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Product Review: Scrub Daddy

Scrub Daddy original

I kept seeing these cute little smiley face scrub sponges, the Scrub Daddy, on QVC, and wanted to know how well they worked but didn’t want to pay the shipping and handling fees since I already found my perfect scrubber in my favorite Spaghetti Scrub that I rave about in ‘My Favorite Cleaning Gadgets’ blog.

Well, didn’t they come out with a larger ‘brick’ version of the cute little smiley face, meant for bigger jobs called Scrub Daddy Heavy Duty? This was back at the end of winter/brink of spring and I knew my grill really needed a deep cleaning for the season. It was on a special one-time value and my mom said she’d split the pack of 5 with me, so why not?

The inventor of these was on that Shark Tank reality show, and these sponges are made from a special material that’s not supposed to scratch. What specifically caught my attention was he kept saying it was good on grills and grease. I then watched him clean a filthy oven with nothing but water, and it looked amazing.

The inventor and his invention...

Scrub Daddy Heavy Duty; one cut in half

It did scrub extremely well, I will not deny that by any means. And it did not scratch anything I’ve tried yet. However, the special material does NOT like grease whatsoever. I purchased a nice, used cast iron frypan at an estate sale that had been recently sandblasted and re-seasoned. Beautiful! (I have no patience with new cast iron so it is my new goal in life, to find nice, used pieces like this that are already broken in for me! :P) It was pretty clean, but of course I wanted to test out my new Scrub Daddy and see how much more grease it could pull off of this frypan. And it worked! Cold water, no soap, and it got a good little bit of grease off of the pan. (You can’t use soap on cast iron, remember, so another reason I wanted to try this.) After I was done, however, I couldn’t get the grease stain out of the sponge and it was literally the first time I used it. These are advertised as working and lasting for months. Hmm…

I tried another sponge on some old caulk that needed to come off the edge of my shower. For this task I used a bucket of cold water, the Scrub Daddy, and a paint scraper. I did get everything off, but I think the paint scraper did most of the real work. It was a tough call, but I was mostly annoyed that the Scrub Daddy wasn’t staying firm, as I felt like it would have done a better job if it had. They are supposed to stay firm in cold water for coarse scrubbing and soft in warm water for gentle. My experiences have all been that they are flexible in both warm and cold water, although it was a little more firm with the cold water than the warm.

Scrub Daddy Heavy Duty box front

The next thing I tried the Scrub Daddy out on was the car. It did much better than the soft sponge I have at getting the bugs off the front! That is one area I do recommend using it. I used cold water and Armor All Car Wash & Wax.

Alright, the time has come to try it on the grill. I have washed a couple of small grill baskets I put veggies into with the same sponge I used first on the cast iron skillet, so a little bit more grease has built up on it at this point. I’m really sorry I didn’t take a picture of it before using it on the grill because afterwards it had to go directly into the trashcan and I couldn’t touch anything because my hands were so caked in grease. So, yeah…again, the Scrub Daddy really did scrub most of the grease and grime off of the grill and grates. It just would NOT come off of the sponge, even using the ‘jet’ setting on my outdoor hose. And by the time I was done it was just pushing the grease around on both my hands and the grill so I did have to take an old Spaghetti Scrub and some paper towels out to finish the job. I have to say I have never gotten so much grease on myself scrubbing the grill before. And the Spaghetti Scrub or honestly, even the scrubby side of a regular sponge don’t collect grease like that until they are a bit more used and abused at the end of their life cycles.

My friend purchased the original Scrub Daddy (smiley face version) and really liked it for her dishes. She used it to peel zucchini (another thing they advertise about its scrubbing power is that it scrubs the skin off of your vegetables!) and said little pieces of zucchini are unfortunately now stuck in the sponge material that she can’t get out so she will not be using it for that again. You might be able to see in my picture the tiny flecks of white caulk that are stuck in mine.

Another thing I feel I should mention was that they advertise that you can cut the Heavy Duty “bricks” in half. One of the sponges I immediately did so with because I was splitting a set of 5 with my mom, so we decided to split the 5th one literally in half. Well, there was a huge air bubble in the middle, so the sponge was going to break down faster than normal. Luckily QVC’s  customer service took care of it and sent me a new one immediately. Let’s hope you’d get that same service if purchased elsewhere, too!

