Holiday Gift Guide - For the Men and Foodies in Your Life

Do you have some men that are just really hard to buy for?  Or maybe you have a foodie in your family that you'd like to surprise.  Either way I've had the chance to try some great products that would work well for both groups.

#1- Jake's Righteous BBQ Sauce, Dry Rubs, and Marinades

I don't have a BBQ pit or way to grill at my apartment so I didn't get the full effect of Jake's Righteous BBQ Sauce.  But I did use it for hamburgers I made on the stove.  Jake sent us the Medium Hot BBQ Sauce.  They were had a great taste to them.  But OH MAN! The spicy kick afterwards was something else! If your giftee doesn't like spicy stuff I'd suggest getting the Original.

I also received some of the Southwestern Dry Rub.  I didn't have anything to dry rub.  But when I opened it I instantly wanted to eat it on french fries.  So I made some fries.  It was seriously yummy.

Another great thing about Jake's is that their stuff is all natural.  No msg or any of that other yucky stuff you don't want in your food or your body.

#2- Bacon Hot Sauce

I know what you're thinking. The same thoughts went through my head.  WHAT? Who would eat that?! Wait, Bacon Hot Sauce?  Casey would eat that.  He'll eat ANYTHING with bacon on it.  You know, it actually doesn't sound to bad...

It's not to bad.  We ate it with some chicken strips.  Casey really likes it.  I think it's ok.  It's not spicy.  Like at all.  And when I hear Hot Sauce I want it to be HOT.  I mean, look at that sweaty pig blowing fire.  Doesn't that make you think your mouth is going to die?  Other than that any person that you know that is IN LOVE with Bacon will be thrilled to get this as a gift.

#3- J-Burger Seasonings

J-Burger Seasonings "turn ordinary burgers into gourmet!"  It's great for a foodie in your life.  Or maybe that brother or uncle that you have that's not married and isn't the greatest cook.  Give them some of this and their food will taste great occasionally.

I have to admit.  The first time I used the seasoning was in burgers and I horribly messed up.  They turned into onion flavored sloppy joe meat.  I later found out from my Father-in-Law that the burger meat should be as cold as possible when making the patties so they stick together better. 

The second time I used it I made meatloaf.  It was delicious, moist, and held together.  My family normally likes meatloaf anyway but Casey actually complimented it the night I used the J-Burger seasoning. 

Over the years I have found that food or gourmet seasonings and sauces are great for any man in your family.  I mean really, what man doesn't like eating?  And what man doesn't like his food to taste good or like bacon?

I hope this helped you with some ideas for your shopping list this season.

I received a product to review from each of these companies.  I was in no other way compensated.  The pictures of the J-Burger Seasoning and Jake's BBQ Sauce came form the website because I forgot to take a picture before I used it all.  The Bacon Hot Sauce picture is my own.

What do you do Naptime?

Naptime is known in the Mommy World as "me time".  I think it sounds so selfish to say it that way.  But some days it's totally how I feel.  I get to do what I want for 2 whole hours if I'm lucky.

What do I do?  

Sometimes I nap as well.  Most days I load the dishwasher, check my favorite social media networks, try to write a blog post, get distracted by my Facebook group, answer emails, attempt to write a blog post again, nurse the baby that woke up to early from nap, lay her back down, check social media again, and then finally give up once my 2 year old wakes up.

There's lots of things you can do though.  You can read your favorite blog posts, play online bingo games, check out Facebook, find crafts to do with your kids, read news articles, and so much more.

Before I had kids I don't really know what I did on the computer all day.  Back then I didn't blog.  I guess I wasted all of my time on Facebook.

What are your favorite things to do at naptime?

I have a Friend that needs some Votes! Please?

My friend is in the Cheap Sally Bring Home the Bacon contest.  She is in round 2.  She needs to finish #1 in her state in this round.  Currently she is #3.  I'm a loser and kept forgetting to post about the contest and ask you to help her out.  The last 2 days to vote are today and tomorrow.  So if you can I need you to vote RIGHT NOW!

