Healthy On the Go Snacking - Stretch Island Fruit Co and Bear NakedFoods

We have a very busy schedule.  It seems like we are frequently running from one event or practice to another, and often the kids need a snack in between so we frequently grab a quick snack on the go.  Unfortunately,  quick and healthy don’t always go together especially when you are trying to find something to keep in the car for those unplanned “snack emergencies.”  So I’m always excited to find easy, healthy snacks that we can eat between activities.  So I was super excited to try some items from Stretch Island Fruit Co. and Bear Naked Foods.

Stretch Island Fruit Co. has all natural fruit strips that are the nutritional equivalent of ½ serving of fruit in tons of flavors (Apple, Apricot, Grape, Mango, Cherry, Raspberry, and Strawberry).  All the flavors are good, but my favorite is the apricot or the cherry.   These are one of my new favorite “on the go” snack foods.  They are designed for more “grown up” tastes since they are a bit more tart than the FruitaBu Fruit Rolls that they make for kids (which have a full serving of fruit) in the flavors apple, grape, and strawberry.  Unfortunately, I have competition for the fruit strips because my kids love those more than the fruit rolls.  I have to hide them in the pantry or they would eat them all, lol.   Both the fruit strips and fruit rolls are great for snacking on the go, and can be kept in the car or in a backpack much easier than fresh fruit can.

Stretch Island Fruit Co has also partnered with the Fruit Tree Planning Foundation to make “Fruit Tree 101” which plants schoolyard fruit orchards to education students about the importance of eating fruit and caring for the environment.

Bear Naked Foods is an all-natural food company with a line of granolas, trail mixes, cookies, and cereals.  My favorite is the granola.  I love can’t decide between the “oats and honey with blueberries” or the “triple berry crunch” – both are delicious.  One of the snacks I love is vanilla yogurt with granola.  Both of these are perfect for that.  Trail mix is another great snack I love to keep in the car for the kids when they need a little something while on the go. Their Chocolate Cherry flavor trail mix is great - it’s cranberries, almonds, cherries, raisins and chocolate granola clusters.

Another awesome thing about Bear Naked Food Company is their partnership with TerraCycle in a program that encourages people to save their used bags that are then “up-cycled” into eco-friendly products such as shower curtains, umbrellas and other accessories.

I’m very happy to have found both Stretch Island Fruit Co and Bear Naked Foods to add to my list of healthy on the go snacks.

Darn Tough Vermont Review

Darn Tough Vermont socks are awesome.  My son recently got the chance to try out a pair of their hiking socks.  They have quickly become his favorite socks.  They are very soft and comfortable. 

Darn Tough Vermont socks are made in Vermont and was founded in 2004 with the purpose of finding a comfortable sock that could stand up to both frigid winters and humid summers.  The hiking socks my son tried are a custom shrink treated Merino wool and Coolmaxx blend.  The are very comfy feeling (I wish they would fit on my feet).  They are the hiking style of sock and they have extra cushioning on the bottom and a reinforce heel and toe.  They also have an invisible seam that my son loves as he is often bothered by seams in socks.

Redakai Cards - Review

My son got the chance to check out the new Redakai cards from SpinMaster. My son has the Redakai Starter Pack which has several Character, Monster and Attack cards and the X-Reader that looks like the X-Reader in the show. The cards have a whole story behind them about some kids that are traveling the world to gather Kairu energy to use it to defeat evil.  There is also a show on Cartoon Network.

The cards are similar to Bakugan gaming/trading cards. You can collect and trade and play a game with them where you attack and defend. While the rules are similar, the cards are much different. They take things to the next level of cool. The cards themselves are really neat. They have SpinMasters Blast3D technology that makes them look 3D and they appear to move when you move the card. But the best part is that instead of having to keep track of the attack and defense the transparent parts of the cards do it for you. As you stack them they track your health and damage points.

You can check out the Redakai cards on their website.





I hope you enjoyed this post! Never miss a post-Subscribe by Reader or Email!Smart and Trendy Moms finds products, ideas, projects, recipes, and other information that we have personally found helpful or interesting.  As always, it is up to you to determine what is appropriate for you, your children, and your situation.  See our Disclosure

Earthbound Farms Cookbook Review

I have been trying to get my family to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables lately as part of my get healthy/lose weight plan. I recently got the chance to review Food to Live by and The Earthbound Cookbook, both are written by Myra Goodman of Earthbound Farms. Both books are amazing and provide plenty of recipes that help with eating more fruits and vegetables.

                

Earthbound Farms began as a backyard garden and has developed in a large organic farm that grows healthy organic foods and works to protect the environment. On their website, they have some great information for kids about organic farming.  Their site also has some great recipes for cooking with kids to help kids develop a taste for foods that are healthy for them.

