Hello Goodbye Dog - Literary Lunch + Giveaway

It is LITERARY LUNCH time today and I have a wonderful book for you today! PLUS, you can win a copy at the end of my post!!
I am pleased to review HELLO GOODBYE DOG by Maria Gianferrari today:

Meet Moose, Zara's dog, she loves hellos and really hates goodbyes. So, when it is time for Zara to go to school, Moose keeps escaping to find her favorite girl at school.

My kids love reading this book and they always giggle at all of Moose's antics. I am sure if we had a dog she would be just like that. Because really, who doesn't hate goodbye's.

 My kids loved the fact that Zara did not try to change Moose but found the perfect solution for both of them.

Our favorite page in the book was this one which also inspired our Literary Lunch. Those eyes get me every time!

Our Literary Lunch is packed in Easylunchboxes and contains:

• a bone for Moose banana
• a sad goodbye faced Moose sandwich filled with cream cheese and jelly
• a field of strawberries and blueberies with Moose hiding in them and
• Zara's lunch which is an apple sauce wrapped in wax paper

a Rafflecopter giveaway
For more awesome Hello Goodbye Dog book reviews and more chances to win your own copy, check out the BOOK TOUR:

HELLO GOODBYE DOG BLOG TOUR!

GIVEAWAYS EVERY DAY!!

*Monday, July 24^th:                            Pragmatic Mom + THREE book giveaway!

*Two for Tuesday, July 25th:           Librarian’s Quest

Reading for Research

*Wednesday, July 26th:                    Homemade City

*Thursday, July 27^th:                         Kid Lit Frenzy

*Friday, July 28^th:                              Mrs. Knott’s Book Nook

*Monday, July 31^st:                            Picture Books Help Kids Soar

*Tuesday, August 1^st:                        Bildebok

*Wednesday, August 2^nd:                  The Loud Library Lady

*Thursday, August 3^rd:                      DEBtastic Reads!

*Friday, August 4^th:                           Mamabelly’s Lunches with Love

*Monday, August 7^th:                        Writing for Kids (While Raising Them)

EXTRA: August 25^th:                         Kidlit411—Interview with Patrice Barton 

For more reviews and more chances to win a copy of Hello Goodbye Dog follow the Book Tour:

HELLO GOODBYE DOG BLOG TOUR!

GIVEAWAYS EVERY DAY!!

*Monday, July 24^th:                            Pragmatic Mom + THREE book giveaway!

*Two for Tuesday, July 25th:           Librarian’s Quest

Reading for Research

*Wednesday, July 26th:                    Homemade City

*Thursday, July 27^th:                         Kid Lit Frenzy

*Friday, July 28^th:                              Mrs. Knott’s Book Nook

*Monday, July 31^st:                            Picture Books Help Kids Soar

*Tuesday, August 1^st:                        Bildebok

*Wednesday, August 2^nd:                  The Loud Library Lady

*Thursday, August 3^rd:                      DEBtastic Reads!

*Friday, August 4^th:                           Mamabelly’s Lunches with Love

*Monday, August 7^th:                        Writing for Kids (While Raising Them)

EXTRA: August 25^th:                         Kidlit411—Interview with Patrice Barton 



Find out more about the amazing Maria Gianferrari:

Maria writes both fiction and nonfiction picture books from her sunny, book-lined study in northern Virginia, with dog, Becca as her muse. Maria’s the author of the Penny & Jelly books, Coyote Moon, an ALA Notable Book, and a Junior Library Guild Selection, Officer Katz & Houndini and Hello Goodbye Dog. She has additional titles forthcoming from Roaring Brook Press, Boyds Mills Press, GP Putnam’s Sons and Little Bee. To learn more about Maria, visit her website:mariagianferrari.com, on Facebook and Instagram.

milkdot Lunchbox REVIEW

Back to School for my kids is not until September but I am already busy planning and shopping for the things we will need. I came across milkdot and their amazing Stöh insulated lunch bags. If you have never heard about milkdot, you need to check out their website! I love how many colors they offer!! They offered to send me an insulated lunch bag and I can tell you that it was hard to choose!

I love stripes, so I picked the Green Apple Stripes Stöh and I am so happy I did! EVERYONE in my house loves this lunchbox and this color is so versatile (kids, adults, boys, girls).

The lunchbox is really well made, the colors are vibrant and fun and I love how much room it has!

Do you hate writing on your newly purchase lunchbox with permanent marker to be able to find it again at the school's lost &found 2 weeks after school starts? Me, too. But, milkdot though of that and the back of the lunchbox has a little tag for either a name, picture or sticker!!

Perfect for my family! We label everything!! (that is not actually my son's name but you know privacy and all that, so I photoshopped it in, so you can see how cute it will look ;)

Also, that little pocket can hold lunchbox notes, napkins or when you take the lunchbox to work the little name tag.

Another huge plus for me is that it folds flat for storage. I have four kids and about 48 lunch bags and one small cabinet in the kitchen. So, huge bonus for me!

The other space plus: it is roomy! and you can keep water bottles or shakes upright which will prevent at least some of my kids from spilling theirs when they don't close the bottles after lunch completely!

Here is my daughter's lunch for today and it all fits: I used a Planetbox Shuttle, stainless steel 10 oz water bottle and...

...there was room for a placemat, cereal bar and there would have been room for a snack box as well!

Still on the fence? Here is the same lunchbox with my 24oz coffee tumbler and a snack bag with almonds.

Same lunchbox again, plus a protein shaker, cereal bar and snack bag.

I LOVE this bag and have taken it already many times on the go for myself. I really love that drinks stay upright, it is fun and bright (I have gotten a ton of complements) and there is enough room for an adult lunch, kid lunch and high school lunch.

Review: Goodbyn Bynto and Hero {with GIVEAWAY}

If you read my blog regularly, you know that we love our Goodbyn lunch containers! They were the very first containers I bought for my kids and they have proven to be one of our favorites over time. 

Besides the obvious plus points of the Goodbyn (carrying handle, dishwasher safe and leak proof), I love that the Bynto is easy to open for my kids even though it is still leak proof and my kids love the bright colors and convenience of being able to carry it without a lunch bag.

We packed this lovely purple Bynto with;

• a peanut butter sandwich on multi grain bread
• grapes and a stamped banana
• mini peppers

The Goodbyn Hero is truly a Hero! We love that it comes with two dippers which makes packing a breakfast style lunchbox a breeze. Just like the Bynto, this lunchbox is so versatile. You can pack a lot or a little and there is even room for a Goodbyn bottle!

Why do we love these Goodbyn containers?

• They are easy to wash (Top rack dishwasher safe)
• made FDA-approved Materials
• BPA- and phthalate free
• easy to open for little kids
• fun and colorful
• hold up throughout the school year! We had ours for years!
• 100% Recyclable

  This Goodbyn Hero contains:

• grapes
• cheese
• vanilla yogurt
• peanut butter sushi
• a Larabar and
• a few pieces of cereal to eat with the yogurt

WANT A CHANCE TO WIN THESE TWO? Enter my giveaway below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Disclaimer: 

Open to US residents only. Winners will be notified via email. Winners have 24h to respond before a new winner is drawn. Good luck!

Goodbyn sent me a Goodbyn Bynto and Hero to review. All opinions are my own.

Van's NEW Gluten Free Granola and Snack Bars {with GIVEAWAY}

We love Van's products at our house and since one of my kids has a gluten sensitivity, they are our go-to company for cereal, granola and snack bars. We can never have enough in the house and snack bars go fast! I was so excited to hear that they have added two new granolas and two new snack bars to their line!

I am a HUGE granola fan and keep some in the house for a quick yogurt parfait or honestly just to snack out of the bag. We love both new flavors of their Soft-Baked Whole Grain Granola Clusters: Double Chocolate and Banana Nut.

I rolled some of the clusters into Granola bites and added them to today's school lunches! They are so delicious and a great addition to lunch.

Van’s Double Chocolate and Banana Nut Granola is baked with delicious, gluten-free, whole grain oats and offer 12-14 grams of whole grains per serving – with no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. It is perfect for lunch, on the go, breakfast or to snack out of the bag ;)

Van's also added two new snack bars to their line: Chocolate Gramwich Sandwich Bars and Banana Bread Bars. We already love their PB&J Bars and let me tell you these new falvors are amazing! The Banana Bread Bars blend banana flavor with gluten-free oats and flaxseed to create a tasty and portable version of banana bread. And they are delicious! I am so busy these mornings and never think about my own breakfast. I have been enjoying the Banana Nut Granola and the Banana Bread bars as a great way to eat on the go! My kids on the other side have been thrilled with the new Chocolate Gramwich Sandwich Bars! Made with real chocolate sandwiched between two whole-grain, graham-style bars, they’re a real special treat for snack or lunch!

I have already requested these to be carried at our local grocery store to keep on hand for summer car trips and the pool! For now, we love them as an addition to lunch!

To celebrate these great new products, Van's is having an amazing giveaway! One lucky reader will win a Van's prize pack for you AND a friend. The winner will receive the $100 Visa gift card, Van’s water bottle, tote, two reusable snack sacks and coupons for free Van’s Foods. The winner will also receive another set of swag and coupons but doesn’t include the visa gift card for a friend.

