Author Archives: Maria

Maria is an aspiring "fit mom" of 3 children, writing about cloth diapers, going green, and her life as a single mom. Maria works with many companies within the cloth diaper industry and beyond, providing social media management, product development, and other services.
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

EcoMom Giveaway Winner

>

I’ve chosen the winner for the $20 in Plum/Revolution Foods from Eco Mom!
For those who didn’t win, enter code SBBL287 at checkout to get 15% off your first order (valid through 5/31/10.)  You can use that on anything, not just the foods.
The winner is Katie!
Congratulations, I’ve emailed you!
Here’s what’s coming up soon: Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day, Ecover, Baby Kicks, Doodle Dypes, Kushies, Baby Hill, The Eli Monster, Bummis and Happy Baby.  As always, drop me an email if you have something you’d like me to look into reviewing!
Share on Pinterest
Read More
 
Natural and Organic Food Review

HFCS Free Vermont Bread

>

I’m OK with high fructose corn syrup in moderation, but when it’s in every flipping thing on the store shelves, moderation is hard to achieve!  I’ve been trying to find other options for anything containing HFCS which we buy with any regularity.  I think ketchup and bread are the last ones we have to replace.
Arnold bread is the only one I’m aware of that’s HFCS free and available at my usual grocery store.  I’ve bought the country white before and it’s OK.  I like multi grain bread for sandwiches, but for PB&J, fluffernutters etc, there’s nothing like fluffy white bread.  I know, I’m ashamed.  I think it must be from growing up on 100% whole wheat bread (stored in the refrigerator for extra hardness, LOL.)  Sorry Mom, hope you don’t read this, hee hee.

This Vermont soft white bread was on sale at my local organic market for just a few cents more than my usual brand, so I picked it up.
It’s wider (more rectangular) than “regular” bread, and slightly higher in calories than what I usually buy.
It seems to have the same texture as the Arnold Country White.  It’s dense and has more of a homemade texture.
With a regular price of almost $5 per loaf, I don’t think I’ll be buying it again.  The Arnold bread is $4 at my store.
I really enjoy baking bread, so if all HFCS-free bread is going to have homemade texture, I’ll just go back to perfecting a sandwich bread recipe.  That one was OK with a little less sweetener, but it was gag inducingly salty.  I wonder if it was supposed to be 2 teaspoons rather than two tablespoons.
If anyone finds a great, HFCS free white bread, let me know!
Share on Pinterest
Read More
 
Giveaway Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Winner of the Thirsties Fab Wipes & Booty Luster!

>

Congratulations to slang76!  I’m contacting you by email!
On another note (because I have to make even the simplest things long-winded, heh.)  I added an option to subscribe to the blog by email, via feedburner.  Look in the upper left corner of the page if you’re interested.
Also, check out the new Bliss Congo on Hyenacart.  You can find several vendors there with products I’ve reviewed, including EllaBella Bottoms, Dypes By Dixon, Five in a Row, Heartland Dreams, Licorice Lane and Mobums.  Rumpsack is also there, I’ve heard a lot about her diapers and had gotten a request to review them.  I contacted her, but I don’t think she knows the ins and outs of the whole blogger review/giveaway thing and was a bit leery of me.  Understandable!
Anyway, check out the Congo.  There is some seriously cute stuff, some FFS drawings and some low starting bid auctions.
Share on Pinterest
Read More
 
BPA Free Eco-Friendly/Green Review

Boon Flo Review

>

Boon, Inc. is a company that makes great, affordable, BPA, phthalate and PVC free products for babies and kids, and donates 10% of their profits to charity
If the name sounds familiar, you may have seen the Boon Frog Pod
We’ve been using ours for over a year now and we still love it.
They have “odd ducks” (hee hee) and other bath items that are completely PVC, BPA and phthalate-free.  Another product I’ve seen in stores and loved is their countertop drying rack.  So unique and fun, but still no PVC, BPA or phthalates.  They have snack containers, utensils, plates, bowls and sippies that are also sans the nasty stuff.
I have to point out their animal bags.  We have weeded my daughter’s stuffed animals dozens of times, but they keep breeding.  I keep threatening to let hunters in here to thin down the herd, LOL.  This is just the most awesome idea.  Ingenious! 
The last thing I want to show you before I actually get to the review is the Flair High Chair.  It has a sleek, modern design, pneumatic lift (really!) and a seamless seat.  As you may have already guessed, yep, no BPA, PVC or phthalates.
OK, so Boon sent me the Flo water deflector and protective faucet cover with bubble bath dispenser.  In our old house, we had the little guy pictured below covering the spout in my daughter’s tub.  It won’t fit on the faucet in this house.  I didn’t worry about it too much since my daughter is 5 and my son is still using the baby tub, but he will be taking baths in the “big tub” soon enough, and I need a cover!