Food to Live by is a great collection of recipes with tons of info about produce including cooking and shopping tips. I love that they offer tips for selecting produce in addition to just the recipe. For example, the recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble looks interesting, but I don't know anything about rhubarb. The book provides information about it and an explanation of what to look for when picking out rhubarb that is really helpful and helps encourage trying new things.

The Earthbound Cookbook is probably my favorite of the two. It has 250 great recipes and tips for green cooking.  Tons of the recipes in the book are great.  You can see some of the amazing recipes on their website. I love the Chapter on Pantry Basics: Stocks, Sauces, Dips, and More.  Plus, the pictures in both cookbooks are beautiful.  Just seeing the photos makes you want to try out all of the recipes.

If you want to eat healthy and protect the environment, check out the Earthbound Farms website and be sure to take a look at Food to Live By and The Earthbound Cookbook.  You can also connect with them on facebook or twitter.



 I hope you enjoyed this post! Never miss a post-Subscribe by Reader or Email!Smart and Trendy Moms finds products, ideas, projects, recipes, and other information that we have personally found helpful or interesting.  As always, it is up to you to determine what is appropriate for you, your children, and your situation.  See our Disclosure

{Blog Help Series - Blogging Blocks Part One: "But I'm Not An Expert"}

Sometimes whether you are just getting started or even if you have been blogging for a while, there are some "roadblocks" that can get in your way.  We've decided to begin our Blog Help Series with some of the things that can get in your way and prevent you from blogging or even getting started.

Blogging Blocks - Part One: "But I'm Not An Expert."

Unless you're writing a small family blog, feeling unqualified to blog because you aren't an "expert" is a common roadblock.  This is especially true for new bloggers, but more experienced bloggers run into this one as well.  In fact, we ran into this when we decided to do this "how to" series.

{Juice Reboot - Part Two: I Have Begun to Juice}

If you read my last post, you will understand my reasons for a juice reboot - or maybe you won't.  I think Jennette is still convinced that I'm completely crazy, lol.  And I think I actually might be because I'm truly getting excited over juicing.

After an ordeal with tracking down the juicer that we wanted (It's the Breville Juice Fountain), we have finally gotten it.  I hope the Breville people thank the maker of the "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" documentary because their juicers are sold out just about everywhere!

{Civiballs on Cool Math}

Have you ever been looking for something for the kids to do to occupy them for a few minutes, without just letting them sit down in front of the TV?  Cool Math has lots of neat learning games on it. It's one of the sites that the kids have been allowed to play in their classrooms during free time - so I guess you could call it teacher approved.

One of our favorite games on the site is called Civiballs.  It's a game with balls that are hanging from chains.  The kids are supposed to make the balls fall into the correct colored baskets by cutting the ropes to make the balls fall, roll, or bump into each other.  You have to get the correct order and when cutting the chains you even have to time it right.

{Blog Help Series - Introduction}

Over the last couple of years, Jennette and I have discovered some blog strategies that work for us, researched a lot about the tech part of blogging, and found some ways around some of the metal blocks that can get in your way when getting your blog up and going. 

We don't mean to suggest we are in anyway experts, but we would like to share what we have learned to try to help other mom bloggers avoid some of the trial and error that we went through (Ask Jennette about the panic-filled "WHAT DID YOU DO?" emails and calls during a couple of major template revisions.  But don't tell her about the time when I messed up the entire template and couldn't find the back up, lol)

{Juice Reboot - Yep, I'm gonna try it.}

I am going to be trying a "juice re-boot" - where you eat vegetables and fruits and then drink vegetable/fruit juice.  The idea of the reboot is to rid your body of processed foods that are high in sugars, salt, and fat.  This is not the type of thing that I normally do.  I'm not usually into special diets or things like that, but I'm going to give it a try.

My husband saw a documentary the other night called "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead."  (Yeah, not a great title, I know.)  It's the story of a guy who was overweight and had health problems.  He goes on a 60 day juice fast (No way am I doing 60 days!)  He looses the weight and improves his health.  He has a chance meeting with another guy who was in a similar situation and encourages him to do the same thing.  He shows him how, helps him set a target goal, and encourages him along the way.  It was very inspirational.

{Soap Hope}

Soap Hope has all natural high quality products including soap, cosmetics, bath and body products, household and laundry items and more.
We got to sample several different products and were happy with everything we tried.  We especially loved the Indigo Wild Zum Bar Soap in Eucalyptus and the Pangea Organics Balancing Oil.

{Back to School Shopping - With Printable}

It's almost time for the kids to head back to school. My kids have grown quite a bit and need to do some serious clothes shopping this year.  I always try to fit lessons into the activities that we do and back to school shopping is no exception.  As soon as the kids were old enough to understand addition, I started involving them in making decisions about how to spend their school budget.

