Icy Hot Patch BEWARE!!!

Several weeks ago I received a sample of Icy Hot Medicated Patch from Walmart. Not thinking much about it I put in my sample basket for later use. I frequently have lower back pain, and usually use a heating pad or just take a couple ibuprofen to alleviate the pain. Last Thursday night my back was hurting pretty bad and I remembered I had the Icy Hot Patch. I read the instructions which are very easy and applied the patch to my lower back for 8 hours. It felt great! My back immediately began to feel better. I took the patch off after 8 hours and really didn't think about it very much after that. Tuesday my back started itching, and I couldn't figure out why. It bothered me the entire day, but I didn't say anything about it to anyone. After arriving home I asked my son & daughter to look at my back. They both gasped! My daughter who had helped me apply the patch immediately said "Mom there are little red bumps in a rectangle the size of that patch you used!" Well the last two days have been horrible. My back itches, burns, and is driving me literally crazy! I've used benadryl cream, and I even took benadryl pills. I just want everyone to know to stay away from this product. Hopefully this will eventually go away, but enduring it is definitely irritating.

Reynolds Handi-Vac

A couple of weeks ago I posted asking you for product reviews on the Reynolds Handi Vac. My first response was from Melanie asking me if I'd be interested in doing an official product review. I immediately said YES!!! I was so excited and couldn't hardly wait to receive it in the mail.


It just came in this week and I immediately tore into the box just like a kid at Christmas! I have to say I love it!! The first thing I shrink wrapped...hehehe...was 2 gallons of fresh blueberries that my family had handpicked at a PYO Blueberry farm. Then I froze a quart of fresh corn. In my excitement I forgot to take pictures of the blueberries, but I did get pictures of the corn.

This is the bag of corn before being vacuum sealed. You can tell I didn't fill it all the way up. There is a handy fill line mark in the top right corner of the bag. Just to be safe I only filled it half full.








In order to get the proper seal you need to seal the zipper at the top of the bag. Just for safety I went ahead and pressed as much air out as I could. Then lay the bag flat on the counter, and not let anything get above the fill line. This is a little tricky. I had to work with it a little to make it work. The instructions just say to center the gadget around the seal, but I found that sometimes you have to be a little off center to make it work. I just slid it around until I could hear it make the connection, once it is in the right position it works quickly. You really can hear it! The air starts to literally be "sucked" out right before your eyes!



Before you know it you bag will look like this!





















There are a couple of little quirks but nothing that I couldn't overcome. First, the bags only come in two sizes, quart & gallon. Second, they can be quite expensive compared to regular freezer bags, but I think that the vacuum seal is worth the expense. However, being the frugal coupon/sale shopper that I am, I found the bags on sale at Kroger for $2.00 a box then I also used a coupon. I stocked up and bought 10 boxes for about $15.00. I saved $21.90 off the regular price! Third, getting the seal is tricky! You have to maneuver the gadget around quite a bit for it to get the appropriate seal. I have very little patience and almost lost hope, but eventually it did work. It only took a couple of minutes per bag.


I appreciate the opportunity to try this new product! I would definitely recommend this product for those of you who are using the traditional freezer bags or don't have the funds necessary to purchase a traditional vacuum sealer. You can tell that it is truly getting all the air out which we all know lessens the ability for freezer burn. Some people have said you can't use it for liquids, like soups, etc, but I found a solution for that too. I just filled the bag half full, and went ahead and put it into the freezer without sealing. I left it overnight. The next morning I closed the top of the bag and proceeded to vacuum seal! Wahlah, vacuum sealed soup! No problem!


Another nice thing about the Handi-Vac compared to traditional vacuum sealers is that you can take out a portion of what's in the bag, suck the air out, and throw the remainder back into the freezer again.

For those of you wondering the cost of the gadget itself I found it at Walmart for $9.49, and my local Kroger had it for $9.99. That is a lot less expensive then a traditional vacuum sealer!