel M’Cook line has a variety of different sizes including larger pans.  The 9.5″ is the perfect go-to pan for most people though, because it is large enough for a small family and light enough to make it very easy to handle.  After testing out a variety of different dishes in the Mauviel M’Cook Stainless Steel Pan, I found the perfect way to cook with this pan so that it is almost identical to using a non-stick surface:

How To Make A Stainless Steel Pan Non-Stick:

1.  Place the Mauviel M’Cook Pan over medium heat and let the pan heat up for about a minute.

2.  Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil or canola oil (depending on what you are cooking) to the pan.

3.  Let the oil warm up for about 30 seconds.

4.  Now you can cook whatever you want and nothing will stick!  Not even scrambled eggs, which is my true test since scrambled eggs always seems to stick outside of a non-stick pan!

Mauviel Review: Top 10 Reasons I Love My Mauviel Pan

It is hard to capture the beauty of how food cooks in the Mauviel M’Cook Stainless Steel Pan, but you can see in the photo above (on the left-hand side) how even ground beef does not stick to the pan (and this was with adding no oil at all since ground beef always gives off enough oil on its own).  You can also see how perfectly the pan caramelizes vegetables like peppers and tomatoes – see the little dark bits of deliciousness?  And I included a photo of the finished stuffed peppers (on the right hand side) to really get your mouth watering!  I absolutely love my new Mauviel M’Cook pan, so I came up with the following top 10 reasons for why it really is the best stainless steel pan I have ever used.

1. The Mauviel M’Cook pan is made of 5 layers of stainless steel, so that the pan heats up evenly and quickly.

2.  The sleek and modern look of the Mauviel M’Cook pan is perfect for any kitchen.

3.  The entire pan is stainless steel, and so you have no worries about moving it from the stove into the oven (it is safe up to a whopping 680 degrees F) – imagine the delicious filet mignon steaks!

4.  No non-stick surface or chemicals like PFOA to make your family sick.

5.  It cooks very similarly to a non-stick pan except it browns meat and caramelizes vegetables far better than any non-stick pan.

6.  The handle fits perfectly in your hands – perfect for those of us working on our pancake flipping technique!

7.  The Mauviel M’Cook pan comes with a lifetime warranty, not that I expect I will ever need to use it because it really is top notch quality.

8.  The pan is dishwasher safe, and while I mainly wash my pans by hand, it is a nice feature to know about for when you are in a pinch.

9.  I am DYING for an Induction Cooktop, but I had the pleasure of testing out this pan on my friend’s Induction Cooktop and it worked liked a dream.

10.  This came as a total shock to me, but even though the handle is made of stainless steel and it is super ergonomic, the handle also magically stays cool when you cook over the stove.  How do they do that?!?

How to Enter the Mauviel M’Cook Pan Giveaway:

Where to Buy the Mauviel M’Cook Stainless Steel Pan: You can buy one here: Mauviel M’Cook Stainless Steel Pan

How to Win: You can win a Mauviel M’Cook Stainless Steel Pan by visiting the Mauviel Website and leaving a comment below with your favorite product on their site!  You must do this before doing any of the extra entries listed below.

Extra Entries: Each of the following will give you a certain number of EXTRA entries into the giveaway, so do as many of the following as you would like to increase your chances of winning!  Good luck everyone!

1.  Subscribe to my updates via e-mail by clicking here: Subscribe to Opinion Queen by Email, confirm the subscription, and leave a comment below to let me know that you have subscribed to my e-mails (or tell me if you already are). (2 entries)

2.  Tweet about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

3. Make your facebook status about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your page.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

4.  Grab my Banner in the right sidebar and post it on your website (or tell me if it is already there)! (3 entries)

5.  Add a link to OpinionQueen.com from your blog or website, and leave a comment below with a link to where you added the link. (3 entries)

6.  Follow me on twitter: TheOpinionQueen and then leave a comment below with your twitter name. (2 entries)

7.  Tell everyone about this giveaway on Digg, Stumble, in a forum, meme, Google Buzz, blog it, or any other social networking place (2 entries for each one that you do!)

8.  Leave a comment on a non-giveaway product review post on my site and leave a comment below to let me know what you commented on. (1 entry)

The winner will be selected on January 9 through a random number generator and contacted via e-mail.  If there is no response from the winner within 3 days, then another winner will be selected.  Only US Residents are eligible for this giveaway.

One of the most used items in every kitchen is the cutting board.  After hearing about the health dangers of not replacing your cutting board regularly, I set out on a quest to find the best cutting boards for all of us.  On my search I came across The Cutting Board Company who make all sorts of custom cutting boards for professional chefs and professional kitchens, but they also cater to the home cook like you and me.  They were kind enough to send me several of their Plastic Cutting Boards to test and review.

Plastic Cutting Board Review

Before receiving the cutting boards, one of the first things that struck me about The Cutting Board Company was how their plastic products were listed by the NSF, USDA, FDA and the Canada Department of Agriculture.  In addition, these Plastic Cutting Boards are made in America, and with all of the scares about plastic products coming out of China, this certainly helps me to rest easier at night.

The boards are made out of Super High Density Polyethylene Plastic, which did not mean much to me – until I received the Plastic Cutting Boards shown in the photo above.  You cannot tell from the picture, but these cutting boards are seriously heavy-duty and amazing quality (hence the word High Density!).  Each cutting board is 18″ x 24″ and they are a 1/2″ thick – making them the perfect balance between durability and weight.  Another added health benefit of The Cutting Board Company’s Color Coded Cutting Boards is that you eliminate the possibility of cross contamination.  The Red Cutting Board is only for use with beef, the White Cutting Board is for dairy, the Green Cutting Board is for fruits and veggies, the Blue Cutting Board is for already cooked foods, the Yellow Cutting Board is for poultry and the Tan Cutting Board is for seafood.  This means no more worrying that the salmonella from your chicken will get into the raw vegetables that you are dicing for your salad – and for anyone who has ever had food poisoning, you will greatly appreciate this!

Some of you might be thinking that six cutting boards are great in theory, but how can you store all of them?  The above product I did not get to test out, but I would absolutely love to get it in the future because it answers the big question of where to conveniently store your cutting boards.

The bottom line – if you are looking for high quality, warp resistant, stain resistant, hygienic, color coded cutting boards then look no further.  These are definitely on my Holiday Gift List for several members of my family!  You can purchase these Plastic Cutting Boards and Cutting Board Stands by clicking here or you can read more information about the professional grade cutting board company here: The Cutting Board Company.

Having very little “junk in my trunk” has always made it exceedingly difficult to find bottoms that fit correctly – whether it be jeans, leggings or skirts.  No matter how many squats or “butt building” exercises that I do at the gym, my booty is destined to be flat.  I gave up on finding that perfect pair of jeans that would accentuate my butt years ago.  So when I heard about Butt Enhancers and the lovely ladies at Booty Pop offered to let me test out their product, I was excited to see if my pants would really fit better.

How much fun is this packaging?  That was my first reaction upon opening my lovely pink Booty Pop box filled with bright pink and sparkly blue confetti, two lollipops and of course my Booty Pop – it was like receiving a party in a box!  I ran straight to my bedroom to put on my favorite pair of jeans with the Booty Pop.  I came out of my bedroom and passed by my husband on the way to the kitchen – woah, he totally checked me out!  He even made a comment about how nicely my jeans fit me and thought that they were new.

Check out this side-by-side photo of me without wearing the Booty Pop and again afterward with the Butt Lifting Underwear on.  Amazing, right?  In the before photo, you can see how my jeans sag in my butt, especially towards the bottom of my booty where there is extra fabric just hanging loose.  In the after photo, you can see the my Faux Butt fills out my jeans and there is no saggy material.  Another great thing about these Butt Enhancers is that they make my waist and tummy seem smaller by making my butt appear bigger.  The Booty Pop slogan should be “slide on a pair and instantly look 10 pounds lighter!”

