Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Tropical Traditions Organic Insect Repellent Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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Layah developed jaundice just a few days after she was born. Her pediatrician recommended that we take her outside for a few minutes every day to get some sunshine, which evidently helps with jaundice. So when she was 4 days old, Tim took her out on the back porch for a little Vitamin D fix. I came outside after a few minutes and immediately discovered a mosquito on top of her head, helping itself to a meal.

AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I know that mosquito bites are not the world’s greatest problem, but I went totally bonkers over seeing my brand new baby being bitten! She was taken inside immediately and I was fuming over how she fell victim to bugs within mere minutes of stepping outside.

This is exactly why I have Tropical Traditions Insect Repellent in my medicine cabinet. It’s a product that will naturally deter bugs from Layah and Darah. I can apply it to both of them with confidence and without concern that I’m poisoning my children at the same time that I’m poisoning bugs. Like all other products from Tropical Traditions, it uses Organic Virgin Coconut Oil as its primary ingredient. There are no harmful chemicals or artificial fragrances added to the product. It does contain pure organic essential oils that have been known to repel insects, including citronella, lemongrass, peppermint, tansy, and catnip. It smells lovely to me, and just plain awful to mosquitoes.

If you would like more information on How to Use Coconut Oil, Tropical Traditions has some really terrific information that helps you understand all the uses and benefits of this product. And there’s no shop that can compare to Tropical Traditions when it comes to having such an extensive line of high quality products made from coconut oil. We are consistently impressed with everything we have tried from this company.

Buy it!: If you want a natural and effective way to keep mosquitoes off your body (and away from your kids!) this is the way to go. You can purchase this organic insect repellent for $13.95 (and it is frequently on sale, so watch for that!).

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a 4 oz bottle of Organic Insect Repellent from Tropical Traditions!

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Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Water Vinegar Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

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Tropical Traditions has a very cool product on the market that I want to highly recommend you add to your pantry. It’s called Organic Coconut Water Vinegar, and I think it makes an excellent alternative to distilled vinegar for your recipes. It’s got a great flavor and it is PACKED with nutrients. If left on its own to ferment and turn into vinegar, those nutrients are retained in the vinegar. Most vinegars, coconut or otherwise, are pasteurized using a heat process which does kill off most of those great vitamins and minerals that it normally possesses. Tropical Traditions has worked closely with scientists for use to produce an incubation system that is truly safe and that retains all the goodness that coconut water has to offer.

Additionally, Tropical Traditions is dedicated to making sure their harvesting practices are sustainable. Most other coconut vinegar products are made by harvesting a coconut flower bud, which if left alone would produce coconuts. Trees dedicated to this process will never produce coconuts, as a result. Tropical Traditions uses the coconut, itself for a more natural and healthy final product.
So what do you do with coconut water vinegar? I took the same approach to using this product as I did to using coconut oil, which was a new product to me when I first started using it. I simply started reaching for my coconut water vinegar when I would have normally reached for traditional vinegar. The results have been absolutely delicious! I personally find the flavor to be brighter, though not at all overpowering. And I love knowing that I’m using something that is so very good for my family and the environment.

Buy it!: A 16 oz bottle of Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Water Vinegar retails for $10 and a 32 ounce jar retails for $18.50. I know our 32 ounce jar is going to last a really long time since recipes that call for vinegar usually don’t call for more than a tablespoon.

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a bottle of Organic Coconut Water Vinegar!
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Best Dishwasher Detergent That is Eco-Friendly

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Tim and I have been actively searching for the best dishwasher detergent that is eco-friendly and  that works just as well as our old standby, Cascade. We’ve been looking for roughly 3 years, I’d say, and until recently, we just hadn’t found anything. Our homemade detergent was the worst, leaving our dishes coated with a film of some sort. Even though it was “green” I still didn’t want to ingest whatever that was!

We tried two other more commercial “green” detergents, and they just worked ok. We’ve been using those for lack of a better option, but still haven’t felt satisfied with the end result, which is filmy dishes (though less filmy than our DIY stuff). I was actually coming pretty close to just going back to Cascade when I got the opportunity to try Household Traditions Powdered Dishwasher Detergent. As you know, I was a Tropical Traditions skeptic and then turned into a fan, but I still expected this detergent to work as well as our other commercial products, and no better.

best dishwasher detergent I’m tickled pink to tell you that I was wrong. I have finally found the green detergent that can go toe-to-toe with Cascade! Our dishes are clean and sparkling, and I have to tell you, they haven’t looked like that in a long time. It is so refreshing!

This is our new detergent, hands-down. I will be buying more when we run out, which won’t be for a while, because they sell the product in 5 lb jars (hooray for less packaging!). I just can’t say enough great things about this. If you are like me and have been dissatisfied with the end results of your eco-friendly dishwashing detergents, I want to strongly encourage you to try this one. It is exactly what we have been looking for, and I bet you’ll like it, too!

Buy it!: A 5 lb container of Household Traditions Powdered Dishwasher Detergent retails for $32.00, which I know is a bit steep. But Tropical Traditions regularly has sales (yay!). I very recently saw it on sale for $19.99!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to LOVE the detergent s/he is about to win! 🙂 The contest will run until March 15th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Tell me another product at Tropical Traditions that you really want or that you already use!

My answer: Now that I’ve seen how well the dishwashing detergent works, I want to try the laundry detergent!

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: “Like” Tropical Traditions on Facebook
2. Blogger love: Follow Stuff Parents Need by Google Friend Connect

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my homepage.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary product for review purposes. All opinions expressed here are strictly my own.