General Mills Commits to Further Reduce Sugar in Cereals Advertised to Kids Under 12

January 25, 2010 – 12:30 pm

It wasn’t long ago when mornings at our house started off with baby cereal, oatmeal, or fresh fruits. Then, the picky stage hit. All my life I’ve been a big cereal eater, but I never considered giving it to my child. Not because I knew there was a lot of sugar in some cereals, but just because of everything I’ve heard. Yeah, that’s right. I hadn’t actually looked on the side of most boxes of cereal in a long time. That is, until I started dieting. Once I started educating myself a little more I realized something. Most of those cereals I thought had too much sugar for my son or myself, actually had tons of fiber, vitamins, and less sugar than I a lot of things I eat. You know what I also realized? That “special” cereal I was eating was filled with more sugar and calories than some of my favorite cereals that I had given up.

That’s when I started taking a closer look at the labels on cereal boxes. Soon after that I was buying various boxes of some of my old time favorites and sharing them with my son, who guess what? surprise surprise, ate them! Yes, he’s still picky and I have to switch his cereal up on a regular basis but at least he eats breakfast.. and it’s not the kind of breakfast that comes in a can, masquerading as kids snacks meant for breakfast. There’s fiber, vitamins, and plenty of nutrition in each and every bite. That’s why I was very happy to hear about General Mills commitment. Which you can read about below.

The following information was provided by General Mills through My Blog Spark.

General Mills has announced a commitment to further reduce sugar in cereals advertised to kids under 12 to single digit grams of sugar per serving. The company has already been reducing sugar in cereals while increasing key nutrients, such as calcium and vitamin D, and providing whole grain.

Did you know that ready-to-eat cereal eaters consume less fat, less cholesterol and more fiber than non-cereal eaters? Cereals also deliver important vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients, making cereal a top source of key nutrients in children’s diets.

Other cereal benefits:

Ready-to-eat cereals, including presweetened cereals, account for only 5% of sugar in children’s diets.
Ready-to-eat cereal is the No. 1 source of whole grains in a child’s diet today.
More frequent cereal eaters tend to have healthier body weights and lower Body Mass Index measures.

Studies also demonstrate the benefits of eating breakfast. A 1998 study showed that children who eat breakfast tend to perform better at school. Compared to children who skip breakfast, children who eat breakfast score higher on tests, are less likely to miss class or be tardy, have fewer reported discipline problems, and make fewer trips to the office.

For more information about kids and cereals, please visit Cereal Health and Wellness.

Disclaimer: I was provided with free coupons & information from General Mills through Myblogspark for sharing this with you.

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By admin | Posted in Product Reviews and Deals | Tagged amount of sugar in cereal, Cereal for breakfast, General Mills Cereals, General Mills lowers sugar in cereals, Is it ok to feed my child cereal, kids and cereal, sugar amounts in cereal, toddlers and cereal | Comments (0)

How do you roll?

January 14, 2010 – 8:08 pm

Yes, I’m talking Toilet Paper.

Everyone has an opinion on the right way to roll – over or under – and both points-of-view have been argued in households for ages. This January, Cottonelle brand sets out to settle this Great Debate once and for all.

So how do I roll? Over of course! Ever since I worked for a very popular luxury hotel chain I’ve never even considered rolling under. Nope, the proper way for me is over and with a little triangle. Only the best for my house. lol.

Cottonelle wants to know how YOU roll but before you head to their site and take the poll, let me know how you’re going to vote. Are you on Team Over or Team Under?

If you leave a comment here you will be entered to win 1 of 10 Cottonelle gift baskets randomly chosen on January 29, 2010 from all entries.

Disclosure: This post was inspired by Mom Bloggers Club and as a member is my entry to win a month’s worth of Cottonelle toilet paper. Because hey..we all use toilet paper, right? right??? (please tell me you do)

Now go check out what the rest of the world thinks on the Cottonelle site and while you’re there, vote!

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By admin | Posted in Free Stuff | Tagged cottonelle, cottonelle gift basket, cottonelle how do you roll?, cottonelle roll poll, cottonelle toilet paper | Comments (12)

Start Your New Years Resolutions Early With Help From Old Orchard Healthy Balance

December 22, 2009 – 8:29 pm

AHA Guidelines On Added Sugar Consumption

Earlier this year the American Heart Association (AHA) issued new guidelines in regards to sugar consumption, specifically added dietary sugars. This means any sugar that is added to foods, drinks, and even condiments either in the process of making them or that you have added yourself. The AHA’s new guidelines do not include sugar found naturally in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, or milk.

According to the AHA “Most American women should eat or drink no more than 100 calories per day from added sugars, and most American men should eat or drink no more than 150 calories per day from added sugars.” So that 12 oz can of cola you just consumed? It probably just put you over your daily limit.

From a personal stand point I agree with the new guidelines but I will be completely honest when I say that I don’t always follow them. Growing up in a society where sugar-laden products are everywhere you look, it’s hard. But there are steps you can take to put yourself on the right track.

How Many Calories Are You DRINKING Every Day?

One of the first steps you can take is reducing your processed beverage intake. By that I mean sweet-tea, soda, and juices with unnecessary amounts of added sugar. When I did this I was able to lose 20lbs in a matter of months. Of course there were lots of other steps involved but this was probably the biggest one.

Do you realize just how many calories or how much sugar you consume in beverages alone? If you really start keeping track you’re going to be amazed. I know I was. Whether dieting or not, consuming huge amounts of processed sugar is not good for anyone.

Old Orchard Healthy Balance

I have always been a big fan of Old Orchard but it wasn’t until very recently that I realized they are a local Michigan company. Because I love their product and I am from Michigan I am more than happy to support them by introducing you to their line of Healthy Balance Juice.

“Healthy Balance is Old Orchard’s line of reduced-sugar juice cocktails. Sweetened with Splenda® brand no-calorie sweetener, these products contain 75% less sugar, calories, and carbohydrates than traditional juice cocktails, but contain 100% of the flavor. With no added preservatives, artificial colors, or flavors.”

Variety Is The Key To Keeping Your Goals On Track

You know how they say variety is the spice of life? Well, you find out how true that is when you’re dieting or trying to change your eating habits. You may like to say that you’re brand loyal but when you’ve drank or ate the same things over and over for months you start to change your mind. Some companies have a very limited variety of products and in the end you get burned out and if you’re not careful you start reverting back to your old habits. I’m glad to say that Healthy Balance comes in a large variety of flavors. From classic Apple, Grape, or Cranberry to Pomegranate Blueberry Acai. Check out the site to see all the flavors they offer: Healthy Balance

What’s Your New Years Resolution?

I suppose you can guess what at least one of my New Years resolutions is. It’s to continue losing weight, and to get healthier in general. And I will have that in mind when New Years Eve rolls around. I don’t drink much these days but occasionally I make an exception. Old Orchard have some great low calorie drink recipes on their site that they’d like to share with you. Why not check them out. Click Here. You’ll even find recipes for virgin cocktails that you can make for the kids, coupons and plenty of other useful information to help you get started on your New Years resolution.

Here are a few cocktails I’m considering

Old Orchard Low-Sugar Cosmo Cocktail

2 oz citron flavored vodka

1 oz Cointreau

1 oz Old Orchard Healthy Balance Cranberry fruit juice cocktail

Mix contents with ice and strain into glass. Garnish with a lime.

Old Orchard Pomegranate Cosmo

2 oz citron flavored vodka

1 oz Cointreau

1½ oz Old Orchard 100% Pomegranate juice

Mix contents with ice and strain into glass. Garnish with a lime.

Old Orchard Raspberry Vodka Martini

2 oz raspberry flavored vodka

1 oz Cointreau

1 oz Old Orchard Organic 100% Raspberry juice

Mix contents with ice and strain into glass. Garnish with a lime.

Disclaimer: Old Orchard provided coupons for my review and giveaway. I was not compensated in any other way and the opinion here is just that. My opinion. Thank you for reading.

_________________________________________________________

Giveaway

Old Orchard have graciously provided me with coupons to give to you, my readers. 15 of you will receive 1 coupon good for a 64oz bottle of Healthy Balance Juice. This coupon has no expiration date, so if you can’t find Healthy Balance now, you may be able to later. You can always check their store finder.

I’m going to keep this giveaway simple so you only have a few ways to get extra entries this time. Please pay attention.

You must answer the required question in order for any of your entries to count.

Required: What is your New Years resolution?

Earn Extra Entries

1 Extra Entry -

* Follow @OldOrchardJuice on Twitter
* Follow me on Twitter @detroitmommy and then Press the Green Retweet button at the top of this post or you can RT from twitter. Leave me a comment with a link to your tweet.
* Follow me on Google Friend Connect (Look to your right)

(Make sure you come back here and leave a separate comment for each of the extra entries you have done – each comment is an entry)

(Don’t know how to show me you RT’d? Just place your mouse directly under your tweet where it says “1 minute ago from web” and click to get the URL of your status update.

