Day Seven of Green Gifts and Tips: Squishy Stuffers and Spoiling the Dogs

Day Seven:
Looking for something unique to stuff in a stocking? Try Guyot Designs squishy bowls. These compact silicone bowls easily fit in the toe of a stocking, pocket of a purse, or bottom of a backpack. Pull them out and they snap back into shape! Eat or drink from them. These cool bowls are also dishwasher and freezer safe. $14.95/set of one bowl and one cup. Also available in travel shot size, $6.95 for two.

Tip of the Day: Pets add value to our lives and of course we want to express our affection for them as well. Our dogs have stockings hanging on the mantle waiting to be filled. Squishy Bowls are a fun food dish. If you are looking for a collar or coat, we love Annie's Sweatshop. Annie makes quality durable dog gear from recycled and reclaimed material.


If buying new toys isn't in your budget, maybe your beasts would enjoy a handmade batch of treats? Here's our recipe for dog cookies, from MacPherson's K-9 Cookbook:
3 cupes whole wheat flour
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup shredded cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk

1. In large mixing bowl, combine flour and garlic powder.
2. Make a well in the flour mixture and gradually stir in vegtable oil, cheese, beaten egg, and milk until well blended.
3. Knead dough on a floured surface, about 3-4 minutes.
4. Roll dough to 1/2 inch thickness.
5. Cut with cookie cutter, or into squares, and place on lightly greased baking sheet.
6. Back for 25 minutes at 400 deg F
7. Cool on a rack and store at room temperature with a container with a loose-fitting lid.

Squishy Bowls on Barkability.com

Check out this mention of Squishy Bowls on Barkability.com:

"I just love the word 'squishy' and these bowls will allow you to say it often. You can be all like, "Did you bring the squishy bowls?" Or, "You know what I love about these bowls? They're squishy." Sniff around @ BayingHound. ($15)"

Cute write up and thanks for the mention!

The perfect Ice Cream bowl

As a reward for being brave at the doctor today, I offered to give our daughter some ice cream. She wanted to eat on the front porch, so I was looking for a non-breakable bowl when I gazed upon our squishy bowls. Perfect, I thought!


Indeed, the squishy bowl was easy to eat from and insulated so the ice cream did not melt quickly. When there were drips at the end, Lillian just folded the bowl like a taco and sipped them right up.

I like the arrangement so much that I just listed an ice cream set of squishy bowls and microbites utensils for just $16.75 + shipping. That's 20% off buying them separately!

(If you are curious, the ice cream was Ben and Jerry's Imagine Whirled Peace. Delicious, though not as great as my local favorite, Jeni's.)

Metal Bottle Comparison

After much work and html editing, the metal bottle comparison is finally here! We compared the three major manufacturers of BPA free metal water bottles and condensed their benefits and features into this comparison.

Baying Hound Quick Picks

Alex's Favorite: Klean Kanteen 27 ounce with Loop Top

Rachel's Favorite: SIGG Butterfly Dreams with Loop Top for around the house, SIGG Red Touch 0.75L for when cycling, hiking, or carrying wine to an outdoor concert.

Lillian's Favorite: SIGG Little Cat

Best Baby Shower Gift: Klean Kanteen Sippy

Best for Car Commuters: SIGG Metro Mug or Guyot Designs Commuter

Best for Backpacking: Guyot Designs Backpacker

Best for those who like it hot: SIGG Hot and Cool double walled stainless steel bottle

Best for Those who like it cool: Klean Kanteen 27 ounce filled with ice

Size and Fit

SIGG: 0.75L and smaller bottles fit in most car cupholders and backpack pouches, but larger sizes do not; available in 10 oz /0.3L (6”h x 2.5”w), 13.5 oz / 0.4L (8”h x 2.5”w), 20 oz / 0.6L (8.5”h x 2.75”w), 26 oz / 0.75L (11”h x 2.75”w), and 34 oz / 1.0L (11”h x 3.25”w); 0.75 L fits into bike cage

