Earth's Best Organic Rice Cereal

Earth's Best is one of the most trusted names for Certified Organic infant and baby food and Earth-Friendly baby products. Organic foods are produced without the use of potentially harmful chemicals and synthetic pesticides or growth hormones so they are the safest for babies, children and even adults. For most babies, rice cereal is their first solid food so why not give them the best organic food possible - Earth's Best Organic Rice Cereal. This cereal is easily digestable, tastes great and is so easy to make - just add warm water, formula or breastmilk.

From Earth's Best Organic website:
"Earth's Best infant cereals provide an excellent source of iron (45%), an essential mineral for proper infant growth and development."
Cereal: Whole Grain Rice


•USDA organic: no growth hormones, antibiotics, steroids or potentially harmful pesticides or herbicides
•Made with whole grains
•Excellent source of iron
•No added salt, sugar
•No artificial flavors, colors, preservatives
•No modified food starch
•Kosher certified
Ingredients: Organic Brown Rice, Organic Rice Bran Extract, Tocopherols (Vitamin E), alpha-Amylase (Enzyme), Electrolytic Iron.

This cereal has become a staple in our pantry for both kids and we have given it to them from the time they were 6-7 months old.  They have enjoyed it plain as well as mixed in with pured veggies or in soup.  My favorite recipe is to mix rice cereal with pureed organic spinach and fresh organic chicken stock.  I also use it to thicken yogurt and soup and even in meatballs, muffins and bread!

Here's a great opportunity to have a few boxes for yourself:  We are giving away 3- 8oz boxes of Earth's Best Organic Rice Cereal to 1 lucky reader!

Here's how to enter:
1. MANDATORY - please follow this blog through Google or Networked Blogs if you don't already
2. Sign up for email updates from our newsletter (located on the sidebar of this blog) and leave a comment that you have done so.  Please leave your email address in the comment so I can verify and send you an email if you win
3. EXTRA entries:  make a purchase through this blog on Amazon.com or Sprout's Green Store and get 5 entries for this giveaway!  Just leave a comment and briefly tell what you purchased along with the words "entry #1" - copy comment 4 times adding entry #2, #3...

Entries must be received by Friday, Nov 19 at 11:59pm EST
Winner will be randomly chosen using Random.org and notified by email (so make sure your email is included in your entry)

 ---- Giveaway is Closed ----

Our Winner is entry #5 - Shanee!  You will be contacted by email - thanks for entering!

This giveaway is not sponsored by Earth's Best or any other company and no compensation was or will be received for this giveaway.





Here are some ideas for items to purchase:

Amazing New Amazon Mom Program

OK so if you know me or have been reading my blogs, you know that I am a very loyal Amazon.com shopper and fan!  I have an Amazon.com Prime membership (SO worth it if you shop often and want free 2-day shipping all the time!) and for several years now I have had their credit card, which has probably the BEST rewards benefits - 1 point for every dollar spent on anything / anywhere, 2 points on grocery and drugstore purchases, and 3 points for every dollar spent on Amazon.com AND you can actually choose to cash in points for items or a gift card or even have a check sent to you  (I'll write more on this later when then unveil their new benefits that I heard about)!

Today I received an email from Amazon asking if I would be interested in joining their Amazon.com Mom program, created just for parents and caregivers.  I just had to share this with you all because this is just a great membership for parents! Membership includes special discounts and savings and allows you to earn FREE Prime membership by making purchases.

Here are the details:

30% off select diapers and wipes: As an Amazon Mom, you receive an additional 15% discount on top of the standard 15% discount on select diapers and wipes when you sign up for Subscribe & Save delivery.
• FREE Two-Day Shipping with Amazon Prime: When you join Amazon Mom, you will receive FREE Two-Day Shipping with Amazon Prime for the first 3 months of your membership. For each $25 you spend within a single order in the Baby store, we’ll grant you an additional month of Amazon Prime shipping benefits. You can earn up to one year from the date you joined Amazon Mom.
• Exclusive e-mail discounts and offers

There is no cost to join –simply sign into your Amazon account and tell us whether you are a Mom, Dad, or other caregiver of a child. By providing some optional information about your family, you can help us personalize offers, e-mails, and product recommendations to help you find exactly what you need at just the right time.

Membership Benefits
"There is no minimum purchase requirement to be an Amazon Mom member. If you join Amazon Mom, you will receive FREE Two-Day Shipping with Amazon Prime for the first 3 months of your membership. For each $25 you spend within a single order in the Baby store, we’ll grant you an additional month of Amazon Prime shipping benefits. You can earn up to one year of Amazon Prime shipping benefits from the date you joined Amazon Mom. We may choose to extend this free offer for more than one year. With Amazon Prime, you will be entitled to FREE Two-Day shipping and $3.99 per unit One-Day shipping on all eligible purchases. The automatic renewal provisions in the Amazon Prime Terms & Conditions (which would require you to pay for Amazon Prime) do not apply to this membership, even if we decide to extend the free Amazon Prime shipping offer beyond one year. Amazon Mom members will also be entitled to discounts and promotions, which we will communicate to you via e-mail or make available on the Amazon Mom membership page at Amazon.com Mom."

So if you are a parent or caregiver, like to save money, get free shipping and baby/kid products delivered right to your door - then I suggest you check out this program and become a member!

Click here: Amazon.com Mom

Don't forget to save up to 30% on Amazon.com Back to School Savings - hurry: only through September 11, 2010!

