Packing lunches is a great way to save cash and eat healthfully: No running out for a $9 fast food lunch or succumbing to the temptations of the office vending machine for you, and no mystery meat school lunches for your kids. But all those plastic sandwich bags (or Saran Wrap, for that matter) are [...]

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This summer seems to be the season of buying housewarming gifts. Not sure why so many of my friends are in transition, but I’ve attended at least four housewarming barbecues, cocktail parties and brunches in the last couple of months. I love a good party, but in these cases I’m also faced with the [...]

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Have an addiction for those fruit-flavored waters? Now you can create your own without pulp or seeds getting in the way. The Fruit Infusion Natural Fruit Flavor Pitcher is made with a special container that’s suspended inside a crystal clear acrylic pitcher and features open holes allowing liquid and fruit to mix on their own—and [...]

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Expecting a crowd? Check out Sur La Table’s amazing summer sale, which features a number of cool items for serving!

Aren’t these cute? Le Creuset’s virtually non-porous stoneware is fired at 2156°F, giving it superior strength and durability—and making it resistant to chipping, cracking and staining. These little stars are $8.99 each. Great for individual desserts, [...]

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Back in February, we turned you onto Slimware, the melamine plates that help you control portion sizes (Summer Tip: these shatter-proof plates are perfect for your work or church picnic, where piling on hefty portions of chips and potato salad is all too easy). The same company recently launched another product and, to be honest, [...]

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Who else remembers making popsicles the old-fashioned way? Pouring Kool-Aid into ice cube trays, covering with Saran Wrap and sticking toothpicks (or recycled popsicle sticks) through the plastic and into each slot. They turned out to be a big, drippy mess, but they were still fun.
Now, there are easier ways to make all kinds of [...]

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These cheery enamel-coated steel charcoal barbecues from Bodum make me daydream about grilling burgers, brats and hotdogs on the beach or at the park. Perfect for tailgating, camping or picnics, the Frykat charcoal grills are 13.4 inches in diameter. They come with chrome-plated steel legs and have a heat-resistant silicone handle with silicone lid clips [...]

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When the hot weather hits it’s always better to cook outdoors. No slaving over the kitchen range, a lot less cleaning and much more fun! I have developed quite a crush on my stainless steel beast this season and plan to purchase a few new accessories for grilling. The goals are to make mealtime tasty, [...]

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By now, you’ve probably heard of the (in)famous “Latte Factor,” the phrase coined by David Bach and popularized on Oprah. If not, he basically uses it to describe the way we spend a lot of money on small, daily things like (you guessed it) lattes.
I am so very guilty of this. I LOVE my fancy [...]

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I’ve been all about the avocado this spring: on sandwiches, as a snack, even to thicken up smoothies (really!). Then I discovered that one avocado has a whopping 250 calories. They’re healthy calories for sure–full of nutrients and healthy fats–but since they pack almost the same caloric punch as a Snickers bar, I decided I [...]

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