I found the perfect gift – handmade reusable glass straws from Strawesome.

There are many reasons to use a glass straw, including that they’re free of nasty chemicals (BPA, for one) that many plastic straws have, they’re fun to use and may encourage your kiddos to drink healthy drinks, and you’re saving more waste from going into landfills, just to name a few.

Reusable glass straws make an awesome gift for anyone – your sweetheart, Mom, Dad, babysitter, teacher, kids and anyone you may need an economical, fun to use gift for.

Strawesome has short straws, long straws, skinny straws (these fit well into the Starbucks cup and other similar reusable cups), smoothie straws, straws specifically for kids, and more. Strawesome features colorful, fun decorative straws as well as economical plain straws.

My favorite straws are the extra long, skinny straws because they fit perfectly into the reusable cup filled with water that I take everywhere with me. I also love the decorative straws for gifts and to make enjoying any drink (even plain old water with lemon) more festive and fun.

You can also have straws custom made to the length, width, style or any other customization you would like, including engraving.

One of the incredible things I love about this small, family-run business based in Michigan is their replacement policy. If your straw is accidentally broken, Strawesome replaces it for free (you pay shipping). Strawesome has replaced two of my straws – one broke in the dishwasher and one fell off the kitchen counter. I can’t think of too many companies that will replace a product that is accidentally broken.

Strawesome is featuring a special Valentine’s Day set for $34.99 through February 14 that includes (all 8” long) a pink sapphire regular straw, an amethyst smoothie straw, a decorative regular straw and a decorative smoothie straw, as well as a free cleaning brush.

You can purchase Strawesome’s products online at www.strawesome.com and at select retailers.

After a 13+ years PR/communications career, Jamie K. recently took on her most challenging job yet – as a fulltime CFO (chief family officer). Currently, she lives in Alabama with her husband, an officer in the Air Force, and her toddler son and infant daughter. She’s a big fan of deal sites, attempts to be eco-friendly, and struggles daily with the great balancing act of being a super mom.

Miss A and I made these yummy treats last Christmas:

We like to dip things in chocolate because well, everything is better with chocolate when you’re a self-diagnosed choco-holic. We’ve dipped cookies, marshmallows, and carmel.

Tropical Foods is hosting a contest asking bloggers, “What are your favorite foods to dip in chocolate?”And by nature, I MUST answer. I think my all-time favorite thing to dip would have to be Oreos. At Christmas time they are extra tasty with peppermint shavings. However, if I were concocting something for Valentine’s Day with the kiddos I think I would make heart shaped cake pops from red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting, and cover in their White Chocolate Dipping Chocolate, but you can’t forget the heart shaped sprinkles. I also really enjoy dipping pretzels, homemade caramels, making frozen bananas, and fresh strawberries!

My awesome friends shared their dipped goodies with me.

Lolli from, “Better in Bulk” has a “unique” technique for dipping her truffles:

Finger-lickin’ good huh??

My friend Michelle from, “Honest and Truly” makes this delicious chocolate drizzled popcorn:

Head here for the recipe: http://honestandtruly.blogspot.com

Now that you’re in the dipping mood too, if you were asked, “What are your favorite foods to dip in chocolate,” what would your answer be??

I am blogging for a chance to win Tropical Foods blogger contest and because I personally enjoy Tropical Foods products. I have worked with Tropical Foods in the past as well. All images posted are either my property or given consent to use for the purpose of this blog post by the image owner.

• it’s quicker to grab fast food or pop something into the microwave
• it’s cheaper
• we don’t want to make a whole separate meal if we’re not having the same thing they are

Now the list goes on, as we all know reasons pile up, but Kidfresh, a foodline designed for kids ages 2 to 8 years has developed meals that are affordable, microwaveable, and 100% natural. At about $3.49, Kidfresh meals tout that they are made with all-natural ingredients, trans-fat/corn syrup/ filler/ artificial coloring/ free. But do they taste good??