My Baby's Green: My Baby's Green Review/Giveaway-Green Toys

My Baby's Green: My Baby's Green Review/Giveaway-Green Toys: "Products from Green Toys are made from recycled milk jugs, BPA free, very sturdy, no external coatings and dishwasher safe. They are package They are packaged using only recycled and recyclable materials and printed with soy inks. We can feel good about dishing up meals for our babies or toddlers while helping protect our planet too! ..."

Click on the Green text to read the rest of this post and check out My Baby's Green website for much more!

 

Top 5 Homeopathic / Natural Remedies

A week after both my kids recovered from a nasty viral infection, I thought I would share my top 5 homeopathic or more natural remedies that I have found over the past few years worked great.

#1 - for that cough that keeps everyone up all night, I really like Hyland's Cough Syrup with Honey.  I have been using it since my first child was about 12 months old, as recommended by our pediatrician.  It is safer than traditional cough medicine for young children (and yes, it is OK to give them honey if your ped. approves) and I like the fact that it contains no sugar or alcohol.  My kids like the taste, too!  You can find it at Whole Foods, many chain drugstores, but the best price can be found at Amazon.com - buy it in packages of 3!  It is a good idea to always have this handy!

#2 - for multi-symptom relief (ages 2+), we have been using Hylands Cold N Cough 4 Kids with good success.  It does a great job of relieving the coughing, sneezing, stuffiness even at night.  I like it because it is sugar-free and contains no Aspirin, Acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, Naproxen, Pseudoephedrine or Dextromethorphan so there are no side effects.  This is another item I try to have stocked up...  With a kid in preschool, it seems the colds come often!

#3 - for teething babies, we would not live without Hyland's Teething Gel!  Teething is no fun for baby (or parents!) but rubbing this gel on the gums really calms baby quickly.  Both my kids loved the flavor so much that they would grab for the tube and want to hold it too!  Since teething takes forever, make sure you have several tubes (one in each diaper bag/purse/stroller...)  I buy these in bulk!  Want to save an extra 15%?  Buy these through Amazon's Subscribe and Save program and have it automatically delivered every 1,2,3, or 6 months!

#4 - for all the bumps, bruises and boo boos, I have come to love Boiron Arnicare Ointment.  It helps to relieve pain as well as stiffness from sore muscles and will help to reduce the color/size of bruises.  I use it for the constant boo-boos that toddlers seem to get and it tends to calm them down a little.  But I often have a stiff neck / shoulders from carrying a backpack, kids and gear and use it myself!  I like the fact that it does not have a heavy menthol smell, in fact, it smells good! Psst...this is also on Amazon's Subscribe and Save program so save another 15% when you buy a 3-pack!

#5 - keep germs at bay...hand sanitizers have gotten a lot more popular lately but I really hate that alcohol smell on my hands and I certainly don't like it on my kids hands (that go right into their mouths!).  I have found a great hand sanitizer that is natural, alcohol-free and comes in a handy little spray bottle!  Cleanwell All-Natural Hand Sanitizer is a great product and smells nice - a little woodsy but not strong at all!  I love the little 1-oz spray bottles and have one in each bag (including my own) and stroller.  These I found at Whole Foods, Rite-aid and Amazon.com.  Again - make sure to always have these at hand, especially on the playground, at the park or when food shopping (they like to touch everything!)

I have many more products I have tried or found online - many can be found in my Amazon Store so check them out!

Be well!

Natural diapers if you decide to go disposable

A while back I was researching baby products when I read an article about the hidden chemicals in baby wipes and came across this website that is a great resource for parents. It is all about safety and safe products, product recalls, and Eco-friendly products. I have been using Nature Babycare because they are biodegradable and use no chemicals, are really absorbant and the packaging is also recycleable.  They have recently been improved and have much better velcro closure and better elastic around legs and back.  I have also tried Whole Foods 365 brand (cheaper) and they are good as well.

Read the article link here and bookmark this website as it probably has more info you might want to read (Great website by the way!):

http://safemama.com/?s=disposable+diapers

From the Safe Mama web site:
"Huggies Pure and Natural Diapers: We get a lot of questions about these diapers, and I hate to have to be the one to be the bearer of bad news, but these are not really a natural alternative, but more Huggies greenwashing the public to make them believe. Basically, the outer part of the diaper is made with organic cotton, which is great, but the rest of the diaper is no different than a conventional disposable. They’re bleached with dioxins, and as for the organic cotton outer, there’s no law that mandates exactly how much the product has to be organic in order to label it as such. So the diaper could be made from 100% organic materials, or 10% organic materials. I picked up the newborn size for my daughter in the interest of seeing what the hype was all about, and also because they had a cord cut out (something Seventh Generation doesn’t have). However, greenwashing aside, I found the diaper to be sub par and 99% of the time it leaked. SafeMama gives this diaper a thumbs down.

So what are our top picks for disposables? Seventh Generation, Nature Babycare, Earth’s Best and Tushies. There’s also the little g hybrid diaper, which could be considered disposable, however, they’re a more expensive option."

Amazon.com sells Nature Babycare products - the lowest price I have found (and if you sign up for subscribe and save, you save 15%). just click below to view/purchase any of their great products that I have used.  FOR A SHORT TIME you can save 30 % - go to: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000517101&tag=green01d-20

More links:

Nature Babycare Eco-Friendly Diapers

Nature Babycare fragrance-free wipes

Nature Babycare Biodegradable Disposal Bags