Are Organic Products Worth The Money? THESE Are!

Disclosure Statement:  This post wasn't supposed to be a promotional post. Yes, I was given a few products by a friend, but was not asked to blog about them specifically. That decision was my own. Similarly, all opinions here are mine and I do not feel in any way obligated to render favorable judgment on those products.

JJ's Wellness Products which she handed me today

I am not an “organic mom.” Kids who come over my house after school for snack get pretzels, chips, and probably a handful or two of grapes. “Where are all the organic foods?” a child may ask. “Back at YOUR house,” comes my cheerful reply. Still, if I can sooth a cough without over-the-counter drugs or take my make-up off with coconut oil, I will, more because those remedies are cost-efficient, rather than organic. 

My friend, JJ, IS an organic mom who goes out of her way to make sure her family is exposed to only the purest ingredients in all that she buys. The really cool thing about JJ however, is that she doesn't preach this stuff. She quietly lives it by example. Oh, she'll give you advice if you ask, but she isn't OBNOXIOUSLY organic. So when JJ quietly showed up at my car window during school pick-up today, handed me a bag containing a few products, and asked if I'd give her my opinion, not only did I say, “yes,” but I offered to blog about them for two reasons: 1) I was suffering from writer's block 2)  I like JJ and it would give her company some exposure. I only hoped, before I opened the products, that the exposure would be GOOD (oh yes, I have written quite a few honest, but unfavorable reviews, people, friendship notwithstanding!).

Calming Salve - clearly she knows my children

JJ's Wellness offers materials and seminars which, she says, enhance her client's health. The first product I tried was her Calming Salve; it's 100% non-toxic and boasts ingredients like beeswax, coconut oil, Vitamin E, and lavender/tangerine/orange oil. I dipped my finger in and spread some of the salve on my lips. The consistency is of thin wax, meaning you could kiss someone after putting this on and not be worried about leaving a big mess on the recipient's cheek. It smelled like tea and my nose picked up the hints of citrus. Part of me wanted to dissolve it in water since it smelled like herbal tea.  Because the salve is so airy, it goes on nicely over your lip stain. This product is something I WANT to put on, as opposed to other lip balms I HAVE to put on after my lips get chapped and bleed. JJ said her price point for a one ounce sample of this product is $6; I like that because again, with the lightness of this balm, a container will last at least a season or two.

One of JJ's Lotion Bars - Calming (ahhhhh...)

Product Number 2 is JJ's Handcrafted Lotion Bar. She gave me two samples of “Calming”, which are gluten and preservative free and made with, of course, only organic ingredients. The bars came on a lovely silver-looking tray and look more like white chocolate candy than lotion. The feel, as with the salve, is light. I rubbed a bar on my hand and, once more, a gentle tea-like fragrance wafted up my nose. Because the lotion is not greasy, it was easy to resume typing on my keyboard without making my computer slippery. JJ told me she designed these lotion bars for mothers who wanted to moisturize their babies without having to dip their fingers into jars of lotion or squeeze goo into their hands. Unlike other lotions which, after using them, have me frantically searching for the nearest piece of cloth to wipe my hands on, JJ's product makes moisturizing self-contained. I'm keeping one in my kitchen for use after washing dishes and on my bureau to use as part of my morning routine. 

JJ's price point for the lotions is $6 for the set which is good.  I can see one bar of the lotion lasting a month easily.  If you were to nab a pretty soap tray from the Dollar Store and combine it with her package of lotions, it would make a really nice teacher's or coach's gift for the holidays, as would the salve on it's own. These products would also be great, practical stocking stuffers.

For more information on JJ's products, visit jjswellness.com. I'm bookmarking her website because not only are her products great, but honestly, the site contains a lot of cool information from a woman who knows all about wellness but doesn't make you feel stupid or inadequate if you don't.



Again, for FTC Purposes,  Disclosure Statement:  This post wasn't supposed to be a promotional post. Yes, I was given a few products by a friend, but was not asked to blog about them specifically. That decision was my own. Similarly, all opinions here are mine and I do not feel in any way obligated to render favorable judgment on those products.

Thanks for reading!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Finally! HERE'S What To Do With Those Leftover Wonton Noodles!

We eat a LOT of Chinese food in this house and every time, I'm left with many packages of wonton noodles. You know, those crispy fried noodles you dip in duck sauce. Okay, so they're probably not the healthiest food in the world, but being the frugal mom that I am, I have trouble throwing anything out. Yes, I've given the noodles to my kids instead of chips, but I FINALLY used my noodle to come up with a recipe to use those left over ones. I vaguely remember doing something like this in my Home Economics class eons ago, so this recipe is definitely based on that. 

Here are the noodles I'm talking about:

I believe these are called wonton noodles.  If you know them by another name, please email me so I can correct this post.