Miss A doesn’t like pasta {I know!! What kid doesn’t like pasta?!?!},  so we didn’t even try them with her because we knew what the verdict would be. Baby C, on the other hand, eats almost everything we put in front of her, especially carbs. The first try I gave Baby C Kidfresh’s Spaghetti Loops Bolognese, unfortunately she didn’t care for these so I ended up discarding most of the meal, but as we all know just because a kid doesn’t eat doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try again. The next time I tried their Wagon Wheels Mac + Cheese {these are the only two options my grocer carries,}. As soon as I took these noodles out of the microwave I could smell the real cheese {you know how it smells different than the processed stuff,} and it was delightful, and even though I wanted to munch on it I restrained myself. Baby C gobbled it up until she was full and I saved the leftovers for the next day. She wasn’t loving the leftovers, however when I gave her the Mac + Cheese again a couple of weeks later she ate almost the entire dish, I attribute her finickiness to being a toddler.

My favorite thing about Kidfresh aside from how awesomely healthy the meals are is that they are good portions, the Mac + Cheese didn’t come drenched in cheese, it was just the right amount, encouraging my kids to eat but not stuff themselves.

Personally I’d love to try the 4 other flavors that Kidfresh makes, so I hope that EarthFare Huntersville stocks them up {hint, hint}. However I love that I have a quick, healthy option for Baby C when I need something fast and I don’t have to go with the alternative, or at least it gives me another meal for the food queue.

P.S. They sneak in extra veggies too!! Shhhh, don’t tell the kids!

You can find Kidfresh meals by heading to their website here: http://www.kidfresh.com. Enter your zip code where it says “Find a store” and voila! If there’s not a store near you that carries it, speak with your grocer, they may look into it.

Check Kidfresh out on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Kidfreshfoods and Twitter: http://twitter.com/KidfreshFoods for more info and for a $1 off coupon good through July 31, 2012 be one of the first 10 people to leave a comment here on which would be your favorite flavor meal, and I’ll email you for your address.

We received meals from Kidfresh in order to complete our honest review. All of the opinions above are my own honest opinions, however yours may vary.

Thanks to Mommy B, my 2-year-old son and me (yep, I tasted them) had the opportunity to try several flavors of Gerber’s Graduates Toddler Meals.

The meals are in a convenient box with a microwaveable tray and include selections such as Cheese Ravioli in Tomato Sauce with Mixed Vegetables, Pasta Stars in Meat Sauce with Green Beans and Rice and Turkey in Gravy, among several additional flavors.

My son is a typical toddler. Some days, it’s difficult to get him to eat anything. Other days, all he seems to do is eat. He’s fairly good about trying most foods, even those that include lots of herbs/spices and a touch of heat (like hot sauce – yes, he’s asked for it when he saw Daddy with it and he actually liked it).

After trying many of the flavors offered in the Gerber’s Graduates Toddler Meals line, they will not become a staple in our house like many other Gerber products.

Here’s a quick list of what we liked and didn’t like.

Like

• Good balance of starches, proteins and veggies
• Heats quickly – only 30 seconds
• Generous portion sizes for toddler
• Divider keeps veggies and entrée separate
• Food pieces were appropriate size for a toddler – no additional cutting or smashing necessary

Tomato based pastas, in our opinion, had the best flavor. Many of the other main entrees had an “off” taste and were not appealing to me at all. My son, however, wasn’t as discerning as I am.

Dislike

• The veggies are in what the packaging calls “seasoned water.” We’ve eaten many veggies from a can that’s in a liquid solution and they taste just fine. The veggies in all the meals we tried have a slight chemical-like taste.
• Many of the main entrees also had a high liquid content that didn’t taste very appealing. There’s a lack flavor and several of the meals taste similar. However, this may be a plus for some toddlers who like their food on the bland side.

Although we love many Gerber products, the Graduate Toddler Meals are not among our favorite. They would be a good choice if you need a quick, relatively healthy and balanced meal for your toddler. However, the lack of flavor and somewhat odd taste of some of the foods make them not a good fit for us.

Has your family tried the Graduate Toddler Meals? What do you think about them?

