Blog Posts by Kaboodle.com

The most versatile product in your home

Vinegar does a lot more than flavor salads. In fact, it's a miracle product with uses that range from sunburn relief to odor elimination. Next time you have any of the following challenges, reach for vinegar and you'll get good results and likely save money, too!

1. Odor Eliminator
Has your fireplace backed up lately? Have you burned something in the oven? Both of these mishaps result in unwanted odors lingering in the house. Fortunately, vinegar traps and eliminates odors! To refresh your air, soak a piece of white bread in vinegar and place it close to the source of the smell. In just 24 hours, your space will be stench-free!

2. Sunburn Relief
Vinegar eliminates the sting and itchiness that comes with sunburns. To sooth scorched skin, mix equal parts vinegar and cooled black tea and sponge it onto burned areas. You may smell a little acidic, but the relief far outweighs the odor.

MORE: Cool Barbeque Essentials

3. Acne Helper
Forget expensive acne

Not every deal is good

We love Trader Joe's as much as everyone else. But some items are better left on the shelves. Following are products worth skipping due to poor quality, freshness, or price.

Fish
Their frozen and fresh filets may be a good deal, but in this case, you get what you pay for. A recent purchase of two plastic-wrapped salmon filets proved to be a total bust; the texture and flavor were so below par, the entire dish went uneaten. We've found more often than not, the seafood leaves much to be desired.

Produce
Never mind the (wasteful) plastic used to wrap and sell produce. Our loving feeling was lost over the lack of freshness and flavor we regularly find with TJ's fruits and vegetables. Unlike produce purchased elsewhere, items bought at TJs seem to spoil quite quickly. A recent purchase proved our point: bell peppers got moldy within two days in the fridge and heirloom tomatoes were flavorless.

Bread
Much like TJ's produce, breads at TJ's tend to turn

Whether you're a serious cook or a microwave maverick, the following seven tricks will improve your skills and efficiency in the kitchen.

1. For easy-to-peel hard-boiled eggs, start with older eggs. Newer eggs have lower pH in their whites, which consequently causes the egg to better adhere to the shell membrane. If you use older eggs, peeling will be easier. You can also add a little bicarb soda to the cooking water to increase the pH level!

2. Use lemon to disinfect counter tops, cutting boards, and more. Lemon juice is a powerful cleaning agent, thanks to its high acidity-so much so that when rubbed on wood and other surfaces, it is a non-toxic antibacterial agent. Next time you've squeezed a lemon, rub the remnants onto your surfaces to kill germs without introducing toxic substances to your environment.

3. The easiest way to get the skin off of a garlic clove is to lay it down on a hard flat surface, place the flat side of a knife on top of it, and gently

Don't let your refund slip through your fingers

Everyone's got good advice on what to do the minute you get that unexpected April windfall in your hands. But what about the absolute worst things to do with your hard-earned refund? Here are seven of the worst ideas we can think of.

1. Blow it on lottery tickets. We all saw the frenzy around April 2012's $656 million jackpot, which inspired millions of people to shell out their dough for a chance to become an instant multimillionaire. But those who listened to news reports also noted that each entrant was more likely to get struck by lightning than to take home the grand prize. Better to put your money in a savings account where you're sure to profit, even if it's only a little.

2. Spend it on deeply discounted non-returnable items. It's easy to feel financially fancy free when you suddenly have unexpected money burning a hole in your pocket and see a spectacular deal at a local store. And don't retailers know it. While it's tempting to steal the deal, make

Often, gluten-free products aren't nearly as good as their gluten-laden alternatives, leaving those avoiding the element commonly found in flour and other ingredients with inferior options. Not so with the following five foods, which make anyone avoiding gluten rejoice in indulgence.

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A little bundle brings a lot of changes

Want to know how to brace yourself for the biggest brood-expansion hurdles? You're in luck. The author of The Real Deal Guide to Pregnancy shared with us the most common themes among 174 parents who answered the question, "What was the hardest part of the transition to parenthood?" If you're expecting or in the throes of new parenthood, according to Lenkert, you can read 'em and weep, but you'd be better off embracing the things you can't control and browsing on for ways to mitigate the madness.

1. Sleep deprivation
   No surprise that 23% of parents cited lack of sleep as the biggest bummer, especially since even the mellowest newborns need to nosh through the night.
   
   
   
2. Loss of freedom and personal time
   Heading to the market or grabbing a bite with a friend may not have seemed like an extreme luxury, but 16% struggled with the fact that with a new baby, personal time is about as rare and accessible as the Hope Diamond.
   
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Easy to cook and good for you

Whether you're trying to get your brood or just yourself out the door in the morning, it can be hard to find time for a good breakfast. Ironically, studies continually prove that the day's "breaking of the fast" is critical for starting the day on a healthy, energetic foot. With the busy person and health in mind, we present you with five great ways to start the day, each of which requires little more than five minutes prep time.

1. Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie
Yes, that's right. Chocolate and peanut butter can be a spectacular way to start the day. Just combine ½ cup milk, 1 banana, 1 teaspoon chocolate syrup and a tablespoon of peanut butter in a blender and press the start button. Viola! You've got a protein shake in two minutes-and a solid breakfast without even turning on the oven.

2. Yogurt with Granola
Whether you like plain yogurt with honey or flavored yogurt, scoop some into a bowl and top it with 1/4 cup of granola and you've got a breakfast that's

Ever carefully apply your eye makeup only to mess it up when your mascara wand accidentally hits your lid? We've had that problem more times than we can count! Luckily, these little bumpers help avoid mascara mess-ups by blocking mascara from getting anywhere but your lashes. Genius!

What's YOUR biggest mascara woe?

Eyeko Skinny Brush Mascara

Rock out your lashes

The plastic "smudge shield" that comes with this mascara ($19 at Sephora; looks like a guitar pick, huh?) is designed to be held behind the lashes during application to block contact with skin.

Lashcard

Card your lashes

These thin disposable cards sit along the top and bottom lash lines, allowing you to wiggle the wand and lift your lashes up as much as you like. Hello curl! $5.99 for 10 from LashCard

Myrabelle Mascara Shield

Stop smudges

This long wand gives you lots of room to tease out your lashes, without messing up your makeup…it also makes a great stencil for precise eyeliner. $10 from