The best “Thermos” insulated food jar is a LunchBots brand Thermal

2021-01-26willo Would this solve your problem? Tags: 12 oz, 16 oz, 8 oz, American, arthritis, best, BPA free, brand, Bumkins, clean, cleaning, color, compare, competition, competitor, container, customer service, dexterity, diameter, disability, discontinued, dishwasher, easy to open, food jar, hand, height, History, independence, inside, insulated, Kids Konserve, large, lid, Light My Fire, Little Spork, lunch, lunch bag, lunch box, LunchBots, made in China, medium, Mini Straw, mouth, narrow, new, opening, part, plastic, product, RA, replace, replacement, rheumatoid arthritis, Ruined, silicone, silicone baggie, size, sleeve, small, snack bag, special care, spork, stainless, standard, Stasher, steel, straw, sustainable, Taiyo Nippon Sanso, thermal, Thermos, Thrive Market, trapped, U Konserve, U-Konserve, utensils, warranty, wash, washing, waste free lunch, water, weight, wide, width, zero waste 2 Comments

My search for a replacement insulated food jar when Thermos dropped the ball

I bought Thermos brand food jars in 2010, then again in 2015. These 10- and 16-oz jars have interchangeable lids and have served me well enough for a decade. After 10 years, however, I’m down to six jars and four lids having purchased seven in total between the two sizes.

You can find reviews out there by people who have done scientific measurements of heat retention over time in this type of container, but my requirements are very simple. To wit, if I send a hot meal to school or work in the morning with my loved one, does the food stay warm and enjoyable until lunchtime?

Venerable Thermos brand no longer signifies quality

My first choice would’ve been keeping my existing jars in service with a few new replacement lids. Thermos in September 2020 replied to my email query, however, saying that I was out of luck. Thermos discontinued my jar model(s), and they have no replacement lids to offer.

6 Thermos food jars in 2 sizes in cupboard, but only 4 lids

I made it clear I would purchase lids if necessary, and that I was not asking for extended warranty coverage for old products. Thermos customer service appeared to give little attention to the details of my query; they don’t seem to care about my business.

I got a boilerplate email response indicating only that one item of the two I’d mentioned with model numbers and dates of purchase was out of production, and welcoming me to peruse their current offerings to find my own replacement. No notice was given to my specific question about sustainability or offering replacement parts in the longer term. No attempt was made to point me to the closest current model that might meet my needs.

Total customer service fail by Thermos!

Lids without plastic inside may be a healthier choice

Seeking a totally new product, I discovered that there was no Thermos food jar listed on their consumer site that day with stainless inside the molded plastic lid where it will touch the heated food therein.

BPA free plastic is a red herring; all plastic in contact with warm food should be viewed with caution, but not paranoia. The health effects of plastic use with hot food remain dubious yet suspect. Read up on this case of regrettable substitutes in National Geographic.

Black plastic Thermos lid, unlined, with white gasket

Blue plastic LunchBots lid with interior lined with stainless steel and grey silicone gasket

Black plastic Thermos lid next to blue plastic LunchBots lid whose interior is lined with stainless steel

Instead of focusing on quality or innovation, Thermos seems to be competing with no-name international brands offering cheap products designed to fail and be quickly replaced. Today’s Taiyo Nippon Sanso* owned Thermos brand is obviously a poor fit for my eco-conscious, health-conscious consumer preferences.

I looked to a pair of modern, sustainable food container brands that I already trust for a suitable replacement to these insulated staples of my lunch-packing arsenal: LunchBots and U-Konserve.

LunchBots Thermal is the best insulated food jar for my family as of 2020

The best insulated food jar for my family turned out to be a LunchBots Thermal. I bought two, in September, 2020—one 12 oz and one 16 oz—from Amazon. I paid retail price, but I did use an Amazon coupon to save a few dollars off the order.

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Kitchen compost bucket solutions to tame the sticky stink

2021-01-192021-01-19willo Would this solve your problem? Tags: 10 qt, 10 quart, 12 months, 13 g, 13 gallon, 2.6 g, 2.6 gallon, 3 g, 3 gallon, 4 g, 4 gallon, 40 cup, 6 qt, 6 quart, 8 qt, 8 quart, 9 L, 9.5 L, assistance, available, bag, beneficial, bin, biodegradable, biodegrade, biology, black gold, blend, browns, bucket, candy, cardboard, carry, celiac, charcoal, color, commercial, compost, condensation, confectionary, confidential, container, curbside, cycle, dairy, decay, decompose, dishwasher, easy, emptied, empty, encapsulate, fit, food, food storage, frequency, fridge, garbage, grease, greasy, green, greens, grocery bag, gummi bear, gummy bear, handful, hay, help, household, improved, improvement, industrial, junk mail, kid, lazy housewife, leak, leaky, lid, line, liner, local, Lock 'n Lock, Lock & Lock, Lock n' Lock, Locknlock, low, material, meat, mess, Miele, moisture, mom, municipal, newspaper, newsprint, nitrogen, odor, of purchase, office paper, often, one year, paper, paper bag, pest, pizza box, rectangle, rectangular, recycle, recycling, reek, refuse, rot, Rubbermaid Commercial, sack, safe, scrap, scraps, seal, sealed, Sears, shelf life, shop, shred, shredder, size, slide, slip, smell, SnapWare, soil, sold separately, source, square, sticky, stink, store, sturdy, tear, teen, tight-fitting, torn, twice a week, UNII, UNNI, use within, washable, waste, where to buy Leave a comment

I’ll have to begin with the bad news: if you fail to take your compost out, eventually, there will be odors. Don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise.

Fundamentally, we’re talking about the process of decay by which food scraps become nourishment for future cycles of growth. It’s all good, but you’ll notice there’s goo in good…

Biology gets sticky and stinky. Mathematicians know it.

Having accepted that taking out the compost is at least as important as removing household trash, here are my simple ideas for a less messy, less smelly, less likely to leak composting experience.

I recommend:

an 8-10 quart food storage container with tight fitting lid
4 gallon compostable liners for the kitchen compost pail
a household paper shredder
scrap paper and cardboard shipping boxes destined for recycling
13 gallon compostable liners for the curbside bin

Snapware food storage bin and lid lined with UNNI compostable bag with cardboard

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Hot water bottles to warm up 2020’s chilly COVID socializing & studies

2020-11-152020-11-15willo Would this solve your problem? Tags: 100 oz, 130, 2 L, 2 liter, 2 litre, 2.25 L, 2.25 liter, 2.25 litre, 80 oz, 90 oz, acrylic, advice, al fresco, allergy, Amazon.com, ambient, appropriately, arthritis, autoimmune, autumn, balloons, bed, blanket, blow up, boiler, bottle, bulky, burn, burst, buy, buying, cap, capacity, cat, chill, chilly, class, clothes, clothing, cold, comfort, comfortable, compare, comparison, cookie cat, cooler, cover, COVID, COVID-19, CV-DCC, degrade, deteriorate, diameter, dining, dots, drugstore, dry, easy to fill, eating, electric, explode, eyesight, fall, Fashy, fill, fleece, flexible, foul weather gear, fox, gear, gift, grey, health, healthy, heat, heating pad, heavy, Hometop, hot, hot water bottle, how long, how to, Igloo, insulated, keep, large, latex, layer, leak, lid, lunch bag, lunch sack, lunchbox, material, microwave, Mr Strong, New England, outdoor, outdoors, outlet, outside, packaging, pandemic, Peter Pan, pharmacy, pink, plastic, pour, power, purple, PVC, Pyrex Portables, RA, red, reheat, review, rice pillow, rigid, rubber, safe, safety, school, sedentary, shake, shaky, silicone, sit, size, socialize, socializing, stiff, still, stopper, storage, store, studying, tap water, temperature, thermal, tuck, type, upside down, UV, volume, warm, warm bag, warmth, water, wattage, wear, wear out, weather, weigh, weight, where to, which, which one, white, winter, Xboun, Zojirushi 2 Comments

It’s 2020, autumn, and the pandemic did not miraculously resolve after the election. For those of us who believe in science and value the health of others, the only safe way to socialize these days is to take our meetings outdoors.

Red autumn plant by fence - 1 I suffer more from the cold since developing an autoimmune disease, but November in New England isn’t traditionally known for sedentary al fresco activities. Even hale and hearty young people become uncomfortable sitting still as the mercury drops much below room* temperature.

And, of course, we got weather like this in October!

