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Green Works by Clorox
When my husband and I bought our first house and had our first daughter many years ago, I went on a little "natural cleaner" kick. It didn’t last long. I used the stuff twice, each time getting a bigger headache than if I had used noxious acid to clean, and promptly threw it out. "Natural cleaners" back then weren’t what they are today. It was horrible.
Many years later, we use mostly organic cleaners in the house, which is why I was very anxious to try Green Works by Clorox. I was expecting there to be a bad smell associated with the cleaner, but I was pleasantly surprised. The smells of both the glass and surface cleaner and the all-purpose cleaner are actually very pleasant. Both products offer a very clean, fresh smell, with just a hint of citrus. For someone with a sensitive nose that can turn a headache on instantly, I was really pleased with the result.
Green Works does a really good job too. When your house is up for sale, you are constantly cleaning so I went right to work with the products. Both of them do a great job. The glass and surface cleaner leaves no streaks behind and the all purpose cleaner does a great job as well. With ingredients like coconut oil and lemon in them, you can rest assured that you’re not polluting the household air with any unnecessary chemicals.
Currently, the products are 99% natural, but Clorox is working to get that additional 1% natural as well. If you’d like to find more information about Green Works by Clorox, you can do so here.
For how well it works and for it being a healthy alternative to cleaners with chemical fumes, BBM gives Green Works by Clorox:
Headgear Showdown
I’m not sure why, but most dojo have come to use a standard set of sparring equipment. You probably know the kind I’m talking about – dipped foam in various colors. I believe it must have been a cost-to-protection ratio that caused this style to become a mainstay in most martial arts. Dipped foam gear is form fitting, cost effective, and offers decent protection to those areas that need protecting (most often head, hands, feet, shins, and sometimes chest). I’ve conducted a little experiment with different kinds of headgear and would like to share my results with you.
First of all, here is quick look at dipped foam headgear – 
http://www.awma.com
This probably looks familiar. But here is a different kind of headgear I have been trying – 
http://www.dickssportinggoods.com
It resembles boxing headgear and is actually intended for mixed martial arts practice. MMA is pretty far from my normal traditional style, but one thing about the old masters of karate is that they were concerned about what works best, and often met with each other to discuss techniques and teaching methods. In that vein, I try to keep an open mind to everything I see. When the time came to reinvest in some new sparring equipment, I noticed this kind of headgear and took a shot.
I have to say the quality of the MMA headgear seems to be much higher. The helmet encompasses my head in a comfortable fabric and seems to form-fit very effectively. The design of the faceplate covers some areas that are often exposed with foam dipped helmets. Of course, some of the foam dipped helmets have face shields that protrude out like this – 
http://www.awma.com
I’ve found that these faceplates make for a target a bit closer to the opponent than your face would be, and therefore, get hit more often. The MMA headgear doesn’t really suffer from that, and still protects the face without hindering vision.
The most important factor I’ve noticed is that the MMA helmet takes hits better. Strikes are less jarring and the helmet has less tendency to shift.
Overall, I think this boxing-inspired MMA helmet is a nice piece of equipment and I would recommend it to anyone who isn’t satisfied with their foam dipped equipment.
Ikigai108 gives the MMA Helmet…
Breakfast Breaks
I admit…at three years of age, we are already doing breakfast on the go. Well, not on my watch, but when I am at work and my Hubby has to do the morning duties, breakfast is more often than not on the go. Usually it consists of dry cereal or a waffle, no syrup. This phenomenon may be a thing of the past.
Breakfast Breaks is here. This nifty new product is perfect for families on the go (or daddies who sleep too long and don’t have time to fix their kiddos breakfast). Packaged in these cute little briefcase-like boxes, my son loved playing with the box and pretending to be daddy. Included in each box are a variety of breakfast foods. We received two boxes…one had a strawberry Fruit & Grain bar, a package of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and an Minute Maid Apple Juice box. The other contained an Apple Cinnamon Fruit & Grain Bar, Honey Nut Cheerios, and a Minute Maid Apple Juice Box. These are all staple breakfast foods for us so to have them all in the same place is super convenient. Each box also includes a spoon, a napkin, and a moist towelette. Great for eating and cleaning up on the go!
The downfall to these little packs is twofold-the juice is warm and there’s no milk for the cereal. While these are problems, my son didn’t comment on the juice’s temperature and we more often than not eat cereal dry in our house. I also think that school-age children would be able to buy milk before school since most schools have a breakfast program now.
I’m excited to have the Breakfast Breaks for any road trips. My little guy is not a morning person and usually waits to eat breakfast. When we leave on an early morning trip, he won’t eat and then will be "so hungry" once we are on the road. This is the perfect way to have breakfast without having to stop and take more time out of our travels.
You can get lots more info on the Breakfast Breaks website http://www.breakfastbreaks.com/. You can check out where to buy Breakfast Breaks and the kids can even play some games. This is a great concept, but because of the couple of downfalls, I give it:
Hooray for Yoplait!
We love Yoplait in our house. I have always been a fan of the Custard Style, now called Thick and Creamy, yogurt in my lunches. When my son moved out of the whole milk phase in his life, we moved over to Yoplait Kids yogurt. It was an easy transition. I recently was lucky enough to receive a box of yogurt and yogurt drinks-it was a happy day.
I have tried yogurt drinks in the past when they first came out. They always kind of grossed me out. The texture was thick and chunky and the yogurt taste was just plain weird in drink form. Yoplait Kids yogurt drinks have changed all that. I think that my son and I are probably going to be fighting over these in the fridge. The drinks come in four flavors with four characters on the bottle to help entice finicky children. Dora markets the Strawberry flavor, Diego the mixed berry, The Backyardigans the banana, and Blue’s Clues the strawberry-banana. We tried the mixed berry-the smell was wonderful and the taste was very flavorful. You could barely tell it was a yogurt drink. Since then, we have bought the Strawberry-Banana and it’s just as delicious. We’re anxious to try the other two. The drinks are a great on-the-go snack. It’s sure to fill up your kiddo and keep them going until their next meal.
Our fridge is always stocked with the Yoplait Kids yogurts. I take them in my lunch…people at work always chuckle a little, "Oh, need to go to the grocery store, huh? Stealing from your kid’s lunchbox?" My lunch buddies think they’re pretty funny. Truth is, I buy them for both my son and myself. I love that they have less suger in them. This less sugary taste tastes so much better than regular yogurts. Besides the appealing 9 grams less of sugar than other brands, they also contain vitamins A and D, protein, and Omega-3 DHA. The yogurts come 2 flavors in a pack of 6-strawberry/strawberry vanilla, vanilla/banana, and peach/strawberry banana.
What I like the most about these yogurts is the texture. My son is super-sensitive to texture. It is very difficult to find yogurts that don’t have fruit chunks in them. Yoplait has clearly thought of this, too. The texture is thick and creamy and no chunks!! For beginning eaters, the thick texture makes it a lot easier to keep on the spoon. And yes, it makes it easier for me, too.
You can get a free coupon for Yoplait Kids just by going to www.yoplaitkids.com. There is also a ton of information on there to help you understand their product and feed your children nutritiously. Check it out and get a free coupon while you’re at it!
Because I love this product not only for my son, but also for myself, I give it a:
Breakfast Breaks
For kids, anything new is exciting. Anything that comes in its own carrying case is especially enthralling, especially when that box contains food. My girls. . . they can eat.
Breakfast Breaks are these handy packages, complete with carrying handle, that contain most of what your child needs to have a nutritious breakfast. Each package contains a sealed cereal bowl, a juice box, an additional item like a breakfast bar or package of raisins, plastic utensils, a napkin and a moistened wipe. Breakfast Breaks come in four varieties: Cheerios, Honey-nut Cheerios, Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Each package has varying items that accompany the cereal.
My girls tried the Honey-Nut Cheerios and the Cinnamon Toast Crunch boxes. They both thought it was really cool that their breakfast came in a handy box.
Breakfast Breaks are being marketed as an on-the-go nutritious breakfast. One does have to make some compromises in using them though. First, since refrigerated breakfast bars and cereal aren’t really standard, one must accept the fact that the juice will be lukewarm. My kids didn’t really seem to mind this, and I doubt most would. I just thought that might be a slight thumbs down for the Breakfast Breaks.
The other issue is that each box comes with dry cereal. One has to provide milk in order to make the whole thing work. Granted, many kids will gladly eat dry cereal, but milk isn’t really an on-the-go drink and combined with cereal? The only place I want a bowl of cereal going for my kids is on the table with a sink and paper towels nearby.
I’m guessing that those marketing Breakfast Breaks are planning on kids taking them to school in the morning and purchasing a milk to use with their Breakfast Breaks. They would also be handy to take along in the car when you have to get moving in the morning, without the milk of course.
Although my kids found them to be wildly exciting, I’m not sure that I really do. I think it would probably be just as easy to throw a juice box, a baggy of dry cereal and a breakfast bar or raisins in a paper back or lunch box. I’m not sure what the cost breakdown would be to put one together yourself versus buying a Breakfast Break, because I’m not all that into math, but I’ll bet you I could put my own together for less money. Breakfast Breaks sell for $2.49/package for 2 for $4. Of course, one has to remember that you’re paying for the convenience of not having to put something together. If you’d like more information or to find out where you can purchase them, you can do so here.
Although my kids were overjoyed, I’d have to say that I’m sort of lukewarm on the whole Breakfast Breaks thing. I can see using them time to time, but I don’t really see the necessity to use them on a daily basis. For these reasons, BBM gives Breakfast Breaks. . .
Getting Rave Reviews
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