Juice is a treat for my kids, and when I do let them indulge I give them Leading Brands’ babyblue line of juices, which are made especially with children in mind.  Charlotte and Oliver love the yummy taste of babyblue juices, and I rest assured knowing that their ‘treat’ is a healthy one.

babyblue juice is made by the same Canadian company that produces TrueBlue juices, which may be familiar to those of you living in Western Canada and in the States.  babyblue juices come in blueberry (our favourite), blackberry, or raspberry flavours, and what I love most about them is the list of (or lack thereof) ingredients.  For example, the babyblue blueberry juice contains: water, concentrated grape juice, concentrated wild blueberry juice, concentrated black current juice, concentrated cranberry juice, natural flavours, and asorbic acid (Vitamin C).  A nice short list of things I can pronounce, but also an obvious lack of added sugar.  I like the subtle taste of babyblue juices because they aren’t sweet, yet they taste refreshing and pure.  Additionally, while most other juices and blends on the market are comprised of ‘filler’ juices like apple or pear (which are high in carbohydrates and sodium), babyblue juices include only Superfruits high in Polyphenols (naturally occurring antioxidants) like blueberries and black currents.

For adults and older kids, Leading Brands has a varied line of Poyphenol rich juices available as well, all of which have truly full-bodied, rich, natural flavours.  The TrueBlue line of blended blueberry juices are available in seven wild blueberry and Superfruit options including Wild Blueberry, Wild Blueberry and Pomegranate, Wild Blueberry and Acai, Wild Blueberry and Cranberry, Wild Blueberry and Blackberry, Wild Blueberry and Raspberry, and Lite Wild Blueberry.  Just out is the new TrueBlue 100% Juice Blend line, in Wild Blueberry, Pomegranate, and Blackberry flavours.  Finally, Leading Brands Pure Blends line, which includes PureBlack, PureBlue, PureRed, and PureWhite, are concocted out of varietal wine grapes mixed with Superfruits for a unique taste and high antioxidant value (without the alcohol content!) – they also contain two servings of fruit per bottle.

All of Leading Brands’ juices are 100% natural, made with premium ingredients, and do not contain added sugar, artificial colours, flavours, or ‘filler’ juices.  High in antioxidants, just one serving of these juices will also fill your daily Vitamin C quota (which has been great during cold and flu season).  Because it isn’t summer yet, I haven’t tried out my theory that any of these juice lines would make great popsicles.  The company’s website provides some creative recipe ideas for all kinds of salad dressings and vinaigrettes, main courses, deserts, and drinks (cocktails, smoothies, shakes, and punches).  I really like adding a little sparkling water to my juice for a refreshing drink.  Summer – here we come!

Leading Brands’ line of juices can be purchased at grocery stores across Western Canada and the States.  Thank you to Leading Brands for providing me with samples in order to write this review.  For Vancouver residents interested in trying out the kid-friendly babyblue juice line, we’d like to thank Leading Brands for the following special coupon offer (see terms and conditions below):

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Tinytongs are child-size tongs that are non-toxic, dishwasher safe, lead-free, phlalate free, and BPA free.  They have all sorts of cool features that make them a great alternative to the fork.  Tinytongs are recommended for children aged 12 months and older, and most can master eating with them between 19 and 24 months.  I think my toddler could get pretty good at using them … if only he were strong enough to wrestle them away from his three year old brother, Ky!  Ky demands to use the Tinytongs at meal times, and I’ve even been able to get him to use them to eat foods I’ve never been able to get him to eat before (you know, those green vegetable-ish foods) because they’re so fun.  What a great way for him to work on his co-ordination!  The few times Kash has been able to get a hold of them, he hasn’t quite been able to master the idea of tightening and loosening his grip in order to pick up small food pieces, so he might be closer to the 24 months end of the learning range!  But in the meantime … Ky has Tinytong use down to a fine art!

Tinytongs are available online for $7.99 USD in four great colours (purple, orange, green and pink – above), but an even better deal is the multi-colour 4-pack for $24.99 USD.

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Tinytongs has generously supplied us with a pair of Tinytongs for ONE lucky reader to WIN!  Thank you Tinytongs!

