Showing posts with label organic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label organic. Show all posts

All Girl from her Head to her Toes {Organic Kids Nail Polish}

When I found out my second child was going to be a girl I was ecstatic!

As soon as I saw the ultrasound and her girly parts I screamed out, "It's a girl!!" before the tech even had time to announce it.

So imagine my reaction when my daughter started to become obsessed with all things girly. Every time I put on lip stick or lip gloss she requests some as well. And when her daddy told her no, she came to me after I put mine on and asked for a kiss because she knew that would put lip stick on her too (she even smacked her lips after kissing me!!).

She has even started to notice when I put nail polish on and begged me to paint her toe nails after I finished mine.

Since I knew some of the ingredients in my nail polish, I started searching for an alternative nail polish for my little girl. One free of chemicals and nasties. That's when I stumbled upon Piggy Paint


Piggy Paint is a natural, non-toxic nail polish made especially for little toes.

Why is it the safe nail polish?

Piggy Paint is:
  • Non-toxic 
  • Low Odor 
  • Water-based formula 
  •  Hypoallergenic 
  • Fun, vibrant colors 
  • Dries to a hard, durable finish 
  • Cruelty-free 
  • Safe for use during Pregnancy!

That means I don't worry when my daughter asks me to paint her nails for the 100th time. And another awesome fact about Piggy Paint? It's made in the USA!


And how cute are these painted piggies? Adorable, right?

I was lucky enough to find Piggy Paint sold in my favorite online store, Mama's Emporium. And not only does Mama's Emporium carry Piggy Paint Nail Polish, they also carry just about any natural, organic product out there.

If there's something you absolutely love to use and don't see it in the store, simply contact Mama's Emporium and make a request for them to carry that item! How awesome is that? They truly are a one-stop shop to all natural and organic baby essentials.

For more information about Mama's Emporium, head on over and check out their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter. There are always awesome sales, contests, and new product information announced!


Disclaimer: I received a Birthday Bash Set of Piggy Paint in a Mama's Emporium giveaway. No review was requested or required for winning. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

 

Organic Toddler Bathtime with Dolphin Organics


What I put on my children and what I bathe them with is something I think about and research. From lotions, to sunscreens, to bath products like soap and shampoo; anything that touches my child's skin is scrutinized. Sometimes this can be difficult. How do I know what is, and isn't, good for my children's skin. Recently it came to light that the products I was using on children had changed ingredients without any acknowledgement so I decided to make the switch to a new brand.


I heard about Dolphin Organics last August at BlogHer'11. They were at the Expo of the conference and were very helpful in explaining what ingredients they used and how important it was to them to be as transparent as possible with the ingredients they used. They wanted their customers to KNOW that they cared about what they put into each product they sold.


Since my family does a bit of traveling in the summer I thought that a Deluxe Travel Set in simply citrus would be the best way to travel with the kids and know that their baths would be toxic free.

An added bonus is that this travel set not only comes with shampoo, conditioner, bubble bath, and lotion; but it also contained sunscreen as well! How awesome is that for traveling with kids? Plus it came in a handy storage bag for easy portability.


We absolutely love the variety of products Dolphin Organics has to offer and their concern for our children's well being. The amazing thought and consideration put into each ingredient and product shows. Just speaking with the folks at Dolphin Organics made me feel at ease with usign these products on my children.


As we enjoy the gorgeous weather this summer we'll be using our Dolphin Orgnanics sunscreen on the children daily whether we're at the beach, the pool, the zoo, or any other place outside in sunny San Diego or on vacation.

 Head on over to the Dolphin Organics website to check out what else they have to offer!

The Noise Girls have yet again put together an amazing giveaway event just for your family! The For the Family giveaway event starts on September 1st so please remember to hurry back and enter for your chance to win.

And Dolphin Organics has joined in on the fun to offer one lucky reader a Delux Travel Set of their own in this giveaway. Head on over and like them on facebook or follow them on twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions!


Disclaimer: I received a Dolphin Organics Deluxe Travel Set for review purposes only. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Picking Strawberries {San Diego Family Fun}


The one activity I've been dying to do with my family is go strawberry picking. I've said year after year that we were going to do it and then just didn't follow through. So for Mother's Day my husband asked if I wanted to take the kids up to the strawberry fields to go strawberry picking. And I quickly said yes!

We made our way up the 5 freeway towards Carlsbad and just stopped at the first U-Pick Strawberries sign we found. We didn't do much research beforehand that I know of other than to find out how much it was so we had enough cash on hand.

