Archive for the ‘Mom Central’ Category

What kid doesn’t love Apple Juice or Applesauce?   It seems like at least all the kids I know like it, but there are some juices and sauces that definitely taste better than others and usually those are the home made ones or ones that are naturally sweetened like the brand Tree Top whose slogan is Real Fruit From Real People.

Please don’t tell Katie, but today Kevin was able to try Tree Top’s Naturally Sweetened Apple Sauce (which is made with 100% USA Apples!) and he liked it so much there wasn’t any left over for Katie to try and after trying to scoop enough out of the container where I could taste it, I could tell why he didn’t save her any.  

After tasting that little bit I knew the Tree Top Naturally Sweetened Apple Sauce would not only be perfect for toddlers as there weren’t any big chunks in it, but it would also be perfect for using when baking too!!  I’ve only substituted applesauce for oil once, but it worked great!  It actually made my banana muffins sweeter without the added calories!   I ended up buying some more banana’s from the store the other day and will be once again substituting applesauce for the oil again!

I’m sure there are more things you can substitute applesauce for.  I think I had heard of eggs before, but I’m not quite sure how you would do that.  In case you do know of a recipe that you could use the Tree Top Applesauce, Apple Juice or Apple Juice Frozen Concentrate in, then you should hop over to their America’s Secret Ingredient contest where you could win a trip for 2 to the Big Apple (New York) to attend the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival and the opportunity for the winning recipe to be showcased at the festival!  Just think how fun that would be!  To bad I’m not a good enough chef/cook to come up with something original, but if you are… you should give it a try!  What do you have to lose?   If you do end up winning, you don’t have to take me with you, just come back here and let me know you found about the contest here! 

Just a FYI… in case you wish you had some recipes that you could use these products in, you can also go to their website as they have an area where you can look at all their recipes!  I know I’ll be looking through them all as I love finding new things to make!    

Now don’t forget.. if you win the contest… please come back and let me know!

 “I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Tree Top and received products necessary to facilitate my candid review. In addition, I received a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

When I was to school, I don’t remember anyone in my class being allergic to food.  Now it seems like more and more kids are finding out they are allergic to things like Peanuts, milk, soy, gluten, etc.   I keep wondering why are more people now allergic to these things?  Or did I have classmates who were allergic to these things and I just didn’t know it? 

What I really like is how more companies,  for example John Morrell, are noticing this trend and are now making foods that are allergen free!   I can’t help but think how wonderful it is for parents to be able to have something new to add to their children’s menu!   Or to have in the house as at least I know there are times when some of the neighborhood kids come over to play I always wondering in the back of my mind if by chance they might be allergic to something I should know about.  At least now I could make either  Hot Dogs, Bologna Sandwiches or Smoked Sausage and not have to worry since they are allergen free from all the following food allergens:  Milk, Egg, Nuts, Fish, Soy, and Wheat!

Thanks to Mom Central I was able to try John Morrell Allergen Free Bologna and since I can’t remember every buying Bologna for the kids before I didn’t know how they would like it and was happy to see that they did like it!  Kevin actually requested a Bologna Sandwich for lunch again today and the great thing is you know how specialty foods cost more, the package of bologna for me only cost 99 cents!  Less than a dollar for a piece of mind! 

In case you would like to try it, you can find this brand at a number of stores.   Meijer, Kroger, Piggly Wiggly, Schnuck’s, Smith’s.. etc, but before you go out to buy it, stop by John Morrell’s Facebook Page as you can print off a $1 off coupon so you could try one for free yourself!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of John Morrell and received a free coupon for John Morrell products to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central also sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

One of the many great things thing about summer is that you can get fresh fruits and vegetables at the store or even better yet the farmers market.  While I admit I’m not the best at making veggies at every meal, I am a lucky mom as both of my kids do enjoy eating them.  One of the thigns I hear from quite a few of my friends is that their kids just refuse to eat the vegetables and at supper time is a constant fight.

