A Moana Saves RAVE: SnackTAXI Reusable Sandwich and Snack Bags

 

Once in a while we come across a product that deserves another shout out.  Thus, a Moana Saves RAVE.  As in, not just good, or great, but we really do want to rave about you!  And, this time, it’s SnackTAXI. 

I posted a review of SnackTAXI reusable sandwich and snack bags HERE before Christmas and have been using them in Second Born's school lunch ever since.  They clean up easily with either a rinse or run through the dishwasher plus the overall bag and closure has stood up well to everyday use.  Every morning I smile inside when I'm using them to pack her lunch as I know I'm doing something good for the earth and it doesn't complicate  my routine or clean-up at all.  Often I have to fight the overpowering urge to give the whole world a SnackTAXI lunch makeover.  OK, I'm exaggerating (slightly) but I do think everyone should try them out and, if you're so inclined, you can check them out HERE.  At least look at the fabulous patterns they come in!

Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter, A Review

Coconut and peanut butter?!

Brilliant!

Why didn’t I think of that? Really.

Two of my most favorite foods in the world have to be coconut and peanut butter. My love of coconut started with my mom's brownies, which are never totally complete without being topped with shredded coconut. And, of course, continues with living in the islands where coconut is a staple. 

Peanut butter, well, that’s another dish.  My Swedish grandmother lovingly passed down her habit of eating peanut butter straight out of the jar with a spoon, and the habit has now attached itself to four generations. Thanks, Grams. :)

She loves it so much you would have believed she thought it was a spoonful of peanut butter a day that kept the doctor away, not an apple. 

Seriously.

Combining coconut and peanut butter was not something I had even thought of until I saw Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter.

Then, you know, the food-lover in me got all excited…

And it tastes as good as it sounds!

The flavors balance each other out perfectly, and the taste is crazy addicting.

My kids loved it. I stole their sandwiches when they weren’t looking, and I keep sneaking spoonfuls… we’ll stop the confessions there…

It’s organic (you know I dig that), and the only ingredients are coconut and peanuts!

They don’t add sugar, and it really doesn’t need it.

Awesomeness in a jar, I’m telling you. It comes in glass jars, and is packed really well.

Tropical Traditions has many organic coconut products available (check out Lisa’s Virgin Coconut Oil review), and I am excited to get my hands on more of them! They also have a great stock of recipes that will open up your mind to much more coconut-ty cooking creativeness!

My family and I really enjoyed the Coconut Peanut Butter Granola recipe, and I had to come up with a version of Chicken Satay with Coconut Peanut Sauce on my food blog. Check it out here. 

I couldn’t help it. 

Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter really is an exciting thing to find in your cupboard!

It can be purchased at HERE and comes in 16 oz. and 26 oz. jars.

Receive a complimentary copy of a Virgin Coconut Oil book with your first order.  When you fill in your account information, there is a place to choose "How did you hear of us?" In the drop down menu, choose "Referred by a friend." Below that, please enter user ID: 6672765 and your complimentary book will be added to your order.

The makers of Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Peanut Butter have provided one 16 oz jar of their  product to give away to one lucky Moana Saves winner.   To WIN your own jar of organic coconut peanut butter, follow the mandatory entry requirement below and any optional ones you'd like with a separate comment for each:

To earn a mandatory entry, subscribe to the Tropical Traditions email newsletter here.  Mandatory means that if you don't do this first, all of your other entries will be disqualified.

To earn an additional entry, do one (or all) of the following and leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

1. Follow Moana Saves on Twitter.

2. Follow Tropical Traditions on Twitter.

3. Tweet about this giveaway (limit one tweet per day) using the following (leave the tweet URL in your comment):
#Win Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Peanut Butter from @troptraditions and @moanasaves  ends 1/28 http://bit.ly/fa7ev8

4. Become a Google Friend Connect follower of Moana Saves (in the side bar).


5. Like the Moana Saves Facebook page.

6. Like the Tropical Traditions Facebook page.

7. Follow Moana Saves on Networked Blogs (in the side bar).


8. Subscribe to my feed via RSS reader and/or email updates.

Only one person per email/household/IPaddress can enter this giveaway.  He/she must be 18+ years old and reside in the U.S.  This giveaway ends on Friday, January 28th at 11:59 PM HST (Hawaii Standard Time).  One winner will be chosen randomly via Random.org.  I will notify the winner via email and he/she must respond to claim the prize within 48 hours or I will draw another winner.

Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

More Info about the Blogging Success Summit (free Webinar!)

The organizers of the Blogging Success Summit have just announced a free WEBINAR: 9 Companies Doing Blogging Right and What You Need to Know taught by Michael Stelzner and the leaders from BlogWorld (Rick Calvert & Dave Cynkin). 

HERE is the link to the webinar which is just a sample of the kinds of presentations/presenters the Summit will feature.

WHAT IS THE SUMMIT?: The summit stars 23 blogging pros teaching business owners and marketers how to master business blogging. Technorati CEO Richard Jalichandra, Scott Monty (head of social media, Ford), Brian Clark (Copyblogger), Darren Rowse (author, ProBlogger), Debbie Weil (author, The Corporate Blogging Book), Douglas Karr (co-author, Corporate Blogging for Dummies) experts from Sony, McDonald’s, Cisco, Southwest Airlines and Procter & Gamble; Jay Baer (author, The Now Revolution) and Michael Stelzner (Social Media Examiner)--just to name a few.

WHO'S COMING: You might recognize some of the folks who already purchased tickets... Tupperware, World Bank, Home Depot, Aetna, General Mills, Vanguard, Simple Green, Chiquita, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, The Daily Telegraph, Arbitron, Virginia State Parks, and hundreds of smaller businesses.

Right now the Summit is currently offering 50% off tickets. The half-off sale ends Jan. 20th. The event takes place in February.  Stacie, of Simply Stacie, and I have signed up and look forward to blogging about the Summit as well as taking our blogging to the next level.  You are welcome to join us!

Making Sure Everyone Knows Their Options

This post brought to you by Fannie Mae. All opinions are 100% mine.

Whether you think the U.S. recession is winding down or not, we all know someone who has been affected by it.  Some have lost their jobs, some have fallen behind on their mortgage and have gone through foreclosure.  Its been a tough time for folks and some have chosen to "go it alone"--not getting the help and support they need to keep what they've worked for all their lives.  That's where Know Your Options by Fannie Mae can help.  The website is an online resource for overwhelmed and frustrated homeowners to learn more about the following: ways to avoid foreclosure, options for giving up a home if there are no alternatives, resources to make sure homeowners have exhausted all of their options, scams to avoid when looking for mortgage relief, and finally how to take action checklist when people are ready to put their lives back together again.

The past few years have been hard on the American people.  Make sure you and the people you care about get the help you need to negotiate with your mortgage company, avoid foreclosure, or protect the resources you have.  KnowYourOptions.com  is a comprehensive website dedicated to helping Americans keep their homes and/or weather this recession.  It provides help when you need it the most.

TABASCO® your food to get the most out of every bite!

This post brought to you by TABASCO® Original Red. All opinions are 100% mine.

Years ago, my college roommates used to accuse me of "marking" whatever I was eating with Tabasco sauce to keep them from helping themselves to my food.  I wasn't marking anything!  I was simply enjoying the layers of flavor that TABASCO® Original Red adds to all kinds of dishes.  Since those college days, TABASCO® Original Red has always been a part of my bag of tricks to liven up a main course, pasta dish or even a dip.

For example, TABASCO® enhances the flavor of pizza so that you taste more in the pizza!   Check out the Pizza Perfected page listing 10 yummy ways to doctor your pizza with TABASCO®.  The unique blend of salt, pepper and vinegar deepens a dish's own flavor rather than imposing a hot sauce flavor on the food.
Here's a great recipe for Spicy Garlic Panini Sauce from allrecipes.com:

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon mayonnaise 1 1/2 teaspoon TABASCO®

1-2 teaspoons garlic powder (I use the 1 t to let the TABASCO® shine through!)

Directions:

1.	Stir the mayonnaise, hot pepper sauce, and garlic powder together in a bowl. Use immediately or keep refrigerated. (this sauce is great on plain old sandwiches as well!)

Since the Super Bowl is right around the corner, consider using TABASCO® Original Red to add some zest to the food you serve.  Check out the Game-Day Party Menu  at the TABASCO® site for some simple ideas and recipes.  Happy Eating!

KidSwitch: The Glow-in-the-dark Light Switch Extender for Kids - A Review and Giveaway

Sponsored by Tomoson.com

 Aaaahhh... this is my sigh of relief, a sigh of relaxation and peace of mind... of gratitude that my 3-year old can now turn on the lights in her bedroom and bathroom all by herself, without constructing a makeshift ladder out of baby doll strollers, pillows and building block containers. This may not seem like a big deal to some, but for those of you with young (very independent) children, overcoming this obstacle is (or will be) HUGE! Pre-KidSwitch, I'd be doing anything from washing dishes to frying chicken to even changing a messy diaper, when my 3-year old would yell "MOM!!! I need to go to da bafwoom, bewwy badly!!" Yes, unbeknownst to me, she had been holding "it" for more than I'd care to know, but at that moment, I'd better stop all tasks and run to flip the light switch for her, unless I wanted to add another messy, wet task to my never-ending list. And there were times when I took too long to get there and so she just went right there in the hallway instead of venturing into the dark abysmal bathroom. This was my life of "adventure" up until last week...

Introducing (drum roll, please)... KidSwitch: The Glow-in-the-Dark Light Switch Extender for Kids. Aaaahhh, this is my sigh of relief, again, just thinking about how wonderful this nifty gadget has made my life. It allows kids to SAFELY operate light switches, provides them with an increased sense of independence and accomplishment and promotes potty-training by enabling kids to turn the light on themselves in the middle of the night. And, this baby GLOWS IN THE DARK! I don't know if kids (or adults, for that matter) get excited about anything more than something that GLOWS! After seeing it for the first time, my husband very excitedly tells me, "This thing is so cool!" And he's 30, so you can only imagine the excitement this brought about for my 3-year old. She feels like such a big girl and doesn't have to wait for me to turn the light on for her anymore. Yay for KidSwitch! It's no wonder KidSwitch has been the #1 Consumer Rated Child Safety Product for the past 3 years on Buzzillions.com.

 To find out more about the greatness of KidSwitch or to buy one now, visit http://www.buykidswitch.com.

WIN IT
One lucky Moana Saves reader will win a Kidswitch of their own to transform a little one's relationship with the light switch!  To earn a mandatory entry, become a public follower of Moana Saves via Google Friend Connect in the sidebar. (Mandatory entry means that if you don't do this first, all of your other entries will be disqualified.)

To earn an additional entry, do one (or all) of the following and leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

1. Become a Networked Blogs follower of Moana Saves (in the sidebar).
2.  Follow Moana Saves on Twitter.
3. Tweet about this giveaway (limit one tweet per day) using the following:
#Win a Kidswitch from @moanasaves #giveaway ends 1/25  http://bit.ly/gSVo0S
4. Subscribe to my feed via RSS reader and/or email updates.
5. Grab the Moana Saves button and put it on your blog until the giveaway is over.
6. Put Moana Saves on your blog list.
7. Like the Kidswitch Facebook page.
8. Like the Moana Saves Facebook page.

Only one person per email/household/IPaddress can enter this giveaway.  He/she must be 18+ years old and reside in the U.S.  This giveaway ends on Tuesday, 1/25/11 at 11:59 PM HST (Hawaii Standard Time).  One winner will be chosen randomly via Random.org.  I will notify the winner via email and he/she must respond to claim the prize within 48 hours or I will draw another winner.   

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Review and Giveaway of Prefense, an Alcohol-Free Sanitizer

Its a sure thing for my family: when we travel, we get sick.  Its no wonder--between the recirculating air onboard planes and spending time with family and friends in enclosed spaces in the dead of winter--how can anyone NOT get sick?  Well, this past December, we managed to travel on (2) 5 hour flights, drive several hours in the same car, and hang out with people we love in their homes--all of this illness-free!  I credit Prefense Alcohol-Free Hand Sanitizer for this.  Why?  We didn't do anything else out of the ordinary beyond using Prefense (when we remembered to).  We even forgot to bring along our favorite supplement to boost our immune systems.  We are sold on Prefenz because of our sick-free trip! (we were plagued with injury but that is another story that doesn't include Prefense.)

What makes Prefense so special?  Everything!

• Prefense contains no alcohol and is made of all-natural ingredients.
• Prefense technology protects you for 24 hours or 10 hand washings!  (As a mom, this is the bomb-diggity!)
• Prefense is non-toxic and safe for kids!
• Prefense is silica based which means it doesn’t dry out your hands like traditional alcohol sanitizers.  It actually smoothes and softens your hands. (and in the dead of a mainland winter, I loved this!)
• Prefense protects against staph, strep, E.coli, drug resistant MRSA strains, and more.
• Because “one spray lasts all day” our 1.5 oz Prefense Botanicals Hand Sanitizer offers 120 applications, costing only $.08 per day, compared to $1.20 per day with alcohol hand sanitizers.    

Being the nosy parker that I am, I wanted to know the whys and hows that Prefense protects from germs.  Here's some info from the website: "Prefense Botanicals inactivates and kills pathogens through the process of lysis, wherein contact of the pathogens cellular wall with the Prefense film produces cellular wall disruption. The contacting cellular wall is broken or ruptured and the microbe is no longer able to control its internal hydrostatic pressure, resulting in implosion or explosion of the species, depending on ambient pressure. No transfer of chemical or chemical residues occurs during this process. The Prefense film is not depleted and will continue to lysis cells. There is no increased pathogen resistance to Prefense on subsequent exposure and no increased mutagenicity."  Yeah, I didn't do so well in the sciences but our little traveling experiment with Prefense has me convinced that this stuff does what the site says it does.  And all with one spray per day.  (I love this!)

Some benefits I noticed about using Prefense while traveling:

• The 1.5 oz size travels well through airport security checks.  Its the perfect size to take on the road.
• The scent of Prefense is light and pleasant
• The plastic cap protector and the bottle itself took a beating in the bottom of my purse yet didn't leak or come apart.
• It dispenses a nice foam that's fun for the kids to spread on their hands.

BUY IT
You can find Prefense in my Open Sky shop here or you can check out the store locater to find out where it is sold offline.

WIN IT
One lucky Moana Saves reader will win an 8 oz bottle of Prefense Alcohol-Free Sanitizer!  To earn a mandatory entry, tell me why you would like to try Prefense. (Mandatory entry means that if you don't do this first, all of your other entries will be disqualified.)

To earn an additional entry, do one (or all) of the following and leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

1. Become a public follower of Moana Saves via Google Friend Connect.
2. Follow Prefense on Twitter.
3.  Follow me on Twitter.
4. Tweet about this giveaway (limit one tweet per day) using the following:
#Win an 8 oz size of Prefense from @prefense and @moanasaves #giveaway ends 1/24 http://bit.ly/fwgF81
5. Subscribe to my feed via RSS reader and/or email updates.
6. Grab my button and put it on your blog until the giveaway is over.
7. Put Moana Saves on your blog list.
8. Like the Prefense Facebook page.

9. Like the Moana Saves Facebook page.

Only one person per email/household/IPaddress can enter this giveaway.  He/she must be 18+ years old and reside in the U.S.  This giveaway ends on Monday, 1/24/11 at 11:59 PM HST (Hawaii Standard Time).  One winner will be chosen randomly via Random.org.  I will notify the winner via email and he/she must respond to claim the prize within 48 hours or I will draw another winner.  


I was not compensated for this post although I did receive a sample of the product to facilitate the review.  Any and all opinions here are mine.