Tag: simple green living

Sweet Peanut Clothing Review

Both the American Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada give manufacturers of children’s apparel a choice:  Clothing may be treated with chemical flame retardants or be classified as 100% cotton and snug fitting. – For Sweet Peanut this choice was obvious!

Air ballons Sweet Peanut

Not only is their clothing 100% organic cotton GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified.  It is never chemically treated and never will be. This is so reassuring to a mother like me. I try to reduce my children’s chemical exposure wherever I can. We eat as clean and organic as possible. I use organic bath products. We cloth diaper. All these are such great ways to reduce chemicals, but often people don’t even think about the amount of chemicals that could be in their children’s clothing. When you cloth your child in Sweet Peanut clothing, you can reset assured that they are 100% chemical free.

During their dying process they also use methods that are safe and non hazardous, while still keeping vibrate and bright colors as options in their clothing line. Sweet Peanut cares about your baby, the gift of health and reducing their global footprint. Because of these factors I have added them as a Simple Green Living company!

Air ballon full Sweet Peanut

Sweet Peanut makes the perfect variety of clothing options. Short sleeves, long sleeves, onesies, gowns, suits and pants. All the basics and more! Here are some of the lines they carry:

Each piece is perfectly made. My daughter and son love their Sweet Peanut Clothing. They are comfortable, easy to wear, wash wonderfully and look adorable on children. This company is an all around win.

Click here to find a store by you

plane sweet peanut

striped pj Sweet Peanut

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French Broad Chocolates Review

French Broad Chocolates Review

About French Broad Chocolates

French Broad Chocolates is not your average chocolatier. It all started when a young couple fell in love. So naturally, as all young couples in love, they took a fun and exciting trip to Costa Rica. After experiencing life in Costa Rica, they both dropped out of graduate school, bought a 40-foot vegetable oil power bus and hit the town running. Living in the area they did, they were exposed to cocoa beans as well as a town that truly understood the bean. The young lovers studied chocolate for over a year and opened a chocolate shop. They soon knew that they were meant to be chocolate people. And we are sincerely grateful that they discovered their calling!

Their first shop was Bread and Chocolate located in Costa Rice (has been since sold) this is where they bought one of their first chocolate tempering machines, this is the machine that mixes and heats the raw chocolate which helps makes their chocolate some of the best I’ve ever tasted, they are now back in the United States and own French Broad Chocolates Lounge in Asherville, North Carolina. When in Costa Rica they helped restored an abandoned cacao farm, as well as helped a friend build a fermentary. By helping their local friends, they now have the connections to directly buy small batches for always fresh and perfectly grown beans. This allows French Broad Chocolates to be miles ahead of any other chocolatiers as far as quality and freshness goes.

French Broad Chocolates are one of a handful of chocolatiers in the world to be bean-to-bar-to-truffle.

My Simple Green Living series is focused on all types of business and products that are in someway ‘green’. French Broad Chocolates supports local businesses by buying their honey from local sources. They strive to buy all their ingredients (like the fruit found in some chocolates) from organic suppliers to ensure the highest quality product to their customers. They even compost things like their egg shells and certain packaging. The most impactful (in my personal opinion) is their support of fair trade. “To ensure that this hard work is valued fairly, we can rely on direct contact, conscientious middlemen, association with like-minded chocolatiers, and fair trade certification.”French Broad Chocolates Website

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Mama’s Experience

French Broad Chocolate Review

I was able to review 3 amazing products by French Broad Chocolates: a box of truffles (Holiday Collection), Chocolate Sip and Hazelnut Dragée. Each was far more decadent than I would have expected. After researching the company I knew that this chocolate was not going to be any old chocolate. I knew I was going to be able to taste the difference when indulging in a French Broad treat.

Truffles

As the seasons change and the different holidays come and go, French Broad Chocolates keeps things fresh and current. By ensuring you always get the most fresh batch possible they have limited qualities of special edition treats (like the one I was able to review) and others that are (while still fresh) available year-round.

Currently they have 4 stunning collections of truffles to choose from:

My box was the 2015 Holiday Collection. This box featured the following truffles: gingerbread, peppermint, eggnog, champagne, fruitcake and pecan pie caramel.

truffle combo

These are not the type of treat you keep popping into your mouth one after the next, as you mindlessly watch a Chopped marathon. These are the real deal when it comes to top self truffles. Relax. Slowly take a bite. Let is fully melt in your mouth. This allows the palette to fully take in the depth of flavors as well as the silky smooth texture. By slowly enjoying these fine chocolates you will have so much respect for the love that was put into every cocoa bean.

Hazelnut Dragée

French Broad Chocolates makes 2 types of dragée: almond and hazelnut. I was able to review the hazelnut.