And the recipe is called: 

Candied Wonton Noodles

Ingredients:

A few packages of wonton noodles

One half package (6 ounces) of Wilton Candy Melts in whatever flavor you want

Pam or non-stick spray

An 8x8 or so pan

Any other goodies you want to add (see suggestions below)

Directions: 

1,  Spray your pan with non-stick spray.

2.  Melt the candy melts in the microwave (in a glass bowl and microwave them for a minute, stir them, and if they're not melted, microwave them for 30 seconds at a time, checking them after each interval).

3.  Mix the candy into the noodles, making sure the noodles are mostly covered by the candy.

4.  Spread the resulting mixture in the pan, add any toppings (optional), and freeze for about 5 minutes.

5.  Take the candy out and either pick at it with your fingers or cut it with a knife.

Here's what it looks like.

I could see adding nuts, caramel, marshmallows, or sprinkles (like I topped the mix with above). I think I'll add whole flax seeds for additional (or any) nutrition the next time I make it.

This is a great recipe for kids to help with since it doesn't involve baking. With many of us going out for Chinese food on Christmas (my husband tells me that's what a lot of Jewish people do), there are going to be lots of leftover wonton noodles. Don't throw them away! Use them to make this delicious candy! It combines crunch with sweetness and has been a big hit in my house.

Merry Christmas! 

Gift Ideas For Teachers, Coaches, & Others Who Help

Only 10 days until Christmas and we've hit crunch time, folks. The kids have five days of school left which means teacher gifts are due this week and Diva's gymnastics team is having their Secret Santa. So I've been racking my brain (ouch!) trying to think of gift ideas. Here's what I've come up with:

1. Candles and Coffee – Our PTA extorts money from parents at the beginning of the year for a class gift for the teacher. It makes the teacher happy, which is the most important thing, and earns the class parents a multitude of kudos for collecting the money.  It isn't, however, very personal. My daughter wants to giver her teacher something special from her 8-year old heart. She told me that Ms. Read likes candles and coffee, so we trekked down to our local drug store and found a heavenly-scented vanilla crème candle for about $5. Combined with a small $1 package of gourmet coffee from the grocery store (“Mom, she LOVES coffee!”) all I have to do is place the combo in a gift bag.
   
2. Body Wash/Moisturizer– Diva suggested a large box of chocolate for the Secret Santa, but at least one team member doesn't eat junk food.  What if she get's the gift?  Argh!  All of the girls shower, however, so we're heading back to the drug store where I saw small body wash gift baskets for under $10 (the limit for the Secret Santa is $15 which puts us just in range). Or, we may opt for a basket containing moisturizer which will save the recipient from an awful lot of dry-skin scratching this winter.
   
3. Lip Balms – Chapped lips are painful, as my daughter who gets them all the time, can attest to. Assemble a small gift basket yourself by placing some moisturizers you can buy quite cheaply at the dollar store in with some Chapstick.. You could even add in a few small bottles of San Pellegrino or other sparkling water to make a “Hydration Basket.” Or, I've seen Burt's Bees gift baskets containing lotion plus their famous beeswax lip balms advertised for as little as $14
   
4. Dunkin' Donuts And Sporting Goods Gift Cards – Junior had some amazing soccer coaches this past year, so if your kid is still in a sport and you'd like to reward outstanding performance, you could assemble a small gift basket containing coffee and its accessories (creamer, perhaps a regular or travel coffee mug, sweetener, coffee syrups, etc.) or go the easy route that we took and just buy a Dunkin' Donuts gift card. We also give these to the wonderful bus driver who pauses mid-block to let my late-running kid on. Similarly, a coach is usually appreciative of a gift card to a sporting goods store like Modell's, Dick's, or Sports Authority.
   
5. Water Bottles – Everyone is drinking water these days and an ecological as well as economical solution to always buying disposable water bottles is to get a re-useable one. The lovely ones pictured are sold at my local grocery store for about $6 each and would make great gifts for an adult or child alike.
   
   

   

   Everyone uses water bottles these days.

6. Dark Chocolate – The evidence is mounting that dark chocolate is good for you! Run to your local discount store and pick up an assortment of these healthy confectioneries for someone with a sweet tooth. You can even fill the aforementioned water bottle or a coffee mug to make pseudo gift-basket.
   
7. Gym Bag/Small Backpack  – Another coach or team grab bag suggestion is either a gym bag or small backpack that someone could carry their water and change of clothes in. Discount stores like Amazing Savings, Walmart, and Five Below carry these for under $10.
   
8. Cookie/Popcorn Tins – My aunt's nursing home aide deserves something nice but we're short on cash this year, so when I go to the grocery store, I'll be picking up a goodie tin which the sweet lady can share with her family or other aides. Then again, I may purchase an empty gift tin from a dollar store and fill it with packages of candy she told me at Halloween that she likes. Economical and personalized!
   