When we got there we parked, paid for our small bucket. Then after a quick run down of the rules we made our way to the strawberry plants to get picking.


The kids quickly jumped on board and started picking and eating like crazy. Until my husband noticed the moldy strawberries next to the ones the kids just ate and picked. So we became the pointers for the kids and showed them which ones to pick.


My son was quite excited about the whole "eat as many as you'd like" and quickly had a ring of red around his lips and on his fingers. I highly recommend bringing baby wipes with you as you pick the strawberries!


After traipsing up and down just about every row, the kids were too exhausted to walk back to the car alone. So my husband scooped them up and carried them. He quickly learned why the owners recommend wearing old shoes after putting the kids down at the car... his shirt and pants were not only covered in strawberries but caked with muddy dirt as well. The sign of any great adventure!

So if you are interested in picking some strawberries this season I highly suggest that you check out where your local U-Pick strawberry farms are. They're great fun for kids and adults alike! Next year we'll definitely be checking out the other strawberry fields around town.


Where to Pick Strawberries in San Diego



Carlsbad Strawberry Co. - Camarosa Strawberries
Located on Hwy 5 at Cannon Road in Carlsbad
Open 7 days a week, 9 am to 5 pm

PO Box 479,
Carlsbad, CA, 92018-0479
760-519-4154
m1h2ouse@yahoo.com. 

U-Pick Fields open April 17th through June, perhaps as late as July 4th weekend.
Prices: $8.70 for a 1 quart bucket, $17.00 for a 3 quart tub (think fried chicken tub size), Cash only

Temecula Valley Strawberry Farms -
Click here for current open hours, days, dates, and directions.
Open Friday-Sunday 10am-6pm

5452 5th Street,
Fallbrook, CA 92028
951-212-4899
kfietz3@gmail.com

U-Pick Fields open March 15 pm to August 30.
Price: $4 per pound, Cash, Check, Debit cards, Visa/MasterCard accepted

Heritage Farms -
Call for picking hours

21345 San Pasqual Road,
Escondido, CA.
(760) 746-8822


Have you gone strawberry picking with your family? What do you make with the strawberries you pick?


Annie's Organic Rising Crust Pizza {@Annieshomegrown Review & Giveaway}

Make everyone in the family smile with Annie’s Certified Organic pizzas that feature hearty rising crusts, exceptional ingredients and crafted like you would at home—whole grains, real cheeses, and organic meats & vegetables. Enjoy the goodness of organic ingredients with the great taste both moms and kids love!

For more than 20 years, Annie’s has been nourishing families with simple, down-to-earth foods that taste great and are easy to love. They’ve sought out the best ingredients Mother Earth has to offer, harvesting pure, natural flavors to make delicious foods every family can feel good about.

I had the pleasure of trying out the new Annie's Certified Organic pizza thanks to Moms Meet and I have to tell you that this was a huge hit in our home. We absolutely love Annie's products in our home and have been purchasing their mac and cheese, bunnies, and fruit snacks for quite a while. But when I heard that they were branching out to frozen foods, and more specifically frozen pizza, we had to try them.

For the most part I steer clear of frozen prepared foods for my family's meals. They're full of preservatives and sodium that I wouldn't normally add to my cooking so I try to prep freezer meals to stock up on instead. But I haven't quite mastered freezing a pizza. And Annie's is a great alternative!


We headed over to our local Whole Foods to pick out a pizza and my son quickly fell in love with the box. And I fell in love with the fact that it was on sale AND was good for my family. My son asked me to read everything on the back for him. Including the ingredients. 






As soon as we got home my son wanted to pop the pizza in the oven but we had to wait for Daddy to get home first before we could jump in. The wait was almost impossible for my son so I took him to the farmers market to take his mind off of dinner... and grab some tasty fruits and veggies for the weekend.

When we got home I preheated the oven and started prepping some salad and veggies for dinner. I popped the pizza in the oven for a bit and put together the salad. Then I whipped up some balsamic dressing and set the table. By the time the salad was put together and the dressing made, the pizza was ready to come out of the oven.


The crust was crisp, the toppings perfectly proportioned, and the taste was fantastic.

The best part? My kids loved the pizza and each ate a whole piece. If you know my kids you know this is an amazing feat. They're going through a phase of not only picky eating but scarce eating. They maybe take 5 bites out of any meal and then want to be excused. 