In the photo above, you can see the front and back of my pair of Booty Pop, which are a size small in black (but they come in a variety of other colors and textures).  They are very comfortable to wear, and I actually find it more tolerable to sit on hard surfaces, which I used to complain about since I have a rather boney butt.  The Booty Pop is machine washable and you can apparently put them in the drier as well, although I hang them to dry just to be safe.  So far, they have help up nicely in the washing machine, but frankly, even if I have to replace them in a few months, it will be totally worth it.  Think of it this way, many of us (including me!) have spent well over the cost of the Booty Pop on having a seamstress alter our clothing, so why not pay a one time fee to have all of your clothing automatically fit you better without any alterations?

For more information about the Booty Pop, please visit the Booty Pop Website.

After watching a segment of the Dr Oz Show where he showed a Snore Relief Pillow, I was determined to figure out who makes and sells such a pillow.  Thank goodness for Google and its image searching capabilities, because that is how I came to find the Sona Pillow, which looks like the Anti-Snoring Pillow that Dr Oz spoke about.  The creators of the Sona Pillow sent me one of their anti-snoring pillows to test out.  I originally planned to let my husband use the Sona Pillow, because he is the one with light snoring and perhaps mild sleep apnea … but wait until you read about what happened!

The Sona Pillow can be spotted a mile away because of its unique shape and its signature stripe pattern on the bottom.  I was curious as to whether this would be a firm or soft pillow and whether it would actually be comfortable to use or not.  After taking the Sona Pillow out of its package, I was impressed by the firm support of the pillow.  I am not a fan of soft wimpy pillows – the firmer the better to me.  I slipped the Sona Pillow into the machine washable pillow case that it comes with and put it on my husband’s side of the bed for him to use that evening.

My husband was not fond of the idea of me taking a photo of him sleeping in bed and posting it on the Internet, so you can see another nice man (who is not quite as cute as my husband!) demonstrate how to use the Sona Pillow in the photo above.  Basically, you place an arm under one of the indented sections of the pillow and rest your head on the middle section.  My husband used the pillow for several nights, and while he used it, his mild snoring did seem to improve a bit.  The only problem is that he would wake up in the morning with the pillow on the floor.  It was almost as if he could not adjust to sleeping in this exact position on his side for the entire night, because he tends to be a back sleeper.

Being a side sleeper myself, and loving firm pillows, I decided that I wanted to give the Sona Pillow a test run even though I do not snore.  It did take some getting used to, but after a few days of “breaking it in” I found the Sona Pillow to be exactly what I would want in a pillow.  My sleep improved and I did not toss and turn nearly as much.  After hearing how much I love the Sona Pillow, my husband said he wanted to give it another try – so it looks like we will be ordering another one because there is no way that I am parting with it now!

To read more about the Sona Pillow and its patented design that was approved by the FDA as a medical advice, please visit the Sona Website.

Recently I published an article about my wonderful experience using a Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Maker (and if you have not entered that giveaway yet, then let this serve as a reminder!).  In addition to making tons of delicious flavors of yogurt, I have also started making yogurt cheese with the Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker (and very soon one of you – my readers – will get your very own yogurt cheese maker in our giveaway!).  Who knew that yogurt was so deliciously versatile?  You can use yogurt cheese in place of mayonnaise, cream cheese or sour cream.  So you get all of the healthy probiotic benefits of yogurt in a low-fat healthy cheese spread.

Using the Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker could not be any easier.  You simply place the mesh insert (shown on the right in the photo above) into the white plastic container (shown on the left in the photo above).  Add 3 cups of yogurt to the mesh strainer, snap the lid on top of the plastic container and put it in the fridge.  In 2 hours, you will have a thick yogurt cream and in 24 hours you will have a thick yogurt cheese that can be used in place of cream cheese or other fattening ingredients like mayonnaise and sour cream.  The only additional step that I would suggest is that during the 24 hour period, it is best to empty out the liquid that gets strained from the yogurt a few times.  Also, if you are in a pinch, you do not have to wait the full 24 hours.  You will notice that the yogurt becomes thick even after just 8-9 hours (which is basically waiting overnight).

Just to get your mouth-watering and to fill your mind with ideas, here are some of the things that I have made so far with my Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker.  I made many different Yogurt Cheese Spreads by mixing different herbs, vegetables and even fruits into my yogurt cheese.  For example, instead of french toast stuffed with strawberry cream cheese, I made a french toast stuffed with strawberry yogurt cheese by mixing some pureed strawberries into my yogurt cheese.  More of a savory person?  Then, finely dice some vegetables (like bell peppers, carrots, chives, etc.) in your food processor or by hand, mix it with some yogurt cheese, and you have the perfect healthy substitute for vegetable cream cheese.  If you are not a spread person, then you can also use yogurt cheese in chicken salad or tuna salad because it is much healthier than using mayonnaise.  I have a major sweet tooth, so I am thrilled whenever I can figure out a way to make one of my family’s favorite desserts healthier.  I made a cheesecake with half low-fat cream cheese and half yogurt cheese, and it came out perfect.  I even substituted half of the cream cheese with yogurt cheese in my Banana Cupcakes with Yogurt Cheese Frosting Recipe (the delicious results are shown in the photo above)!  If you are looking for ways to sneak some extra healthy probiotics into your family’s diet, while cutting back on fat and calories, you definitely need to check-out the Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker!

How to Enter the Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker Giveaway:

Where to Buy the Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker: You can buy one here: Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker

How to Win: You can win a Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker by visiting the Cuisipro Website and leaving comment below with your favorite product on their site!  You must do this before doing any of the extra entries listed below.

Extra Entries: Each of the following will give you a certain number of EXTRA entries into the giveaway, so do as many of the following as you would like!  Good luck everyone!

1.  Subscribe to my updates via e-mail by clicking here: Subscribe to Opinion Queen by Email, confirm the subscription, and leave a comment below to let me know that you have subscribed to my e-mails (or tell me if you already are). (2 entries)

2.  Tweet about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

3. Make your facebook status about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your page.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

4.  Grab my Banner in the right sidebar and post it on your website (or tell me if it is already there)! (3 entries)

5.  Add a link to OpinionQueen.com from your blog or website, and leave a comment below with a link to where you added the link. (3 entries)

6.  Follow me on twitter: TheOpinionQueen and then leave a comment below with your twitter name. (2 entries)

7.  Tell everyone about this giveaway on Digg, Stumble, in a forum, meme, Google Buzz, blog it, or any other social networking place (2 entries for each one that you do!)

8.  Leave a comment on a non-giveaway product review post on my site and leave a comment below to let me know what you commented on. (1 entry)

The winner will be selected on December 14 through a random number generator and contacted via e-mail.  If there is no response from the winner within 3 days, then another winner will be selected.  Only US Residents are eligible for this giveaway.

On one of his recent shows, Dr Oz mentioned a new line of Neti Pots and Nasal Irrigation Products called Waterpik SinuSense (here is the recap in case you missed it: Dr Oz: Sinus Infections).  There are four products in Waterpik’s SinuSense line: the WaterPik SinuSense Water Pulsator, the WaterPik SinuSense Neti Pot, the WaterPik SinuSense Neti Bottle and the WaterPik SinuSense Squeeze Bottle.  For those of you who are not yet familiar with Nasal Irrigators or Neti Pots – they are life changing.  It is an all natural and medicine-free way to prevent sinus infections, clear up allergies and it can even fight off colds.  The concept is that you pour water in through one nostril, and it comes out the other nostril, rinsing out allergens, debris that you breathe in during the day, and congestion from colds that can cause sinus problems.  But with four different Waterpik SinuSense products to pick from, how do you know which is best for you?  Well luckily, Waterpik sent me all four products to test out so that I could tell you the difference between all four models!

Waterpik SinuSense Water Pulsator Review

My husband is talented in many areas, but pouring water up his nose is definitely not one of them!  That being said, the WaterPik SinuSense Water Pulsator was by far the easiest for him to use.  Here is how you use it:

How to Use the Waterpik SinuSense Water Pulsator:

1. You pour a package of saline solution into the water reservoir, along with 8 ounces of warm distilled water, and screw it back onto the top of the Water Pulsator.

2.  Lean forward over the sink (or in my husband’s case, he does it in the shower stall before he takes a shower).  Note: if you do it in the shower, make sure that the water is not running because an electronic device plus running water is never a good idea.

