Samantha on the Prairie

I'm keeping an eye on search terms that bring people to this blog, hoping I can answer some questions or share more detail about certain products. When I saw a question about one of my favorite brands, I had to tackle it first. "Is Method pink grapefruit cleaner antibacterial?" The answer is no . Method All-Purpose Cleaner is not antibacterial. To get the answer to this question, I reached out directly to Method. Their customer service team responded super fast, telling me that while the all-purpose cleaners are great for cleaning surfaces, they are not disinfectants. However, they do offer an antibacterial kitchen cleaner called ANTIBAC, which you can find on the product page of Method's website . I really didn't know this and now realize I need to run to the store because I've been cleaning my counters with something that isn't actually antibacterial, except when I do a monthly deep clean. If you want to know more, you can call Method a

As I mentioned in my September pipeline post, I splurged on a box of Betty Crocker Gluten Free Chocolate Brownie Mix  after loving their  Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix . My local Hy-vee store stocks them next to the traditional baking mixes, so it's right there in my face - those amazing, mouthwatering photos of delicious baked goods. It was super easy to bake these brownies. Like most mixes, you just add a couple of kitchen staples, mix, and pour in a brownie pan. I lined my pan with parchment paper to make cooling and cleanup easier.  After baking for the recommended time, the brownies looked done. However, a knife test showed they were actually still underdone. I ended up giving them an extra five minutes. After letting the pan rest on a wire rack for 15 minutes, I lifted out the parchment paper and let the brownies cool completely on a cutting board. Cutting was a breeze, but at this point I noticed the brownies were fairly thin compared to when I bake Ghirarde

I've always enjoyed Kashi products, particularly their super healthy cereals and filling, yet nutritious frozen meals. So when BzzAgent sent me a bag of Kashi Hummus Crisps in Sea Salt & Olive Oil flavor, I thought "this could be a great alternative to all those Pringles I eat!" Then I took a bite. I really tried to eat these crisps. I absolutely hated the texture and flavor of the first one, but I gave it another shot. I spit that one out in a napkin. I'm not digging this snack Since I know everyone has different tastes and my husband tends to like healthier chips and loves hummus, I asked him to try some without telling him how I felt. He said the first bite was really "off-putting" because the texture was weird, but he got past it and thought the flavor was appealing. He also noted they are way less greasy than regular potato chips. Overall, his feedback is, "they are okay." My preschool age daughter wouldn't eat these ch

I'm still on the hunt for the perfect hair color. When I was younger, I loved bold light and bright reds and experimented with pink, blue, black, and even blonde, which of course looked terrible. The closer I get to 40, the more I want to achieve a youthful but natural look. Sometimes, I think that means I should be two levels lighter than my natural color, which I've noticed is the typical response to aging and going grey.  My mom pretty much decided to become a blonde and goes lighter and lighter each time I see her.  For 10 years, I've been trying to convince her to go with a deep, rich red or even more of a medium brown with subtle highlights, but she always comes home from the salon with the frosty blonde look. After my most recent hair coloring experience, I think it's time I take my own advice. I'm not knocking the product. I'm just choosing colors poorly. Last week, I tried Clairol Nice n' Easy 114A, Lightest Golden Brown . My thinking is that

Honestly, I'm not sure that I'd call it a shampoo, but eSalon sent me a product to use in the shower to help offset the redness in my hair. You just put it in your hair, leave on for a couple of minutes, and continue to condition and style as usual. The only thing I could find online about it is a press release from Ballantines PR . The experience of applying the product was kind of annoying, honestly. It's very watery, making it hard to get it in the hair without it also getting around the shower, on me, etc. I quickly rinsed the areas where the product landed, but noticed how quickly a stain set. If you don't rinse what hits your shower walls, you could be stuck using bathroom cleaner afterward. The good news about staining is that means it was also essentially staining my hair. So yep, my hair came out less red. Unfortunately, it was noticeable uneven, with a lot more darkness near the ends of my hair. My guess is my difficulty applying it was obvious in the res

Recently, BzzAgent sent me some Luster Premium White products to review. I love getting a chance to try products I wouldn't normally buy in the store. It's amazing how often there's something out there that seems to do exactly what it promises but I'm not familiar with the product. Thanks to BzzAgent, I'm hooked on Luster Premium White. I really didn't believe my teeth could get noticeably whiter after using a toothpaste once or twice. My teeth are already pretty bright and white, but I have some yellow areas from when I was a kid and probably could use some help offsetting years of my soda habit. I figured I wouldn't be able to get my teeth any whiter without expensive bleaching. I tried the Luster Now! toothpaste only twice before I had amazing results that kind of blew my mind. They look like I had them done at the dentist! I put on a reddish lipstick just to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me (warm reds tend to leave my teeth looking yellow)