The first step to staying comfortable outdoors is wearing appropriate clothing. It is always wise to bring at least one layer† more than one thinks is necessary for extended jaunts on cool days. Wear a cap, and bring your gloves, too, of course. But if the sun sets, or the temperature drops below 60º F or so, the amount of clothing required—or the need for expensive, highly specialized gear in which you may not wish to invest—can become burdensome.

teal softshell rain

Why I use hot water bottles at home and outdoors

I send my child to outdoor classes—and welcome visitors to our yard for socially distanced visits—with a cheap, simple, classic, soothingly warm hot water bottle. Adding a source of radiating heat beneath a blanket or tucked into a jacket can add hours of comfort for anyone, and, as a bonus, it also helps ease pain for those of us with arthritis.

Unlike a heating pad, you aren’t tied to an electrical outlet with a hot water bottle. And, while I also use microwaveable “warm bags” —which I’ve heard friends call “rice sacks,” “heat pillows,” and also “heating pads”— the grain filled type weigh just as much, yet cool down relatively quickly compared with the long sustained warmth of water with its very high specific heat capacity.

Red rubber hot water bottle on bed

My history with hot water bottles

Before I married my husband, I’d never even seen a hot water bottle in real life. I knew what they were from old novels and cartoons, but hadn’t noticed they were still sold in stores.

Quaint and old-fashioned hot water bottles may be, but I’ve become a convert. I’ve found them readily available in major chains and tiny Main Street Mom & Pop drug stores across America. Ask the pharmacist—or the oldest person on staff—at your local shop, and you will probably get what you need.

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Campsite or quarantine: solar oven & thermal cooker for safe & easy outdoor meals

2020-08-30willo Travel, Would this solve your problem? Tags: 5.5 L, adapt, almond, alternative, arthritis, bake, batch cooking, beans, biscuit, black beans, blackout, brew, brownout, burn, cake, camp, Camp kitchen, Camping, cast iron, chronic pain, Classic Buttermilk Biscuit, cleaning, click, compare, cookbook, cookie dough, cooking, cost, COVID-19, Crock-Pot, dishwasher, Double Chocolate, easy, egg, emergency, energy, experiment, family, family camping, family travel, fill, fire, fish sticks, foil, food, food storage, freeze, freezer, frozen, frozen food, full, function, gluten free, GoSun, GoSun Sport, hand wash, handle, hate cooking, hate to cook, healthy, heat wave, home, hot dog, Immaculate, insulated, kebab, kelly kettle, lazy, Le Creuset, leftovers, lid, liquid, liquids, logo, lunch, mix, non-electric, Outdoor gear, outdoors, outside, overcook, parchment, parenting, pot, pot holder, potato, power, power outage, Prepared Pantry, preparedness, prepper, Pro Pack Kit, propane, quality, quarantine, RA, recipe, REI, review, road trip, roasted, safe, Saratoga Jack, Saratoga Jack's, saute, savings, scrub, shelter in place, silicone, size, slow cooker, solar, solar oven, soup, Sport, stain, stainless, stainless steel, stew, storage, storm kettle, sufficient, sun oven, temperature, thermal, thermal cooker, Thermos, Thrive Market, Travel, tray, trivet, utilities, utility bill, vegetables, volume, washing, weight, wonder oven 6 Comments

Whether you’re spending more time at home to avoid COVID-19 infection or taking advantage of the inherent social distancing of tent camping in the wilderness, it’s summer in the U.S.A., it’s hot outside, but we still need to eat.

I’m a lazy cook who has hungry kids to feed every damn day, but our utility bills skyrocketed due to the whole household being home 24/7 as we sheltered in place.

You can try to record a TED talk from your home office with your windows open to save energy, but the attempt almost guarantees a neighbor will pull out a leaf blower before you nail your performance. Ask my husband how I know!

Solo, I might subsist on cold cereal and the occasional spoonful of peanut butter, but my standards for parenting are a little higher than those for self care. I want to feed my family healthy meals consisting of whole foods sourced from readily identifiable ingredients found in nature, but I don’t want to spend too much time slaving over a hot stove to do so.

I want easy, healthy solutions to mealtime that won’t give me heat stroke.

At our first home, we installed a full size barbecue grill in the backyard. It was conveniently plumbed into the natural gas line and just a few steps from the kitchen, so my husband grilled often, especially on those hot, sunny days when I didn’t want to cook.

Full disclosure: I almost never actually wanted to cook, but I mind it less when the weather is moderate to cold.