3.  While leaning forward, place the tip of the WaterPik SinuSense Water Pulsator into your left nostril.  Make sure that throughout the rest of this process that you breathe only through your mouth.

4.  Now comes the most interesting part about the WaterPik SinuSense Water Pulsator, you can pull on what they call the FlowControl Trigger (the blue trigger shown in the photo below) to control how fast or slow the water goes through your nasal passages.  This is what made this process easier for my husband I think, in addition to the fact that you do not pour the water through your nose but rather the machine basically pumps the water through your nasal passage for you.

5.  After around 10 seconds, repeat steps 3 and 4 but this time place the tip of the WaterPik SinuSense Water Pulsator into your right nostril.

Waterpik SinuSense Neti Pot Review

The WaterPik SinuSense Neti Pot has improved upon the classic Neti Pot design by placing what they call a One-Touch FlowControl vent on the handle of the neti pot.  This means that you can have some control over how quickly or slowly the water flows through your nose.

How to Use the Waterpik SinuSense Neti Pot:

1.  You pour a package of saline solution into the Neti Pot, along with 8 ounces of warm distilled water, and shake it up to make sure it is mixed together.

2.  Next, lean forward over the sink, or in the shower.

3.  While leaning forward, tilt your head to the right and place the tip of the WaterPik SinuSense Neti Pot into your left nostril.  Make sure that throughout the rest of this process that you breathe only through your mouth.

4.  Now as the water pours through your nose, you can control the water flow by moving your thumb to cover the hole on the top of the handle.

5.  After the Neti Pot is half full, repeat steps 3 and 4 but this time tilt your head to the left and place the tip of the WaterPik SinuSense Neti Pot into your right nostril.

Waterpik SinuSense Neti Bottle Review

There are two main differences between the WaterPik SinuSense Neti Bottle and the WaterPik SinuSense Neti Pot.  One is the shape of course, and the second is the way that you control the flow of water.  With the WaterPik SinuSense Neti Bottle, you control the water flow with a special FlowControl Valve on the top of the bottle, and with the WaterPik SinuSense Neti Pot you slide your thumb over a hole on the top of the handle to control the water flow.  I honestly enjoyed both designs, but if I had to pick my favorite between the two, then it would probably be the classic WaterPik SinuSense Neti Pot because I find it slightly easier to hold the handle of the original design rather than the body of the WaterPik SinuSense Neti Bottle.  Of course, the steps are basically the same, but to be 100% clear, here is how I used the Neti Bottle:

How to Use the Waterpik SinuSense Neti Bottle:

1.  You pour a package of saline solution into the Neti Bottle, along with 8 ounces of warm distilled water, and shake it up to make sure it is mixed together.

2.  Next, lean forward over the sink, or in the shower.

3.  While leaning forward, tilt your head to the right and place the tip of the WaterPik SinuSense Neti Bottle into your left nostril.  Make sure that throughout the rest of this process that you breathe only through your mouth.

4.  Now as the water pours through your nose, you can control the water flow by pressing the FlowControl Valve on the top of the Neti Bottle.

5.  After the Neti Bottle is half full, repeat steps 3 and 4 but this time tilt your head to the left and place the tip of the WaterPik SinuSense Neti Bottle into your right nostril.

Waterpik SinuSense Squeeze Bottle Review

The WaterPik SinuSense Squeeze Bottle is basically like a non-battery operated version of the WaterPik SinuSense Water Pulsator.  So rather than using gravity to push the water through your nasal passage like the WaterPik SinuSense Neti Bottle and the WaterPik SinuSense Neti Pot do, you force the water through your nose by squeezing the water bottle which forces the water to go up through one nostril and out the other.

How to Use the Waterpik SinuSense Squeeze Bottle:

1.  You pour a package of saline solution into the Squeeze Bottle, along with 8 ounces of warm distilled water, and shake it up to make sure it is mixed together.

2.  Next, lean forward over the sink, or in the shower.

3.  While leaning forward, place the tip of the WaterPik SinuSense Squeeze Bottle into your left nostril.  Make sure that throughout the rest of this process that you breathe only through your mouth.

4.  Now as you squeeze the bottle, the water will flow up one nostril and come out the other, because there is a special FlowControl Valve that only lets water out (and not back in).

5.  After the Squeeze Bottle is half full, repeat steps 3 and 4 but this time tilt your head to the left and place the tip of the WaterPik SinuSense Squeeze Bottle into your right nostril.

I know what you are thinking at this point (“ok, so now I know how to use the four Waterpik SinuSense products, but how do I decide which one to buy?”).  Well here is what I suggest.  If you are new to the world of Nasal Irrigation or have had trouble with Neti Pots in the past, I would highly recommend checking out the WaterPik SinuSense Water Pulsator and if that is out of your price range, then a close second would be the WaterPik SinuSense Squeeze Bottle.  If you have used Neti Pots before and are just looking for a new and improved model, I absolutely adore the WaterPik SinuSense Neti Pot.  The WaterPik SinuSense Neti Bottle is also wonderful, but I think it might work better for people with larger hands than mine.  If you prefer holding onto a handle: go with the WaterPik SinuSense Neti Pot.  If you prefer holding onto the body of the device: go with the WaterPik SinuSense Neti Bottle.

For more information about WaterPik, visit the WaterPik Website.

One of the products that Dr Oz had on his show recently was the Measure Up Bowl (in case you missed the segment, you can read the recap here: Dr Oz Measure Up Bowl).  Many of us struggle to figure out what an appropriate portion size looks like, so the Measure Up Bowl takes the guess-work out of Portion Control for you.  I can’t tell you how many times I have read the Nutrition Facts on a box of cereal and said to myself, ok I am just going to eat one cup of cereal – but then I never actually measure out the 1 cup – I just “eyeball” it and hope that I am close.  And we all know what that leads to … if I am hungry, I rationalize eating a bit more by telling myself that I did not really eat a full cup.  The genius of the Measure Up Bowl is that you do not need to take out a measuring cup every time you eat because the measurements are etched right into the inside of the bowl.

As you can see in the photo above, the large Measure Up Bowl has markings for a 1/2 cup, 1 cup, 1.5 cups and 2 cups.  There is also a smaller version with marking for 1/4 cup, 1/2 cup and 3/4 cup.  Before using the bowl for the first time, I decided to do a quick test to make sure that the 1 cup marking really gave me a full cup – this way I could have no excuses to take a bit extra on the off-chance that the measurement markings were a little bit off.

And into my Measure Up Bowl went the Rice Krispies that I had already measured to be exactly 1 cup.  This bowl is precise!  My one cup of Rice Krispies filled the bowl up to the 1 cup measuring line.  But this bowl is useful for so much more than just your bowl of morning cereal.  It is microwave-safe and dishwasher-safe, so warm meals are accounted for, as well as easy cleanup.  The Measure Up Bowl website even has a couple of diet plans that you can follow using their bowls.  Here is one for a Low-Sugar & Heart Healthy Plan and here is another one for a Weight Management Plan.   Heather Harvey, creator of the Measure Up Bowl lost 83 pounds in just 11 months through portion control, eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly.  If you are looking for a product to help you with portion control, I highly recommend checking out the Measure Up Bowl for Portion Control in a Bowl!

For more information, please visit the Measure Up Bowl Website.

As I listed the foods that I eat every day to my nutritionist a month ago, I could not help but be proud of what I thought was a healthy diet.  One of the first things that the nutritionist picked up on was that I was eating lots of yogurt, which is a good thing, but I was eating the wrong kind of yogurt.  She told me to start buying yogurt with at most 6 grams of sugar per serving, but ideally it should have only 3 grams of sugar or less per serving.  So off I went to the grocery store on a quest to find organic yogurt with less sugar (I hate the idea of non-organic dairy products from cows that are pumped full of hormones and antibiotics).  How can it be that every yogurt and kefir (other than plain or diet flavors) has 20 grams of sugar or more?  That is far higher than what my nutritionist was recommending.  So I decided that maybe I would give my yogurt habit a rest for a while.  A couple of weeks later, the fabulous people at Cuisipro offered to let me review the Cuisipro Donvier Electronic Yogurt Maker and to give another one away to one of my readers.  And it finally struck me – why not make your own yogurt and have 100% control over all of the ingredients that are used!  Even if you are not a yogurt lover, you should definitely also read my Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker Review and enter that giveaway as well, because both the yogurt maker and the yogurt cheese maker work together so beautifully.

