Rubbermaid Hidden Recycler Giveaway

When I was sent Rubbermaid Hidden Recycler, I jumped up and down. I was looking for a recycler because, we usually keep our recycle items next to the regular trash bin and my 2 year old loves to scatter those all over the kitchen. This recycler is just the perfect size for our family.

The features of the product include:

• Easy attachment to a cabinet door with hooks included with the product or screws
• A convenient handle allows the bag to easily be transported to wherever your recycling is stored for pickup or transport.
• A 5 gallon bag that holds up to 36 12-ounce cans and can fit a milk jug.
• The bag has a leak-proof liner and is machine washable to make it easy to clean after any unexpected spills.
• The bag is soft-sided allowing for flexibility inside any cabinet.
• The bag and all packaging is made from recyclable material, and the product is recyclable.

I usually wash the inside part of the recycle items and occasionally I leave some water in there which creates a mess :( But with the hidden recycler, I really like the fact that it has a leak proof liner, because of which I don't have to worry about the spills.

The suggested retail price of this recycler is $15.99 and is currently available for purchase at rubbermaid.com and in store at Meijer. The folks at Rubbermaid are generous enough to give a hidden recycler to one of my readers for free. All you have to do is:

Like "Visit Our Kitchen" AND Rubbermaid on facebook and then, leave a comment here to this post saying that you have done so. Please leave your facebook id and your email address (I'll contact you at this email address if you are a winner).  This giveaway ends on May 16, 2012 at 11.59 pm EST. The winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to respond. In case of no response within 48 hours, another winner will be announced.

Disclosure: I received product for review. No compensation was received. All opinions are my own.

$1 store is back at LNL + Vouchers for $18

Lock N Lock's dollar store is back and this time, they have a lot of EZ lock, Simple and easy containers. My favorites are the Hello Bebe feeding bowl and Cookplus Elegance serving fork. Be sure to check some other great products they have.

Also, here is how to get a $50 worth LNL voucher just for $18:

1. Headover to dealfind here and sign up.
2. Click "Buy".
3. Check the "Use promotional code" box and enter the code "FIRST5". Your total should now show $18.

Enjoy the deals.

Storing opened ground spices

Spices play a very important role in Indian cooking, be it ground spices or whole spices. The problem I often face in my kitchen is to store the dried spices after opening the container. So, the other day I was looking online on how to store them and found this website. It has some great tips and ideas to store the spices and one of them is to keep the spices closed in an airtight container and hence I was looking for one. As a part of LNL supporters program, I received a Bisfree container with cute floral pattern on the lid and a handle. It is made of tritan material and is BPA free. It is clear plastic and looks just like a Boroseal 12 cup glass container that I got in the past and is light as a feather when compared to the glass container (I have to say my darling husband is so excited to see this one! He reserved this to take gulab jamun, an indian desert, to his potluck at work. He wanted this, and only this one, because he knows that the sugar syrup will not leak in this container).  Anyhow, I decided to store all my opened ground spices in this container. 

I also received a cosmetic case as part of supporters program. Since I am not big on using cosmetics, I don't have any to store. Hence I decided to use it in the kitchen as well. Some store bought spice packets are neatly organized in it instead of being here and there.

These fit well in the kitchen drawer along with some other unopened spices.

Bournvita Cake

My cousin D is a very good cook. I was so impressed with how she manages to cook for her daughter. Everything she cooks for kids definitely looks interesting. From Alphabits laddoos to butterfly shaped dosas to Indian flag colored idlis....innovative and interesting. She made Bournvita cake for us. Bournvita is a malt based drink and needs no introduction to those born and brought up in India. You can find it in any local Indian grocery store or buy it from Amazon. The cake tasted so good and naturally, I asked her for the recipe. I got a great idea to thank all my friends who helped us when I had surgery last month. They were kind enough to take care of the kids and cook some meals for us while I was recovering. And hence this is one small token of appreciation from us.

I have these cute little EZ lock, Simple & Easy containers from Lock N Lock.  I decided to cut the cake into small pieces, and put them in these containers, tie a bow with a THANK YOU tag. This would definitely make them happy as they fell in love with these containers when I got'em through LNL supporters program. These containers are Polypropelene (Recycle No. 5) and are BPA free. Even though they don't have those famous four side locking system as the other LNL containers, they are definitely air tight because of the way they are designed. The lid opens easily and has a floral pattern on it. And these containers stack well too. If you like these containers, now is the best time to buy them at LNL's dollar store here.

Here is the recipe in case if you want to try:

Note: For these measurements, I used the cup that comes with an electric rice cooker.

Ingredients:

Butter - 1 Cup

Sugar - 1 Cup

All Purpose flour - 1 Cup

Eggs - 3

Bournvita mix - 1/2 Cup

Shredded coconut - 1/2 Cup

Method:

1. Take the flour, sugar, bournvita into a bowl. Beat them on medium speed and slowly add butter, eggs. Mix them well and add the shredded coconut.

2. Grease the baking dish and pour the cake batter.

3. Bake this in a pre heated oven at 350 degrees and make sure it passes the tooth pick test.

Yummy bournvita cake is ready!

Flax Seeds/Alsi Seeds karam podi

I used to work for a pharmaceutical company where the employees would get vitamins for free almost. So once I saw an employee getting a bottle of flax seed vitamins. And when I asked, she explained me all about the flax seeds. And later, in an Indian grocery store, I saw packets of these flax seeds also known as alsi seeds. They look just like sesame seeds. So I bought a packet just to try, but I didn't know how to use them. And then I came across this recipe. I gave it a try and it was a hit.

Recipe Source: Sailus Food

I haven't used the curry leaves and the dals which the original recipe asked for and doubled up the coriander seeds. I used Cumin powder as I already have it in the pantry.

Ingredients:

Flax seeds - 1/2 cup

Coriander seeds - 2 tbsps

Cumin powder - 1 tsp

Dry red chillies - 10
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil - 2 tsps oil

Method:

1.  Heat oil in a frying pan. Roast the coriander seeds on medium heat and dry red chillies for about 5 minutes. Remove and keep them aside.

2. Now, roast the flax seeds on medium heat until they give that crackling sound. Remove and keep them aside.

3. After the roasted seeds cool down, grind them along with roasted coriander seeds, red chillies, asafoetida. Add cumin powder and salt as well.

Serving tip: This goes well with tiffins like idlis & dosas. I also use this instead of curry powder when making curries. Another great idea is to add a tsp or two to onion raitha and serve it with chapathi. This tastes very heavenly. Trust me!

It is always a good idea to store this karam podi (or for that matter any karam podi) in an airtight container. I always store mine in the LNL air tight containers. I make the karam podi in large quantities, store them in the air tight containers. But I take few portions and store them in the Silby seasoning container set and this set stays on my dining table. What I like about this set is that the containers are airtight. The set has 3 containers, available in plain as well as wave body, and comes with a stand which holds all the 3 containers. Each container in the set is 1.7 cup and is completely lead free. What more can we ask for?

An organized kitchen: Part 2

So here I am presenting rest of the story! Incase, you haven't looked at the starting of this story, here you go......

Upper Cabinets: Every Indian kitchen has different variety of lentils, spices, flour etc etc. Mine is not different. To tackle this problem, I ordered different types of glass canisters from Lock N Lock.

To store the lentils that I use on a day to day basis, I ordered 10 cup glass canisters. To store flour, peanuts or other that I use twice or thrice a week, I ordered 7.6 cup glass canisters. And to store the items that I use once in every two weeks, I ordered the 5 cup ones. Whats so nice about these containers? Well, they are glass and hence no worries unlike the plastic ones. These are clear glass which makes it easier to see what's inside. And the lid is airtight, I mean AIRTIGHT. So, not so frequently used canisters stay in the top rack. Less frequently used ones are kept in the rack below those and the most frequently used ones stay in the bottom rack of the cabinet. This way, I don't have to strain my arm while taking these out regularly.

Then, for the spices I used a lazy susan which holds atleast 8 - 9 spice bottles. I have also used cabinet shelves like these to utilize the available space.

And then, coming to the food storage containers, I have kept the mostly used containers in the bottom shelves of the upper cabinets and the less frequently used ones on the top rows. Notice that I haven't stacked the containers (that I mostly use) one inside the other because I don't want to keep looking for the lids when I want to take a container out.

As you can see, there is a mini LockNLockPlace here in these cabinets in the form of containers (wink)! What can I do? I am more so addicted to LNL products.

I also ordered this to store the lids above each set of containers. There are a variety of under the shelf organizers out there with which you can utilize the space available.

My kitchen organization is still in progress, but I am pretty much satisfied with what has been done so far. I think with little planning (and shopping!), you can easily organize not just the kitchen, but any space.

Lock N Lock Party anyone?

Me and my friends used to have Tupperware party. But then, we started mostly using glass containers and because of my obsession with LNL, I have my kitchen filled with LNL cookware, storage containers, tableware etc etc. Needless to say, I have influenced my friends too. They too started buying lock n lock. So, one day it occurred to me that we should have Lock N Lock party instead of tupperware party.

Courtesy: Lock N Lock

This party has one and only one simple rule:

Make either a new dish (meaning that none of us have made it before, it could be someone else's recipe too) or use a new LNL cookware to make the dish that you'll be bringing to the party or bring the dish in a new food container. This is one challenging rule...ain't it?

Its okay if you have already used the cookware or the food container before, but it should be new to the party. And if its a new recipe, then the rule is that you'll have to bring in a copy of the recipe for each of the participants. If any one of us can't satisfy these conditions, we volunteer to host the party at our home. We also take some pictures during the party and share them with all the participants the next day.

So, for all those who are LNL fans, I hope this is an inspiration to have fun with your friends and family and enjoy your LNL at the same time.