I had heard of ways to sneak in the veggies like making a veggie pizza or making some noodles and shred some carrots or zucchini and put that in the sauce hoping the kids can’t taste it.   Sometimes I swear it all depends on how you make your veggies.  One way to get my kids to eat broccoli is when I am steaming them, I just put a slice (or two depending how much I make) on top of it at the very end and just let it melt all over the broccoli.  With carrots I cook them, then add Velveeta cheese on top of it with some crushed up Ritz crackers that was mixed with butter on top of it and bake it for awhile until the cheese is melted.  Then the way I sneak spinach into their meals is when I make my lasagna, instead of adding meat, I add spinach.    At first they had an issue with the green stuff, but now they enjoy it.

Where I find it harder to get kids to get veggies is when I’m out and about and want to stop and get something to eat.  I don’t know if all families have this issue, but at least with my kids all they ever want with their meals when we are our is french fries.  Thanks to Mom Central I now know of a place that will help sneak the veggies in the meal for you!   Where you ask?  It’s a place called Noodles & Company.  I personally had never even heard of them before even though they have two locations in the Grand Rapids area.   Of course that could be they are on the opposite side of town than we are located, so maybe that’s why?    All I know is yesterday Katie & I decided to have a girls day out and went shopping by Woodland Mall so when it was lunch time I thought why not try Noodles & Company!   After a little while of looking, we ended up finding it and Katie got so excited to try some place new.

When we pulled in, I could tell by their clientele that it must be good and fast as a majority of the customers there were people who worked around there.  Katie & I walked in and we both picked out what sounded good.  For Katie it was of course their ever popular Mac & cheese, but for me it was their Asparagus & Lemon Linguine dish!   After we ordered they gave us a number and we went and sat down and it wasn’t to long before a waitress came out with two bowls of noodles for us!

Katie couldn’t wait to take a bite of hers (hense the silverware in the picture) and as soon as she took her first bite all I hear was yum!   Of course how could elbow noodles with cheddar & jack cheeses not be tastey?  

Then I took a bite of my Asparagus & Lemon Lingine Dish!!   I didn’t know what I was getting myself into as I usually would take the safe way out (like the mac & cheese) but since I’ve started enjoying Asparagus a couple years ago I thought lets try this and WOW was I glad I did!    I even gave Katie a few bites (and also some of the asparagus stalks) and she enjoyed it too!   The only bummer thing about mine was it was so good that I didn’t end up having any left overs for Paul to try.    At least now I have an excuse to go there again some day!  ~grin~  

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Noodles & Company and received five Noodles & Company bowl cards to facilitate my review. Mom Central also sent me a thank-you gift certificate.”

Do you hear that question through out the day from your little ones?   For me I hear that or I hear the “Is it time for ______ yet?  My thought is since Kevin’s now in Kindergarten she should be able to tell time on a regular clock and not just the digital clocks.   So when Mom Central teamed up with Munchkin Math so some Mom’s could review the Telling Time DVD and blog about it.  I signed up for it really hoping to be chosen as I wasn’t quite sure how to start with the teaching of telling time and was thrilled when I was chosen!

Once the DVD arrived in the mail the kids couldn’t wait to watch it.   The ages on it says it’s for ages 2-9, but after a couple minutes of watching it Kevin didn’t want to watch it anymore as it seemed to “baby” for him.  I had him at least stay in the room as Katie was loving it.  (For those that don’t know.. Kevin is 6 and Katie will be 4 in a couple weeks)  

As I was disappointed Kevin didn’t want to watch it, it wasn’t that long before a smile came on my face because there he was not only watching it, but singing the songs and doing the motions right along with the DVD.      So yes, it still did grab his attention and I’m happy to say he did learn some things from it.  He now knows at the hour part by looking at a clock, but still has to work on the minutes a little bit.

While I was 0h so glad that she came up with some fun songs to help the kids learn (for example for telling the different between the Hour & Minute hand…  Hickory Dickory dock there are 2 hands on the clock.  The hour hands short… the minutes hands long… hickory dickory dock) I was a little bummed that for minutes they didn’t go into as much detail as I would of hoped.

Yes, she did explain how the minutes are counted by 5′s.  For example when the minute hand points to the 1 it’s 5, when it points to the 2 it’s 10, when it points to the 3 it’s 15.. etc, she never said that there was minutes in between the 5 & 10.  The examples they used all the time was when the minute hand was on a number, never in between.   So when the coo-coo bird was getting tested on the DVD, Kevin was doing great, but then when he looked at our clock and it was 4:27 he got a little confused. 

Over all I am happy with the DVD and I know it does help children tell time as I saw what Kevin learned by just watching it a couple times.  This will be one of those DVD’s that when I’m done with it, I’ll be donating it to our local library so other kids can learn how to tell time too!

Here is a demo of Munchkin Math Telling Time on Youtube.   That way you can get an idea of what it’s all about for yourself.  I just wish it showed more of the songs she taught later on in the DVD.   At least you get an idea though if it would be good for your child.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Munchkin Math and received a sample DVD to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

After Paul’s last doctors appointment I’ve had to change the way I buy certain foods.  Per his doctor, Paul needs to be eating more fiber, so when buying breads, pasta, crackers.. etc I have to make sure the Dietary Fiber % is higher than the Total Carbohydrate %.

The last time I had shopped for Pasta I had only found one that had a higher % for the Dietary Fiber and it didn’t taste terrible, but I also wasn’t totally in love with it either.

Then a couple weeks ago Mom Central along with Ronzoni Smart Taste ended up having a blog tour which I was lucky to participate in and was thrilled after I watched the Supermom Video that the spaghetti I was going to be trying was not only high in fiber, but an excellent source of calcium!  (It is a cute video if you want to watch it)

So when I received my package in the mail I couldn’t wait to give the Ronzoni Smart Taste a try.   Was it going to taste like cardboard, or was it going to taste like every other spaghetti?

I’m happy to say it ended up tasting like all the other spaghetti we’ve ever made!  Actually most of the time I have left overs for the following day, but this time I didn’t.   So that tells me even my sometimes picky eaters even enjoyed it even though it’s 3x’s the fiber and calcium equal to an 8 oz glass of milk!!  What a great way to sneak more fiber and calcium into a diet than with smart taste pasta!

If you would like to try some Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta, just visit their website and click on their promotions & coupons and you can sign up to get a coupon for $1 off 2 boxes!

I just want to say thank you to Mom Central & Ronzoni for giving me the opportunity to try their Smart Taste Spaghetti.  Had I of not tried it, I probably would of stuck to the same ol’ pasta because I know my family liked that kind.  Now I know which brand of pasta I can get that’s high in fiber for my family and tastes great!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Ronzoni Pasta and received a sample of Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta to facilitate my review and a $20 thank-you gift certificate.”

You have no clue how excited I am to of found another laundry detergent that I can use.  (Well, as of now anyways)  About 7 years ago I ended up having some allergy tests done and found out I was allergic to a bunch of different things.  Black Rubber Mix, Pine, Quaternium 15,  formaldehyde, fragrance and some other weird things. 

For the longest time the only laundry detergent I could use was the All Free & Clear.  While I do like it, there are times where I wish I could just grab the cheapest thing and be ok.

I was a little nervous to try Green Works Laundry detergent, but since I love their dish soap (the only kind I will use as I swear it works the best) and I just tried their window cleaner last month and loved that as well I thought I would at least give it a shot.  After all, what’s the worse that could happen besides getting sores all over my body.  ~wink~

So last week I ended up getting a package at my door thanks to Mom Cental & Green Works so I could test the Green Works Laundry Detergent and stain remover.     At first I thought I would just do the kids & Paul’s laundry (just to be on the safe side) but then though I would do some of my clothes to see what kind of allergic reaction I would get with it.  (After all if it worked out great for me then I could blog about that)

Now looking back I should of taken some pictures of Katie’s trashed shirts.  (She always spills all over her clothes)  I thought for sure some of them would come out with the stains still on, but I first sprayed it with the stain remover and let it sit for a couple minutes while I pour the laundry detergent and put the clothes in the wash. 

When the clothes were done I pulled them out not knowing what to expect and was pleasantly surprised that Katie’s stains were gone!!   (That made Mommy a happy camper)  I then dried them like normal and put them away.