ENTER HERE for your chance:

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Boulder Organic Soups Review {with Giveaway}

I love food! And food loves me (a little too much!). So, what do I eat that is delicious, healthy and won't change my jeans size? Soup! Soup has more fiber, more flavor, less sugar and helps me stay satisfied longer than for example a juice.

Boulder Organic offers organic, gluten-free and Non-GMO soups and what could be any better than that!

The Chicken Vegetable Chili was hands down my favorite. I love thick soups and I found this one to be my go to lunch staple last week! It is chock full of chicken, tomato, carrots, corn, zucchini and three kinds of beans. 

But there are so many varieties to choose from that everyone will find a soup they love:

•  Butternut Squash with Sage
•  Roasted Tomato Basil
•  Red Lentil Dahl
•  Garden Minestrone
•  Cuban Black Bean
•  Green Chile Corn Chowder
•  Potato Leek
•  Golden Quinoa and Kale
•  Chicken Quinoa & Kale
•  Chicken Vegetable Chili

Which one would you love to try? 

I still have my eye out for the Potato Leek and the Carrot Ginger Soup with Coconut. One reminds me of home and the other of summer. Cannot wait to try them all!

To try these amazing soups for yourself enter my GIVEAWAY! I am giving away coupons to THREE lucky readers!

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US Residents only. The winners will be notified via email and have 24 h to claim their prize before a new winner is selected.

Disclaimer: I have not received any compensation for this post. I was sent two coupons to try the soup. The opinions in this post are my own.

Jack N' Jill Toothbrush and Toothpaste REVIEW

My kids LOVE brushing their teeth. Well, almost all of them. So, when a package from Jack N' Jill arrived filled with Buzzy Brush Electrical Musical Toothbrushes and Jack N' Jill toothpaste, they were eager to immediately try them out. (And the reluctant brusher in the family was the first one to decorate and try his out!)

Jack N' Jill sent us one of each of their toothpastes and we love them all. My kids really love the mild taste and the fact that the tooth paste is clear! Plus, where else can you find Blackcurrant flavored toothpaste!

I love that they are:

• rich in Xylitol, 
• contain Organic Calendula to soothe gums, 
• only contain natural flavor,
• are Fluoride Free, 
• Sugar Free, 
• Color Free, 
• SLS Free, 
• contain no Preservatives, 
• and are Gluten Free and
• BPA Free.

The Buzzy Brush comes with a set of stickers that can be used to decorate the toothbrush. I really liked the added stickers since it helps distinguish which Buzzy Brush belongs to whom. The stickers are bubble stickers and lots of fun to decorate with! I also appreciated the beautiful packaging made with recycled materials and the fact that the toothbrush head is replaceable for continuous use! This brush is great for any child or adult 3+. It has a super gentle rotation action, soft bristles, and is free standing for hygiene! No more sticky toothbrushes in the sink!

A word about the musical part of the toothbrush:

I know many of you shy away from a musical toothbrushes because - let's face it - the kids will play the song over and over and over again. BUT, this toothbrush has 3 settings:

1. the song 
2. spoken instructions 
3. and silence 

And, I like the song! It is actually fun to listen to and if you'd like to know how it sounds, click HERE and you can read more about Buzzy Brush and hear the song.

I really love how well thought out the Jack N' Jill products are! Jack N' Jill toothpaste has an "opener" in the tooth paste lid! No more trying to peel that tiny piece of aluminum off! Just poke and you are ready to go!

In conclusion, we love Jack N' Jill products and had a great time testing the Buzzy Brush and the different toothpaste flavors. Everyone, from my tooth brushing lover to my reluctant brusher got excited about brushing teeth and it solved our "Before School" brushing dilemma. I had to remind endlessly before we used to leave the house. Now, everyone just goes off and starts the day with freshly brushed teeth and a fun song!

GIVEAWAY:

TWO winners will each receive:
1 Buzzy Brush and
1 toothpaste of their choice

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US Residents only. The winners will be notified via email and have 24 h to claim their prize before a new winner is selected.

MySuperFoods REVIEW {and GIVEAWAY!}

We love healthy snacks - really who doesn't? - and my kids were thrilled to try both the MySuperFoods cookies and snacks after MySuperFoods sent us a fun review package. Scroll to the end of the post to win some snacks and cookies as well!

I love that MySuperfoods snacks are soft and yummy yet GMO free, made in a nut-free facility, has no additives, no preservatives and contains 10g of whole grains. Win for Mom and win for the kids!

For this lunch I served yogurt with a cinnamon apple stencil, apple raisin MySuperSnacks granola bites and three mini nut butter and jelly sandwiches.