When it comes to sweet and salty snacks, French Broad hit the mark! These are one of the coolest chocolate treats I have ever tried. Its a simple yet stunning creation. A whole hazelnut was lightly dipped in chocolate and then dusted with the same soft chocolate flakes. This gives you 2 chocolate flavors to take in as well as the salty, crunchy nut at the center. These are great for that moment you are craving that tiny bit of sweetness but not wanting to ruin your waist line. You can have a little something without the guilt of slamming half of a chocolate bar. I highly recommend grabbing a bag to help you stay in check if you crave chocolate but watching your figure.

Hazelnut dragee

Chocolate Sip

This is not a hot chocolate. This is a chocolate sip! French Broad Chocolates make their Chocolate Sip with house-ground chocolate, and suggest that we steam it with just enough water to be sippable. I boiled 1/4 cup of water and poured it over 3 tablespoons of this house-ground chocolate. I quickly whisked it to make a deeply flavorful sipping chocolate treat. You can also make it with milk, for a thicker treat or heavy cream for a full on party in your mouth.

Be sure to drink it sooner than later if you only make it with 1/4 cup of liquid. this is because it will go cold faster due to the small amount of liquid in the cup.

sipping raw

(PS – the sipping chocolate bites are good enough to eat raw! )

Please head over to French Broad Chocolates website. Check out their amazon selection and try out a few things today.

 

 

BANJOrganics Review

BANJOrganics Review

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Get 15% off an order with code Fox15 (the “F” is case sensitive)

Who is BANJOrganics?

BANJOrganic’s is founded by Nicole, who is above all else, a mother. As a mother, Nicole wanted what was best for her children, just as myself and many others. She made sure to keep her son and home clean. She fed him and cared for him with all the love a mother can muster. Over time her son got more and more sick. After visits to more doctors than you can shake a stick at, Nicole decided to take matters into her own hands. Something was causing her child to be sick and she needed to find out. She slowly made the switch to an organic and chemical free lifestyle. The switch doesn’t happen overnight. It was a process. Slowly, as her family and her house became more and more natural, her son became better and better. Now, he is medication free!

Having a background in engineering Nicole took to her kitchen and began making her own products so that her son would stay healthy. Making her own shampoo, lip balm, hand soap, just about anything you would need.

“I want to help people provide a chemical free life for themselves and their family, as well as show people that it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to live an organic lifestyle.” – Nicole with BANJOrganics

BANJOrganics is able to custom make products for customers. If your skin is irritated by, let’s say, vanilla. You can contact them and they will make a special batch just for you! This service is so above and beyond. I am so glad that a company like this exists. To read more about this please click here.

Sustainability ? Locally Blended ? Organic & Fresh ? Competitively Priced

What Do They Sell?

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Mama’s Experience

BANJO set

I first found out about BANJOrganics at Mommy Con in Columbus, Ohio. I was able to meet Nicole and talk to her about her product line. I was so interested in her ability to create household products. When chatting she mentioned that her husband would say something about needing more itch relief cream next time they went to the store, but instead she would think out how to make her own. That way it would be without all the nasty chemicals and other no-no’s. That is ingenuity at it’s finest.

 

itchAnti Itch Paste

This anti itch paste is just what you need this fall. With fun fall campfires and pumpkin patches comes mosquitoes and aggressive bee’s. This paste has a clay base and is very easily applied and smoothed over your skin and the effected area. It felt slightly sticky, doe to the clay, when applying. Then after a few minutes I forgot about it.

 

 

 

 

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Magnesium Lotion

Most women are deficient in magnesium. Often, then taken in pill form, your body is not able to fully absorb all the nutrients from the pill and you urinate the remains. When you apply magnesium topically (like a lotion) your skin can slowly absorb all the goodness from the vitamin and get into your bloodstream more efficiently. Magnesium lotion is not a perfumed lotion that you would put on to smell nice instead of a perfume! It has a very potent small. This is because this lotion is REAL! It has true magnesium flakes as one of the primary ingredients. It is not something I was used to, so I just put it on when I knew I was going to be busy and not just sitting around smelling it.

If you are a women who suffers from morning sickness when pregnant, you may find relief by increasing your magnesium. This lotion is the perfect way!

shower pods

Shower Disks

These shower disks are to be placed on the floor of the shower. They are a one time usage and perfect for quick or long showers. I try to only use them when I know I am going to really relax and have someone home to watch the kids. I don’t often get alone time, and showering is actually a precious thing in my life now. These pods give me an indulgence in my fun 7 minute vacation from life. They easily and evenly dissolve and they have never harmed my tub because they are so natural!

I was once able to indulge in a an eucalyptus sauna in Las Vegas. Man, that was amazing. This was like a fun home style version of that! The eucalyptus helps open your pours and sinus cavities. I highly suggest this to, like everyone.

