The Best Meat Deal Ever!! N & V Meat Market in Glendale

My husband and I get frustrated by the "big" grocery stores near our apartment in Glendale, Queens. They are expensive, crowded, and don't have the selection of meat that we are looking for... and there's nothing that ruins your day/week more than a hectic grocery shopping experience where you don't get all the things you need!

Thank God, then, that a neighborhood friend just introduced me to N & V Meat Market! This butcher shop and specialty Italian food store at 66-03 Myrtle Avenue (the sign outside reads "Vinny's") offers special meat freezer orders that have blown our mind.

For just $29.95 you can get:

• 1 1/2 lbs chopped meat
• 4 pork chops (bone-in)
  
• 1 whole chicken (cut to your specifications)
  
• 4 chopped sirloin patties (hamburgers)
• 1 1/2 lbs thin-sliced chicken cutlets
  
• 1 lb stew beef
• FREE dozen eggs!

I calculated the savings using my local Stop & Shop and it looks like we saved about $15 at N&V. Equally important, we saved ourselves the stress of wading through the crowded, poorly-stocked aisles of the grocery store and can pat ourselves on the back for supporting a small local business.

You can order the freezer meat specials ahead of time so that you won't have to park your car or you can just walk in (which is what we do--its totally fine.) The meat is super fresh and you can also make substitutions if you like. We substituted 6 fat Italian link sausages for the whole chicken and made amazing sausage and peppers sandwiches. Yum!

Other freezer deals at N & V:

$46.95

• 1 1/2 lbs chicken cutlets
  
• 2 1/2 lbs eye round
  
• 1 1/2 lbs chopped meat
  
• 5 pork chops
  
• 1 whole chicken
  
• 1 lb milk-fed veal cutlets
  
• 1 dozen eggs
• FREE lb bacon
  

$59.95

• 2 lbs London broil
  
• 1 lb milk-fed veal cutlets
• 1 1/2 lbs chopped meat
• 3 lbs eye round
• 1 whole chicken
  
• 1 lb sausage (any combination of sweet/spicy)
• 1 1/2 lbs chicken cutlets
  
• 1 1/2 lbs stew beef
• FREE dozen eggs
  

$76.95

• 1 lb stew beef
• 1 dozen eggs
• 1 1/2 lbs thin sausages
  
• 1 1/2 lbs chicken cutlets
  
• 3 lbs eye round
• 6 pork chops
• 2 whole chickens
• 1 1/2 lbs London broil
  
• 1 lb Board Head franks
• 1 1/2 lbs chopped meat
  
• 1 lb milk-fed veal cutlets
• FREE lb bacon
  

Go ahead and give this butcher a try... the deals are so good that my mom is even thinking of driving down from upstate to take advantage of them! But don't tell too many people or we'll all be standing in line! :)

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Product Review: Baby Monitors - MobiCam AV Wireless Monitoring System vs Summer Infant Day and Night Video Monitor

Hey Mamas! Sorry to have been gone for so long. I'm still hanging in there at 39 weeks and 5 days pregnant today and have been spending TONS of time around the house cleaning (with my Shark Navigator, of course!) and preparing for baby's arrival!

In my frenzied preparation of our nursery, I've finally had the chance to try out a bunch of the baby products that I received at my shower. Today's post is about a product I was super excited to receive, but actually ended up having to return: the MobiCam AV Wireless Baby Monitoring System ($125.99 at BRU online; $96.80 at Amazon).



I registered for this baby monitor for a number of reasons: its has color video and audio, night vision, and is portable/handheld. It also got pretty great reviews on BRU.com (where I registered) for picture clarity and a low rate of interference.

To an extent, the reviews were right--the video quality is good, if a little grainy--but the product has some flaws that made it the wrong monitor for us:

First, the design of the video camera is such that there was no where for us to put the monitor so that it looked down into the baby's crib. Even if we mounted the camera on the wall, we couldn't swivel the camera low enough to see into the crib. Not to mention that the monitor didn't come with wall mounting hardware.

Second, the video monitor is really small--just a 2 inch screen. Its awesome that the monitor is in color when not in night vision mode, but color means nothing when I can barely see the screen in the first place!

Finally, for the unit to be portable, you need to fill her up with batteries... and I mean FILL HER UP! Both units require 6 AA batteries if you dont want to use the included power cords. And the batteries do not recharge when the units are plugged in; you need a separate battery charger. To add insult to injury, the MobiCam directions say to remove the batteries when the monitor is not going to be in use for an extended period of time, which requires tracking down a screwdriver--annoying.

Sooooo... I returned the MobiCam and bought the Summer Infant Day and Night Video Monitor today. ($99.99 at BRU in-store and online; $95 at Amazon).



While the video monitor on this unit isn't handheld or color--thus the cheaper price--I'm much happier with this product primarily because I can place the more sleek and flexible camera on a shelf or on the wall (it comes with mounting hardware) and see into the crib perfectly on the 5 inch black and white screen!

I also haven't noticed any interference on the baby monitor's 3 channels so far. Actually, what I thought was interference at first just required me to adjust the "V-Hold" knob on the back of the video monitor. After I fiddled with that knob, the picture was perfect.

The sound on the unit, however, is a bit harsh and since I live in a small apartment, I can see myself never putting the sound up on the monitor (the digital whir would probably drive me crazy.) The video monitor also extends back about 7 inches (think an old school television vs a flat screen), so you'll need to clear a bit of space on your nightstand.

If you're like me and live in a small place and want to save a bit of dough on a video monitor, I'd go ahead and give the Summer Infant Day and Night Monitor a try. Of course, if you have the money to spare and need a slimmer monitor, check out Summer Infant's super-sexy color handheld monitor HERE. I drooled over this baby monitor, but at $199, we just couldn't justify the expense for our tiny apartment! Ah, c'est la vie!

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Our Third, and Final, Birth Prep Class at LIJ

We finished up our Birth Preparation Course at Long Island Jewish with a third and final class on 12/16. In this last class we practiced breathing techniques and watched our 1990s-era birth video, as per usual, but we also ended class by spending a good amount of time talking about baby care... which was great!

I was really glad to have the opportunity to ask nurse Brenda about certain things such as care after circumcision (lots of vaseline), what baby should wear home from the hospital (she recommended a two-piece outfit so that baby's belly button remains uncovered), etc. And, as always, she assured us that we WILL be able to get through labor once the time comes. Oh how I hope she's on-call the day I go in!

All in all, I do believe the birth classes at LIJ are worth the $190 fee. While we didn't make it to the free breastfeeding class yet, we learned a lot in the prep classes that will be specific to our birth experience at LIJ and therefore is not included in any baby books. Also, perhaps most important, my husband was able to learn about labor, delivery and childcare--God knows he will never make it through this own baby care books, regardless of his super sweet intentions!

Now, we wait until our baby boy arrives! I'll be sure to post about our birth experience at LIJ as soon as possible.

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Product Review: Shark Navigator Upright Vacuum

I hope you've all been having a lovely holiday season! Since I last posted--and since my fiasco with the Shark Multivac--I've had a lot of time to test out the Shark Navigator Upright Vacuum. And I must say, I am in love!



The most important thing about this hunk of purple love is its simplicity. It is your standard lightweight upright vacuum--you push and pull it along your floors, no rocket science degree required--with some pretty awesome extras:

1. A super long hose and crevice tool that allows for vacuuming your curtains, behind your toilet bowl, in ceiling corners, in the floor track of your sliding doors, inside your over-stuffed closets, etc. My big pregnant butt doesn't need to do any bending and yet I've been able to clean my apartment in places it has never been cleaned before with this vacuum.
   
2. Super suction power and the option to turn the brush roll on and off means both my tile floors and carpet get super clean with one vacuum. The multivac didn't have a brush at all... which was super sucky in another way.
   
3. A pet hair power-cleaning brush which is great at removing our bunny's hair from the furniture.
   
4. A bagless dust cup which is really easy to empty (just hit a button and out pops the cup) as opposed to the multivac's cup (struggle to pull the entire hand vac off the base, hit yourself in the head, stagger to the garbage pail...), and re-washable lifetime filters.
5. Smart switch positioning which doesn't require you to bend down to turn the vacuum or the brush roll on or off. (The multivac's mid-vac switch position was just horrible.)
   
6. Great maneuverability in that it doesn't have one of those fancy swivel heads that seem like a great idea at first but actually tend to let the vacuum get away from you.

We purchased the Navigator at Bed, Bath and Beyond for $199 with a 20% off coupon. It is definitely more expensive than the multivac--which we bought for $99 but is now discounted to $79.99 I presume because of its inherent suckiness--but the Navigator is entirely worth the extra money. I actually really enjoy vacuuming now (and no, hell has not frozen over!)

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