Our current home has a very different layout, however, with a second floor kitchen. We love its attached balcony with peek-a-boo peeps of the sea, but it is too narrow for a large grill plus the modern composite decking seems unsuitable for that kind of heat even if I was willing to shimmy past a scorching surface. DH will lug out a tabletop propane model once in a summer’s while if we’re craving burgers, but it’s not a setup that induces me to try my hand at grilling.

Saratoga Jacks 5.5 L Thermal Cooker sitting on deck

Saratoga Jacks Thermal Cooker

GoSun Sport solar oven

I looked for outdoor cooking solutions that mimic my preferred methods for making meals in the kitchen: an oven and a slow cooker. I chose the GoSun solar oven (Sport model) and a Saratoga Jacks Stainless Steel Thermal Cooker. Continue reading →

A Tale of 3 Trousers: Lightweight kids’ pants for carry-on family travel

2020-02-272020-02-27willo Would this solve your problem? Tags: 10, 12, articulated, bag, boy, capsule wardrobe, carry on, child, children, color, Columbia, Columbia Sportswear, comfort, convertible, crotch, decent, dinner, draw string, drawstring, dress up, dressy, DWR, family, family camping, family travel, fiber, fibre, formal, friendly, gray, grey, gusset, gusseted, hang, hanging, hem, hiking, Hobo Traveler, kid, knee, KUHL, leg, lightweight, loop, luggage, man made, medium, mesh, Mountainmaker, neutral, nylon, outdoors, packing, packing list, pants, pocket, pull on, quick dry, rain, REI, reinforced, Renegade, ripstop, seam, security, sew in, Silver Ridge, size, slim, straight, style, suitcase, summer, synthetic, tag, Travel, trouser, trousers, Velcro, volume, waist, waistband, warm, weather, weight, wet, zip off, zipper Leave a comment

I have yet to find any company marketing lightweight, quick dry, travel friendly clothing for kids. Can I be the only parent who prefers to fly light?

Children’s relatively small clothes do pack up more easily than those of a big and tall man, but choosing wisely makes a noticeable difference in the total volume and weight of luggage for a family of four or more.

In my experience, many kids also get dirtier than adult travelers. The ability to wash a garment in a sink and have it dry overnight is vital for happy travels with my own sons.

Today, I’ll compare three pairs of lightweight trousers marketed for boys in Medium an American child’s size 10-12. My criteria for this search included:

lightweight fabric suitable for summer travel
neutral color that can be dressed up or down
quick dry fiber suitable for hotel sink laundering.

With apparently no one setting out to design “travel clothing” for children, the best approximation I’ve found for the lower body is “hiking pants.” Many options on the market were excluded for my purposes because the outdoor companies really love “convertible” trousers† with zip-off lower legs.

Zippered knees never pass for dressy in my opinion.

Kühl Renegade

REI Mountainmaker

Columbia Silver Ridge

I ended up with the following specific styles, ordered from REI and Amazon.com at the prevailing retail prices of mid-May 2019. And all are still being sold as of February 2020.

KÜHL Renegade Pants – Boys’ , size Medium, color Koal
REI Co-op Mountainmaker Pants – Boys’, size Medium, color Asphalt
Columbia Boys’ Silver Ridge Pull On Pant, size Medium, color Grill

Links go to the manufacturers’ own listings for the first and third pairs that aren’t store brands regardless of where I purchased my pairs.

First, the good news. If I had been in a hurry and purchased just one pair, any of these dark grey trousers would work for my son as daily wear pants that could pass as “decent” clothing to wear out to dinner on vacation. Note: I wouldn’t have him wear these to a wedding or a truly elegant occasion unless we’d had a drastic wardrobe catastrophe and had no time to shop for proper formal wear.

As one would hope from quality hiking clothing made by well-known brands, all are sturdy, well-sewn, and free of obvious defects.

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Harnessing the power of the internet for good since 2017

size

The best “Thermos” insulated food jar is a LunchBots brand Thermal

My search for a replacement insulated food jar when Thermos dropped the ball

Venerable Thermos brand no longer signifies quality

Lids without plastic inside may be a healthier choice

LunchBots Thermal is the best insulated food jar for my family as of 2020

Continue reading →

Kitchen compost bucket solutions to tame the sticky stink

A Tale of 3 Trousers: Lightweight kids’ pants for carry-on family travel