nuwave oven is a meat lover's dream

To commemorate our three-year wedding anniversary, James got me us a NuWave Oven. We'd heard great things about this infrared oven from a family at the gym, and the oven is an As Seen on TV product. That was all the credibility it needed :)

Living in a condo, we can't have grills, and the community grills are never working properly. This NuWave Oven is a step up from the ole George Foreman Grill, a throw-back to the good old college days.

So far, we've cooked steaks, burgers, zucchini and sweet potatoes. I'm sure James has cooked other foods during the day, but since I'm not around, I have no idea what they'd be. He says we can cook pretty much anything we normally cook in the oven in our NuWave Oven.

The only drawback to the NuWave Oven is it's size. Sure, it's smaller than a normal oven, but for a counter appliance, it's the largest we own. And with limited counter space, there's not a permanent home on the counter for this hunky guy. But...

...everything we heard about this oven has rang true. Meat never tasted as good as it does in the NuWave oven.

Steaks cooked medium come out super tender and moist.

And the NuWave even provides hours of entertainment. Hopefully it's ok for him to be this close to the infrared!?!? He's just mesmerized by the meat.

It's hard to tell from these pictures, but the infrared light is super bright and resembles the color of a sunset--orange and red at the same time.

I have a new appreciation for burgers. These were delicious and juicy cooked on the NuWave. Our only other option before was the George Foreman, which is thankfully retired for life--much like the man himself.

If you're like us and legally can't have a grill--or if you're looking for a tasty way to cook meat in the winter, I would definitely recommend the NuWave Oven. I feel like we've barely tapped the surface of what we can cook on the NuWave. But already, the oven was worth it to me for the burgers alone.

I can't wait to try ribs or cooking a whole turkey. Oh the possibilities. We heart meat!

moms rule the world

On Friday, I sent my mom an article about Children's Healthcare of Atlanta's Childhood Obesity campaign and a link to a video in which an executice appeared on the Today Show. My mom emailed me back with a few practical suggestions, and these are some of the reasons she was the best mom in the world growing up:

• It is ok to lock your children out of the house in order to make them play outside, (and for a little peace and quiet--so long as you can still see them).
• The best way to “punish” or discipline sometimes is to take away all TV, video and computer access…then they will have to actually play.
• Encourage them by running foot races – just make sure you don’t trip and fall and scrape your knees and elbows and scare them half to death…if you do fall and hurt yourself, be sure not to cry.
• For spring holidays, take every bat and ball and riding toy you can find, put it in a mini-van, call all your friends and take all the kids to the local school playground and let them run and play till their heart’s content.
• When the neighbors get new appliances, put the large cardboard boxes in your front yard and your children will love playing with them. You can have a nice looking yard later.
• Be sure to have a cool Grandma who will do cool things with them and who never turns on the TV to entertain them.
• Encourage Dad to play ball with them in the backyard, even when it puts him at risk of losing a knee-cap.
• Go to mountain cabins a couple of times a year where there is no TV, and take a truck load of bikes, just be sure not to bring back any that don’t belong to you.
• Buy a used Sea Doo and/or boat, and put it in the cool Grandma’s boat dock so your children will play in and on the water.
• Hike to the top of a small mountain with your child when they are home from college, even if you get poured on, just to make it to the top.
• When traveling with younger children, make them run up and down the sidewalks at the rest stops, along with the dogs.
• Serve some kind of fruit with every meal...if they don’t eat the main dish they can live on fruit and rolls till morning.
• If you do all of the above for 20 years, then they will find out they hate to sit and watch TV, at least when the sun is out, they will not waste time going to and sitting at movies in the daytime…and they will be very very active adults!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom, and to all the other mothers out there!

cost plus world market and sinless margaritas

When I took a trip to visit my sister in Bluffton, S.C., in March, we stopped in at Cost Plus World Market, where I purchased some coffee, a drying pad for the kitchen and popsicle molds. Of course, there were a million things I wanted, but I tried to be practically judicious about my choices.

Earlier this year, my mom has also become quite the fan of World Market. So it was no surprise that for my birthday at the end of March, my parents got me these fun little kitchen items from Cost Plus World Market (along with two backpack beach chairs that I'll break out in Hilton Head during Memorial Day weekend!).

Last month, I also came home from the gym one night to find a package in front of our door. I was a bit perplexed, as it had no mailing label, but rather, a bright sticker saying Refrigerate Upon Arrival.

Upon opening the package, I found two bottles of Sinless Margarita mix. At first, I wondered if someone had read my blog and knew just how much I love natural food, etc. But James burst my bubble when he told me that the owner had contacted him and wanted to drop off some bottles for him to try. Darn--but freebies are nice regardless!

I've been ordering skinny margaritas at restaurants, thinking that I'm doing my body a world of good. Until I read this note that came in the package. Really? How can something called skinny have 490 calories and 110 grams of sugar? How much sugar does the regular version have? Maybe these are just average statistics, because I've definitely had skinny margaritas before that tasted like there was no sugar at all.

So at the pool the next weekend, I mixed up a Sinless Margarita (by adding tequila to the mix), and I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't too sweet, but still sharp enough to mask the tequila a bit.

Sinless Margarita Mix is all natural (no artificial preservatives) and sugar free because it's sweetened with Stevia. Frequently, Stevia can yield a strong after taste, but it doesn't in this mix. The company has perfectly determined the right proportions.

You can order a bottle of Sinless Margarita Mix or Sinless Strawberry Margarita Mix for $7.99. And the great thing is, a lot of restaurants, bars and distributors in Atlanta already stock this mix. I had no idea.

I give this Sinless Margarita Mix two thumbs up--and I'm not even a huge margarita fan. So that has to count for something, right?