Back of Scrub Daddy HD box

My overall feeling is that if you don’t have access to the Spaghetti Scrub (I did see these at World Market!!) and you do have access to the Scrub Daddy, I would totally go for it. Their site says they are sold at Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart, and a few other retailers. I would think it would be great to use the same way that I already use my Spaghetti Scrub on the dishes, and I think it would also be good for cleaning soap scum in the tub. Like I said before, I also liked it on the bugs on the car!!

I would just make sure to keep the Scrub Daddy away from anything that has any amount of grease on it, particularly from a grill. I am curious to hear if the original one works any better than the large one since they are supposed to be the same, and I also wonder if the grease inside of the oven will do the same as the items that had grill grease since I watched him clean the oven on TV with no problem!!! Looking at the Heavy Duty product description on their website I now see in parenthesis “solvents, grease, oils and other substances may resist rinsing”. Ugh!

Have you tried the Scrub Daddy? Which one? What do you like to use it on? Did you have any grease troubles like me?!

Cabbage Moth Larvae Tried to Kill My Brussels Sprouts!

It never ends, the garden war. Just countless battles making me think that I’m winning! Hahaha! I noticed holes in some of my Brussels sprouts leaves. Ugh. I’m honestly not sure how well any of my vegetables will do, as I just kind of planted seeds and hoped for the best. Test run year! (I should definitely research a LOT more.) But I am hopeful they might produce something, so I want to protect them.

My poor Brussels sprouts!!

I Googled “what’s eating my Brussels sprout leaves?” and found this link, which prompted me to check the back side of the leaves in question, near the middle vein. Sure enough, I found tiny inch-long or less green larvae. Cabbage moth larvae! (Read that link…they are butterflies, we Americans just call them moths because they look like moths.)

An example of a cabbage moth larvae decimating a leaf!

This article goes a little more in depth about what exactly I’m dealing with. She recommends a few different natural enemies and two biological pesticides, Bt and spinosad. Spinosad was also in the Sluggo I purchased so I knew about that already. A little more Googling of Bt and I finally stumbled across something I can find at Home Depot - Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Brew. There was a Bonide product specifically for caterpillars but I couldn’t find it locally, don’t have time to wait, and like the idea of this spray covering a few more critters than one!

Captain Jack's Deadbug Brew

I did try murdering the worms by hand, but they are SO TINY. I was dropping them and not sure if I had squished them first or not, meaning they’d probably find their way back to my Brussels sprouts again. And I have a lot of plants, so that’s a lot of leaves to pick through, as well as ensure you got every single one. In the fine words of the interwebs these days, “Ain’t nobody got time for that!” ;)

Captain Jack's Deadbug Brew ingredients label

I applied the first round on June 13. I had to wait a day after purchasing the spray because it was windy, so I told the worms to eat up because it was their last meal!! I checked back the next day and most of them seemed to be gone or dead. A few larger ones remained, so I picked them off if I saw them, and assured myself if there were any more, they’d be gone soon enough. A few days later, and I don’t see anything on them at all! I did spray a second round on June 19, as the bottle said it can be reapplied every 6 days, up to 6 times a season for Brussels sprouts. [Check the label for other produce, there were specific instructions for each!] I probably won’t spray them again unless I see the worms again…I actually did the second spray because I saw a damn cabbage moth flying around the area again! Stop it! To think I assumed they were just pretty little white butterflies, pollinating the lands.

Cabbage moth

Oh yeah, I sprayed my pumpkin plant, too. There was one tiny creature (not sure what it was) and a little hole starting on one leaf. Not taking any chances!!

Pumpkin leaf - tiny hole upper right!

What did you plant this year? What are your favorite produce gardening tips you think I should know about???

Gifts for Grads

This list can be for both high school or college graduates; things that they will need in a future dorm or apartment, especially good for cooking for one person. My brother also mentioned these would all make good gifts for someone going into the military. After they graduate from boot camp, they move into barracks that have small kitchen setups with nothing in them!

Electric Water Kettle - A great item for heating water safely in a small space. Good for making ramen noodles or tea/cocoa/coffee.

