The Vine: March 19, 2010
Dear Sars,
A few months ago, I remember hearing (on NPR?) about a newish website which allowed users to rent/put up for rent rarely used appliances and household items to help others and make some extra money (things like ice-cream makers, bread machines, luggage, etc.) I thought “oh, cool” and naturally forgot to write down the address for the site.
Now, I’m looking to try my hand at pressure canning but would really like to avoid shelling out $80 for a pressure cooker and striking out on finding this site again. Do you or does the readership have an idea what I’m talking about? Thanks!
Too bad not everything uses the boiling water canning method like tomatoes do
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Hi Sars — I was hoping you and the readers might be able to help; I’m a vegetarian, and I’m allergic to nuts. I’m looking for protein bars that don’t have nuts, and that don’t, um, make your bowels…evacuate.
Balance bars have fish oil (no for vegetarians). Lots of bars have peanuts and/or peanut butter. I’m trying Met-Rx bars now, which are OK, but they make the bowels unhappy (something about being made with sugar alcohols?). Does anyone have any bars they recommend?
Thank you!
Rumbly in the Tumbly
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Dear Sars,
I’m not sure if this is an “ask the readers” question or if you can just answer it. I don’t live in the U.S., and a very good friend of mine has just moved from Brooklyn to a new home she’s just bought in NJ. I’d like to get her a housewarming gift and I’m thinking a gift-card or voucher.
I know I could just get an Amazon or department store one, but I was wondering if there’s somewhere a bit more fabulous/local that you (or some fellow Jersey-girl readers) can recommend?
Wish I could shop there myself
Dear Shop,
It really depends on where in Jersey she’s living; I could recommend a gift certificate to the Mall At Short Hills, which has a lot of posh stores, but I don’t know if that’s her taste, whether she’d rather have a gift cert specific to home furnishings, or whether she’s anywhere near Short Thrills (if she moved to Absecon, free shopping in Essex County is likely more trouble than it’s worth).
But the readers can take a shot at suggesting Jersey-specific shops or locations. Readers?
Tags: Ask The Readers food health and beauty home 'n' garden retail
Oh! I finally have a good suggestion! youbars.com lets you build your own bars (and cookies, ceral, shake mixes, trail mix, etc) to your own specifications and they are great about special requests. I think they are under $2 a bar too when you factor in shipping and they have a frequent buyers program which is nice for discounts. It took me a few tries to come up with my perfect combo but it was SO worth it.
Rumbly, you might try SoyJoy bars ( http://www.soyjoy.com/blueberry.aspx ) if you’re an ovolactovegetarian (they do contain eggs and milk) and NOT allergic to coconut. Without nuts, I think your only remaining protein source is going to be beans. And please, please take a multivitamin– without meat and without nuts, you’re got some severely limited nutritional options. :(
Rumbly: You can make your own granola bars! It’s way cheaper and tastier than buying them, and you can control exactly what’s in them. Here’s just one recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/02/thick-chewy-granola-bars/ but there’s lots out there.
Bed Bath & Beyond. Not the most original idea, but possibly the most useful.
@Wish: As Sars said, where she lives makes a difference, but if she’s in Northern NJ, how about a gift certificate the Depasquale The Spa, to help her relax from the stress of moving? It’s in Morris Plains, and they sell gift cards online: http://www.depasqualethespa.com/virtual-gift-cards.php. If you’re looking for a more standard housewarming thing, there are HomeGoods stores all over NJ – http://www.homegoods.com – that sell just about everything you might want for your home. I’ve never walked out of a HomeGoods emptyhanded.
I just found a site called borrowme.com. Is that it?
Canning,
Just want to make sure you are aware that a pressure CANNER and a pressure COOKER are different items. I am not sure how, but this has been stressed to me multiple times by my much more knowledgeable mother. Sadly, I want to say the pressure canners are MORE expesive even than the cookers :(
Rumbly,
Another link for making your own granola bars – these ones are made from quinoa and coconut. http://www.choosy-beggars.com/index.php/2008/12/08/quinoa-coconut-bars/
Rumbly,
As a vegetarian who is allergic to both nuts AND soy, I feel your pain. I’ve given up on buying pre-made food; it’s healthier and less stressful to just make my own. Also, it IS possible to remain a vegetarian with allergies and not rely on multi-vitamins, the key is eating diverse healthy foods.
I’d recommend you look into the Crispy Rice Bars from the Food Allergy Survival Guide. The recipe can be found here about half-way down the first page. http://www.foodallergysurvivalguide.com/images/handout2.pdf
Try peanutfreeplanet.com; that will at least narrow it down and they are super-good about labeling and listing all ingredients. So you could sort by allergic to fish (you’re not, but you don’t eat fish) and peanuts.
Rumbly,
I definitely third or fourth or whatever the suggestion to make your own bars. Any store-bought bars are going to be full of processed garbage, and it’s really hard to avoid sugar alcohols (which have the same effect on me). I have celiac disease, so I can’t eat any bars with gluten in them, and the only ones that don’t that I’ve found are Larabars, which aren’t nut-free. I don’t eat those unless I’m at an airport and won’t have access to real food for hours. Bars, in general, are super high in calories, especially sugar/HFCS, which doesn’t work for me. So, here are two recipes that I like. They both have almonds in them, but you could just leave those out:
http://www.glutenfreefitness.com/gluten-free-dairy-free-protein-bar-kind-of-a-recipe-trail-mix-bars/
http://www.glutenfreefitness.com/recipe-alert-homemade-gluten-free-pumpkin-protein-bars/
I hope those help! Good luck!
I was just going to recommend YouBars, but BDanger beat me to it. Count this as another vote.
Just wanted to point out that granola bars and protein bars are a bit different. Granola bars as a whole aren’t as full of protein as actual protein bars. For example, Clif bars only have about 10g of protein where a ‘protein’ bar typically has 20grams. I also wanted to ask Rumbly how much protein per bar he/she is looking for?
Ooh, thanks for all the great suggestions! I knew the awesome readers here would have cool ideas! Like autiger said, I’m trying to up the protein in my diet in something small that I can eat at work, so something in the 20g range would be great. I’m a lacto/ova vegetarian (with a delicate flower of an intestine *eyeroll*). I’m off to try recipes and websites! Thank you all!
. . . . youbar.com is my new hero. I don’t have special dietary needs at all, but . . . wow. That is awesome, and I am it’s fan.
Wish – If you would consider a food-related gift, try http://www.foodzie.com, it is similar to Etsy, but for food purveyors. Most of the companies are small, specialty producers that are trying to widen their market. And you can search by address so you can find something fairly local and unique to your friend’s area.
Rumbly, another homemade granola bar you can try is Ina Garten’s: http://tinyurl.com/nmv8k3
I’ve made these several times, and you can swap out the nuts, dried fruit, coconut, and wheat germ, for whatever combination of items you happen to have in the same quantity. So the nuts are totally optional, and can be swapped for more fruit or chocolate chips or whatever you like. In addition to being yummy, they are also incredibly filling.
I made the Smitten Kitchen version as well, but I made it with peanut butter (which she says is optional), and walnuts. And while I can see how you could switch the walnuts, I felt like the peanut butter was really the whole appeal of that bar for me! And I don’t see how they would stick together without that extra half cup of gooey stuff.
Zone Perfect “Fruitified” bars are pretty tasty and don’t seem to have any nuts or fish oil. I get mine from Super Target, but I think most grocery stores should carry them. Get the fruity ones though, the chocolatey ones seem to have nuts. My favorite is the Strawberry Yogurt flavor, it goes great with coffee. Yum.
Rumbly, if you decide to make your own bars, then you could probably scootch up the protein quantity by adding whey powder, dried milk, or soy flour. If you can tolerate them, you can also add lots of seeds, such as flax, sunflower, hemp, sesame, or pumpkin seeds. Maybe you can substitute peanut butter in some of the recipes with a bit of tahini or hemp seed spread for a safe way to get that nutty taste.
I would just like to verify the bit about sugar alcohols making the tummy “rumbly.” I had a colonoscopy earlier this year and the prep was literally to drink about 1/4 cup of pure sorbitol several times in a day. Cleans you out.
Good luck finding a protein bar that works for you!
While this NPR piece does not mention household appliances, I wonder whether it’s the one you heard:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121701814
It does have some interesting info on renting designer dresses and toys, though. Also a site where you can get cash for unused electronics.
Shop — if she just bought a home, the kindest gift you can give her is a gift card to Home Depot, Lowe’s or a similar hardware/home decorating store. She will be going back there again and again.
Rumbly, have you ever looked at Luna bars? I don’t know if they have any nut-free items, and I can’t tell from the Web site, but they’re pretty yummy.
Addendum to my previous post: I just found this Web site that might be worth looking at: http://allerenergy.com/
Shop – Another general U.S. choice is Target. They have tons of stylish housewares at reasonable prices. Their website is pretty good, too.
Would this site be a good one: http://rentoid.com/
Rumbly,
I like Luna Bars. Here’s a link to my favorite flavor, chocolate peppermint stick:
http://lunabar.com/products/bars/chocolate_peppermint_stick/
It says “may contain traces of” peanuts, but peanuts aren’t actually an ingredient.