Just letting you all know that I just had a baby and I'm also currently packing to move in two weeks so that's why I have been MIA this last month. It will be a month or so before I can get back to blogging and reviewing. Thank you for your understanding! See you all soon.
Happy Testing!!
Katelyn
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser
As a mother of an active 2 year old boy who loves cars, my walls are a mess. My cream walls have become the race track for many cars with black wheels and that is not a good combination. Hand prints, food gunk and dirt, along with the black tire marks plagued my walls and a wash rag and soap wasn't working at all. Mr. Clean Magic Eraser claims:
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Original will help your walls, baseboards, floors, switch plates, blinds and more look like new again by easily removing scuff marks and dirt. To discover the cleaning possibilities, simply take a swipe. Its water-activated micro-scrubbers reach into the surface grooves, lifting away built up grease and soap scum. The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Original is so powerful that each swipe removes more grime than the leading all-purpose spray cleaner, and it has no harsh chemicals.
(Photo courtesy of Mr. Clean)
So I bought it and was really hoping it would work. I got one Eraser out of the box and got it wet as the directions said. I went to work on the marks on my walls and they started to disappear! I was so excited. Then I looked at Eraser and saw some of my paint on it. So it works just don't rub to hard or concentrate in one area to long. So far I haven't had anything on my walls that the Eraser couldn't get off. I really like this for stubborn marks and gunk. I also like that it has no harsh chemicals or smell.
Rating : Average, this product is good but I really didn't like that it was taking my paint off my walls. Other than that it works pretty good.
Tips :
- Follow directions
- Don't rub to hard or concentrate in one area
Price : $2 - $15 depending on the count you get.
Happy Testing!!!
Katelyn
Monday, September 24, 2012
Tom's of Main Deodorant vs. Arm and Hammer Deodorant
When choosing a deodorant people always want to make sure it smells good and keeps them feeling fresh. Another thing my husband and I look for is ingredients that are good and healthy for our bodies, inside and out. We used to wear antiperspirants, but when we learned there is aluminum in them we wanted to go a more "natural ingredients" approach. Now I know this sounds like I'm on my soapbox about this, I'm not trying to persuade you one way or another, I'm just giving you information on why I'm comparing these two products. With that said, we started to look into deodorants that wouldn't have aluminum but would still give us the protection and smell we were looking for.
First we came across Tom's of Main Deodorant, we have known people who used the toothpaste, so we tried them first. I got the lavender smelling one and my husband picked the unscented. We started using them and after the first few times of using it we noticed that it wasn't lasting very long. For me the lavender smell would wear off after a few hours and then I would start to smell myself shortly after that. For my husband it would wear off quicker, with it being unscented and would come home from working a 12 hr shift smelling like he had no deodorant on at all. We were disappointed with it in that aspect but then we noticed our underarms were red and peeling! They didn't hurt but they were a little sore. Needless to say we stopped using and moved on to something else.
Next came Arm and Hammer and I liked the smell on those much better. They have "Unscented" or "Fresh" and we both liked the smell of "Fresh". We started using that one and noticed it didn't wear off as quickly, you get a good 15-24 hrs of protection. It also didn't give us a rash of any kind. We are really liking this deodorant, so far no down sides.
Side note: I did talk about in this post using coconut oil as a natural deodorant, but I mentioned that it doesn't work for really sweaty activities, so this is the deodorant I would use in those situations.
Rating: Tom's of Main = Pesky, didn't work at all and gave us a rash. Arm and Hammer = Perfect, works and has natural ingredients
Price: Tom's of Main $5-$7, Arm and Hammer $3-$6
Thank you for reading!
Happy Testing!
Katelyn
(Photo courtesy of Tom's of Main)
First we came across Tom's of Main Deodorant, we have known people who used the toothpaste, so we tried them first. I got the lavender smelling one and my husband picked the unscented. We started using them and after the first few times of using it we noticed that it wasn't lasting very long. For me the lavender smell would wear off after a few hours and then I would start to smell myself shortly after that. For my husband it would wear off quicker, with it being unscented and would come home from working a 12 hr shift smelling like he had no deodorant on at all. We were disappointed with it in that aspect but then we noticed our underarms were red and peeling! They didn't hurt but they were a little sore. Needless to say we stopped using and moved on to something else.
(Photo courtesy of Arm and Hammer)
Next came Arm and Hammer and I liked the smell on those much better. They have "Unscented" or "Fresh" and we both liked the smell of "Fresh". We started using that one and noticed it didn't wear off as quickly, you get a good 15-24 hrs of protection. It also didn't give us a rash of any kind. We are really liking this deodorant, so far no down sides.