My favorite, the Bodum cordless
electric kettle. Comes in 2 sizes!

Ways to Make Coffee - Read my Coffee Maker Basics blog to learn more about what type of coffee brewing system works best for your graduate!

Aeropress - This little guy is consistently hailed as making the best cup of coffee using regular coffee grounds. A lot of people used it at my last office with the grounds the office provided to make a slightly stronger cup. Brews right into the mug by adding hot water, and the filters come in packs of 350 so they last a really long time!

Aeropress

French Press - There are other brands, but Bodum is the most well-known. They make a variety of presses, from the classic glass, to stainless steel, thermal, and travel. Can also be used to brew hot tea, but you cannot brew both in the same vessel as the coffee taste will remain in the mesh filter. These can also be utilized to make cold press coffee.

Bodum glass French press

Single Cup Brewer - The most popular single cup brewer is Keurig, but there are many other brands by the usual suspects. Make coffee one mug at a time, sometimes taking special pods and other times allowing you to use your own coffee grounds, or both!

Keurig single-cup brew system

Electric Espresso - These can get tricky because the inexpensive ones usually don’t produce an authentic cup of espresso. Luckily, most American coffee drinkers don’t know the difference, so base your purchase off of whether you’re buying for a connoisseur or not! Nespresso makes the smallest footprint models at a lower price than larger household models that produce as good a cup, but it’s still a tad spendy, so this might be more for the college grad and a cheaper one for your high school grad!

Nespresso electric espresso machine

Travel Mug - Most coffee shops take a few cents off the price of your drink if you bring your own cup. Or just to bring their homemade coffee to class with them. Either way, save them some cash and keep their coffee warm!

Contigo travel mugs have become one of the
most popular brands - easy to sip from and seal tight!

Inexpensive Dinnerware and Flatware - A couple of plates, bowls, forks and spoons will be very helpful to have in a dorm room. I recommend cheap and plastic or melamine! Walmart, Target, dollar stores, etc. to find these for low prices.

Plastic dinnerware!

For someone graduating college, getting them their first real set of dinnerware would be a great next step. Read my ceramic dinnerware blog for ideas on what brands to consider!

Small pot and frypan - If this is going to be their first time cooking, I would recommend something really inexpensive and nonstick. Nonstick for at least the frypan - it’s a little harder to burn/stick things in a pot than a frypan based on what is normally cooked in both.

A small frypan and a small saucepan are all you need!

Shopping for someone who knows their way around the kitchen a little? Consider Cuisinart or Calphalon’s less expensive lines. Feel free to check my Buying Cookware blog for more in-depth information on how to choose what’s best for your cook!

For someone graduating college, it might be time for their first nice set of cookware! Consider the Cuisinart Multi-Clad Pro as a very solid set that will last them forever.

Round it out with a set of cooking utensils. Cheap plastic ones from the dollar store should work well for our college-bound and military group; maybe spend a little more on some nicer ones for our college grads.

Plastic cooking utensils

Don’t overlook the importance of a can opener!

Microwave - An essential tool for the single person!

Microwave!

Microwave Cooking Acoutrements - Nordic Ware is made in America and they produce the best microwave-safe dishes and cooking items! Your will have a hard time NOT finding something useful for dorm/single-person microwave cooking, and I find their products in every type of store as they are a very popular brand name.

Nordic Ware microwave egg cooker

Electric Countertop Grill - These may or may not be allowed in dorms. Another essential cooking tool for the single person! Can make grilled sandwiches or use as a small grill to cook meat, fish and veggies.

Cuisinart Griddler

Soda Stream - Not a necessity, but a fun gift that will save them a little money.

Soda Stream home soda maker

Gifts for Dads

Shopping for your father or partner? Of course there are always going to be something new and gimmicky out depending on the season, but I have compiled a list of tried-and-true ideas for gifts for the special guy in your life that you should be able to find at a regular kitchen store. Shop locally, if you can!! ;)

BBQ Tools

Who doesn’t love to grill? And giving more grill utensils equals more delicious summer BBQs for you, right?! ;) Check out whatever is new for the season! Brands tend to change at even the big-name stores season-to-season, so keep that in mind.

Probe Thermometers - CDN, Polder, and Maverick Redi-Chek are all good brand names in probe thermometers and there’s quite a variety, so pay attention to what he grumbles about when cooking! The Maverick Redi-Chek probes are actually remote so you can take the receiver piece with you as you walk around the party and not have to stand by the grill to keep checking the temperatures. There are some that have multiple probes so you can measure different types of meat at the same time.

Maverick Redi-Chek dual-probe remote thermometer

Usually you can use probe thermometers in smokers, but they also make specific thermometers for smoking, too, like this Redi-Chek remote smoker thermometer.

Grill Lights - Make evening grilling easier! A huge seller is this kind of cool, little light that is attached to a magnet that you can attach to your metal spatula to get an even closer look at your burgers! (**Be careful - the ones I have utilized had a little plastic tube around the batteries that most people assumed was to ensure no battery power was wasted prior to purchase, but it actually required the plastic in order to work!)

Magnetic mini LED grill light attaches to any metal utensil!

Smoker Box - A smoker box is something you put pre-soaked wood chips into to infuse flavor into the meat you are grilling. Some are large enough and have a liquid compartment to pour water, beer, wine or whatever you want to infuse them with. There are now even “platform” smoker boxes that are large enough for the meat to sit directly on top of them.

Weber cast iron smoker box

Himalayan Salt Block - Another cool thing to infuse flavor into your meats or veggies when you grill. You can cook on these multiple times, and some people use them to serve on, as well. And how about a Salt Block Cooking cookbook to go with it?

Himalayan sea salt block

Grilling Planks - Yet another way to infuse flavor into your meat or veggies on the grill. Put them right on top of the plank to get the wood flavor directly in. These are single-use only, but you can add it to the fire afterwards to infuse a little flavor into whatever else you are grilling. You can usually find them in the same 'flavors' as other wood chips, like cedar, alder, and hickory.

Cedar grilling planks

Grill Gloves - High heat resistant gloves are a must-have if your guy owns a smoker or uses a really large charcoal grill. They are long to protect your arms, as well.

A variety of different grill gloves

BBQ Apron - Find a fun apron that says “Kiss the Cook” or “King of the Grill” or something else fun and cheeky. There are a lot of websites that will personalize an apron for you, too. Keep in mind most standard aprons are about $25-35 unless you are getting really serious about fabric and design, which obviously ups the price. You can also go the other way if your guy is more of an indoor chef and find him a nice chef’s coat.

Fun apron for dad!

Great Grilling Cookbooks

Steven Raichlen - www.barbequebible.com

Steven has several books now since his first, the Barbecue Bible, as well as hosting TV shows on PBS and teaching his Barbecue University classes.

Steven Raichlen's 'The Barbecue! Bible'

**Personal favorite!!** Elizabeth Karmel’s Soaked, Slathered, & Seasoned: A Complete Guide to Flavoring Food for the Grill. She has two other books, as well, but I am partial to this one because it’s smaller than Steven Raichlen’s book for one, and it is seriously a complete compendium for how to put meat on the grill, even with just oil, pepper and salt!

Elizabeth is the Executive Chef at Hill Country Barbecue in central Texas and has also leant her grilling prowess into a line of grilling tools under the name Grill Friends that can be found in a lot of kitchen stores.

Elizabeth Karmel's 'Soaked Slathered & Seasoned'

Bar Accouterments

Riedel Single-Malt Whisky/Whiskey Glass - For the serious whiskey drinker in your life, grab a set of these beautiful glasses, which bring out the full flavor of that expensive bottle of liquor he enjoys. Approved by a panel of Scotch whisky experts and master distillers in Scotland!

Riedel Single-Malt Whiskey Glass

…or just find some really fun cocktail glasses like these ones that look like ice from Bormioli Rocco or these ones that look like they are toppling over!

Sagaform wobbly whiskey glasses

Whiskey Stones - milled from a particular type of soapstone found in Vermont, this is a centuries-old Scandinavian way of keeping your liquor cool while avoiding watering down your beverage as normal ice would.

Whiskey Stones

Other Kitchen Goodies

My dad loves to make soups and stews in the winter, so another personal favorite is the cookbookThe Big Book of Soups and Stews. Pretty much any recipe you can think of is in this book, and I ended up buying it for myself, too, and use it very regularly!

