I was at the Indian grocers’ this week, and he turned me on to Chyawanprash (sometimes also called Chyavanaprasha, Chyavanaprash, Chyavanaprasam, Chyawanaprash, or Chyawanprash – none of which trip off the Western tongue lightly).

Now, before I go any further, I should explain that our Indian grocer isn’t just any Indian grocer. He is a classically trained Ayurvedic practitioner – his grandfather and his grandfather’s father passed down the Ayurvedic traditions to him. In fact, he is now in medical school here, so that he can practice here, blending his skills and knowledge. So when he recommends something as being Very Good for you, I tend to give it some credence.

In this case he not only recommended it – highly – but he suggested I Google it, which of course I did.

Wow.

Chyawanprash is a blend of more than 40 herb- and plant-based extracts. The brand that Raj carries is Dabur Chyawanprash, which he says is the best, and Google seems to bear that out.

The recipe is said to be more than 2000 years old. Legend has it that it was developed by a monk who was very old, and was then put in a position of having to marry a sweet young thing, and asked for a week to get ready. It is said that he then developed the Chyawanprash, and when they came back for him a week later, he was a much younger man.

Now, I don’t know that Chyawanprash is actually a fountain of youth, but I do know that it is chock full of some amazing things, with even more amazing properties.

According to the description from Dabur, “Dabur Chyawanprash is a powerful combination of over 40 herbs and plant extracts in a base of Amla (Indian Gooseberry fruit pulp). Dabur Chawanprash is derived from a 2500 year old ayurvedic formula. It is completely chemical-free, natural and safe. The first historically documented formula for Chyawanprash is found in the Charak Samhita, the ancient Ayurvedic treatise written by sage Charak in the 4th century BC. Prepared from more than 40 plants, fruits, roots, herbs and minerals in a base of amla fruit pulp, it works on the vital internal defense mechanism and increases body immunity.”

Chyawanprash is said to excel at helping one to build up immunity. Raj said this as well. In addition, it can boost energy, and aid in convalescence. And it’s extremely high in antioxidants.

Some of the ingredients include:

Amla – this is the Indian gooseberry, and is very rich in Vitamin C, pectin, and tannins. It is said to stop premature graying, encourage nail and hair growth, improves vision, nourish teeth and bones, cleanse the digestive system, and regulate blood sugar.

Ashwagandha – this is said to regulate body functions to aid in controlling stress and regulating immunity.

Pippali – said to aid, assist, and strengthen respitory functions.

Kesar – boosts energy and improves the skin.

Guduchi – provides mental and physical strength, and boosts the immune system.

Karkatsringi – aids in warding off coughs and colds.

Satavari – said to promote overall health and stamina, to improve mental function, and improve eyesight.

Bala / Vidarikand – said to boost strength and stamina.

These and 30 to 40 more herb and plant extracts make up Chyawanprash.

So let me tell you the two most surprising things I found out about Chyawanprash:

1. It tastes really good (Raj said that some people don’t like it). I found that it tasted kind of like a fruity cinnamon-y paste. It’s very thick – about as thick as organic peanut butter.

2. You can buy the very same thing from Amazon! As I said of the Lampe Berger – is there anything they don’t sell?? And the price is almost the same as I paid at my Indian grocers. So, you can check out Chyawanprash for yourself there, if you want!

Meanwhile, I’m taking mine every day! 🙂

Check out Chyawanprash at Amazon

I’m very excited – I just ordered a Lampe Berger (a/k/a Lamp Berger, Lampe Bergere, or Lamp Bergere), and have high hopes for it helping to remove the cat scent – you know, that distinct cat smell deposited by any unhappy cat – from the air in our house! For those of you wondering “What is a Lampe Berger?”, a Lampe Berger is a sort of an oil lamp with a unique distinction – it has a cataltic burner that is said to actually destroy odor, and purify the air, before dispensing the scent of the scented oil which it burns.

The Lampe Berger was developed more than 100 years ago by a French pharmaceutical chemist, Maurice Berger. Fans of the Lampe Berger, and the manufacturer itself, claims that it will remove and destroy many offensive odors, including pet odors, cigarette smoke, paint fumes, and many others.

After destroying the offensive odor (in this case offensive cat odor) it will put out the scent of whichever Lampe Berger scent oil you filled it with. Lampe Berger makes dozens of Lampe Berger oil scents – I ordered the “Atlantic Tide” which has notes of sandalwood, cedar and patchouli (doesn’t that sound yummy?!), but there are also such scents as Cinnamon Rolls, Ocean Breeze, and even Neutral (“for times when you want to lessen the impact of a scent or have no scent at all”).

I searched high and low to find this information and to find a place to order my Lampe Berger and some of the special Lampe Berger oil – had I only thought to look on Amazon first (is there anything that they don’t carry?!)

So check these out!

Lampe Berger lamp
Wave style, Blue

Lampe Berger lamp
Ondine

Lampe Berger lamp
Wave style, Frosted

Lampe Berger oil
Atlantic Tide

Lampe Berger oil
Cinnamon Rolls

Lampe Berger oil
Ocean Breeze

Lampe Berger oil
Neutral

You can check out all of the Lampe Berger Products at Amazon here.

