9 Great Ideas for Father's Day Gifts

Father's Day is just a little over a week away and time is growing short for creating or buying something to tell that special guy what a great Dad he is.  We thought we'd revisit some of the excellent products we've had the pleasure of reviewing, and reminding you of them - one of these might be just the thing you're looking for!

Cooper & Kid

This wonderful subscription box comes out quarterly and is jam packed with tons of themed activities for Dad and kids, ages 5-9. Each box includes multiple fun and educational projects, toys, activities, books, and games, as well as links to online resources to learn more about the subject and even a few 'just for dad' links and materials.

There is more than enough for steady together time for three months, building the sort of memories that last a life time.  Each quarterly box costs $65.00, plus $13 S&H (US only), or you can buy a year's subscription for a total of $288, including S&H, which will save $24.00 a year.

The Father's Day Box (themed "The Good, the Bad, and the Bugly" is set to ship June 9-10th, so it will arrive in time for Father's Day.  Additionally, if you order anytime between now and June 15th, they'll throw in a Men's Grooming Kit worth $65, which officially makes this the coolest Father's Day present ever.

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Mouthman Apparel

These fun hoodie shirts come in a large variety of prints, each creating a mouth when you fold your elbows together.

Mouthman apparel not only looks great and is a whole lot of fun, but they're printed on moisture-wicking fabric made from recycled plastic bottles.

Adult sizes range from $48.99-$56.99, and children's sizes are $31.99-34.99.

Get one for Dad, or one for Dad and one for the kid - either way, step back and wait for the chomping good times to commence!

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Lefty's  the Left-Handed Store

Are you shopping for a Leftie Dad?  Lefty's of San Franscisco has got you covered, with all sorts of gadgets, productivity tools and plenty of fun items especially made for left-handers.

If you want your gift to arrive by Father's Day, you'll want to order no later than Sunday, June 8th - but any order submitted by June 15th will also receive a left-handed barbecue mitt if you include the code that's on their front page.

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Beer Clings

If Dad is a homebrewer, think about giving him a selection of reusable, removeable beer bottle labels - you can select from pre-designed labels, write-on labels, to customized label to give Dad his very own 'brand'.

Not only is this a unique gift at a very reasonable price that secures Dad bragging rights, but the time he won't be spending scrubbing off beer labels before he bottles his brew will be a second gift right there!

A set of 12 Beer Clings can cost as little as  $5.00, or you can splurge with a fully customized set of 48 labels for $35 - fantastic prizes, no matter which you choose!

The company is offering our readers a 10 percent discount for orders placed during the month of June. Use code RCHCLINGS at checkout to claim it. 

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ShaveMOB

Odds are, Dad shaves, and nothing is worse than a dull blade and no spare on hand.

With ShaveMOB, he can get a couple fresh blades a month as well as the handle, and not have to worry about that any more!

You could get 2 month supply (1 handle / 4 cartridges) for $12.99 or less, or give him a year's worth of good shaves for only $39.99.

At this price, the cartridge comes with an attached trimmer, making this an awesome and useful gift.  Just...don't steal his blades - ShaveMOB has women's shaver subscriptions too, so you can get your own!

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FlipBelt

FlipBelt provides easy hands-free storage and access to small items, such as keys, cash and electronics while Dad is working out, doing yardwork, or engaged in active play.

The FlipBelt fits around the waist or hips, and allows headphones to be used while still holding iPods, etc, securely.

Its tubular shape keeps everything still, and with several colors to choose from, you should be able to find just the right one for your favorite dad.  The FlipBelt is available for $28.99.

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YouBars

Whether it's a healthy snack as part of a workout program, or a need to eat sensibly while at work, finding packaged snacks that won't derail Dad's wellbeing can be challenging!

YouBars are delicious and nutritious energy bars that are chock full of good, real food ingredients.  You can purchase a box of 12 for $29.88 - either all one flavor, or an assortment.

