We rarely eat out.
- Reason #1: It’s inconvenient. Try taking a nursing baby, a squirmy 1-year-old, or a super messy 2-year-old to a restaurant. It’s just not my “cup of tea.” I’d rather serve up food at our kitchen table and let chaos reign.
- Reason #2: It’s not as good or as healthy as homemade. Restaurants just don’t prepare food with the same amount of “love” and care as I do. Besides, restaurant fare is usually over-salted, over-buttered, left on a warmer for hours, etc.
- Reason #3: It’s expensive. Take any “normal” sit-down place. Meals run between $6-20/plate. That’s not including kids meals or drinks. Ouch! I won’t even include fast food dives because fast food is so…yuck (and not much cheaper, I might add).
- Reason #4: We have “slim pickins” when it comes to restaurants in our area. We don’t live out in the boonies – per se – but we also don’t live in the “big city.” We live in a suburban area with only a handful of restaurant options and they all stink (Friends and Neighbors, feel free to disagree and/or to enlighten me about the incredible eats in this area…am I being too harsh?).
That said, when we do eat out-on-the-town, I prefer restaurants that are exceptionally clean (spic and span) and that have flawless customer service, plus delicious food.
{Side Note: Am I food snob? I’m beginning to think that maybe I am…Except maybe I’m not because I’m not particularly picky. I will eat anything set before me. I just have my preferences. For example, I won’t ever choose Subway or McDonalds if you ask me where I want to go for lunch.}
Okay, on to my product review: I recently discovered a fun product that I keep in my purse for those rare occasions when we eat out or in the car – Floss & Wipe. Floss & Wipe is “a soft tooth-cleaning cloth with a built-in length of dental floss attached right onto it.” These individually-wrapped cloths are minty fresh and excellent for those moments when you have something stuck in your teeth or you just ate and you want to ensure you don’t have broccoli or lipstick on your pearly whites.
Floss & Wipe tooth cloths can be purchased in boxes of 50 ($15.99), 100 ($29.44), or 1200 ($279.50). Or you can request four free samples (you have to pay $1.50 for shipping) if you want to give them a try first.
WIN IT! One winner will receive a Floss & Wipe box with 50 individually wrapped cloths. To enter, leave a topic-related comment of your choice (whether or not you eat out often and why, favorite restaurants, what you think of Floss & Wipe, etc.) on this post prior to Monday, February 9 at midnight (Don’t forget to follow the rules…all generic comments like “Enter me!,” “Love it,” and “Cool stuff!” will be disqualified.). * Winner must provide a U.S. mailing address.
*UPDATE* The winner is #9 Venus. Congratulations!
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Lonnie says
October 18, 2009 at 9:53 ameating in is much better but when we go out, we use coupons from http://www.mingamo.com
They support schools and we save money.
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Kristina E says
February 10, 2009 at 12:28 amI do eat out a lot.. I love fondue at any resturaunt, i am a freak about cleanliness
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Lily Kwan says
February 9, 2009 at 11:38 pmI don’t eat out often because I can’t afford it.
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Pamela White says
February 9, 2009 at 9:46 pmI eat out often at local diners for breakfast, burger places and chinese so I would love to clean up my teeth after meals without taking my brush. I like the convenience of floss and wipes.
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Helen says
February 9, 2009 at 9:41 pmAs a family, we go out to dinner every friday.
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Kristen Hendricks says
February 9, 2009 at 9:28 pmI would love to win this giveaway especially since it always seem food gets stuck in my teeth. I know these wipes would really come in handy and help me to be able to remove pieces of food stuck in my teeth. This is a great giveaway and I really hope I win. Thanks.
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Sylvia Porter says
February 9, 2009 at 9:03 pmwe don’t usually eat out, but i could sure use these at work! i always have the nasty coffee breath, eek!
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Susanne Troop says
February 9, 2009 at 8:37 pmWe have cut way down on eating out because of the economy!
