Fresh Mouths Are Good Mouths with #OralBCrestFORME

Happy Monday!

My girls love any excuse to host a party. In the summer we often have impromptu sprinkler parties that involve the whole neighborhood on my front lawn because my middle one is a social butterfly. She gets very sad in the winter because it is a lot harder to get everyone together. When the invitation came for the Mom on the Run family to host MommyParties Oral B Stage III & Crest and Oral-B Pro-Health FOR ME we gladly accepted. Any excuse to have a party is a great one.

We invited our guests to our house last Sunday for a Cars II viewing party in conjunction with learning about the Oral B Stage III & Crest and Oral-B Pro-Health FOR ME. Tajiah was really excited to share with her friends the Cars movie.

While the kids watched the movie the other moms and I discussed the amazing Oral B Swag bags that each movie goer would receive at the end of the movie. Tajiah said she felt that she was at Blogher all over again .

Each goodie bag contained:

- Oral-B Stage III Toothbrush

- Oral-B Stages Flossers

- Pro-Health For Me toothpaste

- Pro-Health For Me floss picks

- Cars II Gummy Vitamins

- Coupons for Mom

A we learned a little information about Oral-B:

Oral-B Stages, dentists’ #1 recommended toothbrush brand for children, not only has kid appeal but is specifically designed to address children’s dentition, dexterity and development as they grow. Oral-B also offers kid-friendly Stages toothpaste to complement their brushing routine.

Oral-B Stages is recommended by dentists, accepted by parents and preferred by kids. In fact, in a 2001 practice-based study involving 22 pediatric dental offices in the U.S., Europe and Australia, and nearly 800 children revealed:

- 69% of parents reported that, compared to other brushes used, their children were motivated to brush longer with the Stages brush.

- 91% of dental professionals surveyed felt that the Stages brush addressed the specific dentition and dexterity needs of children.

About Pro-Health For Me™ from Crest® and Oral-B®

Crest and Oral-B Pro-Health For Me is the first and only complete line of oral care products for tweens (kids 8+) created to protect all the areas dentists check in kids including fighting cavities, strengthening teeth enamel and freshening breath.

Pro-Health For Me provides trusted oral care products that tweens will want to use, with the oral care benefits moms want for their kids. With Pro-Health From Me, there’s finally something you can both agree on!

The Pro-Health For Me line includes toothbrushes that are just the right size for older kids’ mouths, toothpaste and rinse flavors designed for tweens and floss picks that are easy to use—all in unique packaging that’s cool enough for tweens!

Visit www.Crest.com for more information.

After the movie ended the kids of course could not wait to open up and explore their goody bags. Here is some candid shots of the party participants:

Oral-B and Crest are brands that I have and will continue to use in the Mom on the Run house. The other moms and I discussed how important having a brushing your teeth in your child’s schedule is so important. They were also happy that their kids would be brining home something useful and not the usual junk you would get in kids party goodie bags (ie candy). It was a great day! Thank you Mom Select for bringing us this amazing opportunity!

*Our Cars II Viewing party was sponsored by Oral-b, Crest and Mom Select. The opinions, where expressed, are my own and were in no way influenced by the sponsor.

Mom on the Run’s Must Have Monday’s!

Lately I have been pondering how much “crap” is on the market these days. Now that I am not only buying health and wellness products for myself, I have realized how much is out there for kids. I rely heavily on product reviews before investing any money in the latest and greatest items. I want to share my research with the Mom on the Run readers because I have been stuck with a lot of junk lately. So every Monday I will review one product that I have deemed something that is a complete must have in any busy mom’s (or woman’s) life. I want you to spend your hard earned money on things that actually will make your life easier. Enjoy!

---

Peke Moe

Baby A has been nothing but another blessing in our lives, but she has not been the easiest baby to care for. We had a very rough start until her milk protein allergy was discovered and she cried all of the time. There were many tearful and sleep deprived nights trying to do all we could to calm and settle her. We thought it was colic, the doctor told us it was a reaction to the dairy. Whatever it was it seemed nothing was making Baby A happy.

I scoured the internet, specifically mommy blogs and forums,  to get any help or advice. Thank goodness for other mommies because I think I would probably be lying face down on my bed right about now from sleep exhaustion. From the wisdom of other mommies I invested in a book that saved my sleep deprived life, The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp. This man is a baby genius in my opinion (for all that is worth). He taught be the 5s’s (swaddling, shooshing, side lying, swinging, and sucking). He goes into great detail on how integrating all of these techniques into an infants daily life can help them feel as if they are back in the womb. Baby A is a true testament of how these techniques really work. She responded to them immediately and I did have a much happier child. If you want more information on the techniques, visit Dr. Karp’s site. It is full of great resources for both baby and toddlers.

The technique that Baby A loved the most was her swaddle. She loved to be snug and warm.

(Antonia modeling the Swaddle and Suck Routine- Mommy modeling the only 4 hours of sleep look)

I used Summer Infant Swaddle Me’s as I found these the easiest to use. When you are in zombie land at 3 AM the easier the device the better. It was also an easy thing for others to use as well as we did have some help when she was first born. The swaddle helped her sleep longer which was something that this mommy greatly appreciated. Every month I would try to “free” her of the swaddle and try to see if she could sleep without it. This was an epic failure every time.  I am not a Cry-It-Out kind of momma (Please no bashers) so I did what I thought was best for her and continued to swaddle her.

As she got bigger I became concerned about what I was going to do when she either A) Grew Out of the Swaddle or B) Learned to flip over to her stomach. Unfortunately Choice B came first at the early age of 4 months and I knew Baby A’s swaddling days were over. I was desperate as I had just returned to work and sleep was desperately needed. A cranky teacher is not a fun teacher, or so my students tell me. Back to the internet I went and I was introduced to this amazing find.

Peke Moe

Peke Moe – Unique, 100% natural cotton, New Zealand handmade baby sleeping bags / sleep sacks / swaddling bags / sleep suits

specifically for babies that get out of their swaddle, unwrap, get cold hands, scratch at their face and have eczema and also a great blanket alternative. Excellent for swaddle houdinis, babies transitioning into sleeping bags, and an alternative to baby swaddling wraps, swaddle blankets, swaddle weaning, wrapping baby – this is for you!

The great thing about the Peke Moe™ is that your baby stays snug all night, the 100% brushed cotton allows warmth but is ‘breathable’ for our babies precious skin and their hands don’t get as cold, and the 100% cotton summer weight muslin fabric is light and airy, for hot summer days. Babies have the ability to learn how to ‘self soothe’, by sucking on their hands (which are covered by the corners of the fabric) and they can develop the skills to sleep ‘unwrapped’!

It can also prevent mozzie bites on babies skin as all (except head/face) is covered.

This is also a great covering for babies with eczema, as it prevents them from scratching at themselves. A lovely soft ribbing neck is just pulled over the babies head, guide their hands into the top rounded corners and it is zipped at the bottom.

It has enough length that if you’re going out in the evening you can pop it on baby and pull up the centre, between babies legs, to enable them to be strapped into their carseat.  Some mums have also utilised the ‘length’ of the Peke Moe and tuck it in at the foot end of the cot to minimize movement around the cot by the baby.

Once I read that description I was sold. I quickly ordered one as I knew there would be a little bit of a wait as these sleep sacks are hand constructed in New Zealand. It was well worth the wait. After only 1 night of getting used to her new sack, Baby A loves her Peke Moe. In fact she gets excited when I take it out before her naps and bedtime. It signals to her that she will have her comfort item to sleep with. I am on Peke Moe #2 as I have a winter weight and a summer weight sleep sack. Other mom’s have questioned me about the price (comes to about 50.00 dollars after the exchange) and I explain that it has been worth every penny. The Peke Moe is well made and makes Baby A happy. I have washed it over and over again and it still looks like brand new. It is one of those things you can buy once and safely pass it down to other babes. She also looks too cute for words in it as well.

If you are a mom desperate for a transition swaddle this is your essential must have baby item. You will not be disappointed. Thank you Peke Moe for making night time enjoyable for this Mom on the Run! Head on over to the Peke Moe site and buy yours now. Tell them Mom on the Run sent you .

Eat Clean Sunday and Winners

It has been another great weekend despite the weather being a bit on the rainy side. I dedicated part of the time in planning my menu for the week and look for new recipes to try. I really want to to re-dedicate my cooking practices to a more “clean eating” approach. I wanted to start with my breakfast selections, as it seems that getting up in the morning is getting harder and harder as the school year comes to an end. I went right to a great source for a lot of clean eating recipes The Eat Clean Diet Cookbook by Tosca Reno. This cookbook has over 150 clean eating recipes for the whole family to enjoy. It includes many color pictures of the recipes which in my opinion makes a great cookbook. I was immediately drawn to the Carrot Bread Recipe on page 314. I wanted to share this with you, as I know a lot of you are looking for healthy recipes.

Carrot Bread

Ingredients

1 lb (454 gms) carrots, peeled and grated
1 1/4 C (300 mL) whole wheat flour
1 1/4 C (300 mL) cornmeal
1/4 C (60 mL) flaxseed meal
1 1/2 tsp (8mL) baking powder
pinch of sea salt
3 egg whites
1 egg yolk
2 TBSP (30 mL) canola oil
1/2 C (125 mL) organic honey
3/4 C (180 mL) fat free organic milk or Low Fat Soy Milk
1/4 C (60 mL) raisins
1/4 C (60 mL) dried cranberries

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (190 degrees C).
In a small saucepan place carrots and enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and let cool.

In a medium mixing bowl place dry ingredients (flour, cornmeal, flaxseed meal, baking powder, salt).

Instead of Flaxseed meal, I used a new product that I found recently, Salba (as seen in above measuring cup). Salba is is a whole grain high in vital nutrients and minerals. Grown under strict growing conditions by one family of growers in Peru, Salba is nutritionally consistent from crop to crop.

What are some of the nutritional benefits of Salba?

• higher in Omega-3 than flax or salmon
• higher ORAC score (antioxidants) than blueberries or pomegranates.
• improves CVD risk factors in Type 2 Diabetes
• higher in fiber than All Bran
• higher in iron than spinach
• higher in calcium than milk

Ideas for Salba for Baking (whole or ground):

• Replace the 1/6 flour in any recipe with ground Salba
• Add whole grain to any recipe
• 1T Whole grain Salba + ¼ cup of water = 1 egg (stir Salba to prevent clumping, blend gel for best results)

Enhance your muffins, breads, cookies, meatloaf, pie crusts, etc. with Salba! I decided to enhance this bread with Salba because I wanted it to be a powerhouse of nutritious goodness.

In another bowl, whip egg whites until stiff.
In a small bowl put egg yolk, honey, and milk. Mix well.

Add to dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add whipped egg whites and fold until just combined. Add dried fruit, nuts, and cooked carrots and mix until just combined. Do not over-mix or loaf will be tough.

Prepare a 5 x 9 inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

The nutritional data per recipe in the book:
calories 288, calories from fat 53, protein 6 g, carbs 53 g, dietary fiber 6 g, sugars 23 g, fat 5 g, sodium 67 mg
Number of Servings: 10

The verdict:

I had to sample a tiny piece because it smelled delicious. It was moist and tasty. This will make a great breakfast for the morning.

Sorry for the delay of announcing the winners of Friday’s contest. And the winners of the Tyson Meal Coupon are……

1. Michelle at Lucky Taste Buds

2. Heather from A Healthier Me

3. Zara from Crazy Mom

4. Amanda from Fake Ginger

5. Carol from Uncovering Food

Please send me an email at smmuconn@gmail.com to redeem your prize Congrats to the winners. Hope your weekend was great! More Clean Eating recipes this week and a Cinco de Mayo Celebration Mom on the Run Style.

Next Page »