The Boon Flo is way better because not only does it have soft materials to cushion from bumps, it actually creates a waterfall to help you rinse hair!  We use a cup to rinse hair now.

It also has a spot for the shower diverter, so you don’t have to take the cover off in order to use it.

It has a spring activated grip that makes it easy to install and remove.  I was really excited to install it and let my daughter test out the bubble bath dispenser.
Augh!!  It doesn’t fit!  I guess this weird freakin’ 90 degree angle faucet has doomed me. 
On a side rant, I am still peeved that I even bought this faucet.  I loathe the stupid thing.  Not only do covers not fit on it, but as you can see, it looks perpetually filthy with water spots.  Who wants to clean their faucet with appliance cleaner?  Not me!  Guess who did just that right after taking the picture.  Yep, me!
So, why did I buy it?  Well, we wanted a set that had variable pressure and temperature (in previous homes we’ve owned, you could go from cold to hot, but on full blast only) and had a satin nickel finish.  The *(&((*^ in the plumbing department at Lowes basically said I was a sucker and a snob for wanting to buy Moen, which is what we have everywhere else in the house (except the laundry room, which is Kohler and actually brushed stainless, not satin nickel.)  I caved and got this.  It was less expensive, yes, but our Moen satin nickel faucets are a lot nicer and we have no problems with them, despite what he said.  >:-(
Back to the subject at hand.
I put it on the best I could, and it works well enough for what I want it to do (protect little noggins.)  It’s such an awesome product with the “waterfall” feature, the ability to put the bubble bath in and let your kids push the button to dispense it, along with the easy access to the shower diverter, sleek looks and easy installation.
I love Boon’s affordable, safe and quality products and I love their commitment to giving back.  Check out Boon’s Blog, Boon’s Facebook Page and follow Boon on Twitter to keep up on all the latest.
Thank you Boon for sending me the Flo at no charge.  The complimentary product in no way affected my review!  All opinions are always my own.
Share on Pinterest
Read More
 
Cloth Diapers Fitted Diapers Made in the USA One Size Diapers Review Snap Closure WAHM made

Two Little Piggies Tester Diaper

>

I got to test a one size fitted for Two Little Piggies Diapers

The fabric is super soft.

The snaps were evenly applied.
It has the same fold down rise with extra snaps that many one size fitteds have.
What made it unique was the snaps on the front that allowed you to snap the rise in place after folding.
This would eliminate one step in diapering a smaller baby (folding the rise and then holding it in place while you snap.)  There are also plenty of overlap snaps for itty babies!
The soaker is petal style for more thorough washing and faster drying.
If you needed to, you could stuff more material inside the petals for extra absorbency.
In this picture, you get a good view of the extra snaps where you could secure the fold down rise if needed.  I got a good fit on the larger setting.
It was a bit smaller than some other one-size fitteds I have.  It fit about the same as some larger ones do on the smaller setting.
Normally, I wouldn’t put a brand new diaper to the test for something like sleeping, car rides and so forth until it had gotten several daytime uses.
I topped the diaper with a wool cover and shortly after that, the child who does not nap, took a nap.  A long one.  I was getting nervous!  I was expecting soaked clothes and soaked sheets but nope!  Not a single leak!  The diaper was saturated but his clothes and his sheets were dry!  Not too shabby!  It’s been in our regular rotation since we got it, and it even contained a very messy poop yesterday, without getting any on the cover!
Share on Pinterest
Read More
 
1 542 543 544 545 546 570