After a 10+ years communications career, Jamie K. recently took on her most challenging job yet – as a fulltime CFO (chief family officer). Currently, she lives in Alabama with her husband, an officer in the Air Force, and her toddler son and infant daughter. She’s a big fan of deal sites, attempts to be eco-friendly, and struggles daily with the great balancing act of being a super mom.

Although products were provided for this review, the opinions expressed are my own and were not influenced in any way.

Baby C {now almost 20 months},{when should I stop calling her Baby C, if I call her Baby C forever will she stay little, no? Okay }, is doing great using her forks, in fact some days I think she is going to break the plate when she gouges into her food, and she’s actually doing pretty well using her spoons too, however the kid spoons that I have found are often too flat so it was great to try out the Beaba 360 Spoon with her.

Here is a video of Baby C using the Beaba 360 Spoon. Please ignore the bed head, she just woke up and is eating breakfast, and Miss A is narrating *LOL*

Bright colors - they really stand out from the other utensils, making them easy to grab when Baby C is hungry.

Easy to hold – more so for children who are just learning to use utensils, Baby C does better with smaller utensils but she has amazing fine motor skills, look how she holds her crayons with no training if you don’t believe me {I swear she was born that way.}

 Good Depth – the actual scoop part of the spoon is great for picking up small things like Cheerios, and peas and helps give little ones confidence by preventing frustration that comes from dropping food with traditional utensils.

Kickstand - the spoon comes with the back end that is used more for a lock, however I was able to use it as a sort of “kickstand”, if you will to hold the spoon up to keep from tipping over small cups and bowls like yogurt.

Lastly, I love that the product is BPA and phthalate free, a must in today’s purchases. Yes there are spoons that will be cheaper and I have those in my utensil drawer too, however I would recommend at least purchasing one of the Beaba 360 Spoons as a “training spoon” for your toddler. They are $10.00 on the Scandinavian Child website and come in three different colors depending on who you are buying them for. Head over here: http://www.scichild.com/Shop/Feeding/360-Spoon to check them out.

I received a Beaba 360 Spoon from SCI Child in order to write this review, however the opinions and words expressed in the post above are my own. Yours may vary.

At first glance Little Duck Organics is a fun-loving company. How can I tell? Mostly by their website and packaging. Their description of the wholesome products they represent is anything but boring. Would it be bad if I bought a product just to read what quirky things they were going to say next?? Probably. So it’s good that I like more than just the witty wording. I love that their snacks are made from good things. See:

{Organic Freeze Dried Mangoes, Organic Freeze Dried Strawberries.}

Little Duck Tiny Fruits come in three flavors: Strawberry/Mango, Blueberry/Apple, and Apple/Banana. Baby C loved all three flavors, but devoured the Strawberry & Mango flavor because Strawberry is her favorite fruit of course. I personally like the Tiny Fruits because they aren’t as perishable as fresh fruit, I don’t have to keep them cold, and they’re already in tiny, bite-sized pieces.

As an added bonus, Little Duck Organics also gives 1% of their revenue back to the 1% for Humanityorganization, which I think is great whenever a company gives something to charity.

Check out Little Duck Organics Tiny Fruit snacks here: http://littleduckorganics.com/ and find out where to get your little ones something yummy {and healthy} for their tummies.

I was provided with samples of Little Duck Organics Tiny Fruit snacks for the sole purpose of testing them out. The above opinions are my own, however yours may vary.

Photo courtesy of Ateliterally on Flickr.com

Welcome to the 2-Year Blog Extravaganza!! {insert bells, whistles, confetti here} Welcome, and thanks for stopping by. Yes, you heard it right it’s the second anniversary of when I first started this blog. Although it seems like so long ago, it really has only been 730 days since i first embarked on an opportunity to rule the world.

Okay, to be completely honest with you the reason I started this blog 2 years ago was basically because I saw other people getting cool stuff for free and thought to myself, “I can TOTALLY do that!” And even in the mere “deux” years, I have grown as a blogger, my thoughts on blogging as a whole have changed, and I’d like to think I’ve learned a thing or two as well.