9. Bracelets – Last year my daughter and I bought memory wire, which retains its shape, at our local craft store. The little one picked out beads in colors her teacher would like and we made a very professional-looking bracelet for under $3.
   
10. Hair Care Accessories – A final Secret Santa suggestion for the ladies is to purchase a decorative tube (I think these are used for wine?)  from your local discount store and fill it with hair care accessories such as hair brushes, Scrunchies, elastics, and bobby pins. Practical and pretty!

Have I missed anything? Share your gift ideas in the Comments section!


Thank you for reading!

15 Practical Uses For Leftover Halloween Candy

 
Halloween candy should come with these instructions: “Unwrap and apply directly to hips.” You know, sort of like Play Doh. Every year, millions of Americans are stuck with the dilemma of what to do with leftover candy. Are we spoiled or what? As parents, we feel guilty throwing the sweet stuff out because, after all, it is food and we're taught that food is not to be wasted. While there are tons of suggestions on what to do with it (“Wire the wrappers together to make a cat skirt,” “Save the wrappers to build a life-size sculpture of your kids,” etc.), many are time-intensive or just plain stupid.

So here are 15 practical, low-effort uses for leftover Halloween candy:

1.   Use it for ice cream. I scored some major Cool Mom credit a few weeks after Halloween, when we hosted a playdate and I asked the girls, “Wanna make some ice cream sundaes?” I grabbed some cheap generic ice cream cups, Hershey Chocolate Syrup, and leftover candy and let the kids go to town. My daughter beamed as her friend said, “Wow! Your mom is so cool!” Suggested candies for this include M&Ms, Skittles, and any crushed up chocolate bar. Smashed up hard candy (let the kids do it since they love smashing stuff) works, too.
2.   Use it in baking. Add crushed peanut butter cups, M&Ms, and other chocolate to cookies.
3.   Use peppermints (yes, people still give these out) in hot chocolate and to flavor coffee.
4.   Donate it to the troops. Operation Shoebox (http://operationshoebox.com) sends “support, snacks and much needed personal care items to our troops deployed outside of the USA.”
5.   Make homemade trail mix by mixing M&Ms with pretzels, nuts, and dried fruit.
6.   Save it for goodie bags or use as pinata filler.
7.   Send it it to the office. One year, my husband did not bring a big bag of candy to the office. His co-workers were ticked. I guess if you have kids, you're expected to share their unwanted booty with those who don't.
8.   Save it for it for upcoming Thanksgiving food drives.
9.   Use it as a counting tool. Let little ones learn to count and sort using different colored candies.
10. Pair chocolate, caramel, and nutty bars like Snickers with port wine or to class up some Trader Joe's red wine (in my circles, we used to call that stuff “3-Buck Chuck” since it used to cost a whopping $3). I understand from a Scotch aficionado that Twix goes quite well with Scotch.
11. Save the prettier-wrapped candies for gifts. Buy a small decorative bowl, jar, or coffee mug and fill it with candies; add a piece of fabric and a bow. Voila! A lovely gift!
12. Use it to decorate a gingerbread house.  (Note:  here's a link that will show you how to make an easy one using graham crackers:  http://kidsparties.about.com/od/celebratingholidays/qt/GrahamCrackerGingerbreadHouse.htm.)
13. Make homemade flavored vodka. Hard candies dissolved in vodka make flavored hooch. Just make sure you label any bottles appropriately and keep it far away from curious kiddies and pets.
14. Keep a bit in the car. The next time you're stuck in a major traffic jam and the kids are beating each other senseless with water bottles, whip out a piece for the children or yourself.
15. Save some for the grandparents or bring it to a nearby nursing home.


And don't feel back about pilfering it for yourself. We all do it. I mean, the kids owe us for walking them around in the cold; the house always gets a cut, right? Just try to limit yourself to a few a day.

And Happy Halloween!

How We Prepare For A Storm & What Helped Us Through Sandy

As I mentioned in my previous post about aging, my area has weathered two large storms the last two Autumns.  The first was a freak megastorm that dumped 19" of snow on us in late October of 2011 (Yo, Mother Nature!  Too friggin' early!).  Then last year, Hurricane Sandy visited.  My kids can tell you about the exact moment "Mommy lost it" and hurried everyone (in truth, screamed at everyone to run) down to the basement.  I huddled with my children in that cold, dark room as the beast that was Sandy roared overhead; it's a sound I will NEVER forget...

Now that Fall is here, it's time to prepare once again and here's how I do it and what has worked for my family.   Obviously your needs will be different.