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Amy Gangloff says
February 9, 2009 at 8:31 pmOh my , I used to eat out about 3 times a week and now maybe 2 times a month. It has been so much better since the change. My weight has dropped and I have more money now. Thanks
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Kayce says
February 9, 2009 at 8:16 pmI don’t eat out often, but I like Subway.
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Cori Westphal says
February 9, 2009 at 8:13 pmI love the sound of these. We use flossers a lot at home but they’re not really something I throw in my purse to take places. These would be a lot better! Thanks!
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Michelle H. says
February 9, 2009 at 6:39 pmWe haven’t eaten out lately due to the economy and I am a very experienced cook, but I love the ideas of these tooth wipes. I would definitely use these.
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Laura Pruett says
February 9, 2009 at 5:38 pmI definitely eat out less often now than I did a few months ago. A few months ago, I was living in a house filled with myself, my boyfriend, my 7-year-old son, my brother, his three children (11, 9, and 5), his fiance, and her three children (10, 5, and 3). As you can imagine, anything I cooked in the house was instantly devoured, sometimes before I even got any :( Therefore, it was actually cheaper for my crew to go out and eat somewhere relatively cheap than it was to cook for so many people. Now, however, our clans have separated, leaving me the ability to cook for just the three of us. I like to take advantage of that now that I have the option to, lol.
backflash_tuna@juno.com
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Nanette Olson says
February 9, 2009 at 5:18 pmWe eat a couple of times a month. It is a great treat.
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Kobi Hendrix says
February 9, 2009 at 3:55 pmWe eat out maybe twice a month. This sounds like a great product, I usually carry a toothbrush but this would be so much better
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kathy pease says
February 9, 2009 at 2:11 pmwe dont eat out that often but this looks like a product that you would want to have with you :)
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Tammy says
February 9, 2009 at 2:01 pmPizza Hut and Chili’s are two of our favorite places to eat at. Both require wipes & floss!!
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reeva says
February 9, 2009 at 1:15 pmit’s actually cheaper and more efficient for us to eat out. It’s just two of us and cuts back on the cleaning that boht of us hate to do. Its convenient as well. We could use this.
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Kathy Conley says
February 9, 2009 at 1:10 pmI think this is a great product for my college aged daughter who eats out a lot and has perfect teeth which she tries hard to keep that way! Houlihans is her new favorite place to go!
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Betty C says
February 9, 2009 at 1:01 pmI’m getting more selective about eating out. I recently had an experience that was less than satisfactory. My daughter and I celebrate our birthdays together – just 4 days apart. We tried and loved a new, very expensive restaurant. We went back a few months later and the service and food were extremely disappointing. We didn’t know ownership had changed and quality had declined.
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Laura G says
February 9, 2009 at 12:52 pmwe don’t eat out very often, but when we do, we go to Luigi’s (a local home cooking Italian place) or Salt Grass Steak House and at either place these would be very handy
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Brooke says
February 9, 2009 at 9:22 amMy husband and I sometimes sneak out for lunch together with our youngest while our older kids are at school – maybe twice a month. We don’t eat out at all anymore with all of our kids. It’s just not as much fun as it used to be. And I’m a pretty big food snob too. :)
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christin says
February 9, 2009 at 8:46 amwe eat out at least once a week, though i’m guessing as the kiddos get older and we actually have to start buying them their own meals we may eat at home a little more:) thanks!
christinbanda@yahoo.com
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Carolyn says
February 9, 2009 at 6:10 amWe actually eat out about twice a week! While I prefer local restaurants over chains, my children always want to eat at the Chilis, Applebees and other such establishments. My favorite restaurant is a local Mexican one El Toreo.
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D Johnson says
February 9, 2009 at 6:09 amSweet
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Amy L says
February 9, 2009 at 2:54 amThere is a chain buffet restaraunt, Golden Corral that we go to. Not my favourite as I like to load up on salad and bread so I can take my entree home and really enjoy it. Eat it for a few meals.