The Cuisipro Donvier Electronic Yogurt Maker comes with 8 reusable yogurt cups, a cooking base, and a thermometer that is used in the process of making yogurt.  The only other ingredients that you need are milk and a starter.  The instruction book suggests adding instant skim milk powder into your cold milk before starting the process if you use low-fat milk (otherwise your yogurt can come out too thin), but I used a mixture of whole milk and 2% milk and had no problems with the thickness.  For the starter, you can either use 1-2 TB of plain yogurt that you buy at the store or you can use a package of dried yogurt culture.  For my first batch, I used Cuisipro’s Yogurt Culture, and then after my first batch I always made sure to save 1-2 TB of yogurt to use in my next batch.

How to Make Yogurt in the Donvier Yogurt Maker:

1.  I heated up a liter of milk in a glass container in the microwave until I saw that it was steaming.  This took me around 8 minutes in my microwave, and I stopped to stir and check on it every couple of minutes.

2.  Then I removed the milk from the microwave and placed the thermometer into it, because you need to let the milk cool until it is 110 to 115 degrees.  You can see in the photo above that the thermometer makes it super simple, because you just wait until the temperature falls in between the two black lines marked as “Add Starter.”

3.  Next, I added 1-2 TB of the starter yogurt or dried yogurt culture into one of the eight yogurt jars that comes with the Cuisipro Donvier Electronic Yogurt Maker and I mixed some of the warm milk into the starter.

4.  I poured the starter / warm milk combination that I mixed together in my yogurt jar back into the big container of warm milk, and I mixed it well.

5.  For the next step, I filled each of the eight jars equally with the milk / yogurt mixture, covered them with their lids and placed them into the base of the Cuisipro Donvier Electronic Yogurt Maker.

6.  I plugged in the base and for my first batch, I set it to run for 10 hours.  The instruction book says you can increase the time for thicker yogurt or decrease the time for thinner yogurt, and in a future batch I did let it run for longer and it made the most delicious, thick, creamy yogurt!

7.  That’s it!  Now I just had to wait.  There are several alarms to let you know when your batch of yogurt is about to be done, and then when the yogurt is finished, the machine automatically turns off and beeps for a minute to remind you to put your yogurt into the fridge, because you need to chill the yogurt for 3-4 hours before it is ready to eat.

How did the yogurt come out? Amazing!  Much tastier than store bought yogurt, and best of all, there are no preservatives or artificial ingredients.  I could control how much sugar was added to each serving – and I opted to use Agave Nectar rather than actual sugar to make it that much healthier.  I even added my own fresh fruit chunks or fruit preserves to make fruit flavored yogurt.

One final point I want to make is that the Cuisipro Donvier Electronic Yogurt Maker is well-built and sturdy, and they only use safe materials.  If you look at the photo above very carefully, you can see that the yogurt cups are made of a plastic that contains no BPA, which is so important because any time you heat up a plastic container that contains BPA, the BPA can seep into your food and scientists do not even  know the long-term effects of this yet but it is not sounding good.  In fact, many states have already outlawed the use of BPA in baby products.  So I was thrilled to see the no BPA stamp on the bottom of the plastic yogurt container.

Now that I have a Cuisipro Donvier Electronic Yogurt Maker, I think it is safe to say that I will never buy yogurt again.  I love to just set it up the night before, let the machine run all night, and then place it in the fridge the next morning.  In fact, I think I just might need to order another set of Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Maker Jars because my house goes through that much yogurt!

How to Enter the Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Maker Giveaway:

Where to Buy the Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Maker: You can buy one here: Cuisipro Donvier Electronic Yogurt Maker

How to Win: You can win a Cuisipro Donvier Electronic Yogurt Maker by visiting the Cuisipro Website and leaving comment below with your favorite product on their site!  You must do this before doing any of the extra entries listed below.  And do not forget to read the Cuisipro Donvier Yogurt Cheese Maker Review and to enter that giveaway as well!

Extra Entries: Each of the following will give you a certain number of EXTRA entries into the giveaway, so do as many of the following as you would like!  Good luck everyone!

1.  Subscribe to my updates via e-mail by clicking here: Subscribe to Opinion Queen by Email, confirm the subscription, and leave a comment below to let me know that you have subscribed to my e-mails (or tell me if you already are). (2 entries)

2.  Tweet about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

3. Make your facebook status about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your page.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

4.  Grab my Banner in the right sidebar and post it on your website (or tell me if it is already there)! (3 entries)

5.  Add a link to OpinionQueen.com from your blog or website, and leave a comment below with a link to where you added the link. (3 entries)

6.  Follow me on twitter: TheOpinionQueen and then leave a comment below with your twitter name. (2 entries)

7.  Tell everyone about this giveaway on Digg, Stumble, in a forum, meme, Google Buzz, blog it, or any other social networking place (2 entries for each one that you do!)

8.  Leave a comment on a non-giveaway product review post on my site and leave a comment below to let me know what you commented on. (1 entry)

The winner will be selected on December 13 through a random number generator and contacted via e-mail.  If there is no response from the winner within 3 days, then another winner will be selected.  Only US Residents are eligible for this giveaway.

Everyone who is health conscious or who has ever tried to lose weight knows the importance of reading the Nutrition Facts on the back of food products before buying them.  I am one of those ladies who will stand in the grocery store and compare the Nutrition Facts on 3 or 4 boxes of cereal before I decide which one to buy.  However, even with reading the ingredients and the Nutrition Facts, you can be tricked by the clever food manufacturers if you are not careful.  Have you ever noticed that for many foods, the servings size is ridiculously small?  Who can eat just 8 potato chips after opening a bag or 1 cookie when you have a delicious box full of cookies sitting in front of you?  So even if the food seems low in calories and fat, if you eat two or three times the serving size, it can add up really quickly.  What can be done though?  Well, how about a product that will create a Nutrition Facts label for the exact amount of food you are about to eat?  That is precisely what the Perfect Portions Scale does!  Dr Oz spoke about this scale on one of his segments (here is the recap: Dr Oz Perfect Portions Food Scale) and so when I was approached to do a Perfect Portions Review, I was beyond excited!  It was the first thing I told my husband when he came home, because he had been talking about how we should get a digital food scale for a while.

The Perfect Portions Scale comes in black, white, blue, red and silver – but you know how I like neutral colors that match everything, so I went with the black one.  The setup is easy – just remove the plastic strip from the battery compartment and start using it.  For breakfast, I had run out of my favorite cereal, so I decided to have some Rice Krispies, which were leftover from the Rice Krispies Treats that I made – definitely not diet food!  To use the scale, you first put your empty cereal bowl on the scale and then turn it on.  The scale automatically calculates the weight of the bowl and zeros it out so that it will only calculate the weight of the food that you pour into the bowl.  Next, I added the amount of Rice Krispies that I was planning to eat.

The Perfect Portions Scale comes with a Food Code Book  that has a database of 1999 different foods.  So after adding the Rice Krispies to my bowl, I looked up the Perfect Portions Food Code for Rice Krispies and as you can see above it is 0434.  There are a TON of foods listed in the book, but on the off-chance that you cannot find the food you are eating or something extremely similar, you can also enter your own customizable food entries.

Voila!  The complete Nutrition Facts for the exact amount of Rice Krispies that I was about to eat.  What I love about this is that if I see that I am about to eat way too many calories or too much fat, I can cut back the portion until I get the exact amount I can afford to consume for the meal.  Sometimes I even found that I was eating fewer calories and fat than I thought, so I added some extra food to my plate.  The Perfect Portions Scale completely takes the guess-work out of what you are eating.  Plus, you can have the scale monitor your calories, sugar, carbs, sodium and cholesterol so that you can track how much of each you are eating daily and even weekly.

A few more things that I absolutely must rave about – the Perfect Portions Scale is a dream to clean because there are no cracks, grooves, nooks or crannies.  The entire scale is a flat piece of glass material with touchpad keys.  And if you are a baker (like me) then you know the importance of weighing ingredients like flour rather than measuring it with measuring cups which is extremely inaccurate.  This scale also handles basic weighing functions (perfect for bakers!) like any other digital scale.  I can’t imagine why anyone would ever buy a regular digital scale when you can get the Perfect Portions Scale which is the most multi-purpose digital food scale that I have ever seen.

For more information about the Perfect Portions Scale please visit the Perfect Portions Website.  And a giant thank you to Perfect Portions for sponsoring this product review!

As a person who works on the computer all day long (and does not see as much of the gym as one should!), I definitely love the idea of incorporating exercise into the work day.  The Gaiam Balance Ball Chair is a combination of workout equipment and office furniture in one.  After seeing the Gaiam Balance Ball Chair on the Dr Oz Show (here is a recap of the Dr Oz Gaiam Balance Ball Chair segment), I was intrigued.  So many questions popped into my mind: Could it be comfortable? Could it really improve your back health and posture?  Could you really exercise while working at your computer?  When Gaiam offered to let me try out the Gaiam Balance Ball Chair, I was excited to find out the answers to all of these questions.

A little bit of background on the Gaiam Balance Ball Chair – it was developed by Dr Randy Weinzoff, a chiropractor, as a chair to alleviate all of the aches and pains that we get in our back and legs while working at a desk for hours on end.  The height of the chair is 2.5 feet tall, and it is designed for people between 5′ and 5’11″ tall who weigh 300 pounds or less.  And I can tell you this much, my husband who is 6’3″ could not use the Gaiam Balance Ball Chair, but then again, he also cannot sit comfortably in any sedan or small SUV.  Luckily, I am 5’4″ though, so this will definitely be my chair and not his!

The Gaiam Balance Ball Chair comes in plum (purple), pool (blue), sage (green) and charcoal (dark gray).  The only difference is the color of the ball, and I went with charcoal color because it was the most neutral choice.  However, I was very tempted by the other beautiful colors.  The good news is that if you ever want to change the color of the ball, you can replace just the ball for only $30.

When my Gaiam Balance Ball Chair arrived, it took me less than 10 minutes to put the whole thing together.  The most time-consuming part was filling up the ball with the air pump in the photo above, but this was a fun activity to do while I watched the news anyway!  I filled the ball up as much as possible, but after a few hours the instructions say that the ball will become more pliable so that you can add more air – and sure enough that is exactly what happened.

I placed my Gaiam Balance Ball Chair in front of my desk and started working on my computer.  The first thing I noticed was that I could not resist the temptation to bounce and move around, which already is more activity than I usually get while sitting at my desk.  I also felt my posture improve and some of my back pain was relieved, but I thought that perhaps I was just sitting up straight since it was a new chair and I wanted for it to work so badly.  But several hours later, I was no longer thinking about my posture or my back when my husband walked in and said, “wow, that Ball Chair really does give you perfect posture!’  It is such a shame that Gaiam does not make a larger version for taller men, because my husband could definitely use a posture improving chair too!

Back to my list of initial questions.  Could it be comfortable? Absolutely!  Even after sitting on it for hours, it is surprisingly comfortable.  Could it really improve your back health and posture?  Definitely!  After several days, my usual back pain diminished.  And my last question: could you really exercise while working at your computer?  The Gaiam Balance Ball Chair comes with a few exercise ideas that you can do at your desk, and apparently some of their chairs even come with a Resistance Cord (as in the photo above).  I do not have that exact Resistance Cord, but I do have a resistance band which I used in the exact same way.  Now when I am on the phone, I pop on my headset and exercise my arms.  Plus, when you are not using the ball as part of the chair, you can use it on its own to do a whole bunch of other exercises.

The Gaiam Balance Ball Chair definitely surpassed my expectations and I cannot recommend it enough for people under 5’11″ who work at their desk for many hours and are looking for the perfect combination of workout equipment and office furniture!  For more information visit Gaiam’s Website.

Dr Oz featured the Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard on his show where he discussed kitchen gadgets that are good for you (here is the recap of the segment in case you missed it: Dr Oz Kitchen Gadgets).  I was ecstatic when Evriholder offered for me to review the Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard and to give another one to one of my readers!  If you have kids that help you cook at home or if you are generally clumsy in the kitchen (like me!), then you definitely need to read this review!

My Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard came in hot pink, which is a color that I love.  But it also comes in purple and green.  The hot pink portion of the Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard is made out of a soft flexible thermoplastic, which is why you can open and close this “wish-bone” shaped tool.  The white portion of the tool is a hard and non-flexible plastic, which prevents you from accidentally cutting into your fingers or hands with a knife.

As you can see from the photo above, there are two little pockets in the back of the Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard – one for your index finger and one for your thumb.  After placing your finger and thumb into the Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard, you can easily grip onto the vegetable you are cutting.  You can also see in the photo above how the non-slip texture on the inside of the Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard helps you to firmly hold any vegetable – even wet veggies that like to move around and do a little dance on your cutting board.

In the photo above, you can see the Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard in action.  I am cutting a piece of celery in half to make celery sticks for with a veggie dip.  You can see that my finger and thumb are in the hot pink pockets at the back of the Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard, and the white plastic is protecting my fingers from the knife cutting the celery.  Even if the knife were to slip, there is no way it could possibly cut my fingers!  Another added bonus of using the Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard is that I found it easier to hold onto my vegetables without them slipping, because the non-slip surface really does give you a much better grip over the food as you slice and dice.  If you have ever cut your fingers while cutting food with a knife (or been to an emergency room for stitches from a kitchen injury … I’m not naming names!), then I am sure you will see the genius in this invention – and at under $8, I do not think any home can afford to be without one!

How to Enter the EvriHolder Safe Slice Knife Guard Giveaway:

Where to Buy the EvriHolder Safe Slice Knife Guard: You can buy one here: Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard

How to Win: You can win a Evriholder Safe Slice Knife Guard by doing the following:

1.  Visit the Evriholder Website

2.  Leave a comment below with your favorite product on the Evriholder website!

3.  After doing the first two steps, you can get extra entries into the giveaway, by doing as many of the following as you would like!  Good luck everyone!

How to Get Extra Entries (and Boost Your Chances of Winning!):

a)  Subscribe to my updates via e-mail by clicking here: Subscribe to Opinion Queen by Email, confirm the subscription, and leave a comment below to let me know that you have subscribed to my e-mails (or tell me if you already are). (2 entries)

b)  Tweet about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

c) Make your facebook status about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your page.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

d)  Grab my Banner in the right sidebar and post it on your website (or tell me if it is already there)! (3 entries)

e)  Add a link to OpinionQueen.com from your blog or website, and leave a comment below with a link to where you added the link. (3 entries)

f)  Follow me on twitter: TheOpinionQueen and then leave a comment below with your twitter name. (2 entries)

g)  Tell everyone about this giveaway on Digg, Stumble, in a forum, meme, Google Buzz, blog it, or any other social networking place (2 entries for each one that you do!)

h)  Leave a comment on a non-giveaway product review post on my site and leave a comment below to let me know what you commented on. (1 entry)

The winner will be selected on December 12 through a random number generator and contacted via e-mail.  If there is no response from the winner within 3 days, then another winner will be selected.  Only US Residents are eligible for this giveaway.

Having struggled with digestive issues for much of my life, people have told me before that I should consider doing a “cleanse.”  But I must admit, I was skeptical about all of these “cleanses” that have popped up on the market lately.  But when the folks at DrNatura contacted me and asked me to do a review of the Dr Natura Colonix, I was intrigued.  Whenever a company asks me to review a product that I actually consume, I always do some due diligence before accepting.  After reading review after review of glowing feedback about the Dr Natura Colonix program, I decided to have an open mind and to give it a try.

