As a Mom of two young kids, my dishwasher is loaded with sippy cups and bottles. If you have been there, done that, or this sounds like you, you know that depending on what you have in the rest of the dishwasher, these items may or may not be clean.
 

 
I always laugh at the various dishwashing commercials where the women are so concerned that their white china and wine goblets are sparkling clean. Frankly, I could care less since I am usually eating standing up at the kitchen sink (or in the car), and we haven’t entertained in months. (When we do, its a BBQ with paper plates.) So I wish the commercials were about real life sippy cup gunk that forms in the top rack of the dishwasher when you haven’t fully cleaned the brownie pan loaded in the bottom rack.

Much of the problem may be in my dishwasher itself, or that I am too lazy. But since I am not going to get a new dishwasher to test that theory, nor do I have time, desire, or interest in scrubbing pans before I stick them in the dishwasher, I jumped at the chance to try a new type of dishwashing detergent and post about it. It’s called Cascade Platinum and the background on it is that it scrubs away tough 24 hour stuck on food better than their Cascade Complete pacs, and it helps prevent residue on your dishes and dishwasher.

So I decided to recreate my sippy cup scenario. I baked a batch of brownies (that wasn’t much of a hardship) and stuck the dirty pan in the dishwasher….with the day’s supply of cups and bottles. Traditionally, the brownie bits float around the dishwasher and then end up in the sippy cups.
 

 
I checked the dishwasher the next day, and I have to say (surprisingly so) that there wasn’t the typical teeny-tiny brownie bits floating in my daughter’s bottle bottoms. Now granted, this was a one time wash. Maybe the brownie pan wasn’t as gunky as I thought, but I’m up for baking more brownies (hehe) to see if I’ve truly struck gold (or in this case, platinum.)

I did notice that the dishwasher itself seemed….cleaner. Makes sense, since the Cascade Platinum formula does something so that it can dissolve the calcium in hard water, which is what causes the dullness on dishes. Yet, I’m not sure why there has to be so many variations of dishwashing detergent. Shouldn’t there just be one that gets the job done? But the Cascade Platinum is about 12% more expensive, which may be an issue for some of us. If it is for you, just buy it when you need to impress.

Even if it is as simple as the fact the pods are so pretty (so much so that keep them away from the kids -they may think they are candy), or that the pods get your dishes pretty, I say give the Platinum a go. Especially if you do entertain. There is something to be said for glasses that are clean and sparkling in the light of a dining room chandelier or a white dish that has drizzled chocolate sauce on it for dessert. Deflects the fact you haven’t dusted in months. (Fake it till you make it, I say).

In fact, Top Chef judge and editor of Food+Wine magazine, Gail Simmons, has teamed up with Cascade to discuss why presentation is just as important as preparation. And there are a lot of beautiful presentation examples all over Pinterest and Instagram. Cascade has an active Facebook Page and is even hosting a four week @MyCascade #MyPlatinum Instagram contest where they are encouraging people to post pictures of their clean dishes. They are giving away two Whirlpool dishwashers a week (hooray!) and one grand prize of a new kitchen. If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, just pre-register and follow the weekly prompts.

And maybe while we are all washing our dishes and showing how pretty they are, they can figure out how to get our plastic bowls and sippy cups dry. I mean, really, why can’t those things get dry. The forks and knives do….

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Image Credit: My own unless otherwise noted. All Rights Reserved.
As mentioned above, this is a compensated post. However, all the thoughts, opinions and words are my own.
  
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Metrowest Mamas does its best to make the event information listed as accurate as possible, but event and venue information is subject to change without notice, and Metrowest Mamas is not responsible for erroneous information or the reliance upon it. Always call your destinations ahead of time to confirm dates, times, locations and admission fees.
 

With my Tassimo and Keurig Coffee maker, I always make my home coffee, cappuccinos and lattes with Gevalia Coffee. It is one of the few coffees I like that makes me minimize my crave for Starbucks. It is “robust” enough, if that is the correct coffee term to use. (I’m no barista.) All I know, is that it cuts down my Starbucks budget, which pleases my wallet. Yet, frankly, as a Mom to two little kids, and few Starbucks Drive-thrus nearby, I need something for my Starbucks fix.

When at home, I rarely brew a pot of coffee, as I am a limited coffee drinker – like one cup a day that I nurse for a few hours to boot. So I look for good coffee pods for my various one cup coffee makers, and stick with Gevalia coffee for that Starbucks taste. My husband doesn’t drink coffee, and I only need to do a full on brew when we have a party.

Speaking of parties, I decided to host one when I saw that House Party was looking for people. Well, I hosted a BBQ, and had a fun Saturday in the sun. Instead of hot coffee, we had iced coffee served in the provided travel coffee mugs to keep them cold. It was delish. My Starbucks loving brother (he’s the one that turned me on to Starbucks coffee and enables my habit with their gift cards) was surprised when I told him it wasn’t Starbucks, as he assumed. As a new Dad to twins, he gets the whole, “can’t get out for coffee” anymore.

Anyway, why am I sharing this with you, other than because I promised to write about it? Well, I promised to write about it because I have legitimately been a Gevalia fan for a while (about 6 years), and I did not get anything out of the deal, other than to provide my friends with some fun party coffee swag.

Am I still a Starbucks fan? Yes. But if there were Gevalia coffee shops with drive-thrus, I’d be there too. But without the drive thru, I love having a Gevalia cup at home. Like, I am right now.

It’s good.

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Image Credit: My own. All Rights Reserved.
Disclosure. I hosted a House Party and received swag for family and friends.
  
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Metrowest Mamas does its best to make the event information listed as accurate as possible, but event and venue information is subject to change without notice, and Metrowest Mamas is not responsible for erroneous information or the reliance upon it. Always call your destinations ahead of time to confirm dates, times, locations and admission fees.