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. 

How to Make Homemade Zucchini Baby Food

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 is Zucchini safe to introduce?

Zucchini is a safe food to introduce after you child is at least 6 months old. Once they are 8 months you may keep the skin in the puree. Before an infant is 8 months they are unable to digest the skin of a zucchini. However, the skin is where practically all of the nutrients are. This post will be for my son who is not yet 8 months, so the skin will be removed.


How to Make Homemade Zucchini Baby Food:

* First choose 2 small organic zucchinis. You want them to be small because they are the most tender.

* WASH your food! Even if its organic. Even if you will be peeling it. Then peel if you choose to.

Even if you are peeling it you HAVE to clean it. You might be thinking

"No way, you are just tossing the skin anyway!"

That is correct in the macro sense of things. But think of the micro sense; if you use a peeler or a knife and are cutting off the skin you are then pushing the dirty bits into the flesh of your food with every swipe.

* After peeling, chop them into small equal circles.

* Now you will steam or boil your zucchini. I placed mine into a small pot of water. I turned it to medium heat. Once at a nice rolling boil I turned it down to a low boil. Let it boil until soft.

* After they are soft, remove the cooked zucchini from the pot with a slotted spoon. You will want to save the water if you choose to make your puree ever thinner. This water has some of the nutrients from the vegetable so you would want to use this water over fresh filtered water when thinning.

You will place the zucchini in your blender. I will be using a Baby Bullet, but any blender will do the trick. I sometimes use a Cuisinart Hand Blender.

* Once it is at the consistency you desire you will place them into individual feeding containers. I will be using the containers which came with a Baby Bullet System but any Tupperware container will do. Make sure you NEVER feed your baby out of a container and put it back in the fridge. Once a spoon which has entered a mouth and was dipped back into the food the food now has bacteria in it which will cause you to be unable to reuse it later. If you will not use the whole container at the feeding simply move the quantity you desire into a different dish.

* 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.

I hope your little one loves his or her new food experience!

How to Have a Stroke

Both children are napping.
Peace.
Quiet.
Breathing at a slow pace.
I am browsing the internet and listening to Pandora Radio from my phone. I put on the classical channel. Enjoying the moment to the max.

::HEY! PANDORA LISTENER!!!...blah blah commercial 5 times louder then the LIGHT LISTENING I was taking in:: 

My heart jumped into my throat as if someone jumped out of my phone into my dining room.

Calm down, Pandora. There are plenty of other radio apps I can choose from. I will let this slide but if you scare me again like that I will be trying out I<3Radio or whatever that app all the young-ins are bopping around to.

Reader, now you may now continue your life even though my throat is still sore from being stretched from my temporary organ misplacement experience.