Since then I have worn the jeans that I used with Green Works and am so happy to say that I haven’t got any itchy sores like I did with other detergent!  I’m not sure what all they use in their laundry detergent, but so far I haven’t had any allergic reactions to it!  WOOHOO!!!    Plus I found out that they also have a free & clear kind so for my piece of mind I could use that as well and I’m sure it would work just as great!

Now I do know that they have a fragrance in it as it smelled really soapy when the water was going in, but it was a good smell as it smelled clean!   I didn’t mind one bit as I love the smell of clean versus stinky flowery smell!

Also, if you ever thought about trying the Green Works Laundry Detergent, now is the perfect time to do it since they have a money back guarantee!  If you buy Green Works Natural Laundry Detergent before December 31st and you don’t like it, all you have to do is fill out their money-back guarantee form, include the reason why you didn’t like it along with the UPC code, the cash register receipt and mail it to the address they have listed and they will return your money!  (Only 1 refund per household)

I don’t know to many other companies that would stand behind their product like that so kudos to them and just another reason why I like them so much, besides they have products that work wonders.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Clorox Green Works and received a bottle of Green Works Natural Detergent and Stain Remover to facilitate my review and a $20 thank-you gift certificate.”

Have you ever read a recipe and thought.. ewe… that doesn’t even sound good, but still made it and was glad you did?   That’s actually what happened to me.

Mom Central along with Heinz and Ocean Spray gave me the opportunity to make their Ultimate Party Meatballs so I could blog about it.  If you know me, I love meatballs.  If I see any at a potluck, I can promise you some will end up being on my plate.  So when I read there was an opportunity to participate in this blog tour I jumped at the chance and was excited to of been picked.

I had such good intentions of making it and bringing it to our Thanksgiving dinner at my aunts, but when we all came down with a stomach bug, that idea went right out the window so Wednesday night I ended up making it for my family and I can say I was pleasantly surprised.  I don’t know about you, but I am not a cranberry lover so when the directions were to put 1 can of Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce with 1 bottle of Heinz Chili Sauce together and cook over medium-low heat and stir until smooth and then add the meatballs I was a little worried about how it would taste.   All I could remember was how I didn’t like the cranberry thing my Mom made and was nervous that I wouldn’t like this.

I got everything together and poured the Heinz Chili Sauce in the pan along with the Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce and stirred it until it was smooth and then added the meatballs.  After stirring occasionally I decided I would test one so I could make sure they were warmed all the way through, plus I was anxious to see what it would taste like.   I was honestly surprised as how sweet it tasted to me.  Not overly sweet, just perfect!  I always thought of cranberries as tasting sour, guess I was wrong!   So not only did they taste great (Paul and the kids liked them too) but they were so easy to make anyone could make them!  (Yes.. even your teenage son!)

If you are looking for something easy to make for one of the many get togethers you probably be having to go to this year, try making the Ultimate Party Meatballs.  I would honestly be surprised if you ended up bringing any home with you. Of course I don’t know if that’s bad or good because I’ve been craving them every day since I made them.

If you would like to get the Ultimate Party Meatballs recipe or even see different things you could make with them, just visit their website http://ultimatepartymeatballs.com/.     Plus right now they are having a sweepstakes where they are giving away $3000 in gift cards to get your party started and also 20 2nd place winners will win a Rival Crock-pot 4 qt slow cooker!  (Sweepstakes ends Feb 15th)   Talk about a great way to start the new year!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Heinz and Ocean Spray and received the ingredients necessary to facilitate my review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Tis the season for visiting friends and family!  I love having people stop by, maybe it’s because then I get some adult conversation, but nothing is worse than having someone stop by unexpectantly and there is nothing in the house to offer besides fruit snacks or graham crackers.  ~wink~

In case you’re like me and you don’t have anything you could snap together quickly, what you could do is buy some Nancy’s Appetizer’s and keep them in your freezer until your guests arrive and then pop them in the oven and voila, it would look as if you slaved all day!

Nancy’s has all different kinds of appetizer’s…  3 cheese spinach stars, Black tie beef Wellington, Black Tie Thai Peanut Satay, Black Tie Trumpets, Champagne Collection, Cheese Souffles, Deli Spirals, Mushroom Turnovers, Petite Quiche and Seafood Crab Cakes. 