Why we love Annies:
  • All natural or organic ingredients
  • No Artificial Flavors, Synthetic Colors and Hormones, or Preservatives
  • No high-fructose corn syrup
  • No GMOs
Why we love Annie's pizza: 
  • Certified Organic
  • First Rising Crust Organic pizza
  • 8g Whole Grains
  • Real simple, organic ingredients 
  • - 100% real cheese, made with milk from cows not treated with the growth hormone rBST* 
    - Features meats with no nitrates or nitrites added (except for naturally occurring nitrates in sea salt or celery juice powder)
  • Family Size, 23-25 ounces!

Annie's Certified Organic pizza has a naturally rising crust and is available in four flavors, including
Uncured Pepperoni, Four Cheese, Supreme, and Spinach & Mushroom. It's ready to eat in 25 minutes or less with a crispier or softer crust depending on how you bake it. The family-size is great for adults and kids alike. It sure filled up our family of four!

Are you interested in trying out Annie's new pizza? Enter for your chance to win one of 3 coupons for a FREE pizza below!


Natural Cleaning {Review & Giveaway}



Natural House cleaning products are a true cleaning revolution!

Why is it a "revolution?" Because Natural House probiotic cleaning products brings you a revolutionary, new method of cleaning the most dirty areas of your home. Utilizing non-toxic, probiotic cleaning agents, Natural House products are strong enough for commercial clean-up, yet safe and gentle for all of the members of your Natural House.

Here's a little more info about why Natural House's all-natural cleaning products are superior to those currently on the market!

  • The products use an eco-friendly cleaning method of probiotics that create a beneficial, odor eating ecosystem to naturally drive out and digest odors at their source.
  • Natural House's plant-based ingredients are eco-friendly, non-toxic and biodegradable to naturally fight the toughest problems you face in your house.
  • The products, Sinky and Flushy even break down and digest fats, oil, grease, and solid waste to ensure your disposal, pipes, drain lines or septic tank run smoothly.
  • The cleaners contain good probiotics which continue to scour, clean, consume odors, grime, grease, and germs, and they continue to do so until your next weekly treatment!

How probiotic household cleaners work

The surfaces in your house are like a garden. If you don’t seed with good plants, weeds will grow. You have the same choice with your household surfaces: sanitize for a moment with harsh chemicals leaving your surface open to recontamination or seed with probiotics to continuously weed out the bad micro-organisms.

Traditional cleaners “clean” a surface for a moment in time; the second the rag is finished wiping the surface, that surface is almost instantly polluted once again with ambient dust, dirt, and micro-organisms.

Natural House probiotics creates mini-ecosystem on a microbial level that produces enzymes which break down odors, dirt, fats, oil, grease, food scraps, waste and toilet paper products on a continuous basis between applications. This creates a natural, clean, balanced environment that is safe for even the most sensitive members of your natural house.

The action is in the foam! When using your Natural House products be sure and let it foam first to release the cleaning agents before going to the next step on the package directions. The short and skinny of it is this... our natural probiotic cleaners keep on cleaning long after you've stopped!



My Review
When I first received my sample of Natural House's Flushy, Trashy and Sinky I wasn't quite sure how impressed I'd be. Now I've been using natural cleaners for a few years now but I haven't quite found a solution that worked as well as the chemical cleaners we used to use. But these three natural household cleaning products definitely worked well. And I have to say, I was definitely amused by the names they used for their products. The kids got a kick out of them too. Maybe that'll get them more interested in helping me clean.

I first started out by using Trashy. I simply sprayed it into my kitchen trash can after I took out the full trash bag and waited for it to dry. I put in a new bag after it fully dried and proceeded to change the trash as it filled up as usual. The one thing I noticed right away was that the lingering old food odor quickly disappeared. We might be the only ones, but whenever we emptied the trash can the odor would waft through the kitchen killing everyone's appetite (except for the dog's). But by spraying Trashy once weekly we had no issues with odor.

The second product we used was Sinky. We were planning a party for my daughter and had a problem with the garbage disposal for a while. I tried putting a few thin lemon slices down and running it with hot water but it just didn't take away the smell. So I eagerly threw in a Sinky pack and waited for the foam. The first time I used it I didn't see any foam. I thought maybe I had done something wrong so I tried it again. And it was awesome. I could tell everything was working. And it continued to work because we didn't have any issues with odor.

And lastly I used Flushy. The ease of this product was awesome. Throw it in.wait a bit and scrub! My toilet was sparkly clean. I love how quickly I was able to use Flushy and see results. And being able to use it without getting cleaner everywhere was a great bonus.