While it wouldn't arrive in time for Father's Day, you can even create a blend of Dad's very favorite ingredients and have them arrive in a custom label (maybe "Hands off Dad's snacks!"). How cool is that?

Just use the code RCH10 when you order for a 10% discount off your order!

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Man Medals

Ever notice how on Mother's Day, Mom gets all sorts of praise and flowers and more praise and chocolate.... and on Father's Day, Dad gets sent outside to cook, and is given tokens of work (ties) and presumed to only golf or fish?

Where's Dad's credit for the little things he manages every day?  Well - for the guy with the right sense of humor, maybe it's time he got the medals he deserves for remembering the important stuff - like toilet lids go down, and hampers have a function.

Some chocolate - or chocolate covered bacon - probably would be received well along with these medals. I mean, come on! Dude took out the trash!  Give him a medal! 

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The Hatchery 

Finally, for the true food connoisseur, we suggest a subscription to the Hatchery.  Curated from small food creators around the country, this box brings together exceptionally high quality products, from barbecue sauces, to honey glazes, to seasoning blends.

Each month will be full of something different, along with information about the companies themselves and recipes and suggestions for using the sample portions.

Even one box, available for $25, is sure to keep him happily nibbling, tasting and - if you're very lucky - cooking some new things to share with you.  Or you could splurge and set him up for a year for $240, saving $5 a month.

If you'd like to try Hatchery for yourself, they've agreed to offer a $10 discount to our readers for the first box of a subscription. Just enter the code SAVE10 at checkout.

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We hope you enjoyed this round up of ideas for Father's Day, whether it's for your own father, your husband, grandpa, or good friend.  Thank you, Dads, for all that you do!

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Review: Beer Clings

A challenge that all homebrewers face is, how do you tell the porter from the pilsner, the stout from the summer ale, once they’re in dark bottles?

That’s right, you need labels! But how do you get labels for your homebrew, especially if you don’t want the gummy residue that you find under adhesive labels when you try to remove them? Handwrite the info on sticky notes? (Yes, I’ve done this. If you homebrew, so have you, I’m betting.)

Beer Clings has the answer: Reusuable labels.

To create eye-catching labels that will identify your brew with your own unique brand, all you need is a little bit of inspiration and an account at BeerClings.com.

The company offers several ways to design your labels.

Most simply, you can choose from a variety of pre-made labels, some that you can customize with your own text.

For more customization, you can use the Design Studio, which offers clip art and other elements for use in designing labels. The Studio allows you customize fonts and special effects such as drop shadows for text.

Finally, you can create a design on your own, using the design software of your choice, and upload it to the Beer Clings system.

So, whether you just want a simple way to tell one batch from another or a fully unique label with your own brand and product names and images, BeerClings.com can accommodate you.

It also offers several other products, including labels to mark the gallons on a glass carboy, and wrap-around covers for kegs.

Prices for the labels range from $5.00 for 12 pre-made labels without customization, to $35.00 for 48 fully customized labels using a customized shape. Labels made using the design studio and standard shapes are $6 a sheet, with a variety of sizes available to fit various size bottles.

When I began to work on this review, I had bottled a batch of ale made with juniper berries added during the boil, which I dubbed Jupiter’s Juniper Ale, in honor of the Roman god. Lynda, my wife, made a nice piece of art with found images, and I uploaded her design to the system and ordered 24 labels.

My labels came quickly - less than a week after I ordered them, which means that you can design and receive your labels before your batch of beer is ready to be bottled. They arrived a little rumpled, because they were shipped in an envelope without much in the way of protection, but they were not damaged in any real way.

The design was rendered crisply, just as I had envisioned it. (It is mostly monochromatic, except for the glass of beer -- our design choice, but it gives me little way to assess how BeerClings would do with something more colorful.  I will say that the small splash of color from the raised glass is golden and true to hue.)

The labels turned out to be very easy to use. Peel it off the backing and apply it to the bottle. Simple as that. Made of a special vinyl, the label clings to the bottle with no adhesive needed, and holds firm. When you’re ready to change it, it peels off easily and leaves no residue.

