March Faves

Time for our March Favorites!

I just love favorite things posts. I wish I could have these conversations with everyone every month! What do you love lately? What’s making life easier for you as a parent? What beauty products do you love? Have you watched anything good lately? It’s my favorite! And speaking of favorites, here are a few of ours…

1. Anastasia Brow Wiz Pencil. 

I’ve naturally got hair somewhere in the darkest blonde to lightest brown family. I get balyage highlights these days, so it’s still in that golden brown range. All that means that I don’t want to have black eyebrows.

Enter: Anastasia Brow Wiz Pencil in taupe. The perfect brow filling color for blondes and light brunettes. It’s definitely there, but not TOO there. The tip is small, which makes it easier to get natural fill without any harsh lines, and it blends much more smoothly than other pencils I’ve tried.

I pick it up at Sephora, but Amazon carries it off and on. If you’ve got darker hair, the Brow Wiz line comes in a range of colors, so you can find what works for you.

2. OXO Pop Containers. 

Have you ever accidentally gotten yourself into a cleaning and organizing project? I was wiping up a tiny mess in our pantry on Tuesday and one thing led to another. Before I knew it, I was wiping down and re-organizing the whole pantry. Thankfully, the whole thing only took me about an hour, but as I was putting things back into place, I was so grateful for the bins and baskets that keep things neat.

I’ve had these OXO POP containers for 6 years now, and they are still in EXCELLENT condition. I saved up for sales and used coupons and bought them a few at a time, since my newlywed/student budget was so tight all those years ago  but they have been worth every single penny. I have four of the gallon size, four of the big square size, and two of the 1 1/2 quart size. I use them for oats, granola, rice, gluten free flours, quinoa, and more. It’s easy to keep stock of how much I have in my pantry, and the airtight seal has done a remarkable job keeping things fresh.

They sell lots of different shapes and sizes, but I’ve gotten by very well with just these three sizes. My other favorite pantry and freezer organizer is these baskets from target. They go on sale every once in a while. I have them all over my house–storing toys, in drawers, our pantry (for potatoes, bags of pasta, baking supplies, etc.) and more. My very faves.

3. Hair Glue.

Seriously. It’s called hair glue.

I get asked a lot what kind of gel I use on Milo’s hair. He’s so busy (and active and sweaty) that it was almost impossible to keep his hair looking anything but bedraggled after, oh, about 7am. We first tried this gel when Michael brought home a bag from interviewing with the company who makes the gel. We didn’t end up pursuing a job with them, but the gel stuck around, and we’ve been using it ever since.

It is REALLY sticky, but when it’s dry, it’s SET. And you only need a teeny bit at a time. Like, a teeeeeeeny bit. I go through maybe (maybe) one tube a year. And both Michael and Milo use it. At only $4-10 per container (a year’s supply for 2 boys), it’s a steal. We pick it up at Target or Amazon.

4. My silicone muffins pans.

We’ve been baking a lot of muffins while I’ve been recipe testing lately, and I just cannot tell you how much I appreciate my silicone muffin pans. I actually did a project on these when I was studying interior design. They’re functional in every way. For instance:

• Silicone is nonporous, so it’s great for getting really clean and it doesn’t hold onto allergens or food particles like plastic does. It’s also dishwasher safe, so that’s awesome.
• It’s flexible, so you can even roll it up and store it that way in a drawer if you want. It’s flexibility also means you can pop the muffins or cupcakes right out of the pan. Wahoo!
• After the first use or two it’s completely nonstick, so you don’t even have to grease the muffin tin after those first few uses. This saves on paper liners (and cuts down on muffin waste since there’s no wrapper for the muffin to stick to).
• It even works for freezing sauces or broth. If I’ve made broth, I’ll freeze it in equal portions in my standard-size muffin pan so I can pull out just as many “broth cubes” as I need for soup or sauces later. If I have lots of lemons, I’ll freeze lemon juice in 1-2 Tbsp increments in my mini muffin pan and then I can pull some out for a salad dressing or cup of tea later.

I have the standard 12-cup muffin pan and the 24-cup mini muffin pan. I use both just about weekly.

5. The Cooked Documentary on Netflix.

I’m an avid Michael Pollan fan. His Food Rules book is one of the easiest, most accessible resources for simply understanding healthy eating. I really enjoyed his other books, too, so I was thrilled to see his documentary Cooked on Netflix. It comes in tandem with his book of the same name. It explores the history of food and eating, drawing inspiration from the four elements–fire, water, air, and earth.

I was especially drawn to Episode 2: Water. The beauty of watching ingredients turn to a cohesive recipe, the fascinating art of pot cooking, and the simple magic of a family meal were so soul-filling to me. I couldn’t stop thinking about each episode individually. This is why I love cooking.

What are YOUR favorites lately?
Anything I should check out?

Shout out your faves in the comments below and shop the widget for my picks!