The winner of the contest is awarded a job with CheapSally.com and will receive a salary of $100,000 for the year of 2012.  I would like it if you could PLEASE help Cyndy to win.  Her family has gone through a financial crisis.  We ALL know someone who has been through that recently.  Rather than filing for bankrupcy they have decided to pay back their debts little by little.  If Cyndy was able to get this job with CheapSally.com she could help her family to achieve their goals of paying off their debts.  Click on the button bellow to vote for Cyndy please!

Thank you very very much for helping me help a friend!

GourmetGiftBaskets.com Holiday Review and Donations to the Military

Do you have anyone on your list this year that you just don't know what to buy for them?  Or do you feel you need to make a nice gesture to your boss, pastor's family, or friend but you just don't know how?

GourmetGiftBaskets.com has a large selection of holiday gift baskets to fit anyone on your list.

Their Holiday Harvest Gift Tower is full of fruit, nuts, crackers, and candy.  It all comes in 4 beautiful keepsake boxes.  It would be great for your Grandma or Aunt that you would like to get something for.

This golfer's gift basket is perfect for any golfer in your life.  With snacks for a busy day on the course and some extra golf balls in case they loose theirs.

This snack basket would be great for your boss or your Pastor.  It's a nice gesture that they will greatly appreciate.

If your Grandpa is like mine there's nothing better than coffee and chocolate.  This Coffee and Chocolate Gift Basket would be great for him!

Don't worry! If you know you're buying for someone on a diet or someone that likes to make the healthiest of choices there's a Healthy Gift Basket just for them!

Check out all of the great Gift Baskets for Christmas at GourmetGiftBaskets.com.

GourmetGiftBaskets.com is donating 2 gift baskets to injured Soldiers at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethsada Maryland for Christmas on behalf of In the Mommy Business for writing this blog post.  If you would like GourmetGiftBaskets.com to donate 2 gift baskets to the injured Soldiers for Christmas please write a blog post about GourmetGiftBaskes.com's Christmas Selection and leave your link on the linky provided below and I will send all of our links to GourmetGiftBaskets.com.  The blog posts need to be written and linked by December 9th so that the Soldiers can receive the baskets in time for Christmas.

Heelys Review

Remember when we were kids and Heelys first came out?  We ALL wanted a pair even if we didn't admit it.  Well my grandma would always tell me no every time I asked.  She said I'd break my ankle or fall and hurt myself somehow.  I would argue and argue with her about how that wouldn't happen and I'd be responsible with them.  Well I was wrong! I almost fell on my butt just talking across the living room on carpet.  I didn't even attempt an non carpeted surface for fear of my tail bone throbbing for the next 3 days.

Sadly this is 1 of 2 pictures of me wearing the Heelys and I'm sitting down in both.

If you don't know what Heelys are they are sturdy shoes with non-marking soles that have a place for wheels on the back of the shoe.  You can choose to have the wheels in the shoes to skate around on a flat clean surface.  Or, you can take the wheels out and cover the wheel wells with the covers provided and you have a stylish shoe to wear anywhere you go.

Heelys has lots of great resources on their site on how to use the shoes and how to be safe about it.  

Look and see if Heelys are for you.  Or for your children.  They're just not for me because I'm not so graceful or balanced.  Don't you hate it when you realize years later that something your grandparents/parents told you was right even though at the time you insisted you were wrong?

and here's the other one...

If you are looking to buy Heelys they have having a Black Friday special from November 25th to 28th.  If you buy a pair of Heelys or the Nano you get a pair of Heelys Shoes for $25 with free ground shipping on all orders.

I received a pair of Heelys to review for this post.  I was in no other way compensated.

A Good Nursing Bra is Essential

A good nursing bra is essential. I know. Because I don't have one. I never have.
When I first got pregnant with Madelynn(my first child if you didn't know) I knew I would breastfeed. It's the way God made us. So it only seems right.
Well at about 6 months in the pregnancy I got on a popular maternity clothes website to buy some nursing bras. There were NONE in my exact size. So I went to another maternity site and another. No where had exactly what I needed. They were all one band size to small or one cup size to small. I finally just went with the bra that was one band size to small and the EXACT cup size I was right then. Because that's the biggest bra they carried. I got the bras and they fit. So I was fine with my purchase and looked forward to using them.
The day I gave birth to Madelynn I put on the bra. It still fit and nursing went great. I had no clue what I was in store for.
My milk came in when Madelynn was 3 days old. That on its own is uncomfortable. But add in a bra that fit perfect before the milk came in but is probably 4 cup sizes to small when fully engorged. And no. I'm not joking. I guarantee my boobs grew 4 cup sizes that day. Kinda like the grinch's heart.
After the engorgement went away my boobs still no longer fit into my bra. I needed one 2 cup sizes bigger. But I had just spent a bunch of money on the three bras that I had. I also knew I couldn't find a bra the proper size. I mean, I had spent hours online that one day searching and searching. So I just sucked it up and made it work.
Eventually the situation just got ridiculous. My breasts would fall out of the bra when I bent over. They had stretched out the straps so much that they wouldn't stay on my shoulder. It was just horrible. But I never stopped nursing my baby. I just dealt with it because I had to provide for my daughter and we just didn't have money in the budget to drop on some new bras.
After Madelynn stopped nursing at 15 months I threw those bras away. I really had the urge to burn them I hated them so much. But I settled with the trash can.
So 2 1/2 years after my first nursing bra purchase I was in the same boat. I knew I would nurse Hayleigh. It went so wonderfully with Madelynn aside from the bras. I still couldn't find bras in my size. NONE. So this time around I settled for sports bras. Another mistake. They were wonderful the whole time I was pregnant. They grew with my breasts and are so comfortable in a time when you just need comfort. They're even great in those first few days of nursing and engorgement. They give your breasts the support they need while engorged. And you're home during that time anyway so it doesn't matter if you have to pull up half your bra and then use both of your hands to adequately put yourself back into it.
Eventually those sports bras that were wonderful and grew with your breasts during pregnancy and supported you during engorgement become not so wonderful. After a point they no longer grow with you and you start hanging out the top or the bottom. At some point you decide that you're going to leave the house and you're going to have to nurse your baby in public. Therefore you will have to use 1 hand to balance baby and the other to get yourself out of that bra on only one side. Then you will only be able to use one hand to stuff yourself back in. Eventually your back starts to hurt from walking around without the proper support.
So what do you do?
You get your tush online and do more research. You find companies you have never heard of before. You do whatever you can to find a bra that fits and works for you. Don't settle for something to small. It will only cause you pain. Make sure you read the sizing charts. Make sure you measure yourself properly.
I don't want you to have to deal with the pain and struggle I've had to deal with. And that I still deal with. I have finally found some bras that will fit. Now I just have to wait for some money to open up in our budget for them.

What nursing bras did you use? What are your favorites? What are your least favorites? Help me help out other mommies that might not know where or how to find something that fits.

Kidorable Holiday Gift Buying Quiz

Do you have children to buy for this holiday season? 

Most people do.

Do you know how to pick out a gift that's going to get played with or loved?

Well Kidorable has come up with a Holiday Gift Buying Quiz to test your knowledge on buying gifts for children.  They also give you some tips whether your answers are right or wrong.

I have obviously had experience buying toys for kids for awhile.  I got all 5 questions right on the quiz!

Go take the Kidorable Holiday Gift Buying Quiz and come back and share with me what you scored.

Kidorable products are a perfect gift for any child.  They have all sorts of different designs.  You're bound to find something for that child on your list.

We received a LadyBug Knitwear Set to review.

