World's Best -- I'm dubious, but I'll try

For those of you who don't know, my spouse is allergic to cats -- and to dogs -- and to dust, mold, beef, milk, various pollens... He's pretty much a walking histamine.

Now, sleeping with a cat on his face doesn't usually set him off. Sleeping with a cat on his face while spooning a dog is also often fine. But sleeping with a cat on his face, while spooning a dog with the windows open in early spring = sneezy, asthma mess that requires Advair (which he takes all the time), a separate inhaler, antihistamines and a couple boxes of Kleenex, just to get through one night.

The other thing that sets off these attacks? 1) Any mention of cleaning the house that he might have to partake in (so yes, they might be occasionally psychosomatic) and 2) scooping the litter boxes.

For years, we've used Scoop Away litter. My friend CB in D.C. used it with her multiple cats. It was cheap and easy to find around town. Plus, it did a great job of clumping and dealing with smells. It tracked all over the floor. But I scoop pretty regularly, so I just sweep as much as possible.

Then we moved to Illinois and a couple years ago, Meijer stopped selling Scoop Away in order to put out its own Meijer brand litter. Well, hell. I kind of got angry at Meijer, but I didn't want to start having to go to a different store to get my litter. So for the last two years, I've been trying various litters. I tried Arm and Hammer, Tidy Cat, Yesterday's News and Swheatscoop (which I found when you have a mouse problem is a POOR decision because the mice like to eat it and are attracted to it) and finally settled on, no surprise, the Meijer generic. It did the best at clumping to make scooping easy, but it does less well on the smell issue than Scoop Away.

Suddenly, a few months ago, all the Meijer cat litter disappeared from the shelves. Apparently there was a "quality control" issue. And while I still find it every once in a while in the Urbana store, it's not stocked as readily as it was before. So, after I picked up the last plastic container (and can I say how much I hate plastic containers, why can't you just use cardboard, Meijer?) I saw a brand that I had only seen at Prairieland Feeds in Savoy -- for mega bucks. "World's Best Cat Litter". I'm kind of dubious about anything marked "world's best." Maybe I'd get some sort of sad pleasure from proving them wrong? Or maybe they'd make my world a better place?

Mmmm. It's made from corn. So, if we still had our mice issue (thank you again Mousehunter Jim for rectifying that for us), I'd totally pass. But we seem rodent free, so I thought I'd get it and try it in a box. Supposedly, like the other "more eco-friendly" litters it's flushable, but the State of California would rather you just threw it away... so I'm guessing flushing really isn't all that great on plumbing somewhere in our water cycle.

Anyway, I'm trying it out this week. I put it in the cats' favorite litter box (a small blue one from Tidy Cat), even though the directions said I should slowly blend it with their current litter to get it used to it. (Please note that I did do this for other trial litters.)

The bag I purchased was 8 lbs. It was not the multiple cat bag, but if it works, I'll have to try the more appropriate kind for a house with 4 cats. My first observation is that it's a thicker grain than a fine clay litter. The claim on the bag is that because of its texture and absorption rate, you're supposed to scoop less of it out, meaning the litter lasts longer. On first scoop, this is true. It clumps like magic. But I think Nyssa's the only one peeing on it so far. It tracks as much as the clay litter, but is easier to find and sweep up on my gray tile floor.

It is more expensive, but if it lasts the 30 days it boasts than the price will be a few dollars less in cat litter each month. And its made from corn so it biodegrades more easily (per the web site) than the clay. But the smell is weird. I don't smell the ammonia from the urine at all. Instead, I smell a weird wet corn (like rain after harvest in the fields behind my house) kind of situation. It's not terrible, it's just different. It smells less how you would assume poop and pee would smell, even if covered in clay and baking soda.

And yet, you're sitting there wondering, "Why in the hell is Looseyfur reviewing cat litters today?"

Well, it's Monday. And I have a lot on my mind, and cat litter is a terribly safe subject, don't you think? And everyone else has pretty much already covered how much they like the weather or how cute their kids are. So, this is what I've got left today. And it's only 11:05 a.m.

Plus, if it makes my husband sneeze less and help scoop more, it's a win/win, right?

By the way, the best way I've found to not deal with tracking litter is to get a Clever Cat box with an entrance on top. My cats, for some reason, loved to pee in the boxes with the front open door and poop in the Clevercat box. But it really doesn't have any litter on the floor around it. Only on the top lid, which is oh so easy to just dump back into the big bin. I think if we didn't have a picky cat in our group, we'd replace all our boxes with the Clevercat, but my arthritic kitty wouldn't be happy with that choice.

Food in Bar Form Addiction

So when I first went into Maintenance way back in September, I was so happy to switch from buying HMR Benefit Bars (which taste fine, but don't have a lot of variety) to buying other bars that were cheaper and more fruity. Then I went on a hunt to find various kinds of portable snacks that I could use either as a meal on the go, a mid-day snack or in travel situations.

Below is a list of snacks that I'd go out of my way for... :-) They're mostly high protein, high fiber and low(er) calorie. My problem is that I was worried I was eating more bar food than whole foods (fruits/vegetables) and then when I stopped buying them, I actually ate more carbs via pretzels and goldfish crackers and sometimes just plain toast than I would eat veggies and fruits anyway... So, I'm switching back... as least I know how many calories are in a bar and don't have to sit there and count out my pretzels (which is a degrading process).

