Archive for July, 2009

As a mom of boys ages 2 and 7 and a husband who gets dirty at work, there is always laundry to be washed around here. With that being said, I have decided to do a few blog posts on different products that I am getting to try and which ones I like the best. There are SO many out there that it can be a headache trying to get one that suits your families needs. So, as you can imagine, I go through a lot of laundry detergent and have probably tried them all. Not only are there many brands and scents, but now there are special ones just for front loading washers. Over the course of this year, I was sent several laundry products to try. I am going to touch base on a few products in this post. Wisk 2X Ultra High Efficiency – If you have a front load washer, as I do, this product worked great. This detergent will not overload your washing machine with suds. Doing so can cause damage to your front loader. It did leave behind a few stains on my 2 year olds things on the first wash. I washed them again and the stains were gone. Maybe a little pre-treater or stain booster with this one. It smelled great and like a I have seen a few other people mention, the fill lines on the measuring cup were difficult to see at first glance. It did last an entire month since you have to use so little of it.

Purex Complete 3-in-1 Laundry Sheets – I had mixed feelings about this.  First, I have a front load washer so this may work differently if you have a top load. While I think that the concept is really great and it smelled fabulous, I did have a few issues with this item. If you wash your clothes in hot water this is not a product you want to use unless you ensure that your water temperature is 120 degrees or below. I used the very first one on my 2 year olds clothes in hot water, as I am sure most moms do. The heat from the water pretty much melted off all of the softener strip. I ended up using a dryer sheet anyway.  I am not 100% certain of my water temperature but it is set HOT so this could have been my own issue and not so much the sheet. The detergent smelled wonderful, I didn’t think my entire load smelled good though. Just portions of it which I thought was weird. I washed the next load in cold water to see what would happen to the softener strip then. Some of it was still missing so it may have been the hot water the first time but not the second. Perhaps you naturally lose a little via tumbling and such?

Dropps – I did not have any initial issues with this products use. In my experience with them, I hardly saw any suds at all. These were designed as a deep-cleaning detergent that gets down and dirty on your laundry without a lot of hullabaloo. The packs are 100% Bio-degradeable and can be used in hot OR cold water which I liked.  It worked great and the clothes came out clean. I was able to try the Baby and the Fresh Scent. I personally like the baby scent much better. The Fresh Scent seemed a tad to strong for me and it is very rare that I have enough scent. You can purchase Dropps here.

I hope that you have found this helpful in your search for a new laundry detergent. I would love to hear what one you are currently using and how you like it. Don’t worry if your not brand loyal on this category, neither am I!

I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive.  Forgiveness ought to be like a canceled note – torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one.  ~Henry Ward Beecher

When summer rolls around, our lives change dramatically. Our daily routines now have to me changed for all of the new activities that are happening. The kids may be off to camp, pool parties, they want to stay up later and spend much more time outdoors. Now naturally not EVERYTHING everything changes during the summer. As Mom’s, we still get up early, do laundry, pack lunches, get dinner made, clean the house and get dinner on the table, no matter the season or day of the week it happens to be.

There was major change in my home this year. My husband moved to day shift, my youngest (now 2) is much more active than he was at 1, I have been traveling, we are going on a real family vacation, I had surgery, my mom was in town for 2 weeks and so much more exciting stuff. It really was had to keep a routine for the boys with all of these things happening. But with a little help, we were able to make it a little easier.

To bring some variety to meal-planning this summer, Unilever has teamed up with the author of the “Kitchen Coach” cookbook series, Jennifer Bushman, to create the ultimate Family Fun Book, filled with delicious recipes and affordable meal ideas perfect for the whole family to enjoy – together.  The Family Fun Book can be downloaded for free by clicking here .

Bushman recommends making meal time “family time” by bringing the kids into the kitchen to help prepare the meal.  My 7 year old love to help me cook. I used to shy away from it because I didn’t have the patience but now we love it! By keeping a well-stocked refrigerator, freezer, and pantry with versatile and easy-to-prepare ingredients, it’s simple to get the whole family involved in the cooking process.  In addition to kid-friendly recipes, Bushman suggests adding in a little fun with creative themes and recipes like these.

Have an at-home dinner picnic. This is something that we love to do. My sons would eat like this every night if I agreed! Spread a blanket out in the living room and prepare simple sandwiches or wraps, like a delicious Chicken & Basil Sandwich. Opt for Hellmann’s Light Mayonnaise, which has the great taste but half the calories and fat of Hellmann’s. I am a big Mayonnaise eater and I will honestly say that switching to the Light was a good calorie cutter and I personally do not know the difference! Get the kids involved by letting them pick the sandwich fixins and spread the mayo! We tried this recipe for dinner and it was delicious!