If you’ve ever had a dog that likes to get into the garbage, you know how frustrating (and dangerous) it is. And you also know how frustrating it is to try to find a dog-proof garbage can. In fact, there was only one dog-proof trash can on the market – and you had to (I kid you not) bolt it to the wall. And that dog proof garbage can cost $110.00 plus shipping. So I was thrilled to find this dog proof trash can which doesn’t need to be bolted to the wall, and which comes with free shipping from Amazon.

And which is on sale at Amazon right now for only $45.00!

Made by Simplehuman, this dog-proof garbage can features an easy to use slide lock which locks the lid in place. And, even though it’s a standard kitchen-size slim garbage can, it has wheels (pretty cool!)

Here’s a picture of it:

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It works perfectly.

We love ours. And our dog doesn’t. Nuff said.

You can buy the dog-proof garbage can here from Amazon.

I used to pooh-pooh the Swiffer.

Then our dog pee-peed the floor. A lot.

As our dogs grow to amazingly advanced ages, one of them has become a bit incontinent. Ok, a lot incontinent.

Suddenly, the Swiffer made a lot of sense.

Mopping up urine isn’t necessarily a horrible task – but dealing with a urine soaked mop – dirty urine-full water in a bucket – several times a day, is tedious at best.

With the Swiffer, though, you just get out the Swiffer mop, slap a new floor diaper on the bottom, push the button on the handle to spit out some cleaning solution on the offending area, and mop it up. Then just throw the urine-soaked floor diaper in the garbage (or, if it’s not a lot of urine, you can just hang the Swiffer up, and reuse the same floor diaper until you can’t stand it any more).

The Swiffer – in our house it’s not just a disposable mop device – it’s a way of life.

Searches that led to this article: http://www mangemerde com/if-you-have-an-incontinent-dog-or-cat-or-a-puppy-the-swiffer-will-save-your-life-or-at-least-your-sanity/,  

Forget about those automatic cat litter boxes! We’ve found the worlds best cat litter and cat litter box combination, using just an inexpensive covered kitty litter box and this perfect litter. Even better and easier than an automatic cat litter box. In fact, we’d used a Litter Maid self cleaning cat litter box for years; this is far easier and better, and no smell! So, forget all those other kitty litter boxes. And if you’ve been asking yourself “which is the best automatic cleaning cat litter box?”, you’ve been asking yourself the wrong question! The right question is “what is the best, easiest kitty litter and box combination”, and this is it!

Now, as some of you know, we recently moved half-way across the country. There was no way that we were going to take our old Litter Maid self cleaning kitty litter box with us, even though it had served us well for years. So we gave it away on Freecycle, and figured that we’d buy a new one when we arrived at our destination.

Well, shortly before we moved, we had helped rescue a neighbourhood stray cat. Friends of ours took him in, and when we went to visit them, they were using – and raving about – what they claimed was the worlds best cat litter. They were using Tidy Cat kitty litter crystals. They raved and raved, and you know what? I could see why! This cat litter instantly dried up any urine the moment it hit the litter – and dried out any poop too – and the result was no smell, and incredibly easy scooping!

Well, when we arrived at our destination, I went shopping for a cat litter box and some litter. I was thinking we’d buy another automatic self cleaning kitty litter box, but my mind kept coming back to those Tidy Cat crystals that our friend had raved about.

The ‘problem’ was that I couldn’t use the Tidy Cat crystals in an automatic cat box. Well, I didn’t really want to fork out over $100 for a cat box just after moving anyways, so I decided to experiment, and I bought the Tidy Cat crystals, a hidden litter box like this one, and this litter scoop, which allows you to scoop right into a little garbage bag!

Well, let me tell you that I had unwittingly hit the kitty litter jackpot!

The combination of the Tidy Cat crystals, the covered litter box, and this scoop
have made the cat box a joy to live with (yes, really), and super easy to maintain! Much easier than our self cleaning cat box!

Here’s exactly what I do: I just fill the pan with the Tidy Cat crystals, and scoop it once a day with the awesome scoop, into a little plastic bag, which then goes directly into a covered garbage can that I keep nearby. That’s it!

You can recyle your grocery bags to use with the scoop, although it’s even easier to use little ziploc type bags like this. The bags that come with the scoop are, I have found, useless. Don’t even try using them, you will just frustrate yourself. But you can zip a Ziplog sandwich bag snug around the end of the scoop, scoop into it, and then zip it up and throw it away.

And to really perfect the set up – put one of these mats under your box, and virtually eradicate the litter tracking out of the box!

It’s wonderful!

So, to sum up, you will need:

Tidy Cat crystals, the covered litter box, this scoop, this mat, and some zipper-style sandwich bags.

Of course, if you don’t believe me, and you still want to get an automatic self cleaning cat litter box, you can get the Litter Maid self cleaning cat box here.