A normal day in our home consists of four different meals at least twice a day.  One wants a quesadilla, the other wants nuggets.  I am constantly trying to find a happy medium when it comes to meal times. Not to mention the fact that I have a very picky eater.

 

My oldest son refuses to eat any type of fruit or veggie, it’s impossible.  I’ve tried making cutesy characters out of cucumbers and smiley faces with strawberries for pancakes.  Instead, he pushes it to the side.

 

I know just how important veggies are for growing kids, I was lucky enough to find this opportunity with Daily Kneads Veggie Breads.  I was asked to review their products, I am excited for this opportunity to try new things and introduce them to my family.

 

In the package they included, the Tomato Basil Veggie bread, Carrot and Pumpkin bread, and Spinach and leek flatbread.  Let me start by saying they are so delicious and contain one cup of veggies per slice! That’s right…per slice.  Amazing, right?

 

So today I am going to share with you not only how this bread helped my picky eater but some simple recipes as well.

 

 

Tomato Basil Grilled Ham & Cheese

This is a classic, every kid loves a grilled cheese. With this bread, I wanted to jazz up this everyday favorite.

 

1. Half a teaspoon of butter in a frying pan
2. Add Swiss, cheddar, Ham, and a little spinach
3. Cook on each side 1 to 3 minutes or until golden brown on the outside

 

Keep in mind this bread tends to take a little longer than normal bread to toast on the outside.  I think it’s good, because the bread is much thicker than a regular whole grain bread.  My son (the picky one) absolutely loved this.  I added the spinach to mine and the cheese and ham to his.  Perfect for an after-school snack.

 

Carrot & Pumpkin French Toast

When I found out they offered pumpkin flavored bread, I wanted to buy everything they had in stock! This bread is perfect for a Saturday morning breakfast with the family.  I can tell you first hand it makes the best French toast.  It comes out super fluffy and the carrot and pumpkin give it kick.

 

 

 

 

1. Beat 3 eggs (I use whole eggs, but you can use egg whites as well)
2. Add ¾ cup of buttermilk to eggs
3. 1teaspoon of cinnamon
4. dip the bread on each side in the egg batter (make sure it’s nice and moist)
5. add ½ a teaspoon of butter to pan
6. fry toast for 1 to 3 minutes per side or until golden brown.

 

You can garnish this with powdered sugar or syrup. We added some strawberries and bananas (mostly for my non-picky eaters).  We also toasted the bread with cream cheese and it’s perfect with coffee, and chocolate milk.

 

Flat bread Avocado Cucumber Salad

This one is my favorite, unfortunately my son wasn’t a big fan but my daughter loved it as well.

 

1. Use spinach and Leek flatbread
2. 2 avocados cubed
3. 2 cucumbers peeled and cubed
4. add ¼ cup of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of garlic salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper (or to taste)
5. Mix all ingredients together and place on flatbread.

 

 

Super simple meal ideas to help your picky eater with Daily Kneads products.  You can find out more about their products by visiting their website https://dailykneadsbread.com. They offer a wide array of products, recipes, promotions and more.  I highly recommend their products, they are 100 percent organic, Non-GMO, vegan, and each serving of bread is one full cup of veggies! The best part is my kids didn’t notice the difference in taste.

 

Thanks for stopping by, make sure to check out these awesome products.  Definitely Mommy Approved!

 

With Summer vacation in full effect I am always trying to find activities to keep my kiddos busy; while making it fun. I like to keep some academic activities in their schedules during summer break, I feel this makes transitioning back to school a little easier (for all of us).

 

I recently connected with an awesome company called Zoobooks, it’s been an amazing opportunity and my kids have reaped the benefits.

 

So maybe you’re hearing about Zoobooks for the first time, and wondering what they are all about? They are published by Wildlife Education, LTD and started in 1980.  Their goal was to create educational books about animals and to share them with children all over the world.  30 years later, their goals became a reality with books and magazines available all over the globe, through these magazines they are encouraging a love for reading early on.  You can find additional information about Zoobooks by heading over to their website.

 

They sent me four different magazines; Zoobooks (ages 6 and up)

Zoodinos (ages 6 and up)

Zootles pandas (ages 3 to 6)

and Zoobies (ages 0-3).

Having three kids in each of these age groups worked perfectly. Each magazine has a different educational activity, and one incudes a poster and stickers, making it even more appealing to little readers.  Not only are they perfect for learning about zoo animals, they are also great for long road trips, summer activities, and bedtime stories.

 

So, what makes them different from other magazine companies? Well they offer monthly subscriptions.  I love that they offer hard copies along with E-books.  Either way it’s perfect, because if your kids are anything like mine; receiving mail in their names is a big deal. I received my samples in a timely manner.

I do, however wish their website offered PayPal payments.  Since I use PayPal for most of my online shopping and orders I would like if they included this option for subscriptions as well.

 

Other than that, this was a great find! I am very happy for the opportunity I had to collaborate with them.  My kids enjoyed the reading and thanks to Zoobooks Successful mommy advice will be giving away one of these magazines of your choice! I will be posting the giveaway on my website as well as on my social media sites.  So, make sure and enter!   Thanks for stopping in and checking out my review on Zoobooks!