  The Red Cross Preparedness Checklist  (http://chapters.redcross.org/ca/mtyco/ds/emgcheck.html) lists what you should have in your Emergency Kit .  I check ours every season to make sure the food hasn't expired.  I also tweak it; diapers and baby food aren't needed by us anymore, so that leaves room for other things that we didn't need but do now like cat supplies for the feline we now have. 

Some of the foods I stock are:

Make sure you pack a can opener!

-  protein bars (We LOVE Zone Perfect bars which are chock FULL of vitamins.  My growing teen eats them by the dozens!)
-  boxed milk
-  chocolate (For energy?  Maybe, but it was comfort food for us all.)
-  instant oatmeal
-  canned soups (I make sure a can opener is packed as well)
-  enriched pastas (I like the Barilla pasta made with chick pea flour.  It's loaded with vitamins.)
-  sauce
-  tuna
-  turkey jerky
-  snacks
-  tea (Camomille tea calmed my kids during the stress of the storm.  The gas was working, so I'd make them a cup before bed every night.)

I also make sure my freezer contains at least one frozen chicken or turkey; here's why.  Last year, upon learning that the storm was coming and realizing that we would almost certainly lose power, I cooked anything in my freezer that could feed the family for a few days without being cooked.  We just happened to have one of those free turkeys the supermarkets give out during Easter or Thanksgiving.  I defrosted it a few days ahead of time and cooked that sucker up; it gave us protein for most of the power outage! 

More of the kitchen preparations I did included: 

- Cooking brownies.  Sounds stupid, but those sweet treats were comforting!
- Freezing GoGurt yogurt sticks, containers of egg whites, and milk. We put those in the cooler and not only were they nutritous, but they served as cooling agents as well, in addition to the ice we had.

Since Halloween had been cancelled, my stress-reliever proved to be the Milk Duds I had planned on giving out to the trick-or-treaters.  I now have a secret Fall-stash of those candies just for me.   :)

As for equipment...

I mentioned in my other post that we do have a portable generator; we've named it Justin as in "just-in case."  My husband has already tested it to make sure it's working and we have a bit of starter gas to power it.  Last year while everyone around us used their generators to power almost everything in their houses, we used it sparingly in the evening to charge our electronics and power one lamp for maybe two hours at a time.  That was an important strategy because while our neighbors were searching for gas on a daily basis, we only needed to make one gas run the whole week!   Each evening, we'd watch a movie on my son's computer.  It kept a semblance of normalcy going.  This year I think we'll be plugging the refrigerator in so we don't lose all the food we lost last year (and which was NOT covered by our insurance).

Let's talk about the cooler.  Before the storm we'd only had the mini ones you take to the beach, but a few days before Sandy hit, I'd snagged the last large one at Home Depot; I'm SO glad I did!  We were able to keep quite a few perishables in there without constantly open the fridge.  Ours has a little spigot at the bottom so I could periodically drain the water and wheels so I could easily take it to the back steps.  

Besides the cooler, another essential for us is battery-operated candles.  The kids can easily and safely carry them around a dark house.  We also used ours as a nightlight when my little one went to bed.  The larger one we have (see below) is on a timer, so it goes off after I think 9 hours.  I'd set it when it got dark, and by the time we woke up, it was off.

I bought the larger one in a 3-pack at Costco.

Let me mention the importance of a good-quality battery-operated lantern which was excellent for reading in the evening.  You can find them in the camping section of Walmart or Target.  I also recommend having battery-operated miner lights - the kind that strap onto your forehead leaving your hands free.   Those were useful when my husband had to go out in the dark to tend to the generator. 

One thing I have this year that I didn't before is this little gadget.  It's a solar phone charger that goes on my

Leave it on your dashboard to charge all day

keychain;  I bought it at Target for about $20 and it gives me 25 extra minutes of phone power.  That doesn't sound like a lot, but it's saved me a few times when my battery gave out and could be helpful in another extended power outage.  I'll be buying a higher capacity one from Amazon soon. 

Something I didn't have enough of but will this year is firewood.  We have a fireplace that doesn't do much of anything except provide light and a little heat.  Gathering around the fireplace in the evening, all snuggled up under blankets was comforting.  Last year we ran out and I wound up foraging in the little patch of woods behind my house for kindling.  That proved important last year and I'll be stocking up on some - just in case. 

This morning my husband informed me that we're expecting a Nor'easter today.  Now that I've outlined what I need to do, it's time to go do it!

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I mentioned above Zone Perfect Protein Bars.  They're always on my Costco shopping list because my son eats them by the dozens.  They're full of vitamins and keep you feeling full for hours.  And the best part is they taste like a candy bar!  I keep them in the car for snacking and in case of unexpected delays.  They take the edge off your hunger and, combined with a glass of non-fat milk, even make a great little meal.  They are the "official protein bars" of our family!

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Thanks for reading!