For those of you who are like me, and may not know much about what a Colonix is, I will elaborate.  A Colonix is a form of colon cleansing and body detoxification that is supposed to give you a thorough internal cleansing.  The Dr Natura Colonix program is made up of three different products: the Colonix Intestinal Cleanser which is a fiber supplement for cleaning out your colon and for flushing out toxins – the Paranil, which are capsules containing detoxifying herbs – and the KleriTea which is an herbal tea that will keep your bowel movements regular.  Here is what the instructions look like for a one month cleanse:

Dr Natura Colonix Instructions:

At first glimpse, the Dr Natura Colonix program sounds a bit overwhelming, but after the first few days it becomes habit.  You start off slowly the first 5 days, and then increase the amount of product that you use for the next 25 days.  The instructions on the Colonix fiber says to mix it into juice, water or your favorite drink.  So I mixed it into my favorite breakfast smoothie of strawberries, bananas, ice and some fruit juice.  The taste of the KleriTea was fine, especially if you like tea like me!  If you do not like tea, I think that adding a little lemon juice would make it even tastier.

DrNatura Colonix Results

This is the most important part of any Colonix review – did it really work?  Like I said, I was a skeptic, but I definitely started to see changes after starting Dr Natura’s Colonix.  My bowel movements became extremely regular – as in multiple times a day (sorry if that is too much information … but this is a Colonix review!).  I definitely noticed improvements in my energy level, and even my skin and hair seemed healthier.  But the most impressive thing that Dr Natura’s Colonix did for me was to clear up my IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) symptoms.  I am so happy to say that I have not had any “tummy problems” or “bathroom problems” since a few days after I began the Dr Natura’s Colonix program.  I wonder how long the results will last for me.  Frankly, I suffer so badly from IBS that even if I have to take Dr Natura’s Colonix every 6 months, it will be worth it!

Where To Buy Dr Natura Colonix

You can buy the full Colonix program here: Dr Natura’s Colonix

Or you can buy each step of the program separately here: DrNatura Colonix Fiber, Dr Natura Kleritea and Dr Natura Paranil.

If you saw Dr Oz’s Ultimate Flab Buster Workout with SusieQ, a celebrity fitness trainer with an energetic and inspirational personality, then I am sure that you had the same question that many people were asking — does Susie Q have her own workout DVD?  The answer is a resounding YES! Her DVD is called Susieq Fitlife: Arms of a First Lady, and she gave me one DVD to test out and another five to give away to my readers… which I will tell you how to win at the end of the review!

I do not care if you are a Democrat or a Republican… if you love Obama or hate Obama… there is one thing that nobody can deny, and that is that Michelle Obama has amazing arms.  Susie Q seems to be on the same workout plan as our First Lady, because her arms could not be any more perfect.  But there are lots of workout DVDs on the market, so how does Susie Q differentiate herself?  This question has so many answers, because her DVD is truly unique (and fun!).  First of all, what good is a workout DVD if you are not inspired by it and never pop it into your DVD player?  Susie Q’s personality was made to be an inspirational trainer and that comes through loud and clear in the DVD.  This is a workout DVD that won’t collect dust and that you will use over and over again.

I received my Susieq Fitlife: Arms of a First Lady DVD in the afternoon, and I decided to give it a test run that same evening.  If I want to get Michelle Obama’s arms, there can be no procrastinating!  My first workout was challenging, but I made it through the entire DVD and truly felt like I had a great workout, all in under an hour.  I love Susie Q’s names for her moves like “Armed Force Raise,” “The 40-HR Lady” and “The New Bama Swing.”  I was surprised though that the DVD actually worked out my entire body, not just my arms (although a great focus is of course on your arms).

There are other great surprises that Susie Q includes in her Susieq Fitlife: Arms of a First Lady DVD, such as her segment called “Watch Your Mouth!” where Wellness Coach Sal Fichera teaches you about nutrition in your kitchen.  Another great segment, especially for those of us on a budget, is called SusieQ Sculpt, where she discusses how to use household items to get in shape.

The true test of any workout DVD is: do you see results.  It is too soon to tell how amazing my arms truly can be, but after just a week, my arms already have a bit more tone.  So I can’t wait to see what happens when I continue using it over the next month.  The fact that I have actually done Susie Q’s workout for an entire week definitely bodes well for my future of being able to stick with this program.  I’m telling you, it is literally impossible to not love Susie Q!  I cannot wait to see where she goes from here, because I know we will be seeing a lot more of this spunky, fun, energetic lady!

How to Enter the SusieQ Workout DVD Giveaway:

Where to Buy: You can buy one here: Susieq Fitlife: Arms of a First Lady

How to Win: You can win a Susieq Fitlife: Arms of a First Lady by leaving a comment below with what excites you the most about the SusieQ Workout DVD!  Each of the following will give you a certain number of entries into the giveaway, so do as many of the following as you would like!  Good luck everyone!

1.  Subscribe to my updates via e-mail by clicking here: Subscribe to Opinion Queen by Email, confirm the subscription, and leave a comment below to let me know that you have subscribed to my e-mails (or tell me if you already are). (2 entries)

2.  Tweet about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

3. Make your facebook status about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your page.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

4.  Grab my Banner in the right sidebar and post it on your website (or tell me if it is already there)! (3 entries)

5.  Add a link to OpinionQueen.com from your blog or website, and leave a comment below with a link to where you added the link. (3 entries)

6.  Follow me on twitter: TheOpinionQueen and then leave a comment below with your twitter name. (2 entries)

7.  Tell everyone about this giveaway on Digg, Stumble, in a forum, meme, Google Buzz, blog it, or any other social networking place (2 entries for each one that you do!)

8.  Leave a comment on a non-giveaway product review post on my site and leave a comment below to let me know what you commented on. (1 entry)

The winner will be selected on December 5 and contacted via e-mail.  If there is no response from the winner within 3 days, then another winner will be selected.  Only US Residents are eligible for this giveaway.

ZOOM Organic makes a health drink called Zoë, which means life in Ancient Greek.  ZOOM Organic’s concept is that the health drink can be equated to “life in a bottle.”  I approach “health drinks” with a cautious eye, because what companies often claim to be healthy are anything but that.  So when ZOOM Organic offered me to test out their product, the first thing I did was to research a bit more about what goes into their product.  What caught my eye was the fact that it is 100% organic juice and nothing else.  ZOOM’s Zoe is made up of Acai Juice, Goji Juice, Noni Juice, Mangosteen Juice and Camu Camu Juice.  If you have not heard of all of these antioxidant-rich fruits, I will elaborate on them shortly, but suffice it to say that this juice drink sounded very promising.

Of the five fruits that make up ZOOM Organic’s Zoe drink, Acai is the fruit that I have heard the most about.  According to ZOOM Organic, the Acai Berry has “antioxidants, amino acids, essential omegas, fibers and proteins” and is thought to help increase energy, strengthen your immune system, promote good sleep, improve digestion and slow the aging process to name just a few.    The Goji Berry is supposed to help people to age more gracefully and is thought by some to help with arthritis, cardiovascular health, diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure.  The Noni Fruit is thought to help with back pain, your immune system and hypertension.  The Mangosteen is packed with antioxidants and has 40 Xanthones.  Mangosteen excited me because it is supposed to be great for acne, eczema, diarrhea, headaches and skin problems in general.  My husband has the worst eczema, so I am always on the lookout for new products to help him.  Last, but not least, Camu Camu is supposed to be a natural anti-depressant that also helps your liver, lungs, eyes and even cold sores.  Camu Camu fruits are about the size of a large cherry, but they have 20-30 times more vitamin C than an orange.  And that is all that is in Zoe — nothing else, no fillers.

When I received my bottle of ZOOM Organic’s Zoe Drink, I was not sure what to expect.  Several people have told me that Noni Juice tastes like cheese or like feet or at the very least, that it is bitter.  So I was a bit concerned that the Noni Juice would overpower any good taste that the other juices might have.  The bottle says to take 2-3 ounces daily as a nutritional supplement, so the first few times that I took Zoe, I measured it out exactly until I got a good feel for exactly how much liquid is in 2-3 ounces.  You can see the color of the juice in the photo above.  Unfortunately, you cannot taste the flavor from the photo, but I was impressed by how good it tasted.  Would I say that it is the best juice drink I ever tasted?  Probably not.  However, this is a nutritional supplement, not a juice drink that is sugary and aiming just to taste good.  The real test was how I felt after just a few weeks of drinking this juice.  I definitely felt more energized and my skin really did improve, which I did not appreciate nearly as much as I should have, but as soon as I stopped drinking the juice, I definitely saw the change in my skin.  If you are looking for a nutritional supplement with Acai, Goji, Noni, Mangosteen and Camu Camu, I would look no further.  If you are interested in trying out ZOOM Organic’s Zoe drink, please visit them here.