Each of these products worked great. And I'm a pretty harsh critic when it comes to cleaners. I still have yet to find a great natural dishwashing detergent so I'm hoping they come up with a product for that soon!

Where to Buy
You can purchase Natural House products directly on their website or you can purchase Natural House on Amazon -- This is a nice option for those who use Amazon perks like "Free Super Saver Shipping" or "Amazon Prime." A 1 month supply of each product is ($4.99) so $15 for a month's supply of the full set.

If you are interested in Natural House products and want to enter for your chance to win a set of Flushy, Trashy and Sinky just enter through the rafflecopter form below! 

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

groOrganic Garden Planner {Review & Giveaway}


I've been wanting to plant a garden in the front yard for quite a while. Since the last attempt I've done a lot of research and have learned a bit more about how to plan out my garden before starting. We recently purchased a raised garden box kit that's about 4x6 feet and made room for it in our front yard right by the swing set.

We needed something off the ground and big enough to allow for the veggies and herbs to have enough room to grow to a decent size. It also needed to be off the ground to protect the plants from bunnies, neighborhood dogs and cats and the two toddlers who live here with us. Seeing as though the last garden turned into our son's sand box, we were going to make sure that this time around the plants were safe. I'm also planning on creating a wire cover to put over it at night to really prevent any visitors from visiting.


Our garden bed is filled with a small layer of sand, left over dirt from our recent front patio installation and organic soil from City Farmer's Nursery. We will also be buying our veggie plants and seeds from them as well. They have an awesome nursery filled with just about anything you might want to plant. And they have goats, chickens and more animals for the kids to love on while we wander around.

So once we had the garden bed and the soil it was time to start planning and planting. We are planning an organic garden to help feed our family fresh veggies and herbs but we also want to educate our kids about gardening when they're old enough. My 2.5 year old son is very curious about what's going on around him so I figured that it's the perfect time to start showing him what we're doing and why we're doing it. So while I was planning out the garden and figuring out where to put what I had him with me and I told him everything I was doing. And even let him help out a bit!

We chose to plant some winter vegetables including broccoli, lettuce, onions and yummy asparagus. The kids absolutely love broccoli so that was a no brainer. And the other veggies are hardy veggies that won't be hurt by lower temperatures. And since we live in Southern California we don't have to worry too much about frost. The garden, luckily, is in direct sunlight and will receive a lot of warmth and sunlight during the day.

In an effort to make sure I was picking the right plants and planting them with enough space to grow well I used a great software program called groOrganic. The groOrganic planner helped me select the types of vegetables to plant, how to prep the garden bed and now will help me to remember to sow, plant and harvest the garden. Hopefully this program will help reduce the chance of another black thumb this year. And come spring I might be able to plant some more yummy veggies for our family to enjoy! I'll be taking pictures of our garden's progress every few weeks and will keep the blog updated with the latest. And thankfully if I need help I know I can turn to groOrganic for answers and ideas.

A little more about groOrganic:
groOrganic, an innovative company, will provide 'full service' vegetable gardening for people with little time or experience. groOrganic can supply complete raised bed vegetable gardens installed and maintained by professionals or will consult with a client who just needs a little advice. groOrganic offers the most up to date gardening design and maintenance software technology. Our Garden Planner:
  • Makes it easy to draw out your vegetable beds, add plants and move them around to get the perfect layout. Either feet and inches or metric units are supported and any shape of garden can be created.
  • Adapts to suit your gardening style whether you use traditional row planting, raised beds or Square Foot Gardening.
  • Adapts to your own area using our database of over 5000 weather stations.
  • Prints your own personalized planting chart showing how many of each plant you require and when to sow, plant and harvest them.
  • Sends email reminders twice a month of what needs planting from your garden plans.
    For more information email info@groOrganic.com or call 888-9-groOrganic (888-947-6674). There's even a local groOrganic location (and they have their own Facebook page)!

    For direct info on the groOrganic garden planner program visit the direct links here:

    http://gardenplanner.groorganic.com/

    http://store.groorganic.com/AssociationMemberships.aspx

    To stay in the know about groOrganic become a fan of on facebook,  follow them on Twitter, or subscribe to their blog! And check out some great photos on Flickr.

    Want to WIN a 30-day membership to groOrganic?

    groOrganic is offering 2 readers access to their Garden Planner FREE for 30 days! No obligation, no payment information necessary, NO STRINGS ATTACHED! Get ready for Spring now by designing your garden on your own groOrganic Garden Planner. If you're interested in starting your own organic garden this spring than enter for your chance to win below!