Stuff Parents Need

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

Playskool Gloworm Giveaway!

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If you missed my post about just how much my infant loves her Lullaby Gloworm by Playskool, check it out here. We are BIG FANS in my house. The Gloworm can calm my baby when she is all worked up and it can also make her smile most any time. After I made that post and the second post, I just didn’t feel right going on and on about how cool the Gloworm is while leaving all of you to feel jealous, so I contacted Playskool. And aren’t you lucky, because now you can

Win It!
One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to win a Gloworm for themselves (er, I mean, for their kid!) The contest will run until Thursday, November 12th at 7:59pm CST, when the winner will be chosen at random and emailed. The winner will have 48 hours to reply with their contact information. You must include your email address in your comment or make sure it is listed in your profile! You must complete the mandatory entry in order for any subsequent entries to be counted. Open to residents of the United States. Thank you, Playskool!

How to Enter:
Mandatory entry: Go to the Playskool website and tell me one other toy you’d love to have for your little one! (1 entry)

Additional Entries:
1. Subscribe to my blog via email or RSS (3 entries!). Leave 3 comments with your email address for the subscription.
2. Share this post via any of the venues at the bottom of this post (digg, stumbleupon, etc.) (1 entry per method). Leave one comment with a link for each way that you shared or your username on these sites.

Ready, Set, GO!

Disclosure: I was not provided with any form of compensation for this giveaway or for my previous review. I just love the gloworm!

What to Do While On Bed Rest During Pregnancy

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image of a pregnant woman on bed rest
I have a very dear friend who has just been put on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy (you know who you are, and if you are reading this, stop and go get back into bed!). Fortunately, her due date is very soon, so she shouldn’t be confined to her bed for too terribly long. I never had to go on bed rest with my pregnancy, but at the very end, I pretty much just sat all day, except for those walking excursions I took daily to try to get the baby to come on out. Right about now, bed rest actually sounds kind of nice. This tells me two things: 1. I need to try to relax a little bit more and go to bed earlier so that I’m not as tired, and 2. I have no idea what bed rest is really like, and how boring it can probably be. So with that in mind, I’d love to hear from anyone out there who has ever been on bed rest…what did you do to pass the time? Here are the suggestions I made to my friend for what to do while on bed rest during pregnancy:
1. Eat chocolate
2. Watch reality tv, the more ridiculous the better
3. Sleep while you still can!
4. Do crossword puzzles, or some other fun activity like word searches or coloring

Other bed rest tips for my friend?

 

Natural Products for Baby, Including Cloth Wipes Solution

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I’ve noticed lately that my little one has a strong affinity for chewing on her fists. I think we are in the very early stages of teething. Oh joy. Because her hands are always in her mouth, they are starting to get quite sticky. This made me wish that I had some sort of all natural product for baby that I could quickly and easily wipe her down with. I went to Etsy to search for something, and I found the solution at BareBebe.

BareBebe is a new company to Etsy, having been in business for about 7 weeks now. The inspiration behind the business came about 4 years ago, though, when Alison (the owner) started her family. She says, “I really became focused on not only what we put into our mouths, but what kinds of things we put on our skin.” When she decided to fully commit to cloth diapering with her third child, she had a really tough time finding wipes that weren’t really cheap and detergent that fully disclosed its ingredients. With cloth diapering, this is particularly important, as some ingredients can ruin or at least diminish the effectiveness of cloth diapers. So she did was any creative person would do; she started making these products for herself! Soon after, a store was born featuring 3 signature items: PureBebe detergent, CleanBebe wipes and FreshBebe wipes spray. There are other great items in the store as well. Alison says, ” I realized I had many things in my home, made by me, that would be great additions to my store (ie. BabyBreathe Eucalyptus balm, MightyToSave dryer balls, and BareBebe milk bath) All these items are natural replacements for the most commonly used items in my house.”

