Seventh Generation Free and Clear Diapers Review and Giveaway

I was so happy to be given the chance to try Seventh Generation's re-launched Free and Clear diapers. Since my little guy has a lot of skin sensitivities due to allergies, it is important to me to use diapers with as little perfumes and dye, since he has had reactions to a few brands of diapers. They have re-launched their diaper line with a lighter weight core for less landfill waste, but they still haave the same premium absorbancy. The diapers are also free of chlorine processing, latex and petroleum based lotions. They have also reduced the amount of packaging in order to contribute less to landfill waste.

I enjoyed using the diapers and they worked well for my little guy. They fit my guy well and we did not have any allergic reactions!

Seventh Generation is giving one of my followers a pack of diapers (size 2, 4 or 5)! The giveaway is only open to US residents and will close on Friday, August 12th, 2011 at 11:59 pm. Please leave a comment for each entry or additional entries will not count. Once the winner is notified they will have 48 hours to email me or another winner will be chosen (please leave your email address in your comments).

To enter:
Mandatory entry
You must be a follower of Too Blessed to be Stressed and leave a comment about what you think about the new Free and Clear diapers or what you think about Eco-Friendly baby products.

Additional entries
Like Too Blessed to be Stressed on Facebook
Like Seventh Generation on Facebook
Post on Facebook about this giveaway (please leave the link in your comment)
Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter (please leave the link in your comment)

All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review. The review and giveaway were provided by Seventh Generation through My Blog Spark.

Great Finds at Target and The Dollar Store

I love the beginning of the school year! School supplies are one of my favorite things to shop for, and now that we are homeschooling I get to buy a lot more school supplies. Here are a couple of inexpensive supplies I have found this week.
The Dollar Store usually has great school supplies this time of year. One of my favorite things to buy there in the fall is their Manuscript Tablets. I try to stock-up on them this time of year since I have two that need to practice handwriting.
I was so excited to find these puzzles at Target in the Dollar Spot. They were on my list to purchase this year for my three year old, but I did not want to pay too much for them. A dollar for each puzzle was a great deal and I am so excited to let her use them.

This is the best time of year to get great deals on school supplies so keep your eyes open!

Homemade Jelly

Last year I decided to try canning. My mom had canned several different things while I was growing up so I thought maybe I could do it too (plus I had an excellent resource to bother with all my questions!) Last year I started with canning tomatoes, salsa, and pickles. They all turned out great so this year I am canning again, but this year I am adding jelly to my canning journey. A couple days before I left to visit my husband I decided to make the jelly (my parents wonder what is wrong with me to start these projects when I have a lot going on, plus did I mention that in addition to having the house on the market, a rain storm caused a crack in the kitchen ceiling and while I was in the middle of the jelly it was being repaired!)

Now if you are thinking that jelly must be really hard to make, here is a secret- its actually really easy (just time consuming)!! All you need are sterile jelly jars, a large pot of boiling water to heat them so they seal, pectin, fruit and a lot of sugar. I used Ball pectin, which has the recipes for all their jelly. They suggest using butter in the recipes, so they don't build up foam, but you can easily scrape that away and if your children can't have milk (like one of mine) it is still milk-free.

I made three different types of jelly: raspberry, strawberry and sweet cherry. This is the best time of the year to tackle this project with all the fruit being in season, which means ripe and cheap fruit. I had a raincheck for the strawberries at Meijer (they were $1 a pound!), the raspberries were $1 per container at Kroger and the cherries were actually from last year, I had frozen them- they were actually the hardest to do because I had to pit all of them (luckily my mom has a cherry pitter, but it is still messy!) In the end I had 28 jars and plan to make several more. They are great gift and if you price jelly it can be quite expensive (plus this is much better!). Initially the project will cost the investment of the jars, but they can be reused, except for the inner lid (which are pretty cheap).

I will be posting about the pickles I made next week and hope to can more in the coming weeks!

Raspberry, Strawberry and Cherry

Most of the jelly

Winner of the Snikiddy Giveaway!

Congratulations to dfraley3 for winning the Snikiddy giveaway! The winning comment was....

Shared on FB Debra Fraley

Thanks to everyone that entered!

Fresh Salsa

One of my favorite parts of summer is all the fresh fruits and veggies! I love going to the farmers market and I am so excited that the new city we will be moving to (hopefully really soon) has an awesome farmers market. Here is my favorite fresh salsa recipe:

Two fresh ripe tomates, diced small
Two ears of corn, cut from the cob (my favorite is Silver Queen)
One half green pepper, diced small
One half large onion, diced small

Combine all ingredients. If you like a little kick you can always add a little jalapeno pepper. We don't add it because our kids love to eat it and the jalapeno would be too spicy.

Snikiddy Giveaway Ends Tonight

Don't forget to enter the Snikiddy prize pack. The giveaway ends tonight, click here to enter.

Repurposed Milk Cartons

When we visited my husband a couple of weeks ago we decided to do a fun craft I found in an old Family Fun craft book. We saved and washed two milk cartons and then I cut holes in each. My daughter's is a doll house and my son's is a car garage. We used craft scraps and tacky glue to adhere them. The kids had fun (with a lot of help from mom).

Doll house


Car garage