 

Emma Goes To School

 

 

When my oldest son started Kindergarten, I felt overwhelmingly anxious.  Would he like his teacher? Would he make friends? Would people be nice and helpful toward him?  All of these questions crossed my mind.

 

I have had an awesome opportunity to collaborate with the kickstarter campaign for Emma Goes To School.

Emma Goes to School is a children’s book that promotes awareness and celebrates physical and neurodiversity, about a little girl from Monstoria who’s worried about fitting in.

 

 

I have reviewed this campaign and let me start by saying it’s amazing! I definitely recommend you check it out to learn more.  Kristen the author decided to write the book when Emma was born. Her goal was to promote awareness and celebrate physical and neurodiversity, about a little girl from Monstoria who’s worried about fitting in.

 

Emma suffers from Schaaf-Yang syndrome (SYS) It’s a genetic disorder caused by a disruption of the MAGEL2 gene on chromosome 15. The disrupted gene causing Schaaf-Yang syndrome is also missing in another, more common genetic disorder, Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS). PWS is caused when MAGEL2 and several additional genes on chromosome 15 are missing or inactivated. 

 

Schaaf-Yang syndrome shares many clinical features with Prader-Willi syndrome. Those include hypotonia, feeding difficulties during infancy, global developmental delay/intellectual disability, and sleep apnea. However, patients with Schaaf-Yang syndrome have a relatively higher prevalence of autism spectrum disorder, and almost all of them manifest joint contractures, typically affecting the finger joints, but in more severe cases also involving knees and elbows.”

 

you can find more information on the subject by clicking here.

 

 

As parents we are worried about our kids fitting in, because let’s face it kids can be cruel (And so can some adults). But as a parent with a child who has special needs, the worry is even higher.  This book shows us how to support and encourage our child to be OK with who they are.  It’s also a great book to show others the importance of compassion and understanding.

 

If you’d like to learn more about this book and their campaign, you can click here to check it out.

You can also follow the journey on all their social media outlets.

 

I am honored to be apart of this and look forward to reading the book to my own children.

 

emmagoestoschool.com

facebook.com/emmagoestoschool

instagram.com/emmagoestoschool

twitter.com/emmaofmonstoria

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let me begin by saying that I love backpacks and purses. I can’t seem to have enough in my closet. I am a busy mom of three and need a bag that has space, pockets to keep my things organized, and of course it has to be cute!

I was fortunate enough to connect with Carolina Clover products. So what is Carolina Clover? Well to begin with it’s a great site with very charming products. Each item is affordable and super cute and absolutely perfect for grandmothers, mothers, or best friends. They recently added monogram embroidery services which adds a personal touch to all of your items.  I love that about them.

A little about Carolina Clover and the original name.

And if you are wondering where the name came from...
Luck, Love, Hope and Faith, that’s what a four leafed clover represents; a traditionally “lucky” clover that we have discovered growing in our very own yard under the tall Carolina pines and that’s how we came about the “Carolina Clover”!

The product I reviewed was the Mint Personalized Backpack with Navy thread for the monogram (my initials).

I received my product within 7 business days (super fast) and was thrilled when it arrived. It was identical to the photos on the site and It comes with so many pockets on the backpack, perfect for the gym or days out with my busy little ones.

One of the things I loved about the product was the bright vibrant colors as you can see in the photos below. 

I love the leather on the straps and buckles on the backpack pockets.

Initially I thought thhe monogram was a little mixed up.  I found out that with women monograms the last name is placed in the middle and larger than the other letters.  In my case being G for Gonzalez.  The stitching is detailed and the font exactly what I ordered.

Carolina Clover was great to work with, and I definitely recommend them for all of your personalized gift needs.

https://youtu.be/3TY9dn2FgNk

I had the pleasure of working with caboo products and I am happy that I did. Check out my review on the items below.

I received the caboo review pack, which included baby wipes, a 4 pack of toilet paper, and facial tissue. I was surprised at how much I loved the product. I’ll go over some of the pros and cons of the products below. First let me state that these products are made from 100% bamboo. According to their website, “Global toilet paper use takes 27,000 trees a day out of our ecosystem. Replacing each tree takes decades”. Caboo provides household and commercial products for all your daily needs. You can find out more about their processes on their special website.

Here are some things I loved about the products I tried.

I Love the toilet paper- this toilet paper lasted me about a week longer than my normal toilet paper (we use Charmin standard rolls). My son who is 6 likes to use tons of paper so this was surprise.

The wipes were perfect for travel and every day use- They came in a travel pack and I loved them, they are perfect for sensitive skin and get the job done with a fresh scent.

The tissues were pocket and purse size perfect for every day use.
I loved that I was able to try multiple products, I handed some of them out to my family members to get some feedback from outsiders.

Some of the things to improve the product.

Although they were long lasting the tissue was a little dry around the nose, (this was according to family member A who received a sample)
Toilet paper did not clean as efficiently as regular toilet paper (according to my husband)

Overall I definitely recommend these products. There are a few areas of concern but overall a great long lasting product which also protects our environment in the process.

If your interested in purchasing these products you can do so directly from their website or by clicking here. http://caboopaper.com/products/