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January, 2010

  1. Coloring Contest, SoCal-Style

    January 16, 2010 by MommySite

    Stoked for Do-It-Yourself Surfboard Art

    Nothing says “fun” like coloring, and these neon bars of surf wax take it to a whole ‘nother level.

    Surfers use wax to help their feet stick to their surfboards so they won’t fall off the boards. This video is just plain fun, so enjoy!

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    Category Videos | Tags: ,,,,, | 1 Comment

  2. Frozen Food Fundraiser

    January 12, 2010 by MommySite

    This year, two of my New Year’s Resolutions involve supporting our school and eating healthier. This company, Market Day, appears to offer something that can let me do both.

    The following is a press release I received from a friend about a Market Day program that could be used as a school fundraiser. I haven’t personally tried this, but it sounds like a good idea to me. Check out the recipe at the end. Let me know how it works out for you if you try it – comments are open (moderated).

    Here’s the press release:

    March is National Frozen Food Month — a great time for busy moms to celebrate the value and nutrition of frozen foods every month as participants in the Market Day grocery fundraising program. Each month, parents order groceries online for their family and pick up the food (mostly frozen) at their child’s school. For every dollar spent by families who purchase groceries from Market Day that they would normally buy anyway, a portion goes back to the school. Over the course of the 30 years that schools and organizations have participated in the Market Day program, more than $450 million has been raised to help fund important educational resources such as field trips, library books, and playground equipment.

    Market Day offers over 150 high quality, nutritious food products at affordable prices. Appetizers, entrees, side dishes and desserts are part of the variety of frozen foods available from Market Day. They are especially popular with busy parents who enjoy the convenience of being able to quickly prepare meals and simple recipes using Market Day food.

    To coincide with Frozen Food Month, Market Day is highlighting its frozen vegetables which are flash frozen, retaining all the fresh flavors and nutrition of fresh vegetables while locking in flavors and nutrients. The newest addition to the frozen vegetable line is Petite Garden Vegetables. The dish retains the vibrant, unblemished colors, crunchy textures and consistent sizing of fresh vegetables.

    Petite Garden Vegetables are crisp and colorful, and are a big hit with family members of all sizes. The family will enjoy a delectable blend of sweet peas, golden carrots, petite cauliflower florets and golden kernels of corn in a delicate buttery herb sauce. All ready to microwave in its own container that becomes an easy, elegant side dish with a blend of tastes to please everyone. The dish has only .2 grams of fat, 70 calories, and 11 grams of carbs. In fact, Market Day works diligently to offer its “Taste for Health” products, which promise no more than 300 calories and 30 percent of calories from fat per serving.

    For a more robust side-dish, Market Day’s Marinated Vegetable Salad might get even the most finicky eaters to explore a vegetable dish. (recipe is attached).
    Frozen food has undergone a nutritious transformation, and families can celebrate Frozen Food Month with tasty and nutritious appetizers, entrees and side-dishes and help out their local school. It’s a warm thought!

    For more information, visit Market Day at www.marketday.com

    .

    MARKET DAY’S MARINATED VEGETABLE SALAD

    2 cups frozen Green Beans
    1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
    2 cups frozen Supersweet Corn
    1 tablespoon olive oil
    2 cups frozen Tiny Peas
    1 cup red onion, diced
    1 cup frozen slivered carrots
    1 ¼ cup goat cheese or feta cheese, crumbled
    1 medium yellow squash, cut into strips
    ¼ chopped pecans

    Dressing:
    2 tablespoons olive oil
    1 ¼ teaspoon pepper
    1 ½ cup red wine vinegar
    ½ teaspoon coarse salt
    1 cup Dijon mustard

    Prepare green beans, corn and peas as directed on box. Drain, place into large bowl. Add carrots and tomatoes.

    In large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add onion, cook until soft. 3 to 5 minutes. Add squash; cook until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Place in bowl with vegetables. Add dressing and top with goat cheese or feta cheese and pecans. Serves 8.

    Category Fundraisers | Tags: ,,,,, | No Comments

  3. gDiapers: Great Concept, But Needs Redesign

    January 9, 2010 by MommySite

    gDiapers review

    gDiapers Pros

    Very cute covers, good availability online and in health food stores

    gDiapers Cons

    Messy, Uncomfortable, Leak, Poor Fit

    I wanted to like these diapers. I really, really, really wanted to like these diapers. gDiapers promise the best of both worlds, an environmentally-friendly hybrid diaper with a flushable/disposable insert and a washable, reusable cloth outer cover. The fact is, they are good in theory but not in practice.

    People have commented that the velcro left marks on their babies. I suggest that it is not the velcro, but the little orange snaps that connect the liner to the diaper cover. My baby had red marks that were the exact size and shape as these snaps, plus red lines where the liner rested on her bottom, and red marks on the front leg area. The large wasn’t large enough, and I can’t imagine a one year old or toddler being comfortable in these.

    The diaper changes are totally messy — messy enough that you’ll want to wear rubber gloves to remove a dirty diaper. It really would be better to use cloth, because you wouldn’t have to dig out a hybrid disposable from inside the plastic liner (which needs to be washed). I even bought the cloth inserts to be even more green and hopefully economical in the long run, but they are not big enough to fill the liner.

    One good thing about these diapers is that the inserts can be used as diaper doublers on disposable diapers. There have been a few instances where the diaper I was using was just a bit too small, and I used one of the gDiapers inserts and it prevented a blowout on the outer disposable diaper. Additionally, the covers are very cute and can fit over disposable diapers.

    I flushed one or two of these, but stopped because I thought they were excessively large items to be flushing and I don’t need a plumber’s bill. Also, in California, we have warnings all over the place that there is going to be a water shortage, so extra flushes seem pretty wasteful to me. It also bothered me that half of the diaper was dry and untouched, and I would still have to flush that part, too. I suppose you could get a scissors and cut off part of it, but that seems a bit ridiculous to me when changing a diaper.

    As much as I want to support this company for attempting to merge convenience and the environment, I also want moms to know what they are really getting into before buying them.

    Let me know when version 2.0 comes out.

    Category Diapers, Reviews | Tags: ,,,,,,, | No Comments