Soapnuts Review and Giveaway

A few months ago I replied to a posting online from a recycling group, similar to Freecycling. The post was from a local member in need of bubble wrap for reuse and packaging of products from her green business. Her name is Lisa and her business’s name is Laundry Tree.

What is Laundry Tree? It is a distributor of soapnuts. I’ve heard of soapnuts in the past and have always wanted to try them, but had not until I found Lisa. Lisa gave me a Soapnut starter kit as gift for giving and delivering months worth of bubble wrap to her house. There was no need for a gift, I was happy to give the bubble wrap away (hated for it to end up in the landfill), but I wasn’t about to turn down a chance to try soapnuts. I’m glad I didn’t.

What are soap nuts? They are a dried fruit from the tree Sapindus Mukorossi. Soapnuts have a natural cleaning property. The outer shell of the soapnut contains saponin, a natural substance known for its ability to cleanse and wash. To use, the soapnuts are harvested, de-seeded, and then they are dried in the sun (Laundry Tree).

Since receiving the kit, I have washed many loads of laundry with the soapnuts. It was easy. To use I place 3-4 soap nuts in a bag, add a drop or two of lavender oil in the bag Though, I didn’t always add the oil though. I thought the soapnuts had a pleasant natural smell all on their own. Then I would tie the bag and toss it into the load. I set the load to wash and voila! My laundry always came out smelling fresh with or without the oil. The lavender gave a nice lavender scent to it to the loads of laundry, but personally I don’t care for fragrance one way or the other. I just don’t want my clothes to smell dirty. It never did with soapnuts. My laundry also came out clean and soft. I washed a variety of clothes to prove it: casual clothes, socks, towels, blankets, work clothes, workout clothes, clothes of all colors and so on.

Was it easy to tell when the soapnuts were all soaped out? Yes! Like the directions read, I squeezed the soapnuts while they were still wet. If white or honey goo came out I used the soapnuts again. This is how I tested to see if they really could be used to wash 3-4 loads. They did.

Could I really wash 40 loads with my kit? To be honest I lost count of the loads, but I did wash many. If it helps, my starter kits had a 100g bag of soapnuts. When I took them out to count how many were inside I had about 40 soapnuts. So if, I placed 3 soap nuts in a bag and reused them 3 times I could have easily washed 36 loads. Now remember, these soapnuts can be used as long as the white or honey goo stuff comes out.

I only found two inconveniences with the use of soapnuts. Soapnuts require warm to hot water to release the saponin, the natural cleaning substance in the soapnuts. Most of the time, for the exception of a few loads (diapers and cleaning rags) I use cold water to wash my laundry. This isn’t to say I couldn’t use the soapnuts at all; I just had to take an extra step to make from the soapnuts a liquid called Soapnut Soak. This was very easy to do and worked well, but it was an extra step I often forgot to do because it does require the need to soak the soapnuts in water overnight. Instead, I ended up using warm water to wash a lot of my clothes.

The second inconvenience was loosing the soapnut bag in the loads of laundry from washer to dryer. The bag is white and small. It blends in very well with white loads and light colored clothes and it gets tangled up in loads with blankets. If my husband washed clothes he never noticed the bag and if I was busy I wouldn’t take the time to look for it.

The good news, when I lost the bag and dried in the dryer I just grab another bag filled it with soapnuts and washed another load. I would then find the lost bag while folding my clothes. I would use it again to wash more clothes. Accidentally drying the soapnuts in the dryer simply dries the soapnuts back up to the way they were before they were used. Still, I wish the bag were a little easier to find.

For more information about soapnuts and how you can get some visit Laundry Tree .

The Giveaway!
Lisa is offering a starter kit (100g soapnuts, an essential or fragrant oil, an extra wash bag and a sample bag) to one of my lucky readers. To Enter: Visit Laundry Tree and then leave me a comment letting me know why you want to try soapnuts. You can get extra entries for following us through GFC or Subscribing via email.

Deadline: This giveaway will end on October 30, 2010. I will choose the winner using Random.org. US entries only.

Mondays with Monica Low Carb Edition

Happy Monday everyone! If you don't already know my family is currently on the move. Right now we are staying with my husbands parents in Oregon for a couple of weeks as we make our way up to our final destination, Alaska. Recently my in-laws have adopted a low carb eating style and since I love to cook I have been trying to come up with recipes that they can eat. A few days ago I made some mock mashed potatoes out of cauliflower. Boil your cauliflower till it's mashable then mash it up with a little cream and butter. While they don't taste quite like mashed potatoes they make a great substitute and if you pour some pork loin mushroom gravy over the top like we did well you'll never even miss those 'ol potatoes. We have been eating a lot of steak which is always fine with me and a couple  nights ago I even made a lasagna but substituted zucchini for the noodles. You slice the zucchini lengthwise in thin strips and layer as you would a normal lasagna. "noodles", ricotta cheese mixture, meat sauce, mozzarella, and again and again making delicious layers. Cover it with foil and bake at 325 for 1 hour, remove foil and raise temp to 350 for 15 more minutes. Mmmm...This was really good!

The bread in the pic was for the kiddos.

 I would really like to find some more great low carb recipes to try so if you have any to share please pass them along to me. Who knows I might even lose some weight while I am staying here! Until next time...

***Monica***

Time Buddy Review and Giveaway

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WINNER #35 Donna CONGRATULATIONS!

I believe one of the biggest reasons Penelope is such a well behaved child and we rarely if ever see any tantrums from her is because of structure. From the time she was born I have had a daily schedule that I stuck by with her when it comes to feeding, naps and bedtime. Don't get me wrong I am not some strict military momma but I believe if a child knows what to expect and when to expect it, it can eliminate a lot of fussiness.

TimeBuddy is a product designed to teach children about daily routines and time management skills. It's basically a 24 hour clock for kids. When you tell a child that bedtime is in 15 minutes well that is really not going to mean anything to them. With TimeBuddy you can show them what 15 minutes looks like and even set an alarm to go off once the 15 minutes is up. I love that you can customize your TimeBuddy to fit your needs and your daily routine. It comes with 150+ stickers that represent daily activities so you create your child's very own visual schedule.

We customized ours with wake up, breakfast, lunch, nap, dinner, and then bedtime for everyday use but there are so many ways you can personalize it. The digital clock allows you to create 3 audio prompts at different times to remind your child when it's time for a specific activity. This is one of my favorite features, I love that you can record any message for your child. My husband Chris works on a 2 week on 2 week of rotation so he is gone a lot. He recorded a message telling Penelope that he loves her and it plays every night at bedtime. She can also listen to it anytime she wants by pressing on the playback button. She loves this!

You really need to check out the story of how TimeBuddy was conceived. This product means a lot to its creator. You can also check TimeBuddy out on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook. TimeBuddy can be purchased online for $34.99 and if you use the code GGG137blog you will receive free shipping if purchased before October 31, 2010.

Not only was I given this wonderful product but the people at GoLearn Toys would like to offer one of our readers a chance to win a TimeBuddy of their own.

To Enter: Leave me a comment letting me know that you would like to win. You can get extra entries for following us through GFC or Subscribing via email.

Deadline: This giveaway will end on October 22, 2010. I will choose the winner using Random.org. US entries only.

***Monica***

Sorry!

My computer decided to crash several days ago. I'm currently at my husband's office letting everyone know why I'm not responding to messages and that there'll be a delay until I get my computer up and running again. I'm HOPING it will be fixed this week but we know how those things go. Thank you for your patience as I try to get this fixed and get back in the groove of things!

I'm totally bummed... what's a blogging momma supposed to do without her computer?! We're enjoying the quiet side of life without a computer but I'm eager to get some giveaways up.

Also, if you replied to me in the last week or two as a winner submitting their information PLEASE know that I will be trying to get your information to the companies today. If not today then first thing when I get my computer back. Sorry for the delay!

♥
Joy


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Joy is a stay-at-home-mom to three daughters. She is the wife of a worship leader & youth pastor. She runs her own Etsy shop selling handmade, hand-stamped sterling jewelry. Joy has taken courses in journalism, play writing, poetry, was in Honors English throughout school and has had small publications made of her work (mostly poetry).

Firefly Toothbrush Review and Giveaway

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WINNER #17 Valerie CONGRATULATIONS!

I try very hard to instill good habits in my little girl Penelope when it comes to caring for her teeth. I know how important it is to your general health and I believe that teaching her at a young age will help her to continue to be conscious of this as she gets older. She is at that stage right now where she is wanting to do everything herself so I encourage her to brush on her own first and then I take over and make sure she didn't miss any spots. This has been working for us right now but I know that as she gets older she will want less of my help. So how do I make sure that she is brushing thoroughly? That's where FireFly toothbrushes come in. Invented by a father and daughter FireFly toothbrushes encourage children to brush longer. Dentists recommend that you brush your teeth for a total of two minutes but that can be hard for a kid to do on their own. As a parent I know that when I want my child to do something the best way is to make the activity fun. With just a tap on the bottom of the brush FireFly toothbrushes light up and flash for a total of 60 seconds. What a great way to get your child to brush for the recommended amount of time. One push for the top row and another for the bottom row of teeth. Your child will love watching her toothbrush light up while she is cleaning those pearly whites.

I was given the opportunity to review the Firefly Flashing Toothbrush for ages 2 to 4 years. When I first showed Penelope her new toothbrush and how it lit up it immediately caught her attention. Lately she has been really fascinated with flashlights and laser pointers so this was very cool. I showed her how to activate the blinking and she did have a little trouble at first until we found just the right spot to tap it. She had so much fun watching the light while she brushed and to tell her she could push it again once the minute was up, well that just made it even better. The last couple of days it seems all she can talk about is her new toothbrush. Don't you just live how excited children can get over the littlest things?

Each FireFly toothbrush is designed for 200 uses which reminds kids and parents to replace toothbrushes every 3 months as recommended by dentists. In addition to the style I was sent for review FireFly makes a few other styles to fit your child's age. They come in an assortment of translucent colors and FireFly has also aligned with top Licenses such as Spiderman, Barbie, Hot Wheels, Peanuts, Strawberry Shortcake, Tweetie Bird, Scooby Doo and Bratz. FireFly toothbrushes can be purchased at several stores nationwide including Target, Wal-Mart, Walgreens and Big Lots or online.

How would you like to win some FireFly toothbrushes? I have 3 toothbrushes in different colors to give away to one of our readers.

To Enter: Leave a comment letting me know why you would like to win. You can get an extra entry for following us with GFC or Subscribing via Email.

Deadline: This giveaway will end on October 15, 2010. I will choose the winner using Random.org. US and Canada entries only.  

***Monica***

Mondays with Monica...and Cheesecake

What better way to start off your week then with some creamy and delicious cheesecake. Mmmm. Recently I had the opportunity to try some mini cheesecakes from The Confectional. The Confectional is a boutique bakery located in historic Pikes Place Market of Seattle, Washington. They specialize in baked cheesecakes and cheesecake truffles. Oh wow, are their cheesecakes good! They come in a variety of flavors like Coconut Cherry Chocolate and Mochaccino. I tried several of the flavors and I have to say the Lemon White Chocolate was one of the tastiest. All of their mini cheesecakes with the exception of the Sugar-Free Seattle's New York-Style are creamy with a thick and crumbly graham cracker crust. They are about the size of a cupcake, decadent and filling. I know your probably wondering why sugar free...I was curious. The Sugar-Free had a much more grainy texture with a slight after-taste.  I suppose if you are trying to cut back on your sugar but are craving cheesecake this will satisfy that craving. I tried it after already trying their regular cheesecakes and it left much to be desired.

Here is a picture of the Cookies & Mint Chocolate. Is it making your mouth water too? The Confectional cheesecakes can be purchased online and shipped right to your front door. You can purchase them in boxes of 20 for $60.75, 16 for $54.00, and 9 for $32.00 and come shipped with ice packs to keep them cool and fresh. Unfortunately they do not ship their Cheesecake Truffles so if you are ever in Seattle visiting Pikes Place Market you gotta stop by and let me know if they are as good as their cheesecakes. Until next time...

***Monica***