Love This Bento Lunch Box From Francois et Mimi

There are so many times that we pack snacks or lunches when we are going to be gone from home all day or are traveling. For years I have been using resealable plastic bags and a cooler that takes up a lot of room or just another larger bag to stash everything in. The snacks get very disorganized and sometimes crushed. It can be a mess. But when I use our cooler it's either too big to put in the front of the car or it's in the trunk which slows down the trip.

Francois et Mimi sent me the neatest thing that is helping with this mini dilemma we have. It's the Multi-Compartment Stackable Bento Lunch Box. This is the handiest thing! I have seen bento boxes around in the stores and online, but I had not tried one out yet. They made sense to me, but now I really get them and want a couple more!

The stackable boxes come with a wonderful and perfectly sized insulated bag with a small handle. The bag is made from a material that is stain and odor resistant, which is perfect for carrying food. When something gets on it, you can simply wipe it off clean. Love that!

The plastic boxes inside are made with a BPA-free plastic and FDA approved food grade materials. They are microwave, freezer, and dishwasher safe (except the lids in the microwave or dishwasher) and are really easy to use. The lids fit tightly, but are not so tight that they are a pain to get on and off. All three stack securely on top of the others and it comes with a nifty elastic band to hold them all in place. It also has a special top lid that holds a nice set of plastic utensils at the ready to use.

One neat thing is that if you don't need all three containers you can use two and there is room for a small bottle or can of beverage. The insulated bag keeps things nice and cool (or warm) for quite a while!

I love how handy this stackable set is and it is super cute! They are perfect for as nice lunch bag or for a variety of snacks on a trip and being compact, it won't take up a lot of room in your vehicle or at your desk or locker.

You can buy your own Francois et Mimi Multi-Compartment Stackable Bento Lunch Box HERE! They come in several other colors too!

We received samples of the products for the purpose of review. No other compensation was given. All opinions expressed here are those of the author.

One Happy Coffee Drinker At Our House

I may have mentioned once or twice or fifty times before how much I love coffee. I really do. I love the smell. I love the flavor. I love the variety. I even love the way it feels in my mouth. Some of my friends even call me a coffee snob and I take no offense at that!

For me having good equipment in my home to brew my coffee is important. You don't get to drink good coffee without having good equipment to brew it. It just does not work!

Recently Francois et Mimi sent me a 50oz Glass French Press to try out and I was thrilled. To me, one of the best ways to brew coffee is with a French Press. It is more gentle on the grounds. You don't over-brew or burn the grounds which happens with some drip coffee makers and percolators. I can't think of anything that is worse than burned coffee. YUCK!

The French Press is wonderful. The size is perfect for making several cups at a time, so it works when you have company, but it is not so big that you can't make one cup at a time. The Micro-Mesh filter is so fine that you can brew even a fairy fine grind of coffee and not worry about grounds floating around in your cup. The edge of the filter has a tight fit with a great gasket to keep the movement smooth up and down inside the Press, but not so tight that it is hard to operate (I've dealt with a few of those).

The lid is fantastic. It's attractive, but is made to function well. It tightly fits on the glass to keep the heat of the water in while the coffee brews. The inside of the lid has a ceramic/enamel coating making the heat retention even better. Lots of presses with just metal lids lose a lot of the heat out through the metal itself, decreasing the quality of the brew.

I just love how easy it is to have a cup of coffee in no time. I heat my water in my electric kettle and then let it sit after boiling for about 5 minutes. It makes the water temperature perfect and then it's just of mater of being patient for the coffee to brew.

So how do you make coffee in a French Press? Well it's pretty simple.
1. Use 4 tbsp of ground coffee for each 16 oz. water
2. Place the coffee in and even level on the bottom of the glass container.
3. Slowly pour the hot water over the gerunds making sure to not leave dry pockets of grounds. (It is important no to use too hot of water! 195° is best.)
4. Cover the Press and let stand for 1 minute.
5. Uncover the press and lightly stir the coffee to ensure all the grounds are going down to the bottom and to ensure you have no dry pockets.
6. Replace the lid and let brew for about 5 minutes.
7. After 5 minutes, slowly depress the mesh filter ensuring that it moves evenly down the sides of the glass, until it reaches as far as it will go.
8. Pour yourself a wonderful cup of coffee and enjoy!

Cleaning the press is super easy. Just scrape out the grounds and toss them in your compost pile. The press can be hand washed or put in the dishwasher. The mess rinses clean very easily. I haven't had any grounds stick in it.

This is one of the best ways, if not the best, to enjoy coffee and Francois et Mimi has a fantastic French Press to help. Oh and if you are a tea drinker, it works well with loose leaf tea as well as coffee!

You can purchase your own Francois et Mimi 50 oz. Glass French Press HERE!

We received samples of the products for the purpose of review. No other compensation was given. All opinions expressed here are those of the author.

Entertaining Is So Easy Thanks To Francois et Mimi!

One of my favorite things to do is to entertain! We love having guests over for special events and even just for every day kind of things. When we got married, we decided that our home was not ours, but God's to use through us to help others and encourage others. Over the years we have had literally hundreds and hundreds of people in our home, and we have loved it.

So to me, having a few nice things to use for entertaining and enjoying our guest is pretty important. I am not by any means a showy person, far from it! In fact I prefer very simple things. That's why there are some products that I just love, for their simplicity and yet how lovely they still are! Plus they do the job and do it well.

Francois et Mimi is a company that has some wonderful products that I am completely enjoying using in our home. They sent me a few wonderful items to try out and I was thrilled with them!

The first product is the Francois et Mimi Vintage-Style 20-Ounce Soup Mugs. I don't even know where to begin with these. They are remarkable! My husband was kind of skeptical when we first got them. He didn't see why  we would really use them. He has changed that tune and is certainly singing another. I can not keep them clean long enough for him! I think I wash them at least once a day. He has been using them for everything from his morning oatmeal or grits to soup, casseroles, desserts, salad and more. He just loves them. And I really like them a lot too. The handle is easy to hold on to and it holds a lot of food! They aren't bad for a mega cup of coffee either!

The size is wonderful and being stoneware they hold the heat or cold of what you put in them for a good length of time. They are lead-free and you can wash them in the dishwasher.

The second product I got to try out is the Francois et Mimi Ice Cream Bowl, Pastel Colors Set. This is such a lovely little set of bowls! The colors are so cheerful and perfect to set a festive mood for any occasion!

I love the size. It's just enough for a few scoops of ice cream or a piece of cake with whipped cream on top and you can keep yourself from dishing up too much! LOL! We have used them for all kinds of things, similar to the Soup Mugs, but in much smaller portions. They are perfect for individual French Onion Soup servings!

One things I have enjoyed using them for is to place at the seat for each guest and if there is something we are serving that may be a little runny or they don't want against their other foods, they can serve it up in the small bowl. Plus it really adds a nice look to the table. And they are perfect for setting up a row of toppings for an ice cream bar at any party you may have. They hold enough for plenty of guest to enjoy all kinds of goodies on their treats!

The bowls are lead-free and are also dishwasher safe. We love them!!

You can purchase the Francois et Mimi Vintage-Style 20-Ounce Soup Mugs HERE!
(FYI ~ these sell out fast so if they are currently unavailable, keep watching!)
You can purchase the Francois et Mimi Ice Cream Bowl, Pastel Colors Set HERE!

We received samples of the products for the purpose of review. No other compensation was given. All opinions expressed here are those of the author.

Francois et Mimi Makes Quality Products You can Be Very Pleased With Using In Your Home Or Giving As Gifts!

Sometimes when you purchase things you want them to not only work well, but really look good too! Francois et Mimi is a company that makes some wonderful products that are great to use and look fantastic.

One of the products I recently was able to try out was the Stacking Mug Set with Rack. The mugs are 12 oz and work for so many things. I of course love them for coffee. They are stoneware ceramic and hold the heat or cold for a long time, yet are not super heavy like some stoneware items can be.

The colors are so pretty! Although they are pastel, they are not bland or light. They are bold and vibrant and very cheery! I love how the handles and bottoms of the mugs are a different color from the mug itself. The colors keep the mugs interesting and fun to use.

The rack is super convenient! It holds all 4 mugs neatly and saves a ton of space in my limited cupboard space without taking up a lot of space on my limited counter tops! They are lead free, dishwasher safe and microwave safe, which my family likes for using for soup!

Another of the products I was able to try out from Francois et Mimi was the 20-Ounce Double Wall Bottles. I have really, really enjoyed using these! They look amazing and the really keep cold drinks cold for quite a while.

They are made double wall vacuum insulation, which really works to keep things light weight and cold. The bottles are all metal except the top and I was really surprised that they did not feel cold with a cold drink inside.

The thing I like best is that the drinking spout is not just a little thing you flip up and tip the bottle to drink. It is actually a straw! You keep the bottle upright and suck on it just like you would any drinking straw! It does miss just a tiny bit of the liquid down at the bottom, but not enough to make a fuss about! I have bumped mine over and turned it upside down and it has not leaked yet. The section you place your mouth on is made of a soft rubbery material that does not feel awkward but also would be safe for kids to use without worry of them poking their lips or gums on a plastic straw.

The third product I was able to try from Francois et Mimi is something I use ALL the time! In fact it is sitting here next to me on my desk, the 16oz BPA-Free Double-Wall Mugs! I love these things!! They are vacuum insulated as well and amazingly keep cold things very cold for a long time and hot thing hot for a long time. I was really surprised at how long my coffee has stayed hot in these travel mugs (that for me travel from the kitchen to my desk the most).

The 16 ounce capacity is a great size for getting a good dose of coffee in me without having to refill it often. The handle is really sturdy and does not conduct heat, so it is always safe to hang on to. The top is a sturdy plastic that securely screws on to the mug and stays in place. It is easy to adjust it to where you want the drink opening to be for holding the mug with your left or right hand.

I really like that the drink opening flap locks in place closed and then locks in place when it is open. Can't even begin to tell you the number of times on other mugs I have had the flap smack me in the face!!  The drink opening is just the right size where you don't get too much to scald your mouth and you don't have to slurp it out just to get some. These are very, very nice travel mugs!!

I can honestly say that I have been super impressed with the products from Francois et Mimi and I think you will be too!

You can purchase the Stacking Mug Set with Rack HERE!
You can purchase the 20-Ounce Double Wall Bottles HERE!
You can purchase the 16 Ounce Double-Wall Travel Mugs HERE!

We received samples of the products for the purpose of review. No other compensation was given. All opinions expressed here are those of the author.