My toddler loves it. He loves watching people, and loves when kids come over to talk to him. The first time we took him there was the first time he had anything with sugar in it. I remember he took a few bites and just grinned this huge grin and didn’t stop grinning! ‘course when he finally visited my mother in law he got plenty of sweet things. She gives all the kids soda, sugar cereal, sugary frozen things like pancake covered sausages. And she says several times, oh they still have their baby teeth. My husband said the same thing when I told him our over two year old needs to make his first trip to the dentist. Tell that to his niece that had five cavities recently. Pain.
And this is the woman that went on and on about how bad nursing is, how its not real food or he won’t get big and strong like his dad, his muscles won’t grow or his bones. In the next breath of course she’s telling my big strong husband to lose weight.
but I’m way off topic!
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Rosanne says
February 8, 2009 at 10:56 pmIf I had my way we’d eat out every meal but we are lucky to do it once a week if that due to finances of course. I like Applebees, Potbelly and a few local Italian and vegetarian restaurants
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Chrysa says
February 8, 2009 at 7:10 pmI think this looks like a great new product I would want to keep in my purse.
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Sharon Seneker says
February 8, 2009 at 3:59 pmGreat invention! I would love to try it! We picnic a lot so we mainly get fast food to go! Thanks!
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Karen M says
February 8, 2009 at 2:46 pmThese days we don’t eat out much. It is just too expensive, although I love to eat out. I would be happy to eat out every day. My husband is a floss freak, he loves the individual flossers.
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lace says
February 8, 2009 at 12:44 pmWe eat out more than we probably should. I think if we planned ahead more, we wouldn’t be starving and want a quick fix.
The floss & wipes look neat. I usually carry dental floss in my purse at all times. Currently to use it though I have to unroll all of the extra the 2 year pulled out of the container.
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Jennifer M says
February 8, 2009 at 12:34 pmI eat lunch at my desk, and I have a capped tooth that often traps food. These would be perfect!
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dawn says
February 8, 2009 at 12:23 pmWe don’t eat out to often but if we do I love p. F Changs Its great.
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Kari Follett says
February 8, 2009 at 3:23 amYes, we do eat out quite a bit. We DO live in the boonies and we only “go out” to do our shopping twice a month. Since it’s an all day affair, we typically go out to dinner those times. Plus if we have dr. appointments, dentist, ortho (with two of us in braces, it’s often) and they are all almost an hour away which makes for hungry kids after it’s all said and done.
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Betsy says
February 7, 2009 at 11:09 amWe don’t eat out alot, but when we do we love Panera Bread and Chili’s.
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Kelly says
February 6, 2009 at 10:30 pmHi!
A wonderful thing that I recently discovered is disposable placemats to use on restaurant tables for our 1yr old son. I HATE HATE HATE it when he gets food onto the table at a restaurant and then want to pick it up and eat it. These placemats are made from thin plastic and have sticky tape on the back on all four sides. All you have to do is pull off the tape covering and stick the placemat to the table. When finished eating, they pull right off and the waitress can throw them away. I just purchased 20 in a cute little case from Target for about $8. Well worth the price!
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Ashley says
February 6, 2009 at 10:14 pmi think these sound great! I do admit I love eating out, mainly because I cook very standard things and my favorite thing to do is to try different kinds of fish with different sauces and flavors.
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hazel hunt says
February 6, 2009 at 4:23 pmnice!
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Tommy says
February 6, 2009 at 3:18 pmMy favorite restaurant is McDonald’s. My family is going there tonight!