I also used the Honey Heroes cookies in our recent Literary Lunch. They made fabulous spectators for my LITTLE RED GLIDING HOOD lunch (click the picture to find out more).

I already had to re-buy the Honey Heroes because my kids love them for school snack as well. Here I packed some MySuperCookies with a few grapes.

I am always looking for healthy options for snack since all of my four children need snack and it gets boring fast because I tend to always pack the same few things. My kids were big fans of the Chocolate Chip Granola Bites and I will be buying more of these as well.

Here is a summary of what we thought:

Pros:

• GMO free
• nut free
• artificial anything free
• full of whole grain
• yummy (your kids will love these)

Things to consider:

• Even though the cookies are available in a bigger package, the MySuperSnacks Granola bites are only available as individual packs. Since I try to avoid unnecessary packaging I wish you could buy them with less packaging BUT they are great for on the go and for brown bag lunches!

MySuperFoods has agreed to send one of you a variety pack of their snacks and cookies!

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The Giveaway is open to US Residents only. Winner will be notified via email and has 24h to claim their prize.

MySuperFoods cookies and snacks are available at your local store and on Amazon.

Here are links to MySuperFoods on Amazon (contains affiliate links):

Disclaimer: MySuperFoods sent me a few snacks to review. The opinions in this post are solely mine!

National Nude Food Day 2015 {with Giveaway}

I am happy to say that I am a Nude Food Day Ambassador this year! Nude Food Day is celebrated every day during October this year and you can participate as well! I started my blog to journal our experiences with rubbish-free, healthy lunches. I am originally from Europe and being eco-friendly and earth consciencious is part of every day live where I am from. I love using eco-friendly and waste-free products and doing my part of keeping the landfills free of plastic baggies and disposables. I am proud to team up with Nude Food Movers this year!

Nude Food Day is a global initiative developed to encourage kids and parents to eat well and live well, and eliminate all unnecessary packaging and wrapping that goes into schools. Lots of schools around Australia have taking the opportunity to be involved. Nude Food Day has also launched in the UK and have secured Eco Schools, Keep Australia Beautiful, Wildlife Warriors and Australia Zoo as partners.

The official Nude Food day falls onto October 16th this year which also coincides with  Australia's National Nutrition Week and World Food Day. Using waste-free lunch containers is not just keeping your school rubbish free but also can save you quite a few dollars! Buying bigger containers of food items like yogurt will save you money in the long run, keep plastic out of landfills and help preserve wildlife.

Wondering how you can get involved? 

• Head over to Nude Food Day and register your school to participate in Nude Food Day 2015! 2015 marks the sixth year of Nude Food Day and to celebrate we are offering a MASSIVE $25,000 prize pool to six lucky schools!


• Share your favourite Nude Food Recipes/Photos/Events with us and our global community! Remember to share it with us by using #NudeFoodDay

• Enter to win one of three amazing Nude Food Prize Packs valued at over RRP $50 and containing: 

• Nude Food Movers Rubbish Free Lunchbox
• Nude Food Movers Coolskin
• Nude Food Movers Sandwich Box
• Nude Food Movers Snack Box
• Smash Sports Pop Top Drink Bottle
• Smash Stealth Drink Bottle 500ml

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This Giveaway is open only to residents of AUSTRALIA. The winner will be notified via email and has 24h to claim the prize!

#FreeToBe Carefree this Summer

Summer vacation is just around the corner and for us that means spending time at the beach. My kids cannot wait to get their toes in the sand and feel the salt water on their skin. Sun, sand and beach is what summer means to us.

Spending days at the beach is relaxing and fun but laundry is inevitable. Towls, bathing suits, cover ups, beach bags - it all needs to be washed almost daily.

Thankfully, all free clear is helping me keep my kids' sensitive skin safe and still tackles those tough stains like sun tan lotion and food stand stains. all free clear is gentle enough for my sensitive kids and the #1 recommended detergent brand by Dermatologists, Allergists, and Pediatricians for sensitive skin. Plus, it's safe for use in standard and HE machines. So, if you are taking your all free clear with you to the beach house, you don't have to worry if it's safe to use with the washing machine there!

I trust all® free clear detergent, fabric softener and dryer sheets because they have received the National Eczema Association (NEA) Seal of Acceptance™. Products with the NEA Seal of Acceptance™ are those that avoid certain chemicals, dyes, perfumes and residues that are known to be unsuitable for use by persons with eczema or a sensitive skin condition. In fact, all® free clear detergent has only 9 ingredients!

And because I want you to try  all® free clear detergent for yourself, I included a link to a $1 coupon! 
>>> Save HERE!