The labels are reusable, too. After peeling it off a bottle, you can put it onto another bottle, or back onto the sheet for later use. This is obviously quite a money saver if you make certain beers frequently and want labels on hand.  The label I received worked well on a 22-ounce bottle and a more standard 12-ounce.

BeerClings.com is a home run. Their products live up to their promise, and give the creative homebrewer one more thing to tinker with.  I expect to be a frequent customer.

Because of the design-your-own capabilities, I can see using these labels for small batches of anything bottled or jarred - homemade sodas, salad dressings, infused vinegars.  Whatever you make, dress it up with a simple to remove, reusable customized label!


The company is offering our readers a 10 percent discount for orders placed during the month of June. Use code RCHCLINGS at checkout to claim it. 

Website: BeerClings.com
Beer Clings on Facebook

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8 Things I've Learned About Meal Planning (and Some New Resolve)

I have been doing meal planning on and off again for several years - along the way I've learned a few things:

1. If I do not meal plan, we wind up with a lot of "it's 6pm, I have no idea what to make!" days that end either in ordering take out or convincing each other we weren't really hungry anyway (and then snacking on something inadequate at 10pm).

2. Paper meal plans don't work for me.  As much as I love all the really cute displayed meal plans I see on Pinterest, they would look just like my baby books of old - filled in for a week and then never touched again.  I am a computer girl - electronic text gets it done.

3. Planning breakfasts doesn't actually lead to making breakfasts, because meal plans don't come with a cook that is ready to face working in the kitchen at 7am.  If we want breakfast, we need to have things pre-made that involves minimal effort at breakfast time.

4. We should be eating breakfast more regularly, so we need to plan for those prepared breakfast ideas.

5. Lunches are a saboteur if you don't plan for them.  Minus a lunch plan, I tend to skip (leading to more non-nutritious snacking), and Michael winds up eating out (expensive and not the healthiest option) or snacking out his office's free 'healthy snacks' selection (they aren't particularly healthy - but free is tempting when you have no lunch).

6. I love the idea of trying new recipes so much that one pitfall of meal planning is a tendency to load up on new things to try and forgetting to shuffle in our favorites.  Since family memories are made in part of favorite family meals, this is something to be mindful of.

7. As much as possible, I need to have one or two meal ideas that are easy, fast, and creatable from things I'm positive I'll have on hand, because some days what I have planned sounded fantastic at the time but feels like my soul is being sucked out of my eyeballs at the mere idea of having to do that work *today*.

8. All of this is a million times easier when it involves two adults that are equally interested in good foods and good health than it was when there were picky children (and a picky ex) in the mix.  Back then, any meal that didn't lead to at least one exclamation of "You're trying to poison me!!"  was a total victory.  I tried, but I outlasted that battle - I didn't win it.  For those of you still struggling with that, be nice to yourself! Do what you can, don't stress what you can't, and take heart - someday you'll be able to eat like an adult again.

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As we enter June, both Michael and I are realizing that some bad habits have crept back up on us over the winter.  Instead of avoiding wheat, we're eating it a couple times a week while making mild comments about how we really should stop this, because we feel better without. We're giving in on packaged 'convenience' foods that aren't particularly convenient, because it seems easier even though we know it isn't. We're re-experiencing weight gain, GERD, inflammation - and we know good and well why, but...  holidays! And travel!  And ...because.

Summer is a good time to reboot,  I think - we're at the half way point of the year (and just before my birthday), which I think is a good time to renew our resolve and goals.  It's fresh produce season, so there are plenty of delicious, colorful and nutritious alternatives to processed boredom.  Even eating out, it's much easier to find fresh alternatives in restaurants that it might be in winter.  And no holidays that can't be handled easily by still eating in a way that promotes well-being rather than fights against it.