Klean Kanteen: Smaller bottles fit in some car cupholders and backpack pouches; available in 12 oz (5”h x 2.75”w), 18 oz (7”h x 2.75”w), 27 oz (10.5”h x 2.75”w) and 40 oz (10.65”h x 3.5”w) sizes; must use Klean Kanteen specific bike cage

Guyot Designs Commuter fits in car cupholders, others fit in Nalgene sized bottle pockets; Available in 24 oz Shorty (5.7”h x 3.2”w) or Commuter (7.6”h x 2.55”w), 32 oz Backpacker (7.6”h x 2.83”w) or 38 oz Standard (7.6”h x 3.6”w); none fit in bike cage

Material and Weight

SIGG: Made of aluminum with a superthin baked on epoxy liner and smaller polypropylene tops, Aluminum SIGGs have the lowest empty weights per volume, from 2.8 - 5.9 oz. SIGG thermos bottles are made of double walled stainless steel and weigh more than any single walled bottles.

Klean Kanteen: Made of unlined thin stainless steel with medium sized polypropylene tops, Klean Kanteens come in next with empty weights from 4 oz - 11 oz.

Guyot Designs: Made of unlined thin stainless steel with super durable polypropylene tops, the Guyot Design series weigh the most per volume, from 7.9 oz - 12.9 oz.

Ease of Cleaning

Guyot Designs: Extra wide mouth bottle allows for simple hand washing; can be put in the dishwasher (tops should be hand washed to retain leakproof nature)

Klean Kanteen: Medium mouth bottle allows for easy hand washing with a standard bottle brush; can be put in the dishwasher (tops should be hand washed to retain leakproof nature)

SIGG: Small mouth bottle needs special brush to be hand washed or use cleaning tabs; can be put in the dishwasher (tops should be hand washed to retain leakproof nature)

Opening for Ice

Guyot Designs: Extra wide mouth perfect for all sizes of ice cubes

Klean Kanteen: Standard ice cubes fit in medium mouth

SIGG: Specialty long thin ice cube tray must be used to make ice cubes fit

Manufacturing Sustainability

SIGG: Aluminum bottles are made in Sweden for 100 years by well paid and trained workforce. Cleaning agents and paints are environmentally friendly.

Guyot Designs: Sustainably made in China; materials approved by FDA. Each bottle carries 100lb or more of verified greenhouse gas emissions reductions, making them carbon negative.

Klean Kanteen: Sustainably made in China; bottles are randomly tested in US to ensure there are no hazardous substances such as lead.

Sipping Lip

SIGG: Internal threads with well designed lip at top. No splashing and easy to drink right from bottle.

Klean Kanteen: Small depth external threads with rolled lip at top, can splash because of bigger opening.

Guyot Designs: External threads, performs like nalgene bottle. Splashguard available.

Tops

Klean Kanteen: Best child’s sippy top – no leaks, easy to replace spouts, no dust cover. Mediocre sports top – low flow, makes squeaky noise during use, hard to remove cap. Satisfactory Loop and Flat top.

SIGG: Mediocre Kids top – easy to pour from when open but conveniently attached dust cover. Very Good Active Sports Top – easy to use one handed with decent flow rate and dust cover. Satisfactory Loop and Flat Top.

Guyot Designs: Top comes with cord to stay attached to bottle, durable and leak proof.

Style

Klean Kanteen: Stainless Steel or Colors available

SIGG: Wide range of colors and designs

Guyot Designs: Stainless steel only

Durability

Guyot Designs: Stainless steel is most durable in our anecdotal tests. Top is heafty and durable.

Klean Kanteen: Stainless steel is most durable in our anecdotal tests. Unpainted versions stay looking like new longest, as colored ones can scratch. Gasket on top may degrade over time.

SIGG; Aluminum bottles will dent if dropped. Finish scratches are hard to avoid. Tops and gaskets are durable in our tests, dust cap is easy to break.

