Ellie's Best 'The Bigger Better Nut Milk Bag' Review

Can we all say multifunctional?! 

When I received this bag from Ellie's Best to test I got so giddy with the possibilities. This bag is made of a material that I compare to a cleaner and easier version of cheesecloth, which as a mom and a cook, has endless uses. The three uses I will be showing you in this article are:

•  Almond Milk
•  Elevated Hot Apple Cider

Almond Milk
Making your own home made almond milk is not only good for you but it's fun and easy too. Making your own almond milk you are able to control all ingredients and the quality of your drink.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of fresh organic almonds
• 4 1/2 cups of filtered water
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 3-4 prunes (pitted; for added sweetness)
• Pinch of salt
• One Ellie's BIGGER Better Nut Bag 
• Blender

1) First you need to soak your nuts (::giggles::). For almonds you need to soak for at least 10 to 12 hours, but no more than 2 days. This will soften your nuts and prepare them for blending. As your nuts soak they will make the water look 'dirty'. This is because the skin is softening and the shell is breaking apart slowly. Some dirt may be on the nuts and this bath will also clean the nuts.

2) Drain and rinse nuts.

3) Add nuts, filtered water, salt, vanilla extract and prunes to blender. Blend for 1 to 2 minutes.

4) Place Ellie's Best Nut Bag over a bowl. Pour the mixture into the bag, allowing the liquid to pass through the bag into the bowl. Squeeze the contents of the bag to get all milk out of bag.

5) Enjoy! Put in fridge and can be enjoyed for up to 3 days.

Toddler Approved

Elevated Hot Apple Cider

We all love a warm cup of hot apple cider in the fall and winter. Its such a comfort drink that is safe for the whole family to enjoy at a special occasion or at the fun gathering. It's easy enough to make right before an event and takes hardly any prep work at all (which is what us moms need sometimes). Leave it on during a party to make the whole room smell nice and festive.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 Cinnamon Sticks
• 1 Tablespoon of Whole All Spice
• 1 Tablespoon of Whole Cloves
• 1 Gallon on Fresh Apple Cider
• 1 Ellie's Best BIGGER Better Nut Bag

Simply pour your cider into a crock-pot.

Measure out your spices and add them to the nut bag.

Tie off the nut bag by wrapping the extra cord around the top too keep the spices in.

Place bag into crock-pot and cook on low for 3-6 hours (or keep on 'warm' during a party to keep warm and allow the room to be aromatic). 

Enjoy with a cinnamon stir stick if desired.

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.

Gold and Three Promotional Giveaway

Gold and Three is a company owned by a mother of 3 fabulous children. She specializes in making custom products: oneies, water tumblers, decals to decorative tiles and more. She is always looking to expand her product line, so feel free to ask her if you don't see a product that you would be interested in personalizing; it cant hurt to ask! Just private message Gold and Three on Facebook with any questions and to place orders.

Gold and Three is based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are able to ship anywhere across the globe (shipping costs are paid by customer).

When I first heard about Gold and Three I placed an order for a custom water tumbler. This water tumbler is a matte aluminum made for cold drinks. I had it made with the International Baby Wearing logo and my name (Wear ALL the babies!).

She has tons of color combo options too, which makes designing your own just that much more fun (You pick the bottle color and the writing color).

 

Here are some examples of custom items which were recently designed for customers:

Onesies are available in multiple sizes (newborn to 24 months). Custom prints are also available on toddler and adult shirts.

Everyone has inside jokes or sayings that you and your friends/family say all the time. Why not make that saying into a car decal to brighten up your car?!

 (Or any other item! Decals have endless opportunity in placement)

Birth Announcement Tiles are SO IN! I am part of multiple mom groups and these are the hot thing all new moms want. These announcements are extremely versatile and have tons of custom options. You can change the colors, fonts, set up. These are truly a classic gift to treasure and will be loved by the child from birth into adulthood. 

Now here is the awesome part! Gold and Three would like to offer you the chance to win a free custom onesie! 

That's right, shipped right to you for FREE! 

This onesie can be yours (you would pick the size and print color)!!!

If you just cannot wait and need to place an order right now use the code MamatheFox for an additional 10% off your first purchase (code expires October 30th, 2014). 

a Rafflecopter giveaway  This giveaway is open to continental US residents 18+ from 1 am September 15th, 2014 and close at 12:59 am September 30th, 2014. No PO Boxes. Winners will be drawn using Rafflecopter's Random Number Generator. I will notify winner via e-mail and they will have 48 hours to reply before I am forced to redraw winners. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. This contest is not affiliated with Facebook in any way.

Welcome to the #JustBecause We Can Giveaway Hop, brought to you by The Hopping Bloggers and Up All Night Blogging! We are a group of bloggers that specialize in giveaway hops - so stay with us and you will have many chances to win some amazing prizes! Each of the bloggers participating in this hop has a giveaway with a prize value of at least $20 - and some are much more than that! Be sure to visit them all - there is no limit to how many prizes you can win! Good Luck and Have Fun!

How to Make Skillet Chili Mac

Ingredients:
1 cup of cheddar cheese
1 - 1 1/2 lb of ground beef
1 1/2 cups of pasta shells (medium)
1 or 2 cans of Rotel with green chilies
1 (8 oz) can of tomato sauce
1 can kidney (red) beans
1/2 tea dried oregino
1/2 tea cumin
1 1/2 tablespoon of chili powder
1 tea salt
1 tea of garlic minced
2 cups of water
1 bell pepper (chopped)
1 med onion (chopped)

*optional toppings can be: green onions, sour cream, additional cheese...

1. Chop your green pepper

2. Chop your onion

3. Saute your onion and green pepper in oil until light browning occurs. Then add raw ground beef and continue to saute until meat is fully cooked (no pink).

4. Add in to skillet: cumin, chili powder, oregano, garlic, salt, shells, Rotel, kidney beans, tomato sauce and water. Mix well and cover. Cook for 20 minutes or until shell are fully cooked.

5. Once fully cooked add in the cheese and stir well.

Additional toppings are optional.

How to Make Stuffed Breakfast Rolls

Breakfast for dinner, anyone?!

Ingredients:

8 Breakfast sausages
5 Eggs
1 Can of crescent rolls (8 rolls)
4 Slices of cheese
salt

First, scramble your eggs LEAVING 1 to 2 tablespoons of raw egg for later.

Cook your breakfast sausages (I prefer stove top over microwaving).

Now break your cheese slices in half.
Unroll the can of crescent rolls and separate (they are triangle shaped).
Lay the cheese on the roll. Place 1 sausage and 1 tablespoon (or more) of egg on roll. Roll up as if making a regular roll. Pull sides to make 'larger' and pull over to cover the ends. Doing this will keep the stuffing in.

Once stuffed and sealed turn over to help seal them during the cooking process.
Now take that left over raw egg and brush the tops of your rolls.
After they are glazed with the raw egg sprinkle with salt (I used Pink Himalayan).

Bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

Enjoy!!

Children 'n Us Stroller Organizer Review

 

 (This picture only has my tea and keys in the bag; I was too excited and took this picture before loading it up)

I am so geeked out about this new product!

Children 'n Us sent me a complimentary Stroller Organizer to test for them and what a pleasure it has been to do so.

I opened the package and showed my husband our new organizer. The first thing out of his mouth:

 "Why are we just getting this now? We should have had this for the past 2 years!" 

They are the largest stroller organizer I have ever seen (11.8 x 6.3 x 5.9 inches). As all moms know (especially moms with 2+ kids) there is always so much you need to have with you, but you hate to tote around on oversized diaper bag. I have a few strollers and the bottom basket, where you store your stuff, is either way difficult to get to because of the seats or its so tiny you can barely fit a banana down there. This is where having a stroller organizer is going to rock your socks off. I was able to reach my phone, drink, kids snacks...all without having to crawl on the dirty ground to access a diaper bag. My back and knees thank you Children 'n Us.


I was able to fill this thing with everything I need and there was still room for more! I packed mine for a walk this morning with the following:

2 size two diapers
2 size four diapers
1 Iced Tea (for Mama of course)
1 bottle
1 package of wipes
some cash
my house keys
my car keys
1 water cup
1 snack cup

It has a pocket for your smartphone; a velcro pocket to carry things like pacifiers or car keys; two insulated bottle spots (or for Mamas water bottle), a zipper pocket to store your keys or some cash; and an external pocket, and plenty of room to bring diapers and wipes...just in case...

On our stroll I played with the buckles. It was super secure but I was also able to loosen and tighten then with one hand so I could still keep one hand on the stroller.

It never shifted or moved around so I was able to not worry about my stuff dumping out or shifting all the way to the left or all the way to the right.

Enough reading! Go buy this organizer! 

Click here to buy from Amazon

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.

How to Make Homemade Carrot and Apple Baby Food Puree

Why make your own baby food?

Many parents and care givers choose to make their own baby food:

To Save Money

No Added Sugars

No Preservatives

No Chemicals

No Dyes

When are Carrots or Apples safe to introduce?

The American Acadamy of Pediatrics recommends:

"Because the intake of naturally occurring nitrates from foods such as green beans, carrots, squash, spinach, and beets can be as high as or higher than that from well water, these foods should be avoided before 3 months of age, "

Apples are a wonderful first food for your child. They are high in insoluble fiber and soluble fiber. This helps with bowel regularity (which can help prevent diverticulosis and colon cancer). Just be sure to peel that skin!


How to Make Homemade Carrot and Apple Baby Food: 

 * Choose 3 organic apples and one bag of organic baby carrots. Apples are on the "dirty dozen" according to the EWG. The "dirty dozen" are a list of foods which are highly contaminated with with pesticides, so choosing organic is wise.

* Wash your food! Even if you are peeling it. 

* Peel your apples. 

* Then cut in half.

* Then scoop out center and remove stem and butt with knife. Use a circular scoop motion to save as much apple as possible.

* Now chop the apple into equal pieces and place on a roasting pan with parchment paper or a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt. I used a french sea salt but table salt will do as just as well. This is to add flavor and keep them from browning (light browning will occur naturally).

* Roast apples in oven at 375 degrees from 20-30 minutes until tender. Baking the apples will keep all the nutrients in. If you choose to boil that is fine but you will loose some of the nutrients. 

* While apples are roasting; boil your carrots on the stove top. Boil until fully cooked and tender (they should float to the top as the become more tender; floating doesn't always mean the are 100% done though).  Check with a fork for tenderness.

* After the apples and carrots are tender blend them using whatever device you choose (Baby Bullet; Cuisinart Hand Mixer...)

* Once blended put into individual containers.

 

* You do not need to wait for the vegetable to completely cool before freezing or refrigeration (you do wait for meats to cool before freezing). If you are able to freeze them it will be like blanching. Your newly made puree will only be good for 24 hours in the refrigerator. If you want to keep some longer you can freeze them, which will keep for up to 30 days in a freezer, or up to 60 days in a deep freezer. I would suggest putting your containers IN a Ziploc freezer bag or into ANOTHER larger container to avoid freezer burn. Once you defrost a frozen container it is only good for 24 hours.

Make sure to label your food. I use a small piece of tape and a Sharpie to label. This way I can easily identify and rotate my food but not permanently mark my containers.