I hope that you too have noticed that I am now leaning towards working with brands that I can build a relationship with, brands who care about you, my readers, and that I don’t want to be the “brand PR’s one-night-stand”. For me it is not as gratifying working with a company one time and never hearing from them or contacting them ever again. I want to build my brand while having the opportunity tell you about things I am truly passionate about and things I think you will love as well.

Yes it sounds sappy, but all my life my rewards have been focused more on helping others and being happy rather than the number of zero’s on my paycheck. And if you’re in it for the paycheck that’s fine too, just not as personally rewarding for me. Someday I know I’ll get paid good money for doing something I really love, {since I already get paid in hugs and kisses from my girls and hubby too} but in the meantime I enjoy partnering up with some amazing bloggers, awesome brands, and hopefully entertaining amazing readers, you!

To those who’ve been with me since the beginning, thank you, really, thank you and for the new-bees {pun intended}, welcome, and I hope we can make lots of memories together.

On a side note, next month I will be taking the month off from writing posts and turn to some amazing blogger friends who will be guest posting for me. Be sure to stop by, read their posts, and like their pages, some really talented mommas are going to be featured and I can’t wait because I know you will love them as much as I do.

And last but not least, I couldn’t have a Blogiversary without hosting a giveaway for you all right?? So here is a giveaway from a company that I know, trust and have friends who work for: Scandinavian Child International. Scandinavian Child Int’l is giving one lucky reader a chance to win a Feeding Suite from Beaba (retail value $113)

The Feeding Suite from Beaba includes a Bib’secondes, the Folding Draining Rack and a 2-in-1 Bottle Brush. Here are one of the three items you can win:

Head over to Scandinavian Child Int’l here: http://www.scichild.com/ and tell me what your other favorite products are that they carry. For additional entries tell me what your favorite post has been daily. If you do not have a baby or small child consider entering to win this prize as a donation to a local charity or for a present in the future.

Not Required, but we’d love it if you’d go check out Scandinavian Child Int’l here: on their website, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Giveaway ends September 30th @12:00 am. The winner will be chosen at random, verified, emailed, and announced in a Winner’s post. The winner has 48 hours to respond to the email from MommyB to claim the prize, if the prize is not claimed within 48 hours a new winner will be chosen at random. You must be a US resident and 18 years or older to enter.

• Scandinavian Child (SCI) is the North American owner and exclusive distributor of extraordinary children’s product brands that meet the highest style, function and safety standards of discriminating parents.
• ·         SCI began in 2002 shortly after the birth of Brenda Berg’s first child, Kelly, and SCI officially launched in the spring of 2003 with its first product, the Svan High Chair.
• ·         From the start, Brenda had a multi-brand strategy, expecting that she would find ‘neat little brands’ in Scandinavia to add to the collection. That didn’t quite happen, as wonderful brands from across the globe started finding her. The company philosophy, “Childhood Without Compromise,” is the guiding principle for the brands SCI distributes.  The SCI collection includes three brands from Sweden, Norway and France.
  • ·         Products represented by SCI must meet all of these demanding criteria:

Style - Timeless designs that blend with home décor or match parents’ sense of personal style.
Safety - Safety-driven designs that meet or exceed both mandatory and voluntary safety standards for juvenile products.
Usefulness - Multi-functional products that serve over the long term.
Superior Quality and Service - Long-term warranties and exceptional customer service assure customers that they can expect a high-quality product with a matching level of support.

I received lots of love from my readers and know some of the fine people at Scandinavian Child International and wanted to do this giveaway for you, my readers with no strings attached, no payment, no review product, nothing, simply because I love you!

Thanks again to the awesome people over at Blue Bunny for this great giveaway…. And the winner of this delicious Blue Bunny Chef Duff Ice Cream prize pack is….

Donna B!!! Congrats Donna, you won with the following entry!

I am emailing you so you can get your Blue Bunny ice cream delivered straight to your door step! How cool is that. Please also let me know which is your favorite once you get them.

Every teddy bear, that’s been good
Is sure of a treat today
There’s lots of wonderful things to eat
And wonderful games to play

Beneath the trees, where nobody sees
They’ll hide and seek as long as they please
Today’s the day the teddy bears have their picnic!

Hooray for summer, for play, and especially for picnics. I wanted to bring something fun to you, my amazing readers, and I decided what would be more fun than a Teddy Bear Picnic?!? What child, {and parent} wouldn’t love to attend a picnic with the cutest Teddy Bears, tasty snacks, and fun friends?

For this fun event, I have partnered with North American Bear Company, who I love and have worked with in the past. They have provided 8 of their most fun bears as dining pals to this event. Here is a sneak-peek at some of the bears that they’ve provided:

Along with North American Bear Company there are a few other companies who are pitching in some great goodies for my guests. Musselmans has provided a cute picnic basket with fruity goodness, great printables by Charlotte superstars: Anders Ruff made specifically for this event, and amazing local photographer Jamie from Photography by Jamie Lea will be on-site to snap some fun pictures of the kiddos among some other great tasty surprises.

The official Teddy Bear Picnic will be held Saturday, August 6th, in the Charlotte, North Carolina area at brunch time and you are invited. I will be your hostess and my beautiful 4 year old, Miss A will be joining us so there are 7 spots up for grabs to this amazing Charlotte event your child {and you} won’t want to miss.

If you are not in the Charlotte area you may still be in luck. North American Bear Company is giving one lucky reader a bear of their very own so they can have their own Teddy Bear Picnic too. Entries will be pulled from the same general pool so any of the entrants are eligible to win this great prize.

Please note for the Teddy Bear Picnic:

• 7 children (and 1 parent) will be selected to attend this event {feel a little Willy Wonka-esque to anyone else}.
• Parent or primary caregiver must be able to attend the full event with the child selected.
• Ages 3 and up (preferably under 10 years old).
• 1 child per household please.
• Location will be revealed to the winners 1 week prior to the event.

Head on over to my {first ever} giveaway tab on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/MommyBKnowsBest and be sure to enter all of your information for a chance to win an invite to the Teddy Bear Picnic. If you are unable to attend because of location or your schedule please be sure to write UNABLE TO ATTEND in the entry section to be entered for the North American Bear Company Teddy Bear drawing only.

Giveaway ends July 29th @12:00 am. The winners will be chosen at random, verified, emailed, and announced in a Winner’s post. The winners will have 48 hours to respond to the email from MommyB to claim the prize, if the prize is not claimed within 48 hours a new winners will be chosen at random. You must be a US resident and 18 years or older to enter.

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of leftovers, so I have started reinventing meals instead of serving straight leftovers. I use ingredients from meals the night before to concoct a new, hopefully delicious, dinner. Rubbermaid makes it easy for me to make my reinvented meals for my family with their Glass with Easy Find Lids food storage containers.

Because Rubbermaid’s Glass containers are made with tempered glass that means they are oven safe up to 425 degrees (but please remember that the lids are NOT oven safe and will melt and ruin your entire dish if you do not remove it.) So I can pop my concoctions into the oven and pull them out piping hot for the family to enjoy.

Not only is cooking made a little easier, but in my opinion my Rubbermaid Glass containers are easier to clean than my pans.  They’re also easier to organize because they have the Easy Find Lids System and glass bases are designed to stack neatly which prevents them from sticking together.

What mom couldn’t use great products to make their meals and clean up easier? If you want to check out Rubbermaid’s Glass with Easy Find Lids visit their website: http://www.rubbermaid.com/Category/Pages/Category.aspx?CatName=FoodStorage and check them out on Facebook too: http://www.facebook.com/RUBBERMAID

Have you ever used Rubbermaid food storage containers? What are your favorite Rubbermaid products?

I received Rubbermaid Glass with Easy Find Lids products in order to give you a complete hands-on review. My opinions are my own, however yours may vary.