Alison was kind enough to send me the BareBebe Sample Pack, so that I could try out her products for myself. The sample pack contains the following:

~2oz. FreshBebe wipes spray
~Enough DryBebe (powder) for several diaper changes
~One gender neutral CleanBebe cloth wipe
~Enough PureBebe laundry detergent for 3 loads of laundry (6 loads for HE)
(all of this is only $3.50, by the way!)

natural products baby I was excited to try every product, but I was especially eager to try out the FreshBebe wipes spray. It was created as a wipes spray, especially for sensitive skin, but its uses go way beyond that! I’ve found it to be an excellent item to have on hand to quickly wipe down Darah’s hands throughout the day, and I have absolutely no worries if she starts chewing on her fists 3 seconds after I used the spray on her, because it is a natural product.Alison says, “FreshBebe contains a naturally derived mild soap and tea tree oil. Both of these have antibacterial qualities and guarantee your little one will be clean.” FreshBebe comes in a variety of scents. I chose tangerine vanilla, and it smells fabulous but light. I am really happy to have found a great solution to my problem with little miss sticky fingers! A 4 oz spray bottle is a very reasonable $4.50. She also sells 8 oz refill bottles! natural products baby from BareBebe

DryBebe was another great product in the sample pack. It is a talc and cornstarch free powder option for little tushies. Alison has blended some essential oils of lavender, vanilla and lemongrass to create a scent similar to lemon poppyseed muffins! The powder is tan, which surprised me at first. As Alison points out on her site, though, “it’s all natural, and you can’t find many things in nature that are pure white.” Good point! I got about 8 uses out of my sample pack of DryBebe. It helped to keep Darah nice and dry, and it smelled great, too. An 8 oz bottle is $7.75, and it will last a long while.

PureBebe is a laundry detergent th natural products baby at is enzyme, dye, perfume, soap brightener and softener free. It turns out that all of these elements can possibly irritate the skin of a baby. It comes scent free, but essential oils can be added to give it a very light fragrance. I requested lavender essential oil to be added to my sample. The product smelled great. I’m pleased to say that Darah’s clothes have done well with this detergent! PureBebe is $6.50 for 38 loads (72 loads in a HE washer).

The Clean Bebe wipe I received was soft, but also very sturdy. It is two-ply, which means it can really handle some business. One side is made of soft cotton jersey and the other side is made of cotton flannel, which makes it a bit more helpful for, well, the big messes! The cloth held up beautifully after being put through the washer and dryer, and is ready for its next mess! Best of all, these come in a variety of really cute patterns! A package of 4 of these costs $4.00, just about the same price as a package of disposable wipes. You can see how these will pay for themselves rather quickly!

Buy it!
BareBebe has some truly fabulous products that are good for your baby and kind to your wallet. Please check out her site and snag something special for your little one. Also, for the duration of this contest, Alison is offering you a 10% discount on anything in her shop! Simply put code, “Stuff Parents Need” in your message to her at checkout, and wait for her to send you an invoice with the discounted amount.

Win it!
Alison has generously offered a $15 BareBebe gift certificate to one very lucky reader. This contest is open to residents of the United States, and will close on Sunday, November 8th, at 7:59pm CST. I will contact the winner via email, and that person will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is selected.

How to Enter:

Mandatory Entry: Go check out all the amazing products at BareBebe and come back here and tell me how you would spend the gift certificate if you won!

Additional Entries:

1. Subscribe to my blog via email or RSS. Leave a comment with your email address for the subscription (2 entries, so leave 2 posts)
2. Share about this giveaway via any method found at the bottom of this post (stumbleupon, digg, etc.) (1 entry for each method)
3. Make a purchase at BareBebe (3 entries). Leave 3 comments with the email address you used when making the purchase.

Disclosure: I was given a sample pack of BareBebe products to try for this review. No other form of compensation was received.

UniqueRabbit winners!

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Congratulations to post #7 (dwalline@…) and #68 (CharlieGurl57@…), who are the winners in the paperless towels and reusable wipes giveaway from UniqueRabbit. Winners, check your email and respond to me within 48 hours to claim your prizes.

If you didn’t win, no worries. I have SEVERAL more giveaways heading your way, so stay tuned!

DIY Version of Lettuce Wraps from P.F. Chang’s

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Do you love the lettuce wraps from P.F. Chang’s? Hate the price tag? Let me show you how to make them at home!

Recipe PF Changs Lettuce Wraps
Source: adapted from Chaos in the Kitchen
Servings: 2-3

DIY lettuce wraps

  • 2-3 tbsp oil, sesame or peanut (key for the flavor…don’t substitute!)
  • 1 lb ground chicken
  • 4 oz mushrooms
  • 1/2 cup water chestnuts (optional)
  • 1/2 yellow onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar (another ingredient not to substitute if you want the right flavor)
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar, I use dark
  • iceberg lettuce leaves
  1. Heat the oil in a skillet or wok over high heat.
  2. Break up and brown the ground chicken.
  3. Mince all of the vegetables-mushrooms with garlic. You also might want to run your knife through your cooked chicken as well to get the pieces more uniformly sized, you want everything to be texturally at the same fine mince.
  4. In a small bowl whisk together the soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar. You could also add some red pepper flakes if you want a little spice..
  5. Add your vegetables to the chicken and saute until onions and garlic soften.
  6. Add the sauce and cook and toss for an additional couple minutes. Taste and adjust your salt and seasonings.
  7. Serve with plenty of iceberg leaf “cups.”

Thanks to Chaos in the Kitchen for posting such a fun recipe. If anyone has ever been to P.F. Chang’s, you know that this is a signature of theirs. We really enjoyed having our own version at home for a fraction of the price.

Our substitutions/additions: We used ground turkey, and the taste was awesome. I also shredded 4 baby carrots and sliced 1 green onion to add a little bit of color. We used water chestnuts which I finely diced, and we left out the mushrooms, because we believe that mushrooms are nasty.

I made this while Tim was out running errands, and I was glad to have the opportunity to sneak in water chestnuts, which he doesn’t like, in general. When he tried the wraps he immediately asked, “What is the crunchy stuff in here?” I made him tell me first if he liked it, which he said he did (!) and then I revealed the secret ingredient. He wrinkled his nose up, and then confessed that water chestnuts were a good thing in this dish. Victory for Tiffany!

Reusable Paper Towels Review and GIVEAWAY

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unique rabbit, supplier of reusable paper towels

Do you use dish cloths in your kitchen? Almost everyone does, it seems. They are so great to have around to wipe off your hands or the occasional mess. In my own home, I’ve been wondering for a while why I have no problem using reusable dish towels, but I am still buying paper towels for other messes. It seems a bit silly. A few weeks ago I decided to do something about it, and so I went online and found un-paper towels, also known as reusable paper towels, at a fabulous Etsy shop called Unique Rabbit. I’ll tell you more about what I ordered a little later. First, Let me tell you more about Unique Rabbit and Kimberly, the owner.

Kimberly has been happily married for 10 years and has two boys, ages 2 and 8 weeks (brand new!). She has been a crafty gal for as long as she can remember. Her shop has a focus on earth-friendly products that support a sustainable lifestyle. The inspiration for this has come primarily from seeing what things have worked for her family and creating these products for others to use as well. This includes the paperless towels and wipes, as well as organic cotton lunch sets, cloth shopping bags, and flannel hankies. Kimberly says, “I really believe in the products I make and love that with every sale I am helping someone else live a little ‘greener.'”

reusablel paper towels Paperless towels are cloths meant to replace paper towels in your home. They are not only gentle on the planet, but also gentle on your wallet in the long run! I predict that these napkins will pay for themselves within about 6 weeks at my house, and depending on how often you use paper towels, they might pay for themselves even faster in your home. Kimberly is selling a set of 6 handmade cloths for $5.50. You heard right, just $5.50. That’s a downright bargain, folks. A jumbo single roll of Bounty can cost as much as $2.00, and of course it has to be replaced frequently. I was so impressed with the quality and the pricetag, that I ordered sets for about half the folks on my Christmas list!

There are a rainbow of colors from which to choose, which was really nice. I ordered a set that would match the color scheme in my own home. While some paper towels have cute little designs on them, I don’t know of any that coordinate with your color scheme, unless of course your entire house is white. Kimberly will do a custom order for you, with any combination of colors that she has. She will even customize the thread color around the edges, if you so desire! And if you like those adjust-a-size paper towels so you can use the right size for the mess, she can make smaller or larger towels for you, as well.