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Jason says
February 6, 2009 at 1:24 pmI eat out quite a bit. My 2 favorite restaurants are Buffalo Wild Wings, and there is a steakhouse super club locally that is awesome..
jason@allworldautomotive.com
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Becky says
February 6, 2009 at 10:29 amWe don’t eat out too often for the primary reason that it’s too expensive. Also, I am a vegetarian so finding things that fit well with my diet are hard. My fiance is a meat eater, so he has a more convenient time. :) I also try and eat well, and if I eat at home I know the nutritional facts about my food, and what makes up a serving. Thank you for offering this giveaway! eyeslikesugar [at] gmail [dot] com
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Erin says
February 5, 2009 at 8:56 pmWe never eat out. With two babies it would just be silly and not enjoyable and way too expensive. I wish we had some kind of chef that could make us dinner every night. We often all grab different things, especially in the Winter. That’s bad isn’t it? Pretend I didn’t tell you that.
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Bev Harrison says
February 5, 2009 at 5:44 pmWe are eating out less because i just went on the Sugar Busters diet and most resturant food is not on it. (no sugar, only wholewheat flour). We were eating out at least once a week and sometimes twice.
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Michele Wesley says
February 5, 2009 at 2:41 pmWe eat out way too much. This would be so handy.
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Amy says
February 5, 2009 at 11:16 amThis would be handy to have in my office drawer for after lunch, and in my purse for those rare occasions when I do eat out. We much prefer eating at home, whether we are cooking or getting take-out.
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Terra Heck says
February 5, 2009 at 1:33 amThere are a couple of local restaurants that we eat at occasionally. I’m more of a homemade food kind of gal. These would be great to have to get my teeth clean after eating at work. Thanks.
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beth shepherd says
February 4, 2009 at 7:42 pmWe dont eat out too often either for basically the same reasons you stated. I have 3 children ages 7,6 and 3. Now my 7 year old son eats as much as I do and sometimes more so going out to eat is wayyyyy to expensive. I prefer to eat at home at our pace and just talk. Thank you for having this! This would come in handy for when we do eat out.
tatertot374@sbcglobal.net
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Gabriel J. says
February 4, 2009 at 6:41 pmWe don’t eat out much because of the price!
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sarah says
February 4, 2009 at 8:19 amHubby and I do eat out often. We have a big house with roommates. If we want to have a meal alone or just some time alone we pretty much have to go out. Don’t get me wrong, we love our big boisterous “family” but we love our private time too!
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Danielle says
February 3, 2009 at 9:58 pmI carry a tooth wipe product that does not have the floss, that is so neat to have. Especially after a nice garlic meal, that & a mint!
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Vicki Wurgler says
February 3, 2009 at 7:31 pmThis product sounds like a great idea-we don’t eat out much, maybe for fresh pizza once in a while
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Sharon C says
February 3, 2009 at 6:53 pmI do not like eating out. But I am a horrible cook. My husband does the cooking since he is a good cook. I would like to try these for the times when we are out or at work and cannot get to the restroom to brush.
Thanks for the giveaway
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Jamie Z says
February 3, 2009 at 6:22 pmI eat out once in awhile, but I am always concerned about food stuck in my teeth at work. These would be great to keep in my desk.
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Pat says
February 3, 2009 at 3:02 pmAt our house we almost always dine at home. We pack lunches at home to take to work. We’re frugal and practical I guess. Floss & Wipe seems like a great product. Thanks for the introduction and thanks for the contest too.
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Melanie @ Mel, A Dramatic Mommy says
February 3, 2009 at 12:09 pmI use another product that is similar, but doesn’t have the floss. The floss is a neat addition.
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Vicky Boackle says
February 3, 2009 at 10:11 amthese sound great for traveling.
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Denyse says
February 3, 2009 at 6:56 amI think the idea is great. We eat out, less then we did because of money but try to at least once a week. Our favorite place is a local place called Cody’s.
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Amber G says
February 3, 2009 at 5:28 amI love eating out – with finances now, I don’t get to eat out as much as I like, but it is always a treat. My favorite restaurant is Catch 35 – a delicious seafood restaurant by me. I would love to try these wipes!
Please enter me! Thank you :)
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Carolyn G says
February 2, 2009 at 11:03 pmI love eating out but sometimes I feel like my food is better and cheaper. We end up sticking to the same places (we live in a tiny town) most of the time.