Giveaway is open to residents of the U.S., 18 yrs of age or older. Any posts not including the requested information will be deleted. This giveaway ends: Monday December 28, 2009 12am EST. Winners will be contacted immediately. If you want your coupon in time for New Years you have to respond as soon as possible. In the event the winner does not respond to email within 3 days I will choose another random winner. If that is the case, unfortunately you will not get your coupon on time for New Years but hey, you’re still a winner! I will be using random.org to choose recipients.

Thank you to everyone who participated and congrats to the winners!

80 – Jessica
121 – Laura
116 -Nancy S.
79 – Karen G
131 – Dan V
130 – Jmarie
49 – Benita G.
102 – Dagmara
61 – Judy P
141 – Kimberly
150 – SharonAnne
112 – Storm
123 – Sheila Hickmon
134 – Susan
58 - Cindy

Please check your email.

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By admin | Posted in Free Stuff, Product Reviews and Deals | Tagged healthy balance coupons, Healthy Balance Juice, Old Orchard, Old orchard coupons, Old Orchard Healthy Balance Juice, Old Orchard Juice, Old orchard low calorie juice, weight loss and less sugar | Comments (167)

Medlight 630Pro (LED Pain Therapy Device) Review and Giveaway (Now Closed)

December 16, 2009 – 10:11 pm

For around 3 years now I have been suffering from what I’m told is tendonitis. It first started when I fell onto my leg. Having no health insurance I dealt with the pain and assumed eventually it would go away. Well, in 2007 I became pregnant and after the first trimester the pain started getting worse. I was tested to see if I had a blood clot, which thankfully I didn’t. Due to the pregnancy I could only get an x-ray below the knee. They found nothing. Of course below the knee is not where the pain was! By the time I got to the end of my pregnancy I had gained over 50lbs and was suffering more than just leg pain. Crippling and debilitating back, leg, bone, you name it. I could barely get out of the bed or even put on my socks. The pain was so bad that it felt like it was in my bones. I felt like a 90yr old woman with osteoporosis.

Then came the day I gave birth…. to a 10lb baby. There was no diabetes involved, I just gave birth to a giant is all. Aha you say, no wonder you were in severe pain. Well, I won’t get into all the gory details but I’ll tell you this, my epidural didn’t work properly and on top of all of that while the Dr. was trying to insert the epidural I was informed that it was more than likely I have spinal stenosis. Add another thing to the list, right? Read More »

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By admin | Posted in Product Reviews and Deals | Tagged Infrared pain device, led pain device, led pain therapy device, Medlight, Medlight630Pro, medlight630Pro giveaway, medlight630Pro review and giveaway, the use of led lights to manage pain | Comments (531)

Wordless Wednesday (With Words): Vincent Discovers Chocolate Pudding

December 16, 2009 – 7:58 pm

A previous Wordless Wednesday post. I’ll type this in as little words as possible! These are some of my fav pics of my son. He’s 14 months here. The 2nd picture is currently entered in the Eebee’s Mix and Mash Adventures Baby Foodie Facebook Contest. It’s a close race and he could use your vote. He continually jumps from 1st to 2nd. If he wins we get a $500 Gift card that will be used towards his 2nd birthday in April and will be a God send in this economy. Thank you!! and a HUGE thank you to those who have already been voting for him. The contest ends noon on Friday and you can vote every 24 hours!

Some people have been reporting they can’t get the application to work and accept their vote. You just have to be patient and double-check and if you need my help you can @ me on twitter @detroitmommy

I love this little guy!

Unfortunately Vincent didn’t win. He would have if the rules had been followed. (We followed them, someone else didn’t) Which I don’t want to get into right now.. but because of that this was the last photo contest I’ll be entering any of his photos into. At least Facebook ones and to be quite honest I’m kind of relieved. When you enter things like this you have to remember to read the fine print and realize that you’re giving away rights to your photo. Not really something I like to do

Thank you everyone who voted! Love you all and you did a fantastic job of trying to help us out.

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By admin | Posted in Wordless Wednesday | Tagged baby foodie contest, chocolate pudding, we need your help, Wordless Wednesday | Comments (8)

Lenox O2xygen Balloon Wine Glasses Giveaway (Now Closed)

November 17, 2009 – 2:38 pm

I’m sure most of you have heard of Lenox and if you haven’t you’ve certainly heard of Dansk or Gorham, which are owned by Lenox. Lenox offers fine china, crystal, flatware, giftware, home decor and tabletop products and is America’s leading tabletop and giftware brand.

