Even if you only cook at home occasionally, having the right cutting board can be crucial. Particularly if you like to cut up fresh vegetables or meat yourself rather than purchasing them pre-cut which can cost more money.

There are different types of cutting boards and some are better than others depending on your needs in the kitchen.

Here, we'll cover the 4 main types of kitchen cutting boards:

Plastic

Wood

Glass

Corian

...along with the pros and cons of each.

One of the best things I did recently was to replace ALL of my old plastic food storage bowls & containers with glass ones.

My first thought was: No way, too expensive! But I had some gift certificates on Amazon to spend, so I splurged.

I'd become so frustrated with my 4-year old plastic bowls simply because they were all starting to crack. And the insides of the bowls were all peeling a bit -- so we were probably eating small shards of plastic with our meals. And the were showing stains pretty bad. (Darn those red sauces!)

Well, I've had my new Pyrex glass storage bowls for a couple months now, and I'm SOOOO glad I made the switch!

Here's why...

Do you notice the smell of burned wire or overheated plastic every time you use your Crockpot or slow cooker? That's exactly what I experienced every time I used my Rival Crock Pot for the past 2 years. This week... it finally died.

It was a long, slow death. (Precisely the way that a slow cooker should go, right?)

The smell was always so strong, and so long-lasting, that I can't help but think that my Rival Crockpot was simply overheating each time I used it. For the most part, the food seemed to cook okay.

The day my Crockpot died, it simply wouldn't cook sliced potatoes (for an augratin potato dish I was making)... even after 6 hours of cooking on HIGH.

Do you have lids like these yet?

We have a universal cooking lid that we got from QVC & love. But those are simply for use with pots & pans on the stove -- to prevent splattering and overboiling.

I've been looking for "magic lids" for use on regular 'ol bowls for some time now.

I haven't taken the plunge yet, but I have to admit that I've been considering investing in a new set of cast iron cookware.

It just seems so "indestructible". And I'm certain... whatever I bought today would likely be with me until I died.

Right?

I just discovered that you can now buy Tupperware products online!

How cool is that?!

You no longer have to go to a Tupperware Party to see the latest & greatest Tupperware containers! Instead, you can order Tupperware products online now.

Here are my favorite Tupperware products...

We drink a lot of smoothies. (I've posted my popular Strawberry Smoothie recipe here before.) And after Mike's recent visit when he re-introduced us to Strawberry Daiquiris and martinis during our little "party on the porch", we realized that our old Oster blender was shot.

So, I set out to find a new Blender.

If you're like me, you probably find it ridiculous to pay more than $20 for something that simply crunches ice (oh okay, and a few other things...) but take it from me, if ice-crunching is your aim, then a Blender is your game!

Do you know what to look for in a Blender? What about the differences between a Blender and a Food Processor? Which are the BEST Blenders? Where can you find reviews on Blenders?