Toy Shopping Safety Tips

Shopping for toys during the holidays can be exciting and fun, but it can also be frustrating. There can be thousands of toys to choose from in one store, and it’s important to choose the right toy for the right age child. Here are some great safety tips I received that I wanted to share with you.

Toy Safety Tips by Malcolm Denniss: Technical Director for SGS Consumer Testing Services

1. The most important aspect of buying gifts for children (whether for holidays or birthdays) is to make sure the toy or game is age-appropriate for the child. Nearly every toy or game will list the appropriate age on the box. The guidelines were developed by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and Toy Industry Association, and take into account the typical ability of children to handle certain toys. Buying toys for children that are younger than the indicated age, even though we think a child may grow into it or is capable may lead to inappropriate play patterns and hazards that a child is not yet prepared for.

2. Children are naturally excited to play with new toys at holiday times, often in a robust and possibly in an overly enthusiastic manner. It is important that parents periodically check their children’s toys for any damage or breakage, which could create sharp edges or a choking hazard. If a toy looks damaged, take it away! If necessary, contact the manufacturer to verify that it is still safe to play with.

3. While toy shopping during the holidays, check recall notices at the toy or department store to verify none of child’s existing toys have been recalled and are still in your child’s room or toy box.

4. If you are buying toys for nephews, nieces, or other children that you may not see on a regular basis, it is always a good idea to check with the parents and make sure you know what they think is appropriate for the child, particularly for very young children where maturity can vary significantly. Be particularly careful when buying for children under the age of three years. This age group often still puts toys in their mouths, so check the front of the toy package to see if the toys have small parts before buying.

5. Teach kids outdoor and indoor play safety. It’s important to teach them to not play ball games near roadways and to always look where they are running if the ball goes outside the play area. Never let them play near roads and areas where automobiles are driving. Do not let them play with flying toys indoors where they can not only knock over fragile decorations but can also hit bystanders.

Progresso Soups Prize Pack: Yummy

Progresso soups wants you to know that there are four new, great tasting soups that have 28% of the recommended Daily Value of fiber per serving (7 grams) and have no added MSG* or artificial flavors. The new varieties include Chicken Tuscany, Creamy Tomato Basil, Hearty Vegetable and Noodles and Home style Minestrone. I love to eat soup in the winter and was excited to try out a can of Progresso. We have eaten it before and I can honestly say, the Chicken Tuscany does taste good because it comes with a good amount of chicken and veggies. They also sent us some adorable soup bowls, spoons, coupons and soup and want to share this prize package with you. You can download coupons and check out more about Progresso soups, including calories and fiber amounts at their website Progressosoup.com.

CONTEST:

TO ENTER: Leave a comment here letting us know what kind of Progresso soup you would like to try. I will e-mail the winner when the contest ends on November 13^th. Good luck!

Progesso and My Blog Spark provided the review and giveaway product.

Bake Me a Wish Cake Giveaway, Yummy!

When you ask my family to review a cake, we will leap to that “difficult” challenge! Bake Me A Wish is an award winning on line bakery that will make all of your sweet dreams come true. They have tons of gourmet cakes that you can personalize and each one comes packaged in an elegant gift box. We were sent the Triple Chocolate Enrobed Brownie Cake . Here is the description from the website: Our moist & fudgy brownie cake goes through three chocolate “passes” before it’s “done”: first it’s enrobed in rich chocolate, then it gets completely blanketed with a shower of dark chocolate shaves; last, the cake is finished with milk and dark chocolate glazes drizzled all over and the Belgian chocolate plaque of your choice; for a brownie dessert that’s over-the-top-triple-delicious!

BOOKROOM REVIEW

The cake arrived securely packaged in a cooler surrounded by ice packs. It was hot the day it arrived, but the cake arrived perfectly intact and nice and cool. Pass! Now on to the taste, I am not a huge chocolate fan, (I’m a cheesecake gal) but this cake was absolutely yummy! It handily passed the taste test for all the members of my family, especially my husband. Pass! What else I like is Bake Me A Cake will personalize the cakes and the cost is comparable to what you would spend for a special occasion and very convenient to order from their website. You can order them at www.bakemeawish.com. Below is more information from their website. Also 5% of your order will be used to assist our effort in sending gourmet occasion cakes to soldier’s overseas, which is so awesome!

Our gourmet birthday cakes, baked in our award-winning New York City bakery, can be sent overnight, nationwide and are guaranteed to arrive on the day you request or your money back. Each delicious cake includes a greeting card that you can personalize and comes packed an elegant gift box. Make your loved one’s next birthday, anniversary or holiday an occasion to remember by sending a gourmet cake from Bake Me A Wish!

We accept advanced orders for Birthday Cake deliveries, up to 2 months from today. Send a cake today by ordering on line or calling us at 888-YUR-WISH (987-9474) M-F, 9am to 5pm; we have experts waiting to assist you on everything from the appropriate cake flavor to recommendations on how and when to ship your cake.(from the website)

GIVEAWAY

One of Bookroom Reviews lucky readers will win their own Triple Chocolate Enrobed Brownie Cake! You will LOVE it you guys!

TO ENTER: Visit Bakemeawish.com and comment here what other cake you would love to try.

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES (MAKE SURE THEY ARE IN SEPARATE COMMENTS TO COUNT)
FOLLOW @bookroomreviews on twitter and tweet this giveaway
SUBSCRIBE to Bookroom Reviews by Newsletter or Feed
STUMBLE this giveaway
This contest will end on August 18th and I will e-mail the winner. You will have 48 hours to respond. Make sure and check back for more giveaways all this month! Bake Me A Wish provided the review and giveaway products to Bookroomreviews and was not an influence in the honesty of this review.

Fiber One Yogurt

I am not a huge yogurt fan, but my little one LOVES it. We visited Nana and Papa for the weekend and I decided to have Nana and Nolan do the tasting test of Fiber One Yogurt for me. I was offered the Strawberry and the Key Lime Pie for review. You can watch below to see their thoughts. My mom likes to use the word Fiber. LOL. They are so cute, they should be in commercials!

As for me, I really enjoyed the Key Lime Pie. It didn’t taste like yogurt at all, more like a dessert. The packs are the perfect size for you and your little ones and are only 50 calories and fat free.

I think this is a good, convenient solution to bumping up your fiber intake and enjoy a snack at the same time. I recommend trying to add your favorite fruits, nuts or a combination of both to keep it interesting. A summer smoothie might be nice too.

For more information you can visit the website www.fiberone.com and check back, I will be posting more information soon.

My Blog Spark and Fiber one provided the yogurt for review and the review was filmed with The Flip Mino HD camera which was provided by My Blog Spark.  Bookroom Reviews reviews are always honest in our opinions.

Hachette Book Giveaway: Fifteen Winners

Win these titles:

Miracles of Motherhood
Odd Mom Out By Jane Porter
Mommy Grace By Sheila Schuller Coleman
Beginner’s Greek By James Collins
The Road Home By Rose Tremain

B as in Beauty By Alberto Ferreras
Into the Beautiful North By Luis Urrea
Hungry Woman in Paris By Josefina Lopez
The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos By Margaret Mascarenhas
Houston, We Have a Problema By Gwendolyn Zepeda

Win these titles:

Free Food for Millionaires By Min Jin Lee
Trail of Crumbs By Kim Sunée
The Fortune Cookie Chronicles By Jennifer Lee
Transparency By Frances Hwang
Strangers from a Different Shore By Ronald Takaki

Wow! Hachette Book Group has an another amazing giveaway. I have been told I can pick FIVE winners for each set of book, so that means FIFTEEN WINNERS will win one of these FIVE sets of books!! AWESOME!

TO ENTER: COMMENT HERE WHICH SET YOU WOULD LIKE TO WIN THE MOST AND WHY.

FOR ADDITIONAL ENTRIES: FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER AND TWEET THIS GIVEAWAY, SUBSCRIBE TO MY BLOG, OR STUMBLE THIS CONTEST.

Contest will end MAY 31st U.S. And Canada and P.O. Box only please. Good Luck! Winners are drawn by Random.org and I e-mail them. Please respond within 48 hours to my e-mail

Making Life Better

Need some ideas for great meals that cost less and are easy to make? Making Life Better is a website that you may want to check out. I like to cook simple meals and the recipes there are simple and healthy. They not only share tips for cooking, but other great ideas for beauty, family and much more. Unilever, the consumer package goods company, has spent a great deal of time thinking about how to make everyday life better and help us find ways to create great meals and do more with less. The company’s Web site, www.MakingLifeBetter.com, features delicious recipes, affordable meal ideas and tips that stretch your budget and save you time. From Chicken Francese to Savory Roasted Potatoes, the secret to dinner success in my home is to keep a well-stocked kitchen filled with easy-to-prepare, delicious pantry staples with brands I know and trust. Thanks to Mom Central for the information.

I’ve bookmarked www.MakingLifeBetter.com, and here are a few of the great ideas I’ve found:

·Need a budget-friendly meal? Try Baked Pasta Primavera with Ragu Pasta Sauce, which costs less than $2 a serving. Ragu Pasta Sauce has a full serving of veggies in every half-cup of sauce, so this recipe is a great way to sneak veggies into your kids’ diets.

· Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! has new Cooking & Baking sticks that bake and taste just like butter! Even better is that they have 50% less saturated fat than butter, 0g trans fat per serving, and provide an excellent source of Omega 3. More importantly, this is a simple change that we can make to help our families live a healthier lifestyle.

·Your family can also enjoy a perfectly seasoned Pizza Meatloaf that you can prepare in no time with go-to ingredients like Lipton Recipe Secrets Onion Soup Mix and Ragu Pasta Sauce.  With two Lipton recipe mix envelopes in each box, your family can enjoy pizza meat loaf one night, and onion burgers the next!

·And definitely look for Bertolli Oven Bake Meals, such as Stuffed Shells, in your grocery store’s freezer. These restaurant-quality Italian classics can be prepared by simply opening the package, pouring the ingredients in your own oven dish and baking. What a great way to skip the Italian restaurant and enjoy a night in – especially if the kids are gone for the evening.

Sensei Weight Loss Review

I lost eight pounds last month!   Woo ho! What helped me lose the weight was the opportunity to review the Sensei Weight Loss Website. I was given a free month long trial to give them feedback on my thoughts about the site. I have to say, it was easy to use and if you have the willpower to lose the weight, Sensei can help.  Sensei advocates healthy balanced meals and exercise.  What is the most helpful are the menu plans that are e-mailed to you every week. You can set up the program to send them to your cell phone and computer e-mail. The plans are pretty simple and you can change them anytime if you get tired of one. They offer three basic meal plans, Mediterranean, Sense able and Sense able Carb Plan.  Your days are based around three meals and a snack, and you’re supposed to specify the time which you eat these on weekdays and at the weekend. On the website, you just click on “My Day” and there is the list for each meal, with recipes and tips. I signed up for the “budget Friendly Plan.” They will then pick foods that are affordable. You can see an example of my daily meal plan below.

Monday

8:00 AM – Breakfast : Fruit smoothie 1.0 Each Yogurt (100 calorie portion) (100.0 Cals) 0.5 Cup Milk 1% low fat (52.0 Cals) 0.5 Cup Canned fruit in juice (77.0 Cals) 1.0 Tablespoon Nuts (51.0 Cals) 12:00 PM – Lunch : Frozen meal w salad 1.0 Each Frozen meal (260-300 calories, <11g fat) (280.0 Cals) 2.0 Cup Tossed vegetable salad w/o dressing (45.0 Cals) 1.0 Tablespoon Low fat/fat free salad dressing (15-25 cal/Tbsp) (26.0 Cals) 5:00 PM – Dinner : Pasta ‘n beans 0.5 Cup Beans, cooked or canned (110.0 Cals) 0.5 Cup Cooked pasta, rice or couscous (100.0 Cals) 2.0 Tablespoon Shredded reduced fat cheese (70-90cal/1oz=1/4c) (41.0 Cals) 3.0 Cup Salad greens (24.0 Cals) 2.0 Tablespoon Vinaigrette salad dressing (35-45 cal/Tbsp) (90.0 Cals) 1.0 Cup Fresh fruit, cut up (70.0 Cals) 8:00 PM – Snack : Berries 1.5 Cup Frozen berries (120.0 Cals)

The other appealing aspect is the exercise plan. You set up what day and what type of exercise for the week and they will send you reminders. You can change the time length and type of exercise as you progress.

You can sign up for a seven day trial for free to see if it’s for you, and you don’t need to enter your credit card to do it. The site charges for monthly membership ($15/month online membership, $20/month “anywhere” membership.) I do think this is an affordable plan and  just like any other healthy weight loss plan,  Sensei would be a great resource if if you are serious about weight loss and getting healthy.  The messages to your phone are a cool bonus.

To enroll in Sensei For Weight Loss™ or for additional information, visit www.sensei.com. iPhone and iPod Touch users can download the Sensei for Weight Loss application at www.itunes.com/appstore/. Once consumers download the free application,they can enroll in Sensei for Weight Loss via the Web.  For more information you can watch this cute commercial

The School of Essential Ingredients Book Review

SUMMARY

The School of Essential Ingredients follows the lives of eight students who gather in Lillian’s Restaurant every Monday night for cooking class. It soon becomes clear, however, that each one seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen. Students include Claire, a young mother struggling with the demands of her family; Antonia, an Italian kitchen designer learning to adapt to life in America; and Tom, a widower mourning the loss of his wife to breast cancer. Chef Lillian, a woman whose connection with food is both soulful and exacting, helps them to create dishes whose flavor and techniques expand beyond the restaurant and into the secret corners of her students’ lives. One by one the students are transformed by the aromas, flavors, and textures of Lillian’s food, including a white-on-white cake that prompts wistful reflections on the sweet fragility of love and a peppery heirloom tomato sauce that seems to spark one romance but end another. Brought together by the power of food and companionship, the lives of the characters mingle and intertwine, united by the revealing nature of what can be created in the kitchen.

THEMES

REVIEW

The few reviews I have read, already mentioned the book that The School of Essential Ingredients reminds them of.  I also had the same unoriginal thought that this book has the magical elements of Like Water for Chocolate. The words that come to my mind to describe the book are whimsical, lyrical, and prose. I am more of a fan of realistic stories, but Bauermeister managed to combine the right amount of each aspect to keep me engaged. Each chapter is about a different student from the cooking class, takes us into their lives, and left me wanting to know more. The descriptions of the food and cooking will leave you thinking you could be a great chef and possibly inspire some to do just that.  I would have to say this is an “Essential” read for fans of a lovely lyrical and hopeful story.  I look forward to more.  The authors website is here with an excerpt of the book and the publisher is Penguin. Thanks to mom.central and motherTalk.com.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Review: The School of Essential Ingredients (bookingmama.blogspot.com)

Nadya Suleman: Octuplets Mom Speaks on “Today” (Video)

In the first interview with Nadya Suleman, the mother of the octuplets explains why she thinks having 14 children was a responsible choice and why she’s being unfairly attacked because she’s a single mom.

Below is the video of her interview from this morning.   I am also linking to a teriffic article from The Toronto Star that goes against the onslaught of media news and comments saying we should basically banish her and her children, that I hope you will read. It is not a popular opinion, but a compassionate one.  I think it is one that we should all  have towards any other human beings and I know there are more people out there that do.  Next week The Today Show will have video of her babies and I think and hope their faces will encourage that compassion.

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.2056998&w=425&h=350&fv=]

E*Trade’s Super Bowl Baby Commericial 2009

Didn’t you love the E*Trade baby commercial last year!  It was my favorite.   This year I read they are bringing back the baby and adding some baby friends.  I found this video on You Tube of outtakes from the commercial, and they are hilarious.   Check it out below.  What was your favorite Super Bowl commercial last year?  Oh yeah, Go Cardinals!  We Love You Kurt Warner!  What an amazing story and a wonderful example he is!  We have been fans for years.

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.2025208&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]

Next Page »