Thermal Properties

Guyot Designs: Single walled with no insulation, but you can cook in these bottles. Cannot be frozen or welds will break. Obviously the bottle will be very hot if you cook in it so use proper tools to handle bottle after heating.

Klean Kanteen: Single walled with no insulation, but neoprene sleeves are available. Cannot be frozen or welds will break. Can heat over flame in a pinch but smaller top means heating will be uneven. Obviously the bottle will be very hot if you cook in it so use proper tools to handle bottle after heating.

SIGG: Single walled versions have no insulation. Cannot be frozen or welds will break. Double walled 0.5L bottles and thermoses are available. Cannot cook in SIGG bottles.

Guyot Designs Microbites Review

When first given the Guyot's “MicroBites” eating utensils, I was skeptical. I mean, it is plastic AND a spork—how good can it be? But one use has made a believer out of me! Although not actually used in a camping context (that will come this weekend), I used the utensils to eat my dinner the other night (gotta love it when hubby has dish duty!). They work a treat! The knife cuts really well—even through steak—and the spork is effective as—well both a spoon and a fork. With the wonderful feature of being able to clip these to a pack, these utensils are seriously all you need to camp or travel—in the wilderness or in the urban jungle. Carry these in your purse or briefcase and no more will you need the flimsy plastic silverware handed out at fast food joints. Not to mention the green aspect—no more tossing away plastic to sit in a landfill for decades. .

All in all, MicroBites are easy to use, work surprisingly well and are very cost effective! A perfect addition for any camper. Or mom. Or business person. Or...well you get the point. Now get some of these!

Review by Chris Jonard, the Quintessential Quill
~When quality is quintessential~
*editing, writing, and research services available*

Microbites specifications:
Material: BPA free nylon polymer
Weight: <1 ounces (22 grams)
Length: 6 inches
Heat safe: to 450 deg. F
Color: tomato red, tangerine orange, slate grey
Cost: $4.95 at Baying Hound

More SIGG and Guyot stock

We received two small shipments of stock from SIGG and Guyot today. We now have the Schaereschnitt 0.6L bottle and a selection of boxes from SIGG. Guyot sent the slate and tomato (aka scarlet and grey - Go Bucks!) travel shots too. No stock photos of these, so I guess I'm taking pictures this afternoon. :)

Stainless Steel Bottles

Customers are asking for stainless steel bottles and we are doing our best to respond. We placed an order with Klean Kanteen in early May that should arrive soon. The Klean Kanteen Kolor selection will come in July.



Guyot Designs will ship their stainless steel wide mouth bottles in August. The advantage of these bottles is that they fit all the wide mouth (aka Nalgene) accessories, like water filters.

These vendors, like SIGG, are experiencing incredible demand because of the news about BPA. We are also running out of stock. If at any time you want 'dibs' on a bottle not in stock, just email Rachel to be put on a waiting list.

Slew of News about BPA

National news media is reporting a number of stories relating to BPA:

1) Nalgene is phasing out production of BPA containing bottles
2) The government of Canada is banning the import of containers with BPA
3) The US National Toxicology Program declared that human risks of BPA cannot be dismissed

If you need to replace plastic bottles, we offer a few alternatives:

SIGG aluminum bottles are lined with a BPA free epoxy. The oval and hot and cool SIGGs are produced in stainless steel with no liner.

We are also ordering Guyot Designs stainless steel wide mouth bottles.

We're on Guyot Designs site!

It isn't in my nature to ask for help. I prefer to do things myself. But marketing in the internet world isn't something I can control myself. I noticed that I would have to reach out to services and networks to do some marketing for me.

It took some courage for me to stick out my neck and talk to manufacturers about sharing links. I was pleasantly surprised that SIGG and Guyot Designs were happy to add us to their 'where to buy' pages. We've already noticed orders coming in through those links.

Just goes to show that sometimes taking a risk pays off and is easier than you think.