Save on cooking and clean-up time by choosing easy, delicious, one-pot dips and recipes. Use sweet potatoes or yams to prepare Spicy Oven Fries and pair with your favorite dipping sauce. I am not a big Sweet Potato eater but this one sounds good. I know they are much more healthy for myself and my family. I really should give them a shot huh? To sneak in some nutrition and receive 20 percent of your daily value of Vitamin D, top with melted Shedd’s Spread Country Crock Calcium Plus Vitamin D. With just three steps, this recipe is perfect for setting loose your child’s inner chef.

To make nights in even more enjoyable, pair meals with fun at-home entertainment. Spend less time in the kitchen by using Knorr Rice Sides to make an easy one-dish meal like Grilled Chicken & Veggies Over Rice , then create a show by letting your kids sing their favorite songs in your very own “kitchen cabaret.”

Host a camping-inspired sleepover for the kids and create a kitchen retreat with campfire meals. Use whole grain tortillas as a healthy and easy dipper for your favorite one-pot recipes like Super Easy Slow-Cooked Chili with Ragu Pasta Sauce, which packs a full serving of vegetables in every half-cup of sauce. Not to mention that a slow cooked meal leaves more time for “camping” activities!

Use versatile ingredients from your well-stocked pantry. Wish-Bone Dressings can do double-duty as delicious salad dressings and simple, great tasting marinades for chicken, pork, beef and fish. Pair with soy sauce for a delicious Asian Grilled Steak. You may want to keep your children away from the grill, but they can help by preparing the steak ahead of time.

Summer and iced tea go hand-in-hand to stay hydrated. Did you know those tea bags can also spice up your cooking?  Use Lipton Teabags to create Tasty Tea Baked Apples – a delicious desert with an extra helping of antioxidants for just $1 per serving.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Unilever/Making Life Better. Mom Central sent me a gift card and a copy of the Family Fun Book to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Dropps laundry pacs contain an innovative formula with a split personality: tough on dirt, but easy on your favorite garments. For a kinder clean, we removed the enzymes (that break down fibers) to keep fabrics vibrant, soft and looking better, longer.

The specially formulated liquid detergent in each Dropps pac provides a powerful clean for all fabrics, from silk to fine cotton. We like to think of Dropps laundry pacs as being mighty gentle.

One Dropps pac is so concentrated (6X concentrated to be exact), it cleans as much as a capful of the watered-down kind. And for really big loads, two Dropps pacs will do the trick.

The unique Dropps pac completely dissolves when it hits your wash water and drains right out with the rinse cycle. It is made out of a 100%biodegradable material, so you don’t have to worry about its impact on the environment. The Dropps pac dissolves in either cold or hot water. Take your pick!

Cold water saves energy and cleans just as well as hot. The average household could save $65 a year by switching from hot to cold water in the washing machine. The pac takes a little bit longer to dissolve in cold water, so just be patient! Lots of suds leave behind lots of residue, right there on your “clean” clothes. We’ve designed a deep-cleaning detergent that gets down and dirty on your laundry without a lot of hullabaloo. The Dropps formula is enzyme-free, which means we’ve left out the harsh cleaning agents that can cause skin irritation in favor of a patented soft-cleaning formula.

Because it’s an enzyme-free formula, Dropps Baby contains no harsh irritants and results in super-soft clothes. Try Dropps Baby –  all the Dropps detergent cleaning power without fragrance, dyes or enzymes. And, when your kids get bigger, they can graduate to Dropps in Fresh Scent or Dropps in Scent + Dye-Free. All of the Dropps formulas have been approved by the EPA’s Design for the Environment program (DfE), which recognizes formulas with safer chemistry. To learn about the DfE, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/dfe/pubs/projects/formulat/index.htm

Their formula is clean and clear, and works hard at keeping lakes and rivers and everything that lives in them happy. Dropps is dedicated to being kind to the earth and all that live on it with an environmentally friendly, biodegradable formula. No one ever suffers to enjoy our dirt-crazy clean: not bunnies in labs, not fish in lakes…not even really, really expensive jeans.

Win a years supply of Dropps!

Just leave me a comment that is at least a full sentence and your entered! I want to win, Please Pick me, etc will be deleted. I mean come on people.

Extra Entries can be earned anyway you want but they have to be verifiable. (Stumble Site, Stumble Post, Facebook, blog Follow on Twitter (@Toni_GPB), Digg, Follow Feed, Google follow right sidebar, vote for me 3 places right side bar) As long as you can prove to me that you did it with a link or something I will except it! If I can’t follow your entry I will simply delete it. HAVE FUN!

Please leave a separate Comment for each Entry.  Giveaway is open to US residents only (as per the request of the sponsor) who are 18 years of age or older. I reserve the right to remove any entry from this giveaway. This giveaway ends 8/16/09 at 11:59 pm EST.  If you are currently or have previously reviewed this product, you are ineligible to enter/win.