Madelynn says it's "beautiful and perfect!" and "fun to play with all day long".

I think it's great quality Knitwear.  It will also fit MANY sizes.  Madelynn is going to be able to wear it for a long time.

The great thing about Kidorable stuff is it doesn't just look like a boring scarf or gloves or raincoat.  It has imagination to it.  You child can play with it.

Like these gloves.  They turned Madelynn's hand into Ladybugs.  Her hands can now fly and talk to each other.

Give the child on your shopping list Kidorable or a Kidorable Gift Card and you're bound to get smiles.

I was provided the Ladybug Knitwear Set by Kidorable to review.  I was in no other way compensated.  These opinions are 100% mine!

Mother-ease Bedwetter Pants Review

The Mother-ease Bedwetter Pants are a pull-up style night time training pants.  They are made of white cotton terry on the inside for absorbency with PUL on the outside to hold it all in.

When I pulled these out of the package my first thought was, "Yep, you can tell this is a Mother-ease product."  Mother-ease has kept their products simple.  There's no need for all the bells and whistles when simplicity works just as well.

front view

When I put it on my daughter she did a funny, this doesn't fit quite right at first, wiggle.  She had to get adjusted into it.  I asked her how they felt.  She said they felt poofy.  They look alittle poofy too.

I noticed that after you put them on your have to adjust the leg seams so that there is no terry on the outside.  That would cause major leaking issues through the night.

Where the terry inner needs to be rolled in.

Some nights my daughter doesn't pee at all or wakes to go to the bathroom.  Other nights you would have thought I let her drink a gallon of water and take sleeping pills right before bed.  For the nights she does wake up the Bedwetter Pants pull down and up really easy and she can do it all on her own without having to wake me at all.  The heavy wetting nights the Bedwetter Pants hold everything in.  The only nights she's had leaks are the ones where I can tell she peed right as she woke up after having peed in the in the middle of the night.

back view

They wash easily with the other cloth diapers and dry quickly because the soaker is separated from the cover.

I would definitely recommend these for your child that can't quite keep themselves dry every night.  They have several sizes ranging from 30lbs to 65lbs.

You can purchase them RIGHT HERE from Mother-ease. 

I need a favor please!

Hello! I need a favor.  An awesome lady and blogging friend Angela Williamson the Fab Find Foodie is currently in the final four of the Alexia Foods Reinvent a Classic contest.  I need you to please go to THIS PAGE.  Like Alexia Foods and vote for the Classic Dill Julienne Fries.

You can vote once a day.

Thanks so much!

Holiday Gift Guide - Peeled Snacks - GIVEAWAY

The first item I bring to you from my Holiday Gift Guide are Peeled Snacks.

Peeled Snacks are dehydrated fruit that make you feel good about snacking.

They come are all organic with no sugar or extra addatives.

Peeled Snacks come in single serving packs or multi-serving packs.

I received a variety box of single serving packs to review.  My daughter loves dried cherries and banana chips so she was excited when she saw the fruit snacks.  Right away we opened them up.  Before I could even start to take pictures my daughter had the apricots opened and eaten.  She had never had dried apricots before but she loved them.  

Next we opened up the pineapple.  I grabbed the camera quick because she was already part way through the pack.  She had just woke up from her nap when the box arrived so it was snack time and she was hungry.  That along with her love for fruit these babies didn't last any more than 3 days. I had never had dried pineapple before.  At least not that I can remember.  It's amazing.  I really like the chewyness and the flavor.  It still tastes alittle sweeter than fresh pineapple I think.

We loved all the other fruits too.  I cut the cherries in half and mixed them with some almonds and chocolate chips.  YUM!

I think these would be great alternatives to candy in your kids stockings.  They're just as sweet and delicious as candy.  But at the same time they are so much better for them.  It'll keep the holiday sugar highs at bay too.