I laid out one of my paperless towels on top of a paper towel. At 10 1/2 X 10 1/2″, they are just slightly smaller than a standard paper towel. These are made from a very soft flannel. They certainly feel a lot nicer than paper towels do. I can see how they would also make very good reusable napkins. I’ve even grabbed one of these a few times to wipe my infant’s face. One other great feature of these paperless towels is that they aren’t going to tear on you in the middle of a job that involves a bit of scrubbing. I really appreciate that! I’m also happy to report that they are holding up just great after going through the washer and dryer a few times.

reusable paper towels In addition to my order, Kimberly was nice enough to send me a sample set of reusable wipes to try out. I’ll be honest; I was REALLY nervous about this! Since I don’t use cloth diapers (at least not yet), I wasn’t sure if I would really be cool with having cloths with pee on them sitting in my laundry bin. But the truth is that I do laundry so often (every other day now) that it’s no big deal. I will confess that I didn’t use the wipes for poo situations. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it, and that’s ok. One step at a time, right? But seriously, I really didn’t mind using the reusable wipes. They were very soft and sturdy, and the wipes solution recipe that Kimberly sent along was even more simple that the one I’ve used before, and it worked great. I will keep these wipes on hand to use with pee diapers, and that is going to seriously cut down on the amount of money I have to spend on wipes. Yay! UniqueRabbit also sells double thick wipes, which are perfect for, well, messier messes! You can get 12 single or 6 double thick wipes for $6.00. I think 12 wipes is enough to get you through one day, at least most of the time!

Edited: I noticed that Kimberly has taken a break from the business, but no worries! You can find a rather amazing selection of reusable paper towels on Amazon! I’ve tried the Skoy products (read my review here!) and quite liked them, myself.

Buy it!
In addition to selling reusable cloths of all sorts, UniqueRabbit also has other earth-friendly products and hand-made toys and accessories. The prices are incredible, so hop on over! Kimberly is even offering Stuff Parents Need readers an additional 10% off until Sunday, November 1 at 7:59pm CST! To get the discount include a note when you check out on Etsy with the coupon code “Stuff Parents Need” and don’t pay until you are sent an invoice by Kimberly with the discounted total.

Win it!
Kimberly has generously offered to give one lucky reader a set of paperless towels and a second lucky reader a set of reusable wipes! You will even get to customize the colors! The contest will run until Sunday, November 1st at 7:59pm CST, when the winners will be chosen at random and emailed. The winners will have 48 hours to reply with their contact information. You must include your email address in your comment or make sure it is listed in your profile! If I can’t find your email address, a new winner will be chosen. You must complete the mandatory entry in order for any subsequent entries to be counted. Open to residents of the United States.

How to Enter:
Mandatory entry: Go check out Unique Rabbit. Come back here and tell me your favorite item sold there other than items mentioned in the review. Also tell me if you would prefer the paperless towels or the wipes.

Additional Entries:
1. Subscribe to my blog via email or RSS. Leave a comment with your email address for the subscription.
2. Make a purchase at Unique Rabbit (5 entries). Leave 5 comments with the email address you used when making the purchase.
3. Blog about this giveaway (3 entries). Leave 3 comments with a link to the post.
4. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a url for your tweet
5. Share this post via any of the venues at the bottom of this post (digg, stumbleupon, etc.). Leave one comment with a link for each way that you shared!

Disclosure: I purchased the paperless towels myself, and received the reusable wipes as a sample for the product review. No other form of compensation was given for this review.

Rachel Ray Pumpkin Sausage Pasta

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Affiliate links may be included at no cost to you. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

Rachel Ray is a really great resource for meals that come together quickly and are easy to make! I use her 365: No Repeats recipe book often and find it to be a great tool. It has survived quite a few cookbook purges! I hope this Rachel Ray pasta recipe makes its way to your dinner table soon.

I was a little concerned when I first read this Rachel Ray pumpkin sausage pasta recipe. I mean, how are Italian sausage, canned pumpkin and a whole bunch of holiday spices going to all work out as an Italian pasta dish? Well, I’m still not sure why everything goes together so well but it does! You definitely have to try this one. One word of advice, go heavy on the Parmesan cheese at the end. Yum-O.

Recipe name: Pumpkin Pasta by Rachel Ray
Source: Food Network
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
  • 1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage
  • 4 cloves garlic, cracked and chopped
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1 bay leaf,
  • 4 to 6 sprigs sage leaves, chopped
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1 cup chicken stock, canned or paper container
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1/2 cup (3 turns around the pan) heavy cream
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ground or freshly grated
  • Coarse salt and black pepper
  • 1 pound penne, cooked to al dente
  • Parmesan cheese

Directions

Heat a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and brown the sausage in it. Transfer sausage to paper towel lined plate. Drain fat from skillet and return pan to the stove. Add the remaining tablespoon oil, and then the garlic and onion. Saute 3 to 5 minutes until the onions are tender.