To Enter:  Go to the Tinytongs website and then leave us a comment HERE (one per day only, please) telling us which Tinytongs feature you are most excited about.  Once you’ve entered by leaving a comment, you can gain additional entries like this:

• If you ‘Like’ Tinytongs on Facebook, leave us a comment letting us know.  This entry method will count as TWO ENTRIES for this giveaway.
• If you ‘Like’ Spilt Milk Moms on Facebook, leave us a comment letting us know for one extra entry.
• Follow @SpiltMilkMoms on Twitter and tweet ” #WIN a pair of Tinytongs eating utensils for children! http://tinyurl.com/3yl9q6r @SpiltMilkMoms #giveaway #contest “ and leave us the link for extra DAILY entries.
• Mention this giveaway on your blog and leave us the link for one extra entry.
• Subscribe to Spilt Milk Moms by RSS or Email Subscription and leave us a comment letting us know for one extra entry.

This giveaway ends at 12:01am PST on Friday, February 4th, and the winner will be selected using Random.org.  The winner will have 7 days to respond to our notification email before another winner is selected.  This giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.

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If you’re familiar with Vapur’s original .5L water bottles, then we just know your family will love these new additions to the Vapur family.  Big enough to quench a kid’s thirst, but small enough to pack around even when full of liquid, these are perfect for everything from sporting events to school days, not to mention that you’ll be doing your part to save the environment from unnecessary disposable plastic bottles.  My three year old finds it pretty hilarious to have a mini matching Vapur bottle to the purple one I tote about.

You may remember that we’ve reviewed Vapur bottles before, and if you aren’t familiar with this company’s unique bottles then here’s what you need to know.  Vapur bottles:

• are more environmentally friendly than disposable plastic water bottles;
• are shipped flat, which takes up 90% less space than traditional bottles, AND the packaging is printed using wind power on 100% post-consumer paper (the company also participates in 1% for the Planet);
• are made in the USA using durable, FDA-approved, BPA-free polymer;
• the original .5L bottles hold 16oz (473ml) of liquid and the new .4L bottles hold 14oz;
• have an inner layer is odour, stain, and taste resistant;
• stand up when full and collapse when empty;
• come with built-in carabiners, handy for attaching to your bag or belt or however you roll;
• are dishwasher safe (top rack);
• have sports caps (made out of FDA-approved, BPA-free 100% virgin Polypropylene) rather than the traditional twist caps (replacement spouts are available from $2.95 USD for a set of four);
• can be put into the freezer and used for emergencies or for keeping things cold in the cooler when traveling;
• are available in the following some pretty stylish colours: cyan blue, green, smoke, pink, and purple!

I’d like to thank Sue from Raspberry Kids for providing me with my .4L Vapur water bottle samples in the two-pack orange so that I could write this review.  Raspberry Kids carries the entire line of Vapur bottles and accessories, including their hot new limited edition raspberry coloured Vapur bottle (get it?)!  Purchase your Vapur bottle from Raspberry Kids for $19.99 CAD, and while you’re at it don’t forget to use discount code spiltmilk15 at checkout for 15% off of your purchase (excluding the Vapur 4 Bottle Bundle).

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I’m conflicted about the Wean Cubes I was sent by Wean Green. They’re super Eco-friendly (and cute!), which makes me want to luuuuuuuurrrrrrvvvvvvve them, but the day to day use makes me a little unsure about using them as often as I’d like. Let me break it down for you!

Pro’s

• Wean Cubes are made of glass, which makes my shiny puffy heart love them. I’m trying, trying, to not use too much plastic with Little Miss, but it’s not always easy and these are the first glass, small size, weaning/baby food containers I’ve discovered. Glass also means they’re BPA, PVC, Phthalates, and Plasticizer free.
• They’re bigger than other weaning cubes I’ve used, which is fantastic when your child moves from eating a few spoonfuls to a more substantial meal (although she’s just recently returned to her non-eating ways – UGH!) The size of these containers is fantastic and because of this I was able to find room for them in my freezer in all those funny little spaces between the bag of peas and the perogies.
• You can freeze them, microwave them and serve in them, which saves on clean up.
• The lids click in to lock and hold well, although I haven’t actually performed the “full of liquid and tossed in my purse when I wasn’t looking” test (I’ll get to that in a minute.)
• Wean Cubes are Canadian!

Con’s

• The weight. Wean Cubes weigh A LOT more than both Baby Cubes and my small click & lock (albeit plastic) containers. I find them to be too heavy & bulky to throw in my purse (hello snack bags!) for short trips out, and if we were going out for longer I definitely wouldn’t pack these cubes due to their heavy weight. Because of this I’ve mainly used them around the house and they do work great, but I would have preferred them to be a bit more portable.
• As soon as I received the cubes I washed them and put them in the Tupperware drawer. I then went to do some laundry when I heard an insanely loud noise. Little Miss had got a hold of the cubes and was banging them together as hard as her little toddler arms would allow. I’ve read how durable the cubes are and we did get to test that with the “thrown-from-the-high-chair” test, but, although I should have probably known better, chances are that these will fall into little hands. Now I’ll be honest – they didn’t break when Little Miss was “playing” with them, but this isn’t something I’m willing to put to the test.
• Wean Cubes are sold in sets of four for $25 CDN. Four isn’t enough and almost $50 for the ideal eight cubes is out of my price range but if you can stretch that far they’re a great choice.

So there you go – I love them for at home use and if you want glass weaning cubes then these are definitely the way to go, but I found them a bit too heavy to be portable for everyday use.

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I was introduced to quinoa last year, when I learned that it is one grain we are actually allowed to eat on Passover (when we give up bread, pasta and other grains for eight loooong days).  It is extremely versatile, yet I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it – that is, until I came across the website, and later the cookbook, Quinoa 365 (by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming, Canadians no less!).  This cookbook has recipes for using quinoa for breakfast foods to desserts – who knew?

First, a quick primer on quinoa (pronounced “keen-wah”).  Quinoa 365 has a great introductory chapter on quinoa, its history, and where to buy it.  It’s not actually a grain, it’s a legume – so very useful for those with gluten allergies.  It looks like couscous but is more translucent when cooked.  The nutritional benefits are vast – take a look at this chart for the full stats.  Basically, it is high in protein and fiber, contains all eight essential amino acids as well as many other vitamins (riboflavin, calcium, vitamin E, iron, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, folic acid and beta carotene).  It is also high in linolenic acid, which I had to look up – one of two essential fatty acids that humans and other animals must ingest because the body requires them for various biological processes, but cannot synthesize them from other food components.

Science aside – quinoa is tasty!  At first we just used quinoa flour to make crêpes during passover because we were tired of eating matzo for breakfast.  But with the cookbook Quinoa 365, we now had a slew of recipes to try out.  Here’s my take on our experiments:

Broccoli Cheese Soup – Outstanding.  I was in heaven.  Highly recommended and my favourite recipe thus far.

Mushroom Broccoli Quisotto – I’ve never quite been ambitious or patient enough to try cooking real risotto, so this was a great alternative, and very tasty.

Bocconcini and Oregano Salad – Had to omit the bocconcini because our guest isn’t a fan of cheese, but the rest of this salad was delicious!  It would be great even as a main dish in the summer when lighter fare is in season.

Tasty Tuna Casserole – I have made this many times.  It’s a healthy update to plain tuna-casserole-with-canned-soup.  It’s very family-friendly; our baby started liking this around 9 months old (it’s just a bit messy cleaning up quinoa afterward…).

Light Open-Faced Salmon Burgers – Also a hit with the little guy.  I didn’t follow the rest of the recipe which describes how to prepare the bun and trimmings, but the burger itself is delicious.

Carrot Spice Muffins – This is the only recipe I have tried that was so-so.  It calls for quinoa flour and not quinoa, and I think my flour may have been past its prime, because the muffins had a bit of a strange taste.  I’ll have to try it again though, because the balance of spice and muffin consistency was just right.

As far as the book itself – each recipe has an icon on top which indicates whether it is Kid-Approved (i.e. has actually been tested with real kids!), Gluten-Free or Vegetarian.  This is very handy for picking recipes with just a quick glance as you flip through the book.  Serving sizes are indicated, but prep and cook time are not, which would be a useful addition.  In terms of content, there is so much variety (quinoa in smoothies! pizza dough!) that you are bound to find something you like.  You can even try out a recipe from their website.  Overall – thumbs up!  Quinoa 365 is available for purchase at Chapters for around $20CAD.

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Upon first opening, I was excited and pleased with the design of these clever Innobaby containers. They are compact, easy to open, and the clear plastic allows you to see what is inside without having to open the lid. The containers twist and seal to interlock together, or you can just pack one container if you don’t need all of them. I like how they all stack together for a tower of snacks, making it really easy to find the right snack in the diaper bag as all of the containers come out as one unit. Each container has a dispensing lid, which makes getting small snacks out easy, or if you needed to dispense formula into a bottle this design feature would make it a breeze. My favorite thing is that the containers are freezer, microwave, and dishwasher safe! They are also BPA, Phthalates, PVC, and lead free.

On the downside, the containers are smaller than they look in the picture; each container holds only about half a cup. As Travis starts to get bigger and eat more, I feel that the containers need to be bigger to really be accommodating to our needs. Secondly, if you have liquid or food that contains juice in one of the containers and the system isn’t standing straight up, the liquid will leak out.

Packin’ SMART sets are available in several different styles (check them out here) and the 4-Tier version retails from $16.99 USD through the company’s website or these online retailers. All-in-all, I like the idea of the snack tower Innobaby has created with in their unique Packin’ SMART Stack-N-Seal travel containers.  Easy packing makes for easy snacking = happy mom!

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My sons began the school year this September with brand new Goodbyn lunchboxes, which allowed me to eliminate disposable containers and plastic baggies in their lunches.  Er …  almost.  The one hitch in my giddy-up has been the recess snack, a la “It has to be quick mom. I don’t want to have to open my Goodbyn to get at it, I want it in the side pocket of my backpack.”  So I reluctantly bought yet another box of snack size plastic baggies and went through the motions of insisting that both boys put the baggies back into their backpacks once their snacks were finished so that I can reuse them (all the while accepting that said baggies are going to end up in a landfill somewhere because my boys are simply too busy running around the playground with their friends to worry about the future of one. Little. Plastic. Baggie.)  Then I discovered Graze Organic reusable sandwich and snack bags, and the company was nice enough to send me a sample to try.  Graze Organic is a company that is worried about every little plastic bag, and their motto is even every bag matters.

Graze Organic’s reusable sandwich and snack bags are 100% certified organic cotton, have no plastic lining, and are made using Earth friendly water-based inks.  These Eco-features are are almost overshadowed by the beautiful designs adorning each sandwich and snack bag!  Graze’s line includes the Vegetables sack (pictured above) as well as Fruit, Snack, Sandwich, and Surprise bags.  Now, I know there are some things you simply can’t put in a fabric sack, but I simply wrap the ooey gooey yummyness in a piece of unbleached wax paper and then place the food in my Graze bag. If your Graze bag needs a bit more attention than just a shake to get out the crumbs, simply toss it into the washing machine.  Easy as pie.

Graze bags are available online through the company’s website.  You can purchase a set of three for $24 USD or a deluxe set of five for $38 USD.

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Graze Organic has generously supplied us with a set of three reusable sandwich and snack bags (winner’s choice) for ONE lucky reader to WIN!  Thank you Graze Organic!

To Enter:  Go to the Graze Organic website and then leave us a comment HERE (one per day only, please) telling us which reusable bag design is your favorite.  Once you’ve entered by leaving this mandatory comment, you can gain additional entries like this:

• Follow @GrazeOrganic and @SpiltMilkMoms on Twitter and tweet ” #WIN a set of three reusable sandwich and snack bags THX TO @grazeorganic http://tinyurl.com/3yxjel9 @SpiltMilkMoms #giveaway #contest ” and leave us the link for extra DAILY entries.
• If you ‘Like’ Graze Organic on Facebook, leave us a comment letting us know for one extra entry.
• If you ‘Like’ Spilt Milk Moms on Facebook, leave us a comment letting us know for one extra entry.
• Mention this giveaway on your blog for one extra entry.
• This giveaway ends at 12:01am PST on Tuesday, December 14th, and the winner will be selected using Random.org.  The winner will have 7 days to respond to our notification email before another winner is selected.  This giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.

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My daughter FINALLY started eating pablum and solid foods, but one of the drawbacks of using Stokke’s Tripp Trapp high chair (which allows your baby to eat at the table with you) has been the bits of food cemented to the table.  Permanently.  It’s impossible to keep a placemat on the table when babies think they are toys, and inevitably the plate, bowl, and food ends up on the floor.  Then I discovered Kiddopotamus’ TinyDiner Portable Placemat.

I was introduced to Kiddopotamus’ TinyDiner Portable Placemat when eating out with a friend and her toddler, and I thought it was the perfect solution to my problem.  This portable placemat is made in the USA and is BPA, PVC, lead, phthalate, and latex free.  It suctions securely to the table, and has a built-in scoop that catches food that would normally end up on your child’s lap or on the floor.  A really cool feature is that the entire thing rolls up into the scoop when you’re finished with it, and it can be easily tucked into your diaper bag for trips to places where you don’t want your toddler eating his/her finger food off a germ-ridden table (like fast food restaurants).

The TinyDiner Portable Placemat is available in green, blue, pink with a Hey Diddle Diddle theme, while their yellow placemat is Hippo-themed.  Not only is this placemat a great way to keep food from solidifying on your tabletop, but it’s a fabulous, portable barrier between your child’s food and germ-ridden surfaces while eating away from home.  Of course, more coordinated babies and toddlers will be able to pry the placemat off of the table if they really want to, but with a little coaching you might just be able to convince your baby that the food on the placemat is more interesting than the placemat.  Just maybe.

The Kiddopotamus placemat is a great deal for about $10.99 USD, and can be purchased at both Walmart and Babies R Us in Canada and the USA.

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There are a few players in the wooden high chair world, most notably the Scandinavian-designed Stokke chair, among other mostly European brands.  However, the Keekaroo came in at about half the price and had more features that we liked.  We ordered it from the US because it is a bit hard to find in Quebec (and is much cheaper in the US!).  It was not very difficult to set up and very soon our son sat in it for the first time and it was amazing – he looked (and appeared to feel) like a king at the table!  Since then he still seems extremely happy in the chair.  Now for some details:

The seat – we ordered the Infant Insert Combo with Tray, mostly for the insert (we use the chair at our table so don’t really need the tray).  It is the same kind of hard-yet-mushy material like the Bumbo seat and contours the baby’s behind very nicely.  There is a 3-point lap belt that passes through the insert.  The insert comes in a variety of fun colours and is very easy to clean (it attaches to the base plate with velcro).

The chair – it can be used until the “child” reaches 250 pounds!  This chair is meant to be used as the child grows since the seat and foot plate are height-adjustable.  Manufacturers of this style of chair claim that children stay at the table longer and have much better posture when seated in these kinds of chairs.  Given how long our son manages to sit in his chair (45 minutes for a dinner, and he’s one year old!) I hope this trend lasts as they claim!  Everything is adjustable with an allen key (provided).  Though the chair is wood, we have been able to wipe it off with a damp cloth with no permanent water damage so far.

The verdict – love this chair!  It is stylish, functional, comfortable.  I have only two little gripes – the length of the straps for the harness are a bit short when used with the infant insert, and they are a bit difficult to use (adjusting the length should definitely NOT be done with an impatient-for-food child in the seat as it can take a long time, and the buckle can be a bit tricky to undo).  But the company is constantly making improvements – for example, they have just come out with a plastic cover for the tray based on user’s requests and comments.  I also tend to trip on the back legs rather often, but that isn’t really the fault of the chair (and I imagine I would do the same with any high chair).

The chair costs around $149USD; the chair + tray + plastic cover + infant insert cost around $200USD.  They can be purchased at Amazon US and a list of Canadian retailers can be found here.  We bought ours through Country Moose Kids as they offered free shipping to Canada.

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Although I thought Chicken Doodle Soup would be perfect for restaurant outings, S. couldn’t wait to get started on the hilarious doodles.  Before I knew it, I was eating dinner off of a Banana Slug Split placemat.  Besides the great artwork, each placemat gives your child an interesting fact about the animal they’ve just doodled.  For example, while drawing Fish Sticks, S. and I both learned that there are fish that walk!  The mudskipper uses its pectoral fins not only to walk on land, but also to climb trees.  I assure you, these placemats have sparked some great dinner conversations at our house!

Chicken Doodle Soup is available online at Chapters for around $12 CDN or online at Amazon for around $9 USD.

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The Dapple Dish Liquid was delicious smelling! Honestly, I couldn’t stop sniffing it! I do have a bit of a love affair with lavender, and the detergent actually smelled like crushed lavender in my hands. All smelling aside, it did a great job on cleaning T-dog’s sippy cups, soothers, as well as the other dishes that I washed. I found that the dish soap performed just as it claims and I also really liked how fast it rinsed clean. I find that it takes a tonne of water to rinse traditional dish soap off of plastic dishes; however, the Dapple Dish Liquid rinsed off much faster. Out of sheer curiosity, I tried the Dapple Dish Liquid on a frying pan with bacon grease. It did not initially cut through the grease like traditional dish soap and I had to do a few rinse and repeats, but it doesn’t claim to. I was still very happy with the product because it did a great job of cleaning all of my other dishes very well.

I used the opportunity to try out Dapple’s Toy Wipes after coming back from the thrift store with some new building blocks for T-dog, and although they cleaned up the toys very nicely, I found them to have a funny smell which left me undecided about what to think of the scent. While I love lavender, the wipes just don’t quite smell quite right. The wipes themselves work really well by foaming up nicely, and I was able to see the dirt that they wiped off the toys! I even did a little taste test (sounds strange I know, but if it’s going into T’s mouth then why shouldn’t I do a test first?!) and it wasn’t bad at all! Scent aside, I was very happy with the Toy Wipes.

Dapple came to be thanks to two moms who were looking to create organic natural baby products when they discovered their was a void in the market with these types of safe products. It became their mission “to find a better way – and create a line of products that were natural and safe for our babies, but also specifically targeted to clean the unique messes they leave behind.” They teamed up with several pediatricians and a seasoned green chemist, and Dapple was created. Dapple offers a full line of cleaners made specifically with the safety of children in mind, and includes Dapple Dish Liquid, Dapple Dishwasher Powder, Dapple Toy Cleaner Spray, Dapple Toy Wipes, and Dapple Baby Laundry Detergent. Thanks to Dapple’s line of natural cleaners, I can feel good about things falling on the floor because I know that when I clean those items off using a Dapple product that it was cleaned using a natural product that puts the safety of children first!

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My daughter is the messiest eater out of all the children we know. It is not unusual to find food remains on everything (and everyone) within a two to three foot radius after one of her meals. Cleaning the floor three times a day got old really quickly, so I went on a hunt for a splashmat and I was thrilled that the lovely folks at Mimi the Sardine offered to send me one of their splashmats in the Jungle print (above).

I have to say that for the most part I LOVE the splashmat. First off, I adore its green credentials (the fabric used is organic cotton and the coated fabric meets high European Organic standards) – who doesn’t want to look good while doing good? The size (42 inches by 42 inches) means more of my floor is protected and the fact the fabric is coated (as opposed to PVC) means that I don’t have to scrub the floors.  I can either wipe the mat down or THROW IT IN THE WASHING MACHINE. Yup! You read that right – these slashmats (and the company’s stunning tablecloths) are machine washable.

My only issue with the Mimi the Sardine splashmats is how light and unfinished they are. I expected finished seam edges, but the mat is just literally a piece of fabric (cool, wipe-able, washable fabric – but still). I think the unfinished seams and the lightness of the fabric are the cause our only problem with the splashmat, which is that it bunches up under our chair. Now I will say that if you have a high chair on wheels this might not be an issue for you, but we have Little Miss in a half-highchair (kind of like a big booster seat that sits on one of our regular chairs) and any movement seems to make it bunch up so that it ends up covering less space.

That said, since getting the splashmat I’ve used it even more as an art mat. Little Miss has just started colouring and our coffee table is the perfect height for her artistic endeavours, but as it is a piece of furniture purchased PB (pre-baby), it wasn’t designed for the kind of abuse a 14-month old dishes out. The splashmat is AWESOME for this – finger paints, playdough, water. All wipe off and the mat protects the furniture at the same time. In addition to splashmats (which retail for $39.95 USD), Mimi the Sardine also make a huge variety of other cool items including lunchbugs, messy baby bibs/art smocks, aprons and placemats out of their organic, coated fabrics.

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We are so excited to be able to help save one of our reader’s floors and tables by giving away a Mimi the Sardine splashmat in the winner’s choice of fabric! Thanks for the giveaway Mimi the Sardine!

To Enter:  Go to the Mimi the Sardine website and then leave us a comment HERE (one per day only, please) telling us what your favourite Mimi the Sardine product is. Once you’ve entered by leaving this mandatory comment, you can gain additional entries like this:

• Follow @mimithesardine and @SpiltMilkMoms on Twitter and tweet ”Protect your floors by WINNING a fabulous splashmat from @mimithesardine & @SpiltMilkMoms http://tinyurl.com/2awvg28 #giveaway #contest“ and leave us the link for extra daily entries.
• If you ‘Like’ Mimi the Sardine on Facebook, leave us a comment letting us know for one extra entry.
• If you ‘Like’ Spilt Milk Moms on Facebook, leave us a comment letting us know for one extra entry.
• Mention this giveaway on your blog for one extra entry.
• Subscribe to Spilt Milk Moms via Email or RSS (top right) and leave us a comment letting us know for one extra entry.
  

This giveaway ends at 12:01am PST on Saturday, November 13th , and the winner will be selected using Random.org.  The winner will have 7 days to respond to our notification email before another winner is selected.  This giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.

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Bibs. An essential item for any parent of a toddler who’s just getting the hang of hand feeding himself. Of the many, many types of bibs we have used, the one that outshines them all are the bibs made by BuiltNY.

We got one as a gift in a ”green” baby gift basket from my colleagues at work and I had my doubts at first. But after having used this bib for many months now, it is really the only one that has held up to the wear and tear that comes with feeding a baby.

It is made of neoprene and is soft, yet sturdy, to the touch.  Available in a wide range of colours and patterns, it is durable and comes in 2 styles, with or without the little food-catching pouch at the bottom.

Best of all is that BuiltNY bibs are easy to clean in the washer and dryer, and they don’t stain.  Let me say that again. They don’t stain! The light blue one we’ve had the longest has yet to show any discolorations from the massive amounts of strained peas, carrots, and pasta sauce that we’ve decorated it with over the last year.  Even if we don’t get around to washing it for a few days, all it needs is a little soak and a run through a regular wash cycle, and presto! It’s like new.  In fact, the two BuiltNY bibs we have are the only ones that still look new!

BuiltNY bibs are available online at a multitude of different retailers from about $5 CDN each.  BuiltNY also makes a line of baby bags, change pads and bottle holders to match!

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I have two sons in Elementary School … multiply that by 191 school days … minus 12 hot lunches …  carry the two …  that’s approximately 370 sandwiches I’ll be making this school year!  (When all four of my boys are in school, it’ll be 740!  Yikes.)  I’m proud to say that we are healthy eaters – I know the importance of nutrition, and I feed my family whole, natural foods whenever possible.  I used to make them a sandwich, pack a juice box, a small yogurt or fruit cup, and a recess snack of crackers, pretzels, or something equally easy-to-eat-while-running-and-climbing-on-the-playground.  Then I watched Food, Inc. and I took a good look at the lunchtime staple – THE SANDWICH!  What was I putting into the sandwiches I was making for my kids?  After watching Food Inc., I wasn’t sure I wanted all those chemicals and food-like products going into my little boys.  I’ve noticed over the last few months that natural sandwich options are popping up all over my local grocery store, which gives me options to make sandwiches I feel good about!

Maple Leaf now offers Natural Selections deli meats, which contain no preservatives, artificial ingredients, fillers, or MSG!  In fact, I guarantee you can pronounce each and every ingredient.  With ham, turkey, or chicken deli meats available, I can keep both my eight-year old “I want a ham sandwich every day, Mom” and my six-year-old “Do we have to have ham again, Mom?” happy.  Good times.  You can purchase Natural Selections at your local grocery store, but check out these Maple Leaf coupons before you go.

What is it with kids and those processed cheese slices?  I’m not even sure they should be considered “cheese”.  Try as I might to duplicate the size and shape of these perfectly square and flat slices of processed cheese from my block of cheddar, I just cannot do it to my boys’ satisfaction.  This is why I was so delighted to find Cracker Barrel cheese slices.  They’re slices of Cracker Barrel cheese (yum!) – perfectly square and perfectly flat.  And they’re available in Medium, Marble, Monterey Jack with jalapenos, and Swiss cheese varieties!

We’ve all heard the importance of incorporating whole grains into our diets.  Choosing a whole grain bread for your kids’ lunches is a great way to get started.  It’s wonderful to see so many varieties of whole grain breads on grocery store shelves these days.  I’ve been buying Dempster’s Wholegrains Ancient Grains and Dempster’s Wholegrains Multigrain breads for over a year now.  My boys love them both – they’re soft, not too nutty, the right size slice, and they taste great!  Dempster’s also makes Flax and 12 Grain breads.

I would need a degree in higher math to figure out how many sandwiches my boys will be eating over the course of Grades one to 12.  Needless to say, it’s a lot.  It’s so exciting to see nutritious lunch options sprouting up all over my local grocery store.  Read the labels, try the different options, and find ones that work for your families!  Your children might even thank you one day … if they even realize that they were eating ‘healthy’!

Don’t forget to enter to win a Lunch Punch Sandwich Cutter to cut those school lunch sandwiches into funky shapes!

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Just in time for Back-to-School lunches, Maple Leaf foods has generously provided the Spilt Milk Moms THREE prize packs for THREE readers to WIN!  Two lucky winners will win product coupon prize packs valued at over $25 CDN each, and one really lucky winner will win a thermal grocery bag, a Natural Selections memory stick, a Maple Leaf Butcher apron, AND product coupons valued at $40 CDN! Thanks Maple Leaf Foods!

To Enter:  Go to the Maple Leaf Foods and the affiliated Dempster’s Bread website and then leave us a comment HERE (one per day only, please) telling us which Maple Leaf and Dempster’s products you would use to make your favourite sandwich.  Need ideas – Maple Leaf can help!  Once you’ve entered by leaving a comment, you can gain additional entries like this:

• Follow @MapleLeafPledge and @SpiltMilkMoms on Twitter and tweet ” Win an @MapleLeafPledge Natural Selections & Dempsters prize pack for lunches http://tinyurl.com/3x4kbyf @SpiltMilkMoms #giveaway #contest ” and leave us the link for extra daily entries.
• If you ‘Like’ Maple Leaf on Facebook, leave us a comment letting us know for one extra entry.
• If you ‘Like’ Spilt Milk Moms on Facebook, leave us a comment letting us know for one extra entry.
• Mention this giveaway on your blog for one extra entry.

This giveaway ends at 12:01am PST on Thursday, September 16th, and the winner will be selected using Random.org.  The winner will have 7 days to respond to our notification email before another winner is selected.  THIS GIVEAWAY IS OPEN TO CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY.

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Snack Happened Reusable & Washable Snack Bags are made of 100% cotton fabric on the outside with thick PVC-Free waterproof lining on the inside. They are FDA approved, BPA free, and the YKK zipper used to close the bag is lead free! You can choose from 17 great patterns from Heart Throb, to Urban Jungle (which also comes in pink), to my personal favorite, Black Skulls!

These bags are ideal for small hands (or big ones!) and work well for storing dry snacks, wet snacks and fruit, sandwiches, or anything and everything that will fit inside! They are reusable, Eco-friendly, and fashionable. Snack Happened Bags are also machine washable, and although the company advises that they hang to dry, I forgot and tossed mine into the dryer along with everything else and it turned out just fine.

You can buy the 7 x 7 inch Snack Happened Bags through the Itzy Ritzy website for $12.99 CDN, or you can go bigger by choosing the larger 11 x 14 inch Wet Happened Bags for $19.99 CDN or you can find a local retailer here.

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Itzy Ritzy has generously supplied us with one Snack Happened Reusable & Washable Snack Bag of his/her choice for one lucky reader to WIN.  Thank you Itzy Ritzy!

To Enter:  Go to the Izty Ritzy website and then leave us a comment HERE (one per day only, please) telling us which Snack Happened Bag pattern you think your kids would love the most and why.  Once you’ve entered by leaving a comment, you can gain additional entries like this:

• Follow @ItzyRitzy and @SpiltMilkMoms on Twitter and tweet ” WIN a funky reusable @ItzyRitzy Snack Happened Snack Bag in time for Back-to-School! http://tiny.cc/9ojli @SpiltMilkMoms #giveaway #contest “ and leave us the link for extra daily entries.
• If you ‘Like’ Itzy Ritzy on Facebook, leave us a comment letting us know for one extra entry.
• If you ‘Like’ Spilt Milk Moms on Facebook, leave us a comment letting us know for one extra entry.
• Mention this giveaway on your blog for one extra entry.

This giveaway ends at 12:01am PST on Wednesday, September 15th, and the winner will be selected using Random.org.  The winner will have 7 days to respond to our notification email before another winner is selected.  This giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.

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