You can buy Peeled Snacks at Starbucks, Amazon, Whole Foods, and several other retailers.

Peeled Snacks has also generously offered one of you the chance to win an Organic Fruit Picks Variety Pack.  It contains 2 each of pine-4-Pineapple, much-ado-about-Mango, Banan-a-peel, Apricot-a-lot, Cherry-go-Round, and Apple-2-the-core.  To enter all you have to do is fill out the Rafflecopter form below.  If it doesn't load right away wait.  Sometimes it takes a minute.  After you feel you have waited a sufficient amount of time refresh the page.

The giveaway will end at Midnight on 11-17-11.

My Red Robin Experience.

Last week on Thursday my girls and I went Christmas shopping with my dad.  Since I was little I've always went with my dad when he did his Christmas shopping.  Getting married and having kids hasn't changed that.  We always plan out our trip before hand.  This year we were going to Toys R Us, Garden Ridge, Gordmans, and Big Lots.  Then we wanted to stop at Red Robin for lunch.  We hadn't been since one first opened up in the area when I was between 10 and 12.  There's a shopping center here called Gravois Bluffs.  It's in Fenton, Missouri.  It has all the places we wanted minus Toys R Us but that was just 10 minutes up the road.

After we got our shopping done at half the stores we decided we were hungry so we went to Red Robin.  The parking lot was about half full.  We go inside and are seated right away.  Right after we sat down Jole, our server, got our drink orders and got those to us quickly.  Then we ordered appetizers and our food.  The appetizers got to us quickly.

We didn't even get half way through the appetizers and our food was there.  The server made sure we had everything we needed and asked if my daughter needed everything.

He was so nice to my daughter the whole time.  She's only 2 and that's really awesome to me.

Jole continually brought us refills of our drinks without us asking or pestering us to see if we needed more.  He just brought them. 

When we were finished he brought us our checks and large to go ups of our drinks.  My dad and I were both shocked.  No where ever does that.

The server was so nice and exceeded all expectations.  The food tasted amazing, was warm, and well put together.

I am so pleased with this experience.  I will definitely go back to this Red Robin. 

If you've never eaten at one I would highly suggest it.

I was in NO WAY compensated for posting this at all.  I truly enjoyed the experience and wanted to share.

Holiday Gift Guide for the People that are Hard to Buy Gifts for.

We all have those people in our families.  You know the ones.

The person that has EVERYTHING you could ever imagine to buy them.

or

The person that likes everything and nothing at the same time so you couldn't even begin to imagine where to start shopping.

Well I'm here to hopefully help you out some with your problems.

I have put together and am still accumulating shops for a small holiday gift guide that will give you some ideas.

Below are listed all of the companies in my guide.  They range from food items to games to who knows what.

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing individual reviews of each of these companies.  So please check back.

Holiday Gift Guide for the Hard to Buy for People 2011

• Vizardz - Great for Everyone!
• GleeGum Gummies Kit - For the children you know that just have TO MANY toys.
• Kidorable - For the children you know that have TO MANY toys.
• Gourmet Gift Baskets - For anyone with to much stuff or that is just to hard to buy for.
• GrandCamp Adventures - Great for Grandparents and Grandkids.
• Bacon Hot Sauce - Great for any man you know.
• Snikiddy Snacks - Think stocking stuffer!
• Peeled Snacks - Another stocking stuffer!
• JBurger Seasonings - Great for any man you know.
• Grandma Dee's Nuts - Great for a stocking stuffer or for that person that loves to snack.
• Jake's BBQ Sauce - Great for any man you know.
• Super Food Snacks - Great for that relative that's all about Green Living
• Bumbo Seat/Seat Cover - Awesome for that infant that doesn't have likes or dislikes yet.
• Discovery Bay Games - For your nieces and nephews you might not see often.
• Something About Silver - Perfect for Mom or Grandma.

Stay Tuned for the reviews on all of these!  I will also be adding more companies as they join in.

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