I do have to admit, some of those I had never heard of before, but after reading the description, they all do sound quite tasty.  For us I could see us enjoying the Mushroom Turnovers, of course maybe that’s because Paul and I both like mushrooms and onions.

What was and is exciting for me is that Mom Central along with Nancy’s gave me 2 coupons, one for me and one for one of my readers, so we could get a FREE 12 ct Nancy’s Frozen Appetizer!  Unfortunately for me I was unable to locate any at our local super wal-mart so I didn’t get the chance to try any.   BUT.. my loss can be your gain!  So instead of giving only one coupon.. I get to give away TWO!   

If you would like to try Nancy’s Appetizers for free, just leave me a comment below with which appetizer sounds the best to you!   I will keep this open and as a sticky until December 11th at midnight and on December 12th I will draw 2 lucky winners and will mail the coupons out to you right away so you can still use it this holiday season.  (They do expire 4/30/2010)

*****  Since no one entered.. the first 2 people to write a comment will get the gift certificates!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Nancy’s Appetizers and received 2 coupons to facilitate my review and a $20 thank-you gift certificate.”

I can’t believe Father’s Day is this weekend already!  Thankfully I already have my Dad’s gift bought and Paul’s Dad will be getting money from us, but I’m not 100% sure what we will be doing for Paul as he was going to go fishing this week with a friend, but due to the rain that got canceled.

Thankfully Mom Central has a Father’s Day Gift Guide to give me some idea’s.  What’s really nice is they have the idea’s in different categories due to amounts.  So if I can only afford a $25 gift I just look in that category and not feel so bad that everything I’m looking at is more than I want to spend.  What would be nice to get him is a tent so we can start camping, but he keeps shooting my idea down as his friend said we can borrow theirs.   So off to go look at the list again.

Did you buy your Father’s Day gift yet?  If not, and you need some idea’s just check out Mom Central’s Father’s Day Gift Guide!

I don’t know about you, but if it wasn’t for my husband I would have an eight year old filter in our house. I’ll admit there has been times when purchasing them I would just go with the cheapest brand that there was, but lately it’s not the price that has me picking out which filter to get, but the ratings!

Sometimes those cheaper ones are cheaper for a reason, everything (dust, pollen, dust mite, mold spores.. etc) can go right through, but now there are some brands out there like Filtrete that has a high performance 1″ that will capture 90% (YES 90%) of those airborne particles that are passing through the other filters!   For me I would personally rather make sure those airborne particles get caught to cut down on the amount of allergens in our house that might trigger my asthma.  I know since my husband did start changing our filters ever 3 months I’m not having the asthma problems I used to have when we would tend to forget.

In case you are like me, Filtrete does have a Clean Air Club you can join (I just did thanks to Mom Central telling me about it) and when you do you get a welcome kit that will include a homeowners guide to better indoor air quality, an indoor air quality journal, “my size” filter wallet reminder card so you will never forget what size you need to buy (I always forget and end up having to call Paul), plus you will also get a seasonal eNewsletter and they will also notify you of any promotions, rebates and special offers!   My thought is since this is an item I will be purchasing all the time I might as well sign up not only to save money, but to also learn what else I can do to make the air we breathe in our house better for us.   Plus a bonus for signing up right now is they are giving away 50 Bamboo plants every week!  How fun would that be to win one of those? 

Filtrete doesn’t only have filters for air, but also for your water as well!  Thankfully we have a water filter on our refrigerator, but when it broke and I actually tasted the water coming from our sink I was grossed out!  Usually when you think of water you think of it being healthy, but when you sit back and think about all the stuff they put into our water you just might be amazed.  Filtrete has two different water filtration products, a standard and a professional.   While they both will reduce the sediments, chlorine taste and order the professional one will also reduce the parasitic cysts as well!

Since clean air and water is important to our bodies, please don’t forget it is important to change your filters so your body can get the cleanest air & water you can possibly give to it!  You just might be amazed at how much better you end up feeling!