Add bay leaf, sage, and wine to the pan. Reduce wine by half, about 2 minutes. Add stock and pumpkin and stir to combine, stirring sauce until it comes to a bubble. Return sausage to pan, reduce heat, and stir in cream. Season the sauce with the cinnamon and nutmeg, and salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer mixture 5 to 10 minutes to thicken sauce.

Return drained pasta to the pot you cooked it in. Remove the bay leaf from sauce and pour the sausage pumpkin sauce over pasta. Combine sauce and pasta and toss over low heat for 1 minute. Garnish the pasta with lots of shaved cheese and sage leaves.

How to Clean a Breast Pump for Lazy People: Medela Quick Clean Micro Steam Bag Review

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If you are a pumping mama, then you have by now realized that you have to learn how to clean a breast pump.

how to clean a breast pump

You’ve likely also learned that it takes more time than you have to give it, seeing as how you are trying to deal with an infant at the same time. But thank goodness for folks who make products that solve problems, because there is a line of products that can help. medela quick clean bags

The Medela Quick Clean Micro-Steam Bag is yet another product that I would have absolutely never purchased had it not been given to me. Honestly, I’d never even heard of them before I received them, but if I had noticed them in the store, I would have thought that they were kind of silly. I mean, it isn’t rocket science to know how to clean a breast pump, right? Just clean your pump parts, people! What’s the big deal?!

Thank God for the mothers who have come before me! Once I started using my pump (I use an Ameda Purely Yours) I actually realized the following:

  • a) there are a lot of parts that get used when you pump,
  • b) they all need to be cleaned after every use,
  • c) they are sort of a pain to clean.

Fortunately, I remembered that my friend had given me some of these Medela Quick Clean bags, so I tried them out. Basically you put your parts in the bag, put about 2 oz of water in, and pop it in the microwave for 2 1/2 minutes. Remove the bag (carefully…think of popcorn bags an the steam that comes out when you open it). Take out your parts. You are pretty much done after that! If any parts still look a little milky, just run water over them. Most of the time I found that the parts looked squeaky clean. Furthermore, everything in the bag got really hot, which means that any bacteria or other such yuckiness was eliminated. I can’t guarantee that when I hand wash them, because I tend to wash things with warm water, not hot water (my poor hands just can’t take the heat!)

Each bag will last for 20 sessions. There are little boxes on the bags so you can take a magic marker and check off a box for each session. Otherwise, it would be impossible to remember how many times you’ve used it!

If you are pumping more than once in a day, here’s a little trick: put your pump parts in the Medela bag, and then put the bag in the fridge. The cold of the fridge will keep bacteria from growing (well, at least slow it down quite a bit) so you can re-use the same pump parts for your next session that day. At the end of the day, put them in the microwave so that they are clean for tomorrow. I’m planning on bringing a bag with me when I go to work and using this exact method. This cuts down on the work you have to do without sacrificing health and safety for your baby. Woo hoo!

Edit: And if you like this product and want more from the line, they also have Medela Quick Clean soap. This either wasn’t available when I originally wrote this post or I just didn’t know about it!

I hope this helps you learn how to clean a breast pump in the real world, when you can’t head to your kitchen sink after every pumping session! Or if you are lazy! Both apply in my case.

This post contains an affiliate link at no cost to you. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

(Almost) Healthy Mac and Cheese Recipe

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Welcome to Simple Sunday Recipes!

I absolutely LOVE this (almost) healthy mac and cheese recipe. I’m not going to tell you that it is the very best mac and cheese that I’ve ever had, because that’s not true. But it is most definitely the easiest homemade macaroni and cheese I’ve ever made, and given the fact that it doesn’t contain any butter or heavy cream, it tastes AWESOME. I suppose it isn’t exactly accurate to call this a “healthy” meal, but I really think this is a great recipe to use when you want some comfort food, but you want to skip the guilt that comes from eating a dish with enough calories in it to sustain you for 3 days straight!
healthy mac and cheese recipe Best  Healthy Mac and Cheese Recipe

8-10 oz cooked macaroni (you can opt for whole wheat pasta, to increase the health factor)
8 oz shredded sharp cheese
12 oz cottage cheese
8 oz plain yogurt
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350.

In a 9×13 pan, stir together cooked macaroni, cheeses, yogurt, Parmesan and salt and pepper. Put foil on top and bake for 30 minutes. That’s it! I seriously love when recipes are this simple. Enjoy!