So all that said, here's how I currently mealplan:

1. I worry about dinners only (see above for why this needs to change).

2.  I keep a page for each month in the program The Journal. I've used this for years to handle all manner of information, and I love it a lot.  Sadly, at this time they don't have a version that syncs to a Kindle or iPad, so after I've laid everything out, I copy it over to Evernote, so I have it when I'm out shopping.

The page is quite simple - June, for example starts out like this - simple blanks, along with notations on events that will impact dinner options:

Sn    1

M    2
(my birthday - not cooking!)

T    3

W    4
(Relay grocery delivery)
(dinner out with Alex)

Th    5

F    6

S    7
(Baltimore - dinner at L's)

(etc)


3.  I take into account what fresh produce we're receiving, what meat and other protein sources we have on hand and what we need, and then start filling out the week (and generally, a couple weeks, although I refer to my plans each week to make necessary shifts as things come up).

4. I try to fill out a couple favorites, a couple new recipes, and a couple days where I don't have to cook (either planned leftovers or meals out).  I will plan for 7 meals, but it isn't unusual for one to wind up not happening - we either have more leftovers than intended or something comes up that keeps me from being able to cook as planned. Planned meals that don't take place are reshuffled into the next week, especially if perishables are involved.  For that reason, when possible, the 7th item is ideally something that involves pantry/freezer items that can wait as needed.


5. Dates are malleable.  It isn't uncommon  to decide that Wednesday's meal will be much better if it happens on Monday, etc.  The days of the week are a reference, not a mandate.

6. I add any pre-prep that needs to happen on the day before of day of. Marinating, taking down frozen items, etc.

7.  I add items I need to my grocery list, and schedule in shopping/delivery time prior to needing those items.  My list also includes regular items (milk, eggs, etc) and pantry stock as it runs out.  My grocery list is pretty much completely up to date at all times, which allows us to 'run to the store' without a lot of last minute decision making.

My finished result for this week - and this turns out to be a ridiculous week full of eating out - looks like this:

Hardy Meal Plan, June 1-7 

Sunday    1

Spicy Tomato Chicken Soup (from this month's Tiffin Trove Box)

Grain-Free 'Corn'bread topped with Cheese

Monday    2

(my birthday - not cooking!)

I have no idea, and have not been told a thing! Not even sure if it's eat out, order in or he's cooking.  Mystery Date!

Tuesday    3

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken

Zucchini Noodles, tossed with Sauteed Celery, Carrots and Onion

Wednesday    4

(Relay grocery delivery)

(dinner out with Alex)

We're getting together with an old friend at our favorite Thai restaurant.  I could say I don't know what I'm having, but I do, because it's irresistible: Red Coconut Curry with Chicken, Jalepenos, Basil and Bamboo Shoots. Drool....

Thursday    5

Masala Salmon (from last month's Tiffin Trove box)

Asparagus

Rice

Friday    6 

(Dr's Appt)

Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

Tossed Salad

Sunday    7

(Baltimore - dinner at L's)

Going up and either eating at a friend's house or eating out 

(plans about what haven't been finalized yet)

This is likely to be the most challenging day, in terms of choosing something to eat that is within our intentions - but social gatherings and good times with friends trump ideal eating for me!

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Starting next week, I'm going to work on incorporating lunches into our meal plan, and once I've developed that habit and it's working for us, start adding breakfast.  Eventually, I may even include planned snacking (because that is my particular devil!), but  I want to make these changes a bit at a time so I don't get overwhelmed. 

I figure if we can alter our habit over the summer, it may be well in place before the (delicious) pitfalls of Autumn rear their annual heads.

I'd love to hear your ideas for meal planning - how you do it, what you've learned?  And because we can all always use some great ideas, feel free to share in comments what your plan for the week is, too!

I'm going to make this a weekly thing this summer, every Sunday, and maybe some of the other authors here will also share their meal plan ideas.  We each have our own different ways of eating as well as different dietary needs, so between us there is a lot of variety!

Sweet Sharing Monday

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