Bacon/Grill Press - A heavy cast iron grill press will help eliminate the curl from back or ham when cooking on the stovetop or grilling. Works great as a sandwich press, too!

Lodge cast iron grill press

Food Dehydrator - Know someone who hunts and likes to make their own jerky? Or just loves appliances that are fun to play with. ;) For the serious, I recommend L’Equip’s 6-tray dehydrator. For the less serious (read: less expensive) you can probably find one starting at around $40-$50 price range, like this Ronco model.

Ronco food dehydrator

...

I will try to think of more goodies, but this is a solid list of staples to think about year-to-year. The more tools you arm him with, the more delicious food you might receive in return!! What are your favorite gifts for Dads? I would love to add more to this list to help people out!

DIY Mason Jar Indoor Herb Garden

Supplies!

I got this idea from Pinterest (evil black hole!) which eventually led me back to this link. It didn’t have a ton of instructions or photos, so I followed it as best as I could imagine, but we had to make some adjustments. (I can’t take credit for much of this, I made my brother do most of the work. I’m more managerial than mechanical. The idea person! Hahaha!) I’m hoping our pains help you to make some better choices and improve on the idea even more!

I’m not going to list the materials and instructions separately because there were so many issues to think about when purchasing, I want to make sure you are fully prepared for the obstacles this project can present!

What You’ll Need to Think About:

Placement

Of course you want them to be somewhere that gets good sunlight. My kitchen window gets decent light, so I did two pieces of wood with two jars each on either side of it, with their bases angled towards the window. Consider the placement you’ll need before picking any supplies out!

Hard to get a good shot with the sunlight in the daytime,
so here's an evening shot, which I clearly am no good at!

Pieces of Wood

Wood. Stained.

To hang the jars on. I recommend them being thicker since the jars will be a tad heavy and full of dirt. Also, the things you need to hammer or screw into the wood…think about how thick you need it to be. I had thinner pieces of wood, so the screws on my hooks stick out of the back side a little bit. It’s not enough to bother anything, however.

Wood Stain or Paint

If you need to decorate the wood at all. I bought mine new and decided to stain it. The site I got the idea from used a little chalkboard paint in order to label her jars that way, but I just stuck some herb markers in my jars.

Hangers

Look in picture frame area of hardware store; I picked small D-ring hangers. You might have a good spot or better wood than I did and be able to attach it directly to the wall with no hangers, but I do like the option of being able to move them around in order to water them!

D-Ring Hangers

D-Ring Hanger - attached!

Pipe Clamps

This was the trickiest part, and if you can find something else to use, do it! Haha! We had trouble getting a drill bit to go through the little squares on the metal clamps, even though it was small enough. We were going to use screws to attach them to the wood, but ended up using a hammer and nails, which was a pain in the rear since the wood was so thin!

Jars with clamps tightened to measure before attaching

Measure and mark the clamps to show yourself how tight they need to be. You're going to attach the clamps first, then add the jar and tighten. We had a rough time tightening the clamps from the angle underneath the jars, so consider that!! If you can find something better than a pipe clamp or a better way to attach yours, do it.

The screw piece was on the underside of this...
awkward to tighten the clamp!

Make sure you remove the (obnoxious) stickers from the pipe clamps if that’s what you use and you are buying them brand new. I am so thankful that I noticed them or I would’ve been really, really mad after we were all finished.

Mason Jars

You’re going to want a wide-mouth mason jar. I grabbed some of the Ball Heritage Collection jars in blue, which are 1 quart.

All done!

Nails or Screws

…to attach things as mentioned above; choose accordingly!

We didn't intend to use nails, but it worked. We hope!

Potting Soil & Seeds

...to plant in the jars when you are done.

And there you have it! I hope you have an easier time than we did. It all turned out OK in the end, and magically my basil has already started to sprout in less than a week! (What are these, super seeds?? Haha!) I guess they are getting enough sunlight. I’ll keep you posted on how they turn out, but I can’t wait to have fresh herbs, hopefully year-round, right in my kitchen! No more waste, just cut what I need!

I think they look good!