Side note: I did talk about in this post using coconut oil as a natural deodorant, but I mentioned that it doesn't work for really sweaty activities, so this is the deodorant I would use in those situations.
Rating: Tom's of Main = Pesky, didn't work at all and gave us a rash. Arm and Hammer = Perfect, works and has natural ingredients
Price: Tom's of Main $5-$7, Arm and Hammer $3-$6
Thank you for reading!
Happy Testing!
Katelyn
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Shark Steam Pocket Mop
As many mothers out there, when I am cleaning my house I want it to be clean and not just covered in chemicals. My floors were my biggest concern because at the time of deciding what products to use, I had a baby that was spending a lot of time on the floor and would be crawling around. I didn't want any chemicals on my floors that could transfer to my baby. So I saw an infomercial for the Shark Steam Pocket Mop and thought that is what I'm looking for. The commercial claimed to clean and sanitize surfaces and to clean quickly. It uses super heated steam from water that you pour into the water container. It makes steam quickly and you are ready to mop in seconds.
I was so excited to use it when I got it. I poured in filtered water and plugged it in. Now it does take a good minute or so to heat up and start steaming. Once it was ready to go I started moping and it worked well. It was cleaning and all the stuff that was dried on was coming off the floor. It was easy to use and took no more effort than using a regular mop (with out the bucket of water). I actually even used it on my wall in my kitchen around my trash can and it cleaned it up great. The mop also comes with different shape mop head that helps you get around toilets and that is an awesome feature. Now in our lives that baby boy that was crawling around the floor is now potty training and so having that mop head makes me feel good about how clean the floor is around the toilet. I have really enjoyed and liked this way of mopping. Also you don't have to wait for the floors to dry since it uses steam and dries practically instantly.
Rating: Perfect, I love how clean my floors get and I love that I can clean quickly and not having to worry about chemicals.
Tips:
Happy Testing!
Katelyn
(Photo courtesy of Shark)
I was so excited to use it when I got it. I poured in filtered water and plugged it in. Now it does take a good minute or so to heat up and start steaming. Once it was ready to go I started moping and it worked well. It was cleaning and all the stuff that was dried on was coming off the floor. It was easy to use and took no more effort than using a regular mop (with out the bucket of water). I actually even used it on my wall in my kitchen around my trash can and it cleaned it up great. The mop also comes with different shape mop head that helps you get around toilets and that is an awesome feature. Now in our lives that baby boy that was crawling around the floor is now potty training and so having that mop head makes me feel good about how clean the floor is around the toilet. I have really enjoyed and liked this way of mopping. Also you don't have to wait for the floors to dry since it uses steam and dries practically instantly.
Rating: Perfect, I love how clean my floors get and I love that I can clean quickly and not having to worry about chemicals.
Tips:
- Give it some time to heat up
- Has two sides on the mop head you can use, so you can mop a lot of surfaces
- Because it uses steam you get a little warmer mopping than regular mops
- Use filtered water, its better for the system
Happy Testing!
Katelyn
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Signing Time
I took Sign Language in high school and fell in love. I really enjoyed learning the language and culture. When I got pregnant with my first child I knew I wanted to teach him sign language as a baby to help him communicate with me and I with him. I did a little research about teaching it to young kids and what the benefits would be. That's when I happened upon Signing Time's website, www.signingtime.com and was able to see their program and the benefits of teaching it to my child. Here is a small paragraph from the website about teaching sign language to your baby:
Your baby can communicate with you before he can talk. Children learn to point, wave goodbye and blow kisses before they speak. Your child uses gestures to communicate while his verbal abilities catch up with his intellectual abilities. Baby sign language enables your child to tell you if he is hungry, thirsty or needs a diaper change. Baby sign language research suggests that infants who use sign language speak sooner and score higher, when tested after second grade. Baby Signing Time encourages signing and speaking together. Children hear the word, see the word, say the word, and model the word with their hands. You do not need to become fluent in baby signing, even learning a few signs like ‘milk’, ‘more’ and ‘diaper’ can help. Baby Signing Time teaches American Sign Language signs because if you are going to learn signs, you should learn signs for a real language rather than a made up signs. Learning ASL will enable your child to communicate with thousands who are hard of hearing or deaf. ASL signs are natural, easy and fun for babies.
The lines I highlighted are what stuck out to me so I thought why not give it a try. I started my son a little later than I wanted to with the DVDs (about 6 months) but was signing "eat" and "milk" to him. When he started watching the DVDs he fell in love with the music, songs and bright colors. He was watching but I didn't think he was getting it, only because I would try to sign with him after and he wouldn't do anything. After a few months of one DVD, one time a day, he was sitting there watching and the word "milk" came on the screen. Now before it was signed or spoken, it was just the word on the screen, my son looked at it and signed "milk"! I was amazed. I could not believe that he recognized the word and remembered the sign for it. He started signing a lot more after that and we never had a problem communicating with him. He started to speak around 13 months and has a very large vocabulary now at 3 yrs old. He has had no speech problems and learns and understands what we are saying. I never went though a "baby talk" period with him or a tantrum stage. He was able to communicate his needs and I was able to understand.
Signing Time has many different programs for all ages and even programs to help with specific issues, such as:
American Sign
Language
Autism
Baby
Sign Language
Classroom
Management
Language
Development
Music
and Movement
Reading
and Literacy
Speech
Delays
Tantrums
(Courtesy of signingtime.com)
Your baby can communicate with you before he can talk. Children learn to point, wave goodbye and blow kisses before they speak. Your child uses gestures to communicate while his verbal abilities catch up with his intellectual abilities. Baby sign language enables your child to tell you if he is hungry, thirsty or needs a diaper change. Baby sign language research suggests that infants who use sign language speak sooner and score higher, when tested after second grade. Baby Signing Time encourages signing and speaking together. Children hear the word, see the word, say the word, and model the word with their hands. You do not need to become fluent in baby signing, even learning a few signs like ‘milk’, ‘more’ and ‘diaper’ can help. Baby Signing Time teaches American Sign Language signs because if you are going to learn signs, you should learn signs for a real language rather than a made up signs. Learning ASL will enable your child to communicate with thousands who are hard of hearing or deaf. ASL signs are natural, easy and fun for babies.
The lines I highlighted are what stuck out to me so I thought why not give it a try. I started my son a little later than I wanted to with the DVDs (about 6 months) but was signing "eat" and "milk" to him. When he started watching the DVDs he fell in love with the music, songs and bright colors. He was watching but I didn't think he was getting it, only because I would try to sign with him after and he wouldn't do anything. After a few months of one DVD, one time a day, he was sitting there watching and the word "milk" came on the screen. Now before it was signed or spoken, it was just the word on the screen, my son looked at it and signed "milk"! I was amazed. I could not believe that he recognized the word and remembered the sign for it. He started signing a lot more after that and we never had a problem communicating with him. He started to speak around 13 months and has a very large vocabulary now at 3 yrs old. He has had no speech problems and learns and understands what we are saying. I never went though a "baby talk" period with him or a tantrum stage. He was able to communicate his needs and I was able to understand.
Signing Time has many different programs for all ages and even programs to help with specific issues, such as:
Rating: Perfect, I would recommend this program to anyone with small children, are about to have a kid, or are having issues communicating with their kids. It has helped so much in my home and I intend to use it with my daughter when she is born.
Tips:
- Be persistent with teaching them the signs
- Learn along with them
- Speak and sign with them
Price: It depends on the program you are look for but it can range any where from $20 for a DVD/CD set to $850 for the full set. You will need to look over the website to find the right program and price range for you.
Happy Testing!!
Katelyn
Monday, September 17, 2012
Guiltless Alfredo Sauce
Another healthy recipe review, and this one you cant even tell its healthy! When it comes to pasta dishes I'm one who likes a white/cheese sauce instead of a tomato sauce, but the white sauces can be killer to your diet with all the cream and butter used to make them. A regular Alfredo sauce can come in at over 1,000 calories and more that 50 grams of fat!! I wanted to find an alternative that tasted good but was way lower than that. Ourbestbites.com has some great recipes and so great low calorie and low fat recipes as well. This website is where I found this guiltless Alfredo sauce, and so I thought I would try it out. Here is the recipe:
Guiltless Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients:
2 C low-fat milk
1/3 C (3 oz) low fat cream cheese
2-3 T flour
1 t salt
1 T butter
3 garlic cloves
1 C grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions:
Place milk, cream cheese, flour, and salt in a blender and blend until smooth. In a non-stick sauce pan, melt butter on med-high heat and add garlic. Let the garlic saute for about 30 seconds, you don’t want to burn it.
Then add milk mixture to the pan. Stir constantly for about 3 or 4 minutes or until it just comes to a simmer. Keep stirring and let it cook for a few minutes more. It should be much thicker now.
When it’s nice and thickened remove the pan from the heat. Add the cheese, stir it up and then cover immediately. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before using. It will continue to thicken upon standing. Also, if you have leftovers in the fridge, the sauce will thicken almost into a solid. Just re-heat and add a little milk and it will be back to normal again.
This recipe is really easy to follow and hard to mess up. Its great on pasta, pizza or a dipping sauce for bread sticks. This sauce does not taste like a "light" Alfredo sauce but also doesn't leave you feeling like you have had a real heavy meal. It is a perfect light Alfredo sauce, and its only around 100 calories for 1/4 C! I actually made it tonight and I had some Half and Half I needed to use, so I substituted the milk for that and it came out a bit creamier but if calories and fat is what you are trying to watch than stick to the recipe.
Rating: Perfect, I love this recipe and think it tastes so good and love that it is lower in calories and fat than traditional Alfredo sauce.
Tips:
Happy Testing!
Katelyn
(Courtesy of ourbestbites.com)
Guiltless Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients:
2 C low-fat milk
1/3 C (3 oz) low fat cream cheese
2-3 T flour
1 t salt
1 T butter
3 garlic cloves
1 C grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions:
Place milk, cream cheese, flour, and salt in a blender and blend until smooth. In a non-stick sauce pan, melt butter on med-high heat and add garlic. Let the garlic saute for about 30 seconds, you don’t want to burn it.
Then add milk mixture to the pan. Stir constantly for about 3 or 4 minutes or until it just comes to a simmer. Keep stirring and let it cook for a few minutes more. It should be much thicker now.
When it’s nice and thickened remove the pan from the heat. Add the cheese, stir it up and then cover immediately. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before using. It will continue to thicken upon standing. Also, if you have leftovers in the fridge, the sauce will thicken almost into a solid. Just re-heat and add a little milk and it will be back to normal again.
This recipe is really easy to follow and hard to mess up. Its great on pasta, pizza or a dipping sauce for bread sticks. This sauce does not taste like a "light" Alfredo sauce but also doesn't leave you feeling like you have had a real heavy meal. It is a perfect light Alfredo sauce, and its only around 100 calories for 1/4 C! I actually made it tonight and I had some Half and Half I needed to use, so I substituted the milk for that and it came out a bit creamier but if calories and fat is what you are trying to watch than stick to the recipe.
Rating: Perfect, I love this recipe and think it tastes so good and love that it is lower in calories and fat than traditional Alfredo sauce.
Tips:
- Just follow the recipe and it should all be fine
- Make sure you have everything ready before you throw the garlic in the butter, it is very easy to burn the garlic
Happy Testing!
Katelyn
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Munchkin Baby Wipe Warmer
I'm currently 8 months pregnant with my second child and so baby products seem like a natural way to go. With my first baby I had a baby shower and got a wipe warmer as a gift, I was super excited. If you don't know what this, it is a container that you plug in and you put the baby wipes in it and it warms them up. This is to help with newborns so they don't have cold wipes on their bums and they don't get cranky or upset.
At first I was so excited to use this, I plugged it in, put in the wipes and couldn't wait to to change the first diaper. To my surprise when I went to grab that first wipe it was dry, and so was the second one. The warmer was drying out the top of the stack of wipes. It was drying them out fast too, by the time the next diaper needed to be changed the top wipes were dried out and I ended up throwing them away. It was nice to have warm wipes for my newborn but I was frustrated with the wipes drying out. This product also has a little light on it, that was useful to find the wipes at night and not having to turn on a bright light.
Rating: Pesky, I didn't like this product and felt I was wasting money on wipes and was glad it was a gift and I didn't buy it myself.
Tips:
Happy Testing!
Katelyn
(photo courtesy of ToysRUs)
At first I was so excited to use this, I plugged it in, put in the wipes and couldn't wait to to change the first diaper. To my surprise when I went to grab that first wipe it was dry, and so was the second one. The warmer was drying out the top of the stack of wipes. It was drying them out fast too, by the time the next diaper needed to be changed the top wipes were dried out and I ended up throwing them away. It was nice to have warm wipes for my newborn but I was frustrated with the wipes drying out. This product also has a little light on it, that was useful to find the wipes at night and not having to turn on a bright light.
Rating: Pesky, I didn't like this product and felt I was wasting money on wipes and was glad it was a gift and I didn't buy it myself.
Tips:
- If you do get this, you could flip your stack of wipes to try to rehydrate the wipes as they dry out
Happy Testing!
Katelyn
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