A Timely Post...For Once!

Okay, normally I put this out after Mother's Day, but this year, I thought I'd get ahead of the game and actually make a Mother's Day recommendation before Mother's Day...imagine that!

If you want to send flowers for Mother's Day, of course I would always recommend supporting your local florist, but if you're far-away and don't know the local florists where your mother lives, I would recommend Organic Bouquet. Not only do they make lovely arrangements, but they are less likely to send your mother flowers soaked in pesticides and fungicides, so...yay! Also, they will donate part of the proceeds from any of their Flowers for Good collection to charity, so...yay again!

I have used Organic Bouquet in the past and always been very happy with the results. I've sent flowers to my mom for her birthday and Mother's Day, and she always sends me pictures of the bouquets. So, although I don't have any personal experience with the products, I still feel pretty good about recommending them.

If you need to get flowers to someone in the Colorado Springs area  who would like a tropical arrangement I would also highly recommend Dawn's Creations. She pulled this together for a same-day delivery to my Grandpa for his 95th birthday in December. If she could do this last-minute in the middle of winter (well, OK, fall, but whatever) I'm thinking that advance notice in springtime would also yield some fabulous results. Back in December, I don't think Dawn had a web site, and I just assumed that she did local deliveries, but now there's a web site, and it appears that shipping is available, so...yay!...AGAIN!

And, finally, if you need flowers delivered to someone on O'ahu, Rainforest at Kilohana Square makes beautiful arrangements. I'm not sure if they ship arrangements to the mainland, but you can get a lei shipped to the mainland. Their web site is a little detail-heavy, but they are trying to make sure they give their customers all the information they might need when considering an order. If you want to actually place an order, the best way is probably to call and talk to them. You can't just click on a picture and say, "Send one of these." Each creation is unique and depends on customer need and floral availability. I've never dealt with their delivery service, but I have picked up a sympathy arrangement (cat not included) and some loose flowers for my own arrangement at home.

 

I'm not getting any kick-backs or anything for any of these endorsements. These are just companies that I have had good results with in the past. I want to get the word out so that my readers have some reliable places to turn to, and I want to do my part to support the businesses that I like.

Product Review-Organic Bouquet

I am here again to give you a post-Mother's Day review of Organic Bouquet.  I know this might be more helpful right before Mother's Day, but I never have any results until after.  So, just tuck this away in your brain until the next time you need to send flowers.

This year, I sent my mom the Deluxe Lily Bouquet.  You can click on the link to see the advertised product, and here is the picture of the actual product, taken five days after delivery.  I think they did a pretty good job!  (The vase is not included in the price-it belongs to my mom.)

Last year, I sent my mom the Spring Sunflower Bouquet, which, if I'm not mistaken, appears to have been renamed The Wilderness Society Sunflower Delight Bouquet as part of Organic Bouquet's Flowers for Good ^TM collection.  Anyway, I was very happy with last year's results, and I am very happy with this year's as well.  My mom sent me an email today telling me that she has one bloom still hanging in there, which isn't bad after two weeks.

I don't have any affiliation with Organic Bouquet.  I just thought I'd put the information out there.   

Product Review-Debbie Meyer Green Bags

My husband and I own a FoodSaver®, which we LOVE.  Seriously, it's an excellent investment.  We've had ours for about 12 or 13 years and we use it all the time.  Well, we've had *a* FoodSaver® for the last 12-13 years, not *the same* FoodSaver®.  We did have to replace our first one...I don't remember why.  Anyway, we were buying some replacement FoodSaver® bags the other day, and stocked alongside them were the Debbie Meyer GreenBags® (As Seen on TV!).  While we love the FoodSaver® products, there are some uses for which the Debbie Meyer^TM GreenBags® (DMGB) might be a better choice, like fruits and vegetables, which, coincidentally, is exactly what they are marketed for.  So, having seen the infomercial and being suckers for advertising, we thought we'd give them a try.  I figured I wasn't the only one out there who wanted to know whether or not these things really worked, so I thought I would share my results with you here, limited though they are.

I bought a bunch of bananas on April 6, and I put half of them in the DMGB and left half out on the counter.  I ate all but one from each group, and, in the name of research, I let the remaining two languish well beyond all food safety recommendations.  After 12 days, here are the results:

As you can see, the top banana did not go quite as brown, but there are some mold issues.  To be fair though, the DMGB instructions do say that if any moisture builds up inside the bag, you should wipe it out with a paper towel.  I did this for a few days but then got lazy and didn't.  So, that's probably my fault.  Also, it should be noted, that when I first separated the bananas, the ones in the bag were actually a bit more brown than the ones that I didn't put in the bag, even though they came from the same bunch.  

Conclusion:  Overall, I would say the Debbie Meyer^TM GreenBags® do make a difference.  Obviously, I think the recommendation about keeping the bag dry is one that needs to be heeded.  Also, if you go through produce in a reasonable amount of time, this product probably would not provide much benefit, but if you buy in bulk or are just slow consumers of produce, like me, this might be a helpful way to save some money.  

I have some baby spinach in the fridge that I also separated around the same time as the bananas.  I put half in a DMGB, half in the bag that it came in (which I resealed with my FoodSaver®-very handy!).  So far, there doesn't seem to be a noticeable difference between the two bags, but I will let you know if anything changes.    

Disclaimer:  I have not received anything in exchange for this review.  I'm just sharing information.  The product links above are to Amazon.com.  I am an Amazon Associate, so if you decide to purchase any products through my link, I will receive a small referral fee.  The FoodSaver® device that I linked to is the model that we own, and as far as I can tell, it is no longer available on the FoodSaver® site.  

If you would like to go directly to the source, please visit the FoodSaver and Debbie Meyer FoodFresh System^TM web sites.