After living in New York City for several years (where you are lucky if there is enough space to turn around in your kitchen!), I value kitchen real estate like some people value gold.  Every square inch of drawer and cabinet space is precious!  I could not find space for a colander in my NYC kitchen for the life of me.  So if I needed to drain a pot of pasta, I did the careful dance of balancing the lid at just the right angle so that the boiling water could be poured out but the pasta would stay in.  And if I failed (which I am embarrassed to admit happened a few times) I would lose the pasta or end up with a burn from the hot steam and water.  Oh how I wish I had known about the Rösle Collapsible Colander back then!

I took the above photo with my thumb in it so that you can really get a feel for the scale of the Rösle Collapsible Colander when it is collapsed.  It is about as tall as the width of two of my thumbs, which can literally be squeezed into any little nook or cranny.  Another great thing about this colander is that it comes in so many fabulous colors.  I love the bright red because it is easy to find and very cheerful.  But it is also available in black, green, purple, orange and yellow.

Now for the real test, how easy is it to collapse and expand?  After all, what good is a collapsible colander if it is hard to use!  Well, Rosle knows what it is doing and that is why the Rösle Collapsible Colander was awarded KitchenInnovation of the Year 2009.  This colander is amazingly sturdy and well-built.  It pops in and out with ease, and when it is expanded it is sturdy enough to stay in that position until you collapse it again.

Another important feature to note is that the top, handles and bottom are made out of 18/10 stainless steel, while the red material is silicone.  There are little stainless steel “feet” on the bottom of the colander, which hold it up off of the counter when you put it down.  So after you rinse off your salad, and you put it on the counter, the water can actually continue draining out through the bottom… just make sure to put a towel underneath to catch it.

As if being high quality, a space saver, and the perfect tool for draining pasta and rinsing off fruits and vegetables was not enough… guess what else you can use the Rösle Collapsible Colander for?  A steamer!  That’s right, you just put some water into your favorite big pot,  place the strainer on top of the pot, place your vegetables (or whatever else you might want to steam) into the strainer and heat up the water.  So yes, the Rösle Collapsible Colander is truly a multi-tasking, space-saving, genius of an invention.  Rosle, you have done it again!

How to Enter the Rosle Collapsible Colander Giveaway:

Where to Buy: You can buy one here: Rösle Collapsible Colander

How to Win: You can win a Rösle Collapsible Colander by visiting the Rosle Website and leaving a comment below with the item you like most on their website or a comment about your favorite use for a colander!  Each of the following will give you a certain number of entries into the giveaway, so do as many of the following as you would like!  Good luck everyone!

1.  Subscribe to my updates via e-mail by clicking here: Subscribe to Opinion Queen by Email, confirm the subscription, and leave a comment below to let me know that you have subscribed to my e-mails to enter this giveaway. (2 entries)

2.  Tweet about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

3. Make your facebook status about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your page.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

4.  Add a link to OpnionQueen.com from your blog or website, and leave a comment below with a link to where you added the link. (3 entries)

5.  Follow me on twitter: TheOpinionQueen and then leave a comment below with your twitter name. (2 entries)

The winner will be selected on November 15 and contacted via e-mail.  If there is no response from the winner within 3 days, then another winner will be selected.  Only US Residents are eligible for this giveaway.

Congratulations to Debbie on winning this Giveaway!

I have always been a big fan of the company Emile Henry, because they make top quality clay cooking products imported directly from France!  So when they offered to send me an Emile Henry Pizza Stone to review (plus one to giveaway to a lucky reader), I was ecstatic!  Before the pizza stone even arrived, I was coming up with a million and one ways that I wanted to test it out…. from the obvious (pizza) to the less obvious (bread, phyllo appetizers, cookies, etc.).  I also began reading up about the company history of Emile Henry, which was founded in 1850 in a little town in Burgundy, France.  They are still run by the Henry family and use Burgundy clay in their kitchen products.  What makes Burgundy clay so special?  It is known for evenly cooking food, for having amazing heat retention, and for having outstanding thermal shock properties (which keeps the clay from cracking even if you have it in the freezer and move it directly into the oven).  The more I learned, the more excited I was for the pizza stone!

When my Emile Henry Pizza Stone arrived, I was immediately struck by the weight and obvious high quality.  You cannot tell from a photo, but this box is not a feather-weight.  The pizza stone comes in three gorgeous colors: Figue (an eggplant color), Olive and Black.  I received the black pizza stone, which is perfect for me because it is a neutral color that suits the rest of my kitchen cookware.

Knowing that I would not be able to wait to use my Emile Henry Pizza Stone once I got it, I had my kitchen already stocked with ingredients.  The first test would be a frozen pizza.  I know, I know… homemade pizza tastes much better, but it also takes more time, and I am not joking when I say that I could NOT wait to use it!  My family was previously not a frozen pizza family.  We prefer to have pizza delivered over frozen pizza.  Why?  Well, one big reason is that the crust just never tastes as good.  I like a slightly crunchy crust with a soft inside.  I am proud to say that we are frozen pizza fans now!  Wow, what a difference the Emile Henry Pizza Stone makes.  No more soggy crusts.  Our pizza was perfectly and evenly cooked, even without rotating the pizza once half way through the cooking process.  And I know this can only be credited to the pizza stone, because my oven is notorious for its uneven cooking abilities.

The next test for my Emile Henry Pizza Stone… bread!  Everyone in my family (and in my neighborhood for that matter) knows that I make amazing challah bread.  But like I mentioned before, my oven never cooks anything evenly, so I usually have to rotate my bread a little bit every 15-20 minutes or so.  This time, I baked my bread on the pizza stone and you can see that it browned evenly.  The same day I also baked cookies and chicken nuggets on the pizza stone, both of which came out crunchy and fabulous.  I try to not feed my family fried foods, but often times baked versions of fried foods just do not taste as good.  For example, when you bake chicken nuggets, they often come out soggy, especially if you do not flip each one over half way through.  But chicken nuggets cooked on this pizza stone come out crispy, do not need to be flipped, and are SUCH a healthy and delicious alternative to fried chicken nuggets.  I think my cookie sheet is going to be replaced with my new pizza stone, which seems to do everything that a cookie sheet does, but better!

My final test was on my sister’s favorite recipe of Cheddar Onion Focaccia Bread, which I only made twice because each time the center of the bread came out soggy.  I had a feeling that the Focaccia Bread baked on a Emile Henry Pizza Stone would be a winner.  And sure enough, it came out exactly how I wanted it – with a light brown, crunchy crust.  My pizza stone has been so busy these days that as soon as the focaccia finished, I transferred it onto a cooling rack so that I could use the pizza stone again right away (hence why the photo above shows the focaccia on a cooling rack!).

How to Enter the Emile Henry Pizza Stone Giveaway:

Where to Buy: You can buy one here: Emile Henry Pizza Stone

How to Win: You can win an Emile Henry Pizza Stone by visiting the Emile Henry Website and leaving a comment below with the item you like most on their website or a comment about your favorite use for a pizza stone!  Each of the following will give you a certain number of entries into the giveaway, so do as many of the following as you would like!  Good luck everyone!

1.  Subscribe to my updates via e-mail by clicking here: Subscribe to Opinion Queen by Email, confirm the subscription, and leave a comment below to let me know that you have subscribed to my e-mails to enter this giveaway. (2 entries)

2.  Tweet about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your tweet.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

3. Make your facebook status about my giveaway with a link to my site, and leave a comment below with a link to your page.  You can do this every day! (2 entries)

4.  Add a link to OpnionQueen.com from your blog or website, and leave a comment below with a link to where you added the link. (3 entries)

5.  Follow me on twitter: TheOpinionQueen and then leave a comment below with your twitter name. (2 entries)

The winner will be selected on November 14 and contacted via e-mail.  If there is no response from the winner within 3 days, then another winner will be selected.  Only US Residents are eligible for this giveaway.

Congratulations to Jen V on winning this Giveaway!

