Admired Martial Artists Month Giveaway

We are excited to be partnering with Turtle Press this month to give away some great prizes! All you need to do to enter to win is leave a comment on any review post during the month of March. We’ll be awarding three Ultimate Flexibility: Stretching for Martial Arts DVD’s and three Ultimate Flexibility books. Look for the review on the Ultimate Flexibility book and other great Turtle Press products later this month! Thanks to Turtle Press for this exciting giveaway!

Posted by Black Belt Mama on March 8, 2008 in Freebies | 2 Comments

March 1, 2008

All Hail Whole Grain Pop-Tarts

When the opportunity came up to review Whole Grain Pop-Tarts, I jumped at the chance. I used to love Pop-Tarts…the way you toast them up and get that hot, gooey, sugary filling (okay, that usually burns your mouth, but it just doesn’t matter…) and the way you eat mostly the inside where the filling is and the yummy icing on top and leave the "crusts" for the birds. I haven’t had one in years and my son has never experienced them. Mostly because we eat too much sugar throughout the day, I just didn’t want to start his day with that. But, when you add Whole Grain to the package, I’m willing to be persuaded.

Sometimes, adding the whole grain element can change the texture and flavor for the worst. In this case, well, it’s just not the case. I like the Whole Grain Pop-Tarts far better than the classic Pop-Tarts. The icing is drizzled on the top and not in one solid chunk of sugar…the less sweet flavor makes the rest of the Pop-Tart taste delicious. The best part of them? When you toast them up, they get kind of crispy and it really brings out the taste of the filling.

We tried both the Brown Sugar Cinnamon and the Strawberry. I am a huge cinnamon fan with anything, so this was my favorite, but the Strawberry was yummy, too. My son, who usually favors strawberry, liked the Brown Sugar Cinnamon more, too.

The biggest negative to the product is that the second and third ingredients are corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup. If you’re trying to avoid those, you’re out of luck on this one.

Although I haven’t yet looked in my local grocery stores for them, you can search on their website, www2.kelloggs.com, to find a store near you. In my area, the local chain grocery store carries it as well as our local Target. So, it’s apparently out there and easy to get. And I will be getting…

So, while it still may not be the most healthful breakfast food on the market, with 1 1/4 servings of whole grains in it, it’s a better alternative to much of what is out there. Just talking about it makes me want one and I think I will indulge.

I give Whole Grain Pop-Tarts Brown Sugar Cinnamon and Strawberry a

Posted by TKDDaughter on March 1, 2008 in Food and Drink | Leave a Comment

February 29, 2008

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:

Posted by Black Belt Mama on February 29, 2008 in Household | Leave a Comment

February 25, 2008

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…

Posted by Ikigai 108 on February 25, 2008 in Martial Arts | Leave a Comment

February 21, 2008

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: