Becca’s Favorite Finds

Here are some random things that I am happy I found out, and I thought I would share.

First off, I’ve been looking for a second humidifier.  I didn’t want one with a filter because those get all nasty and can cause problems with mildew and bacteria and you have to replace them.  I was nervous to buy one that boils the water because of the burn risk, but I thought that was the only other option.  It’s not!  WalGreens has one that uses “ultrasonic technology” and produces immediate, visible water vapor, and it doesn’t have a filter, and it stays cool, and it’s super quiet.  35 bucks at WalGreens.  But a word to the wise, it produces A LOT of water vapor and pretty well soaked the towel it was on the first night and ran out of water by 3 am.  So now we run it with the opening only open a third, and it’s up on a stool so the vapor can dissipate before it hits the ground.  That seems to be doing the trick.

My visiting teacher a few years ago told me about this little trick with noisy toys.  You put clear tape (packing tape sticks the best) over the speaker opening.  The kids can still hear it, but you don’t need to hear the little song all over the house.  

For teething, you take a baby bottle and fill it with a couple of ounces of water then freeze it upside down.  Then there is ice in the nipple that they can gnaw on but the rest of the bottle warms up.  Aaron got so excited when I gave this to him this evening.  It was super cute.

I found (what I think is) the perfect chocolate chip recipe on Our Best Bites.  I love to read their blog because they are so funny, but I have made a lot of their recipes, and they are great, too!  It turns out that their recipe is very similar to my mom’s recipe, but I always just used all margarine instead of the butter/margarine combo, and that makes a huge difference.  They are firm but soft and oh so yummy!  I use the big Ghiradelli or Guittard milk chocolate chips, too.  Here is the recipe:

½ cup butter
½ cup margarine
¾ cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
3 cups flour
¾ t salt
¾ t soda
1 12 oz bag chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes. 

 

There you are.  My tidbits of wisdom.  Now, if anyone has a surefire way to always be able to find a certain 2-year-old’s favorite blanket, that would be great.  Thanks.