Do you have seasonal allergies? Year-round allergies? Sinus infections? Headache problems? Then, I am pleased to introduce you to the NeilMed NasaFlo Neti Pot.  Dr Oz has mentioned the benefits of using a Neti Pot in quite a few of his shows including this one on Sinus Infections and this one about Allergies & Neti Pots.  A Neti Pot is basically a device that helps you to clean out your sinuses and nasal passage by pouring water in through one nostril and letting it come out through the other nostril.  As the water comes out of your other nostril, so does the mucus, allergens and any debris stuck in your nose.  In addition, the nasal passage gets moisturized, which helps you to stay healthy.

My first Neti Pot was not the NeilMed NasaFlo, it was a very basic plastic Neti Pot that did not even have a lid on the top.  As a result, I often ended up with water all over my face rather than just in my nose.  So when my husband found the NeilMed NasaFlo, I was excited to try it out since the lid on the top would keep the water from bathing my face haha!

How To Use a Neti Pot:

Ok, so this part is crucial.  It took me quite a bit of time to play around with my Neti Pot until I mastered how to use it.  I highly recommend following these steps closely.

1.  Fill your NeilMed NasaFlo only half way with lukewarm water (you do not want the water too hot or too cold).

2.  Empty into the Neti Pot one NeilMed Sinus Rinse Packet.

3.  Fill the NeilMed NasaFlo the rest of the way (until the fill line) with more lukewarm water.  By filling the Neti Pot only half way before adding the sinus rinse packet, you will help distribute and dissolve the sinus rinse solution throughout the water in the Neti Pot.

4.  Standing over a sink, lean your head forward and tilt your head to the right.

5.  Place the Neti Pot’s spout into your left nostril and pour the water into the left nostril, while the water comes out the right nostril.  It is very important to breathe through your mouth during this time, otherwise the salty tasting water can go down your throat instead of out through the other nostril!

6.  I usually pour half of the solution in through my left nostril and then I tilt my head to the left and pour the rest of the solution in through my right nostril.

7.  When I have no more solution left in the Neti Pot, I push on one nostril with my finger and blow my nose hard to get out any loose debris / mucus and leftover salty water… and then I repeat this on my other nostril.

Stay tuned, because I just received 4 new styles of Neti Pots from WaterPik that I cannot wait to test out and review for you!

If you love peanut butter as much as I do, then get excited about Peanut Butter & Co’s peanut butters!  With flavors like Dark Chocolate Dreams, White Chocolate Wonderful, Cinnamon Raisin Swirl and Mighty Maple… what is there to not be excited about?  Peanut Butter & Co’s peanut butters are all natural and apparently are made from US-grown peanuts exclusively, so we can feel good about supporting the American economy too.  In addition, the peanut butters contain no cholesterol, trans fats, hydrogenated oil or high fructose corn syrup – excellent!  Dr Oz would be proud I  think.  One slight disappointment from the ingredient list is that Mighty Maple Peanut Butter does contain evaporated cane juice, which can be read as sugar.  So this is not really a “health food” but then again, you can certainly do much worse for yourself with other yummy treats.  If you happen to be a Vegan or have gluten allergies, all of Peanut Butter & Co’s peanut butters seem to be kosher, vegan and gluten-free.

Peanut Butter & Co’s Mighty Maple Review

I must admit, I have tried quite a few of Peanut Butter & Co’s peanut butters including their Dark Chocolate Dreams, White Chocolate Wonderful and now their Mighty Maple Peanut Butter.  One way that I love to eat peanut butter is on waffles, instead of syrup.  So there was no way that I could avoid trying the Mighty Maple Peanut Butter flavor on my waffles.  It is delicious!  If you like honey roasted peanuts… or honey roasted peanut butter… then you will LOVE Mighty Maple Flavor Peanut Butter.

I wish you could take a spoon out and take a big spoonful of this delicious peanut butter so that you could sample its delicious-ness!  But since that technology has not yet been invented, I figured an up close photo was the second best option.  I did read one review of Mighty Maple Peanut Butter that said it was gritty, and I would have to disagree.  Could the peanut butter be a smoother and creamier? Yes.  But is it gritty… I do not think so.  Perhaps it helps that I tend to eat my peanut butter on a freshly toasted hot waffle, and so the peanut butter melts a little bit into the waffle.  It tastes like warm, ooey, gooey, maple, peanut butter goodness on my warm waffles!  So here is what I recommend if you do not like the texture – cook with it.  The options are limitless – think about chocolate peanut butter brownies (just swirl the peanut butter into the brownie batter before baking) – peanut butter sauce for over ice cream – seriously, the sky is the limit.

Dr Oz has done multiple shows on how dangerous BPA (Bisphenol A) may be to our health.  Here are just a few recaps of Dr Oz’s shows that discuss BPA:

Hidden Obesogens

Poison in Food Supply

Water Supply Destroyed from BPA

One of the largest sources of BPA that we are exposed to is the BPA used in the lining of canned food products.  Especially now that my husband and I are hopeful about starting a family soon, we are trying to avoid any products that might contain BPA.  But how can I make all of my recipes that call for canned tomatoes?  Or tomato paste?  Or diced tomatoes?  Or one of the many varieties of canned tomato products?  After walking through my grocery store, unable to find any substitutes other than fresh tomatoes (which are not always in season), it struck me – use jarred tomato sauce products instead!

Ok, so I solved half of my problems with canned tomato products, but the other concern I have with processed tomato products is that non-organic tomatoes contain tons of pesticides and chemicals that are increasingly being shown to be bad for your health.  So we have been trying our hardest to avoid non-organic tomato products in our home.  Luckily, there are quite a few options of Organic Tomato Sauce.  So being the Opinion Queen, I had to buy every single variety of Trader Joe’s Organic Tomato Sauces to review so that I could make sure that none of us miss out on anything!  I tested out four Organic Tomato Sauces: Trader Giotto’s Organic Marinara Sauce, Trader Giotto’s Organic Spaghetti Sauce, Trader Giotto’s Organic Tomato Basil Marinara and Trader Giotto’s Organic No-Salt Added Marinara Sauce.  (Side note: Trader Giotto seems to be Trader Joe’s store brand for tomato sauces.)

Trader Joe’s Organic Marinara Sauce Review

The tried and true classic – regular marinara sauce.  Trader Joe’s Organic Marinara Sauce had a very fresh taste and a great chunky texture.  I think part of the reason that this marinara sauce tasted so fresh and like real tomatoes is because the first ingredient is literally organic tomato puree, as opposed to some other brands where corn syrup or other artificial flavorings and sweeteners are among the top ingredients.  None of the four Trader Joe’s Organic Tomato Sauces had corn syrup or anything artificial at all in the ingredients list – major plus in my book!  My only concern with the original marinara sauce is that it has 460 mg of sodium in 1/2 a cup, which is a bit higher than I would like to see.

Trader Joe’s Organic No-Salt Added Marinara Sauce Review

The healthier, no-salt added, version of Trader Joe’s Marinara Sauce only has 25 mg of sodium per serving, however the taste is MUCH more bland.  I would never recommend using this sauce straight out of the jar as a spaghetti topping for example.  However, I found that when I mixed the no-salt added marinara with the saltier original recipe marinara from above, I was left with a healthier but still tasty alternative.  Another reason that I love this no-salt added product is that I can use it to cook with in my recipes that call for canned tomato products and I can be in control of adding however much salt I want.

Trader Joe’s Organic Tomato Basil Marinara Review

Trader Joe’s Organic Tomato Basil Marinara is basically the same as the original marinara sauce, but it has the added flavor of basil, making this sauce perfect for any Italian dish.  I absolutely love the flavor of basil, but if you do not, or if you are using the tomato sauce for a non-Italian recipe, you might want to opt for the original marinara sauce.

Trader Joe’s Organic Spaghetti Sauce with Mushrooms Review

I am a major fan of mushrooms.  My favorite topping on a pizza is mushrooms.  So what is there not to love with mushrooms in a spaghetti sauce?  I love the taste of this sauce and it will probably become my go-to sauce for over pasta.  However, if I am looking for a tomato product substitute for a recipe, sometimes mushrooms are not a happy addition.  So my favorite substitute for tomato products in general recipes is going to be Trader Joe’s Organic Marinara Sauce.