The items are in no particular order. They're like children, I love them all equally. You'll notice a lack of popcorn. I'm a big 100 calorie popcorn eater, but I have no brand loyalty. Of course, none of these is as good for you as picking up a piece of fruit... but an apple doesn't have chocolate in it either (which is as much a benefit as it is a drawback :-P)

1. Kashi Go Lean Turtle Roll

2. Kashi TLC Cherry Dark Chocolate Bar
3. Luna Cherry Chocolate Almond Protein Bars
4. 18 Rabbits Chewy Cherry Chocolate (Do you see a particular fruit theme here?)
5. Fiber One Strawberry Yogurt
6. Yoplait Light Thick and Creamy Cherry Cobbler Yogurt
7. Special K Peanut Butter Protein Meal Bar

Trends in Coupon Clipping

I am not a person who goes ape shit for stuff that's free. Clipping coupons or using deals for brands and things I don't need so I can have free stuff isn't something I focus on when I clip coupons.

I focus on things that my family normally uses, brands that we like. $1 off one kind of deodorant isn't a seller, if I know that it doesn't keep me dry or if I smell like I haven't showered in a week. To me, they can keep their dollar. I don't want their product.

But I am a pretty avid Sunday morning newspaper clipper. I'm also a coupons.com clipper. I watch other couponing sites for things we might need. I always turn over my Schnuck's receipt to see if there's an oil change or a lunch coupon that might come in useful.

I am, in the last 3 months, noticing a trend in couponing. Vary rarely (my major exception is when I clip from County Market's penny pincher listings) are the coupons for actual food-related items. Instead, most of them are for household items like toilet paper, shampoo and cleaners. This is fine, except I only buy those things once every 4-6 weeks. So, I'm wondering, where are all the food coupons? They used to be everywhere.

And why, instead of getting coupons at stores for products I don't use (hello, Tidy Cat) can't I get them for products I do use?

Every 4 weeks, I have a $150 bill at Meijer that I watch deplete to around $115 with the household coupons that I saved. I'm grateful for it. I always apologize to the cashier for the madness of that many coupons. His or her response is always one of encouragement, but the person behind me in line is either impressed or annoyed. And I'm no couponing master.

But the other 3 trips during the month are painful. They're all food based for recipes I'm cooking. Sometimes I get lucky and hit in-store specials. But I cook so much with fresh fruits and vegetables now that those savings are few and far between.

Has anyone else noticed a depletion of food coupons? Or maybe it's just the brands that I use?

Oh -- and just a little plug. Karen's Kloset is having a sale on Saturday. From 8-10 a.m. everything in the store is 25% off, from 10-noon it's 20% off and then from noon until 6 p.m. it's 10 percent off... just in case you're looking for any fall clothing!

"Turn the page!"

X-man's favorite books this month:

1. Go, Dogs, Go! by P.D. Eastman

2. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

3. Mars Needs Moms by Berkeley Breathed

4. B is for Bear by Roger Priddy

5. Long Train: 101 Cars on the Track by Sam Williams

6. I Spy a Candy Cane by Jean Marzollo

7. The Caboose Who Got Loose by Bill Peet

8. Curious George and the Rocket by H.A. Rey

9. Teeth are Not for Biting by Elizabeth Verdick

10. Airport by Byron Barton

What are you or your family reading?

A Warm Breakfast

X-man loves breakfast. He has always loved pancakes and Morning Star veggie sausage. He loves yogurt with granola (or without), Cheerios with bananas or berries, fruit salad, mini omelettes, waffles, bacon and all the other good stuff.

We also used to take him to Le Peep a lot. The wait staff has watched him grow up from a tiny infant into a strapping toddler. We have a rule that on Saturdays and Sundays we have to be at Le Peep by 8:30 or there's no point in going. If you get there by 8:30 a.m., you have little to no wait time. It's before the 9 a.m. rush starts. And X-man can't and won't wait for a table for breakfast. Lunch, not a problem, he's good for 10-15 minutes. At dinner, you can even stretch it to 20-25 minutes... but at breakfast he wants his food and he wants it now. 

Since we're on our weekly budget, we have been eating out less (hooray). But last weekend I used up the last 1 person serving of whole wheat pancake mix and Belgian waffle mix (Mactroll prefers these to the pancakes). And I didn't replace them in this week's grocery trip, so I'll have to put them on the list for next week (with Newman's Light Balsamic Vinegar Dressing MacTroll reminds me). It also takes forever for X-man to eat sometimes. I once watched him take an hour to eat a grilled cheese sandwich in a restaurant. 

Back in January, X-man spent five days with his Aunt Karen and Uncle Mike and their three kids and three cats. Aunt Karen is an awesome cook and an incredible baker. She enjoys cooking and food. She is also a great mom role model. 

She started making something called "egg in a hole" for X-man. And he loves it. You butter a piece of bread, cut a hole in the middle of it with a cookie cutter and then put the bread and the leftover bread shape from the cookie cutter in a pan hot enough to fry an egg. Then you crack the egg in the hole and let it cook. Really easy. When we started making it for X-man, we gave him a hard yolk. Now he prefers over easy, so he can dip his little bread shape into it... and then dip his veggie sausage.

So, here's what I served X-man for breakfast this a.m. It made me feel a bit better about getting him excited to pick blueberries at Pontious Farm today, only to have to cancel due to the ugly weather in the forecast. Ahh, well. The library and his aunt Terry are awesome back-up plans. It also means I get $10 back into my weekly budget. Mmmm....