Hapari Swimwear Model Contest

We love Hapari swimwear. They make beautiful modest swimwear that you can feel great wearing!  While running around with the kids, I love being able to feel comfortable in my swimwear, but I also like to look nice too. Hapari's suits are perfect for that. They cover well but not too much, stay in place, have cute patterns, and as they say on their website, their swimwear "enhances the curves you love and hides the curves you don't."  Yay!

Common Sense Media

This is an awesome site for parents.  As my kids are getting a little bit older and more influenced by friends, the things that they hear about and want to watch, play or read are not always the things that they should be watching, playing, or reading.  I like to know what my kids are watching, reading or listening to, and I don’t have time or desire to pre-screen everything.  This is where Common Sense Media comes in.

{Looking for Help to Get Your Kids to Read This Summer?}

Summer is coming up fast!  If you looking for a way to encourage your kids to read this summer, go check out the free Book Adventure website.    My kids used the site last summer, and it really worked to help get them to read.  

In school, the kids have a reading goal, and they take tests on the computer to show that they have read and understood a book.  Book Adventure allows you to do that at home.

{Marika Tek Short Sleeve Tee}

You may recall the Smart and Trendy Moms review of the Marika Magic Uplift Sports Bra from a few months ago. Marika is a great company that has fashionable comfortable active wear. They have several awesome lines of workout clothes that are comfortable, trendy, and help you look good! When you feel good about how you look, it's so much easier to workout.  But not only is their active wear attractive, it’s also functional. Yes, you CAN have it all!

{Kushyfoot Athletic Socks}

Kushyfoot offers socks, foot covers, toe covers, and tights that use the principles of reflexology to massage your feet with every step. The padded/wavy design cushions your feet in your shoes.

I got a chance to try some of their athletic styles - the Ruffle Low Cut Sock, and the Tonal Diamond Motif Quarter Sock with padded soles. I normally don’t wear low cut socks, but I have to admit, I love these! They are comfortable and stylish. The socks add padding to the bottom of your foot without feeling bulky and are awesome to workout in. They are soft and comfortable.

{bareMinerals Naturally Luminous skincare}

I recently got the opportunity to try a couple products from Bare Escentuals new bareMinerals Naturally Luminous skincare line. The bareMinerals skincare line contains "RareMinerals Active Soil Complex" which is designed to increase cell turnover, reduce pore size, and help develop softer smoother skin. They say that their formulas “combine the very best of nature with science and modern technology so you can experience extraordinary results.”

{Cardpool - Gift Card Exchange}

Ever have a gift card that you just don’t want or can’t use?   Well, instead of just having it take up space in your wallet or giving it away, there are other options.  I want to tell you guys about a site that I just heard of:  Cardpool.  You can buy gift cards at a discount and you can sell gift cards that you don’t want.  A gift card exchange - how cool is that?  You can get money for gift cards you aren’t going to use or you can buy discounted cards that you will use. Love it!

Here’s how it works:

Buying - They have cards from lots of major retailers, and you can buy the cards at a 5% to 35% discount.    Some of the cards they sell are electronic gift cards so you can use them right away, and they offer free shipping on the gift cards that they send by mail.

Selling - To sell your gift cards, you enter the retailer and the amount and they give you an offer.  If you accept the offer, you send them the card (they provide a free shipping label) or enter the code, and they will send you a check or you can choose to get an Amazon.com credit.

My first thought when I heard about it was to wonder  if they are reputable (I’m suspicious that way), but as it turns out they have gotten good reviews from CNN, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, many of the major network news stations, and many other places.  They also offer a purchase guarantee.

Another thing I like about the site is that you buy and sell directly from them.  They verify the balance on each card that they purchase from someone and make sure it’s valid.    Their site is very easy to use.  Stop by their site and check out all of the awesome gift cards at discount prices.

 

 I hope you enjoyed this post! Never miss a post-Subscribe by Reader or Email!This is a sponsored post.  Smart and Trendy Moms finds products, ideas, projects, recipes, and other information that we have personally found helpful or interesting.  As always, it is up to you to determine what is appropriate for you, your children, and your situation.  See our Disclosure

{Auric Blends Giveaway}

I love having a variety of different scents that I can choose to wear depending on my mood; so I love finding great smelling perfumes that are affordable.  I was very excited to find Auric Blends perfume oils and solids. They carry a great line of perfume oils, solid perfumes, and incense that are handcrafted with a "combination of exotic, imported perfume ingredients from around the globe." I recently got the chance to try a few of their fragrances.

Make a Flannel Board

My kids always loved the flannel board at library story time. You know, the boards with the felt shapes that stick to them.  I mentioned this one day when talking to my pre-school-teacher sister.  Her response was Oh yeah, the kids at school love the flannel board that I made. 

Project!   I made a flannel board for my kids, and over the years we have used our flannel board to tell stories, play games, and as they got older even to study spelling words with flannel letters!  It was inexpensive and easy to make.

Here's how: