Product Review: Livliga LivSpoons

LivSpoons by Livliga. Ok, so I’m going to break with a long-standing product review policy upfront.

Because if you follow Bariatric Foodie on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, or if you watch Bariatric Foodie Live, you know I am quite familiar with LivSpoons. So let’s just put this out there, and it may be a spoiler, and I am sorry but…

I. Love. LivSpoons.

I love them! I use them. So much, in fact, that misplacing a LivSpoon, in my house, is an offense punishable by death. Kidding. But the offender does get a severe talking-to.

So instead of going through the normal rigamarole of “Will I like it? Will I not like it?” Let’s focus on what they are and why they are glorious. For those of you who have read up until now and are going, “What the HELL is a LivSpoon.”

Prepare to be enlightened.

Livliga: Mindful Eating

But first let us briefly sojourn into what Livliga even is as a company. Partly because it’s a cool story. Partly because the story of the people behind Livliga carries through to all of the products the company produces.

Livliga is the brain child of Sheila and Walter Dietrich. The short version of the story is that they wanted to improve their eating habits. Specifically, they wanted to eat beautiful, vibrant food in reasonable portions. Now we all know half the battle in eating better is knowing the appropriate portions. The other half is getting over our natural propensity to want to fill (and, summarily, empty) a plate. So what to do? Most of the so-called “diet” plates had one big problem: they were ugly! And obvious. Like…if you invite someone to dinner, do you want them to know you are eating from a “diet plate?” Further, do you want them to know that they, too, are dining from one? No!

That was the challenge. And Sheila and Walter set out to find a solution. Enter Livliga.

When I first became aware of this company, they sold whole dishware sets that were geared toward a more mainstream consumer (read: not someone who has had weight loss surgery). But I saw the usefulness of what they were doing. I met Sheila and Walter in a convention exhibitor hall – and I’m so glad I did! We struck up a friendly conversation that has gone on a few years now and I’d like to think that some of my (read: our) input has worked its way into the Livliga brand.

Just this year, they released the Just Right Set Bariatric, a plate/bowl set made with us bariatric folks in mind. I won’t spend much time on that here, but do check out my review when you get a chance!

Alongside dishes, Livliga has a small-but-mighty collection of supplementary products including glassware, a kid’s line and serving utensils, which is where we meet the LivSpoon.

LivSpoons: Making measurements work with you, not against you!

Raise your hand if you are a solo cook.

That is, a person who usually operates alone in the kitchen, by choice or by necessity. I am a lone wolf in the kitchen.

And I can’t tell you how many times I wish I had an extra set of hands, especially when I’m in the midst of cooking something tricky. I love to bake and sometimes you have to time things just right. Egg whites must be beaten to stiff peaks if it is to form a proper meringue. Starch has to be added to broth at precisely the right moment to make a successful gravy. That’s part of what I love about cooking, but it can also be my nemesis. Stopping to measure something out, fiddling with a million attached measuring cups, trying to whisk one thing while pouring another. Let’s just say I’ve had my fair share of FAILS!

When I got my very first set of LivSpoons, I really didn’t know what was special about them. When they came, I noted that they looked like they were made of durable stainless steel. And they looked rather sleek with its ovular cup, and long, curved handle. But I don’t really have any use in my life for utensils that are sexy for the sake of being sexy. After all, cabinet space is limited!

But then I took a closer look at these spoons and noticed a few things. Like this:

See that? The cup is ovular but the bottom is flat. Working together with the curvature of the handle that means it’ll sit flat on a surface if you need it to. Now I know that’s not big news. The dollar store measuring cups do that too. But the dollar store measuring cups don’t make me feel like I am Giada Di Laurentis either, so there’s that!

That curvature in the handle? That has a purpose as well. The spoons attach perfectly to a batter bowl or pan so that you can measure something out and have it waiting there for precisely the right moment to mix, whisk, or pour it in. That’s been helpful to me more times that I care to admit!

There are a few other things I really like about this set:

• The cup sizes. The set comes with 1 cup, 3/4 cup, 1/2 cup and 1/8 cup. I especially LOVE the 3/4 cup measure. During Christmastime I make cookies for my family and my base cookie recipe calls for 3/4 cup each of white and brown sugar. It’s a pain to have to use two different cups. At first I thought I was mad about there not being a 1/4 cup measure but honestly? Even as bad at math as I am I know that two of the 1/8 cups = 1/4!
• The bowl anchoring works right-side up and upside-down: This is handy when you know you’ll need another spoon pretty soon in the process. For me, I just dock the spoons I need on my batter bowl and they are right there when I need them. They don’t get in the way. Yes, I could set them on the counter but, again, does that make me feel like Giada di Laurentis? No it does not!
• Lastly, and I know I mentioned this before, but I love the stainless steel. It’s smooth, sleek, simple. I like that. Plus stainless steel is slightly dull so it’s not a shiny metal (I don’t like shiny metal…I’m more of a nickel girl than a silver).

I only have one real critique about LivSpoons, which I’ve conveyed directly to Sheila and Walter. They don’t stack together. While the cups nest nicely into one another, the handles sort of fan out when you do that. There is, of course, a purpose for that (please see photos above), but I thought I’d mention that just in case you, like I, have limited storage space! My opinion? It’s worth whatever sacrifices you have to make, Foodies! 😉

Price and Value

If you’ve read this far, I imagine you are saying, “this is all lovely, Nik, but how much do the ruddy things cost???”

Good question. So if you know me, you know I talk about both price and value. Because they are related concepts but not the same thing.

So far as cost, that’s a simple thing to tell you. A set of LivSpoons will set you back $49.95 + shipping and handling.

Now…before you clutch your pearls… (Side note: do people still wear pearls? Around the house? And if you do, do you clutch them when you are surprised? Moving on…) I want to point out something.

I got my LivSpoons two years ago, I believe. Sheila and Walter were kind enough to send me a new set to do this review. I actually was going to use those LivSpoons, but I chose not to. Why? Because I wanted you to see how well my set has held up! They are still as sleek and beautiful as they were when I first got them. They’ve not bent in the dishwasher. They don’t have any dings or scratches (refer back to the note about the consequences to my family if harm were to befall my LivSpoons) and I still use them quite often.

To me, that’s a testament of good value. My mother used to tell me this and it rings every bit as true today: if you buy cheap things of low quality, in the end you’ll end up spending more than if you’d invested in a more expensive thing of good quality. (Thank you, Mama Foodie!)

Because I bake, and…you know…cook and stuff…these spoons are worth it to me. I have not had to replace them. They come in sizes that are convenient to the way I cook and they make cooking easier for me. All signs of a good value.

To learn more about Livliga LivSpoons, visit their website! And tell them Nik sent ya!