****
Don't forget that you have only a few more days to enter the Ibex Echo-T contest.

Guyot Designs Squishy Bowls review

Items: Squishy Bowl Set and Travel Shots

Specifications:
Squishy Bowl Large Bowl - 3.3 oz, 4.7" diameter x 3" tall
Squishy Bowl Cup - 1.7 oz, 3.45" diameter x 2.45" tall
Travel Shot - 0.5 oz, 1.95" diameter x 1.42" tall
Made of food grade silicone.
Available in tomato red, tahoe blue, lime green, and slate dark grey.

Guyot Designs asserts that the squishy bowl series is flexible, durable, dish washer safe, and heat resistant. We submitted the Squishy Bowl set of Large Bowl and Cup ($15.15 together in our store) and Travel Shots ($7.55 for a set of two) to several (unbiased, but not entirely scientific) tests of these claims.

First up, flexibility. The large bowl and cup are easily turned completely inside out and returned to normal shape with a simple flexing of the sides. The travel shots were more difficult to turn inside out, but it is possible. We poured liquid in all three sizes to test whether this flexibility interfered with drinking. If you grip with one hand, the bowls form a little spout that is easy to sip from.

We also took the bowl and cup on a picnic. They packed easily and cleaned up well too. They nearly bounce if you drop them, so no worries about shattered plastic or scratches. The slightly matte finish on the outside does tend to attract dirt and hair which are easily brushed away.



For the durability test, we engaged our toddler and dogs. They were allowed to play with the bowls at will. The hounds even licked them clean and carried them around with no punctures or damage to be seen. Certainly a longer test range is necessary to say these are unbreakable, but from a few weeks use they pass our durability check.

The dishwasher safety was another easy one. All bowls went through the dishwasher a few times. There was no damage to the bowls, but water does tend to pool in them. If your dishwasher is as inefficient as the model we used, some of the pooled water may have food bits floating in it. Ick. Washing is so easy by hand that we recommend hand washing even though it is possible to throw Squishy Bowls in the dishwasher.

Finally, the fun one: heat resistance. First, we tried making hot tea by pouring boiling water over a tea bag in the cup. The squishy cup performed beautifully. The silicone is thick enough on the bottom and sides that little heat transfered to the outside of the cup. The tea stayed warmer longer than in our standard stainless steel camping cup. On a backpacking or camping trip, the boiling water test showed these would be great vessels to make instant meals or hot cocoa right in the bowl.

Next, we had to try baking in them. I was making bran muffins and poured batter into the buttered large bowl, cup, and travel shot. I baked these on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven. After baking was over, I allowed the muffins to cool for about 10 minutes.



Then I squeezed the bowls from the bottom to release the muffins. The results:


Pretty cute, huh? The bottom of the cup one broke off a bit, which is why it is not quite spherical. The 'cap' on the top of the travel shot muffin could be prevented by adding less batter in the future. Both undersides were slightly overdone which could probably be prevented by baking in a bain marie.

As for the bowl and travel shot, they seem no worse for the wear after baking. Cleanup was easy because the inside of the bowls is smooth. It's good to know that for special occasions I now have a way to make spherical baked goods.

Because we want you to try the Squishy Bowls, we will include a FREE travel shot (random color) with each webstore order between now and Earth Day, April 22. Let us know how you like it!

One Week until the Open Market!

Next Saturday is our first in-person sales event! We are busy preparing signage, table displays, and GIVEAWAYs.

If you are in Ohio, don't miss the chance to see Baying Hound SIGGs, squishy bowls, microbites, and more in person. Stop by the First Unitarian Universalist Church in Columbus next Saturday April 12 from 1 - 3:30. For more details, see our page about the event.

Photoshoot for Guyot Designs

Yesterday I tried to take some pictures of our new Guyot Designs gear in the rare spring sunlight here. I had three "helpers" - Devie the coonhound, Hawise the mini-hound, and Lil, the toddler. The few good pics will be on the website soon. In the meantime, here are some outtakes: