Faith and Family Reviews - Product reviews you can trust!

Organic Cotton Socks from Ecoland

Posted by html404 on May 28, 2011
in Eco Friendly Products, Organic

The economy in the U.S. is still not so great. We learned a couple of weeks ago that an old friend has lost his job, which he has had for many years. From my understanding most of the layoffs in the past few years at this company have been due to outsourcing work overseas. I love the fair trade model of business that supports global communities, at the same time I love American (and Canadian! since I am Canadian) based businesses who are committed to manufacturing their products here to support our local economy. This is where buy local is important if we want to create and maintain jobs here at home.

About Ecoland

Ecoland is one of those companies who make USA brand undergarments for the whole family. There are no dyes, no tags and they use organic cotton. They are a California based company with a socially conscious heart. Read more…

We received three pairs of their just launched organic cotton youth socks for our oldest son to review. I just read the tag from the socks again and it says they are Organic Cotton Certified in Taiwan. The socks are made here but the cotton is bought from Taiwan.

Our Review

If you have never touched organic cotton, you have to. It is very soft and this is true of these socks. They are as the picture shows: white and natural, with the heels and toes being natural making it easier for younger children to put their socks on correctly. These socks are not 100% organic cotton, but rather 72% organic cotton, 22% nylon, 2% spandex.

The socks wash up nicely and are even softer after washing. I have not noticed any pilling and they fit according to the sizes indicated on Ecoland’s website.

Our son really likes these socks. I am not crazy over white, especially for my boys because they get dirty so easily. Well, I suppose most children do. If these were all natural in color I think they would make better play socks. As it is, we struggle to get the boys to keep at least a pair or two nice for church and going out. Our son even let his sister wear them and she likes the feel and wear of these socks too.

Since the socks are ankle socks we tested to see how they stood up against shifting down into the shoe and they passed! These are good quality socks.

Ecoland socks are priced at $14.00 for three pairs. To buy, please visit Ecoland’s website.

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

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Purse Brite Organizer

Posted by html404 on May 27, 2011
in Organization

The Purse Brite is a nifty little purse organizer that fits into virtually any size purse! Whether that be a small purse or a big tote bag it keeps all your necessaries neatly organized.

This organizer has tons of pockets so everything from your makeup to your pens will be kept organized.

Another nifty thing about this purse organizer is that all you have to do to transfer it from one purse to the other is to lift it up and place it in the next bag! And that’s it! Everything will stay neatly in place.

The Purse Bright comes in 3 popular colors- pink, beige/tan, coal/light black. But, a added bonus is that it also includes a purse light,5x Magnification Lighted Mirror and a Luma Tweeze (tweezers with built-in light)! You can get all 4 items for just $12.95 here.

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AMF Summer Unplugged Program

Posted by html404 on May 27, 2011
in Family Stuff, Fun Stuff

Summer is my favorite season. I have a lot of great memories of camping with my family growing up, swimming, biking, roasting marshmallows and hotdogs over the camp fire, walking and lots of sleepovers on my birthday.

Since having a family of my own we spend a lot of time outside over the summer because Chicago winters are usually cold and unless we have a bunch of snow we are pretty much inside. We go to the park, walk, bike, visit the Botanical Gardens, play in the water in our backyard or any number of other fun outdoor activities. And of course, we garden. The children love seeing where our food comes from and watching a little seed turn into a flower/veggie/fruit (yep they planted or composted apple seeds and we now have an apple tree growing!)

How are you and your family planning to stay active this summer? I have one idea I’d like to share with you.

AMF Summer Unplugged Bowling Program

AMF Bowling Centers is sponsoring a Summer Unplugged Program geared towards kids. The goal is to get unplugged from the TV (and internet for that matter as it can certainly provide sedentary entertainment) and get active by exercising. The program is FREE, but there is a sign up process involved and it does not include shoe rental. It is open to teens and children 16 and under. Once you are signed up they will receive two FREE games per visit. You can learn more about the program here, as well as find participating centers near you: http://bit.ly/AMFfree

The program starts this weekend with Memorial Day and goes through Monday, September 5th.

So Who Loves Bowling?

You know I really enjoyed bowling when I was a teen. I usually went with our Youth Group and had a lot of fun. The thing is I have not been bowling since! My husband and I have never bowled together and our children have never gone bowling. Amazing, eh? But the bowling alleys use to allow smoking so that was a huge deterrent for us because of the exposure to second hand smoke. Now that they are smoke-free in Illinois I have considered taking our children. I think they’d have a blast.

Do you and your family like bowling? Leave a comment and let me know!

Disclosure: I participated in this campaign as a member of One2One Network and am eligible for a prize drawing. All opinions stated in the post are my own.

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Cut Back on Food Waste

Posted by html404 on May 26, 2011
in Food and Treats, Organization, Saving Money, Thrifty Thursday

I got an email this week giving some great ideas on how to cut back on food waste from FreshtheMovie.com. It is sad some weeks what can get thrown out just due to lack of planning and preparing. One of the comments on the post gave some great organizing tips on how she (her name was Virginia) went from spending $400 month on food to $80-$130!

A couple of suggestions were make the most of your leftovers, when you can’t eat it, freeze it and other practical reminders on how to cut back on throwing out all that wasted food on garbage day. 🙁

You can read the article in full here.

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Fruit and Oatmeal Bars from the White House Kitchen

Posted by html404 on May 25, 2011
in Food and Treats, Recipes

I read an article over the weekend that shared a recipe from the White House Kitchen – Fruit and Oatmeal Bars – which are one of the First Lady’s favorite snacks. They sounded good, if you like snack bars. So for some nice blog content and so that I wouldn’t forget the recipe (and yes, I could have just saved it in Word! 😉 ), I decided to share it with all of you in hopes that many of you missed the article. (wry smile)

Fruit and Oatmeal Bars

Time:
About 50 minutes, plus time cooling

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons grapeseed oil, or other neutral oil, plus extra for brushing pan
2 cups rolled oats
½ cup mixed seeds, such as pumpkin, sunflower and sesame
½ cup honey
½ cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
Pinch of salt
1 ½ cups mixed dried fruit, such as raisins, cherries, apricots, papaya, pineapple and cranberries (at least 3 kinds, cut into small pieces if large)
1 teaspoon ground cardamom or cinnamon
2 tablespoons of butter

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch-square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, letting a few inches hangs over side of pan. Brush with oil
2. Spread oats and seeds on another baking pan and toast in oven just until golden and fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes, shaking pan once.
3. In a saucepan, combine oil, butter, honey, brown sugar, maple syrup and salt. Stir over medium heat until smooth and hot. In a mixing bowl, toss together toasted oats and seeds, dried fruit and cardamom. Pour hot sugar mixture over and stir until well combined.
4. While mixture is warm, transfer to prepared pan, pressing into pan evenly with an offset spatula.
5. Bake until brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer pan to a rack and let cool completely. Using the overhanging foil or paper, lift out of pan and place on a work surface Cut into bars, about 1 ½ inches by 3 inches.

Source: Yahoo Weekend Edition Blog

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A Trip Down Memory Lane – Wordless Wednesday

Posted by html404 on May 25, 2011
in Family Stuff

You know those little photo booths that are usually in the mall or at fairs where you can sit in there and get your picture taken and it spits out a little strip of photos? Well my mom and I many, many years ago were shopping and got our picture taken. To this day it is one of my favorites (yes, even with my big eyed glasses and the children’s scribbles!) I think it’s the only photo I have of us together. Then again, who knows what is packed away in boxes!? Anywho, it is the only one I had out. It was in a cute little frame, which got broken, but I digress….meet the younger version of me and my mom in a trip down memory lane….in honor of Mother’s Day this month. I just couldn’t figure out how to scan it until last week on our new printer!

P.S. This post was inspired by my little sister (she’s 27!). Earlier in May she posted on her Facebook wall challenging us all to change our profile picture in honor of Mother’s Day. I teased her saying that was real nice considering I was 1600 miles away from my/our mother. Then I realized how few photos I have of my Mom and I with just the two of us. Very sad. And yes, she is still living, but very far away. I miss her a lot and am blessed to call her my mother.

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Skrub’a Gloves Review

Posted by Brande on May 24, 2011
in Gardening, Health & Garden Tuesday

Don’t pick up that veggie brush or peeler until you see these gloves. Fabrikators has a product called Skrub’a Gloves.

“Skrub’a is a line of practical, multi-purpose scrubbing gloves for removing dirt and loose skin from fresh potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables. Did you know that 50% of vitamins in vegetables are located in the peel? This is lost if you use a peeler. Skrub’a cleans without removing all of the healthy vitamins, and the gloves are hygienic, practical, and fun to use for both kids and adults!

– One size fits all : flexible fabric fits men and women, kids gloves fit ages 4-12

– Internationally patented

– Made with durable nylon, machine-washable and dishwasher-safe

– FDA approved

– Danish Design

For adults they come in (Pictured above)

Potato (Black) – “Removing dirt, loose skin, rinsing, and cleaning fresh potatoes, baked potatoes, and many other vegetables”

Veggie (Green) – “Removing dirt, loose skin, rinsing, and cleaning any kind of vegetable including beets, radishes, leeks, mushrooms, corn, etc”

Carrot (Orange) – “Removing dirt, loose skin, rinsing, and cleaning carrots, parsley root, turnips, and many other vegetables”

Kids gloves come in Potato (Black), Pumpkin (Orange with Pumpkin Face), & Carrrot (Orange).

They can be purchased on many online retailers and you can look up your state to find the nearest store. Their website is http://www.fabrikators.com/

My Review:

I received the Veggie Skrub’a Gloves and used them on mushrooms and they work! They feel a little weird on your hand. Kinda like a plastic scouring pad, but much softer. I haven’t put them in the dishwasher yet. Yes, they say on the tag they are dishwasher safe! I would put them on the top rack if you try it. I found just washing them well under the faucet worked well for me. Once I get more veggies from our CSA, I will be using them much more, but so far they are working for me.

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A Killer Among Us – A Revell Blog Tour

Posted by html404 on May 24, 2011
in Books

I have really enjoyed Lynette Eason’s mystery/thriller books. A Killer Among Us kept me guessing as to who the killer was, but I will admit that early on it briefly crossed my mind, “Could……be?” However, the way Lynette wove the story together I was suspecting someone within seconds.

It’s amazing how life events shape us. Kit Kenyon was a strong, talented negotiator who worked for the Police Department. Nevertheless, she was a character who could have been any one of us. Due to a recent revelation in her life, her relationship with God was on the rocks. She was angry because of decisions that were made that were beyond her control, yet God ultimately could have changed them had He wanted to. Sound familiar? Ah-huh, me too.

Thankfully, Kit had some amazing people in her life to lead her back to God. Her family and her new partner, whose background had influenced the man he became as an adult. He was a man on a mission for God. His love for God was evident and made me reflect again on our ability to influence or hinder the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A Killer Among Us receives two thumbs up from me!

“Available May 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

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CapSac Review

Posted by Professor on May 23, 2011
in Children's Clothing, Family Stuff, Fashion, Gift Ideas, Girl Stuff

The Cap Sac is essentially a fanny pack for your head! What an innovative idea! We received a cap sac for kids. The hat is 100% nylon with a zipper pocket on the forehead section. My daughter (2 years old) LOVED the product! The color caught her attention as soon as she took it out of the package (bright yellow)! But, the draw was the pocket on the top of the cap where she could stash all kinds of goodies! My daughter is a pack rat and loves to carry around a purse with toys and crayons inside, so this was perfect. There really were no downsides to the product in my daughter’s eyes. As a mother I would have personally picked a different color, as the yellow is very bright. I do like that the cap has a brim to shield delicate eyes from the sun. However, I would have liked the product to provide some UV protection, as this is normally the type of headgear I buy for my children…but if UV protection on headgear does not matter then this is great sun protection for your family! You can view all the cool caps available for kids at http://www.capsackids.com/.

There is also a line of hats and t-shirts for adults. Check them out here: http://www.cap-sac.com.

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Tomorrow’s Garden – A Revell Blog Tour

Posted by html404 on May 23, 2011
in Books

I really enjoyed Amanda’s Scattered Petals book and decided to read the third book in her Texas Dreams series.

Tomorrow’s Garden is another historical fiction with a romance plot. I enjoyed the strength of Harriet and her display of responsibility to her younger siblings. I visualized myself and my oldest daughter in Harriet’s character. Me as a mother and my daughter as the oldest to our crew.

It’s heartbreaking when people are basically run out of their home, town or church due to “talk”. It is even more heartwrenching to watch someone you know venture down a destructive path. Harriet had to make some tough decisions for her family. She also had to show some tough love and her siblings respected her for it…in the end.

Tomorrow’s Garden stirred up some strong feelings within me as I read about an encounter Harriet had with someone she was growing to love about an issue that literally rocked her world. As I read it, I wished that there were more people like the Sheriff who responded in such a loving way to such a controversial subject.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the romance part of the book was truly predictable, but I loved the story of family, love and togetherness it displayed.

“Available April 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

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