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Caryn B says
February 2, 2009 at 9:53 pmLOL!!! You’re not a food snob! I don’t eat at anything with burger or mc or jack in it! I do like to eat out but that may be because we have awesome restaurants…some ethnic…some organic/vegan/all-natural and they cook food that I couldn’t even dream of creating….
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shannon Baas says
February 2, 2009 at 7:44 pmI don’t have a kitchen where I live so either have to eat in the employee dining room or at one of the restaurants. I would love to try these.
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MRS.MOMMYY says
February 2, 2009 at 7:25 pmwe don’t eat out that often, rather know whats in the food. My kids eat out if you count it at school and workbreaks and need to floss because of braces
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Joanne Schultz says
February 2, 2009 at 6:54 pmI used to eat out often. When friends aren’t available to go out with me, I go by myself and bring a good book to read. I was laid off last year though so I don’t go out more than once a week; I usually try to go out for lunch because it is less expensive. I stay away from expensive or noisy restaurants. Acropolis Diner is one of my favorites. I also like Friendly’s, Ruby Tuesday, Olive Garden. We have a Chinese restaurant nearby, Jade Garden what has wonderful lunch specials!
Floss & Wipe sounds like a great idea! I’d love to try them!
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Laura S. says
February 2, 2009 at 6:46 pmWe never eat out for dinner because that is a difficult time of day for little kids. We sometimes eat out lunch as a treat because it is not as expensive; we only go to restaurants that serve food we would have trouble making at home. Our favorite is Middle Eastern-you really need to deep fry those falafel, and I don’t fry at home. Another favorite is Chinese, because it makes everyone happy, and is such a treat, both in terms of money and fat grams!
The floss and wipes sound really intriguing-would love to try them.
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Valerie says
February 2, 2009 at 5:54 pmWe eat out every now and then. But homemade is always better :-)
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c. clemens says
February 2, 2009 at 5:38 pmi dont eat out often, if i do its at a Chinese restaurant.
I have never heard of floss and wipe before
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venus says
February 2, 2009 at 5:27 pmWe don’t eat out to often, with four growing boys it gets pretty expensive. But for that special occasion we love to eat at CornerBakery. The Floss & Wipe sounds like a great idea, just a little pricey.
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kristen says
February 2, 2009 at 5:05 pmThis is an AWESOME IDEA! I have a mother who carries floss in her purse and flosses ANYWHERE and EVERYWHERE. I don’t have the need to floss as much as she does when we eat out together. But I would sure use the cloth to brush my teeth. I just never thought it was sanitary to carry a toothbrush with toothpaste in my purse (too messy). This product would definitely solve that problem, while being more discrete! Please enter me! Thank you.
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susan varney says
February 2, 2009 at 3:57 pmno it is to expensive
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Karen Gonyea says
February 2, 2009 at 3:13 pmGreat Idea :)
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Terri F says
February 2, 2009 at 2:32 pmI never heard of these, but it is a neat concept! So many times we eat out because we are headed somewhere else, and thus don’t go home to brush!
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ashlynn says
February 2, 2009 at 2:22 pmthis product totally reminds me of Europeans. When we ate with them they would use a toothpick behind their hands as they talked to us so we couldn’t see them picking their food. I thought it was great. This is cool.
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Angie says
February 2, 2009 at 11:54 amWe used to eat out all the time but since starting my healthy lifestyle back in 2005, we hardly go out for meals any more. When we do we like to eat at specialty restaurants (love ribs and Chinese bad for me but we don’t go often LOL) and anything Jamaican Jerk type island foods.
My absolute favorite restaurant is called The Keywester here in IL. YUMMY!
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Heather H. says
February 2, 2009 at 9:17 amThis product looks like a great idea. I eat out more than I want to…
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Shelly says
February 2, 2009 at 9:08 amI used to love eating out – but increasingly I feel disappointed in not quite getting what I think we paid for! And a fast eating 3 year old does not help.