Just a few weeks ago I participated in the Lenox and Twittermoms Drinks of the Season Blogging Contest. Because my husband is from Norway I shared with everyone a recipe for Scandinavian Glogg. (check it out right here!). For being one of the first 50 participants I am receiving a set of 4 O2xygen Balloon Wine Glasses from Lenox. Exciting! Can you believe I don’t even own a full set of wine glasses? and I’m 34 yrs old. I have 2, the ones that my husband and I received the day of our wedding but those are hidden away for safe keeping and I don’t bring them out for anything. So I’m excited and can’t wait to get my new wine glasses.

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By admin | Posted in Product Reviews and Deals | Tagged lenox and twittermoms, lenox and twittermoms holiday traditions, lenox giftware, Lenox giveaway, Lenox twitter party, Lenox wine glasses giveaway, wine glass giveaway | Comments (70)

Bear Portraits by Jill Greenberg (Book Review)

November 16, 2009 – 2:47 pm

In her latest book, sometimes controversial celebrity photographer Jill Greenberg has managed to capture various bears in a way that you’ve likely never seen.

Along with various quotes you’ll find incredibly thought-provoking images of all types of bears, ranging from cubs to mammoth sized grizzly bears. Some so expressive in their emotions they appear almost human in nature.

These portraits were taken on-location in a studio like setting with backdrops. Because there are no background disturbances and her great use of lighting you are able to focus on the sheer beauty and raw emotion of the bear itself.

This book is a large 8×10 hard-cover with 104 pages. Near the back it features a small section with each bears name, weight, residence and appearance credits.

This is a great book for any animal or photography lover but most of all because it’s sure to provoke conversation, it would be the perfect coffee table book.

My family has enjoyed this book every time we’ve opened it up. My son especially. There is one bear in particular drinking from a bottle that even he can identify with! For me, being such a lover of photography, this book is a treasure to own and I’d like to thank The Product Review Place along with Hachette Book Group for providing it for review.

If you’d like to purchase this book you can find it right here on Amazon.com (just click the link)

Disclaimer: Hachette Book Group provided this book for my review due to my association with The Product Review Place. I was not compensated in any other way. The review here is my own personal opinion.

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By admin | Posted in Product Reviews and Deals | Tagged bear photography, bear portraits, book gifts, coffee table books, jill greenburg bear portraits, photos of bears | Comments (0)

Erbaorganics Review and Giveaway (Now Closed)

November 14, 2009 – 2:44 pm

I am always thrilled when I find mom and dad companies that offer organic products that also strive to do something positive for the underprivileged. erbaorganics is no exception. They donate a full 15% of their gross sales from their Baby Body Oil and Baby Body Wash to the WWO, which stands for Worldwide Orphans Foundation.

The WWO works with local communities in underdeveloped areas around the world to enrich the lives of orphans through diverse programs focusing on health, society and education.

How Erbaorganics Got It’s Start:

Erbaorganics was born out of a desire to make available the purest eco-friendly organic skincare to those who need it most: mothers-to-be and babies. Concerned over the chemicals used in traditional skincare, husband and wife Robin Brown and Anna Cirronis started making organic products when they had their first son.

Erbaorganics is based in Southern California, where the line is manufactured by a dedicated staff who take special care and pride every step of the way.

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By admin | Posted in Product Reviews and Deals | Tagged erbaorganics baby product review and giveaway, erbaorganics baby products review, erbaorganics baby shampoo, erbaorganics baby shampoo review, erbaorganics organic baby products, erbaorganics products, erbaorganics review, erbaorganics review and giveaway | Comments (54)

Wordless Wednesday: Life Through Rose-Colored Glasses

November 11, 2009 – 9:34 pm

Some of my photography I don’t often get to share. Life-Resized

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Eebees Adventures Mix & Mash Book Review and Giveaway (Now Closed)

November 10, 2009 – 12:56 am

Have you met eebee? Well, eebee is the star of eebee’s adventures, a series which feature eebee, the baby’s baby, along with infants 6 months and older who play and discover in a world that is real, engaging, and rich with possibilities.

eebee’s adventures focus on behaviors—what babies and toddlers can and want to do— while offering practical and playful insights and ideas for how and when parents can join the act.

My son and I recently had the chance to review a great new book from eebee’s adventures – Mix & Mash: Adventures in the Kitchen for Baby & You It’s just been released and is the first-ever cooking with your baby book!