This is a brand new product!

bath teasBath Teas

The bath teas are just that, a small bag stuffed with items you would find in a bag of tea, plus a few other treats. The BANJOrganics bags have lavender, chamomile, oats and lavender essential oil. The directions are to tie the bag to your bath spout so that as your water fills, the bag is being soaked with fresh water. My spout is being occupied by a blue whale cover to protect myself and my children from unnecessary bath time injuries (they find enough other ways to collect band-aids, right?!), so kept it in the water float by holding it there. After my bath was filling up I noticed that the water was starting to turn the color of a lovely cup of tea! I was so giddy by this and felt like it was such a treat. Every so often I would pick up the bag and squeeze it to allow more “goodness” to spill out of the bag. This is the perfect gift for the hard to shop for friend or relative. Fun, useful and affordable.

 

fash wash

Face Wash

When I opened the container saw that the contents of the face wash was straight liquid I instantly thought, “well this isn’t going to work.” I have been breaking out due to stress and my crazy schedule. Zits have formed colonies on my face and are currently in a civil war. I was hesitant to try this wash, but that is my job! I use a Clarisonic scrubber so I poured a small amount (about a dime size) onto my brush. I was surprised I felt a little something. I added a little more half way through my washing because like I said, I wasn’t so sure. I felt clean. I didn’t feel slimy like there was residue from makeup/sweat/cleaner was still on my face. Hmm….Then I took a small amount and put it in my hand and applied to directly to my skin. I could feel the wash this time a lot more. It doesn’t lather, which a truly organic face wash should not (due to the lack of the bad stuff – which is good). It could feel the wash spread evenly across my face but not in an oily or heavy way. I have been washing with this face wash for over a week now and my civil war zit zone is coming to a halt! I am so excited that this stuff actually works! woot woot!

moisturizer

Moisturizer

Like the above mentioned face wash, this moisturizer is also a liquid and I didn’t believe it. I have to apply lotion after I shave my legs. Its just how I am. I applied a small amount, like a nickle worth, to each leg. I was surprised that it spread as much as it did. I figured that because it is so water-like that I would have to reapply in a half an hour after it fully soaked in and I was itchy….30 minutes…60 minutes…then I lost track of time. I never got itchy! It’s cold as bones out in Ohio and getting pretty dry and I only had to apply a super small amount to my just shaved legs. This stuff rocks.

 

 

 

waterless hand soap

Waterless Hand Soap

With fall here and flu season approaching I am so not ready for that whirlwind. My 3 year old just started preschool and I am just waiting for the stampede of germs, colds and who-knows-what to come walking through my door along with her. I love being able to not clean my families hands on the go. I cant always lug both my kids into a tiny restroom to wash their hands what out and about. Plus, once they are clean and I am washing the other ones hands, they already touch the floor, wall and probably somehow scaled the wall to touch the ceiling too! This product comes in full size and travel (Roadies) size so you can grab a few and always have them accessible.

 

 

headaceh rollon

 

Headache Rollaway

This product is very different. As I mentioned above, the lack of magnesium in your body can cause a whole bunch of oddities. This rollaway is made up of magnesium and a blend of essential oils so that no matter if the headache is due to stress, barometric pressure, loud children or what have you, there is going to be something in the ingredients that will help you out. The reviews (updated for 2020) of CBD oil products also show them to have been effective in clearing the headaches or nausea of the people who tried them out and found them to have provided them with a positive experience.

 

 

 

 

Beanfield Chips Review

Beanfield Chips Review

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Who is Beanfield Snacks?

Beanfield Snacks is a family driven company. They started with the vision to help change the way American’s eat. Their primary goal is to help improve the global food supply by creating delicious, plant based, Non-GMO snacks, with beans as the primary ingredient.

Enjoy 6 grams of fiber, 5 grams of protein, and 4.5 grams of fat in every serving

Beans and the Environment

“Beanfields, uses as many recycled products as possible and we recycle in our office. All of our suppliers have similar programs. However, the biggest thing we do for the environment is using beans as our main ingredient! Here are a few tidbits from the sustainability story of beans:

chart
As you can see from this chart (source – American Pulse Association), beans (also called pulses) are by far the most water-efficient source of protein available.  And they are also far below the 110 gallons of water needed to grow a pound of corn (source – The Water Footprint Network).
Growing beans also uses far less fertilizer than other crops. Beans produce their own nitrogen, using sunlight to power the conversion of the nitrogen in the air into a form plants can use. As a result of these and other benefits, bean crop production lowers agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions. Beans require half the total energy inputs of other protein-producing crops! (source – American Pulse Association)” – Beanfield Snacks Website

  • Beans are the ONLY food that the USDA lists in two different nutrition categories (protein & vegetable)
  • Beanfields has contributed chips to local nonprofits and community groups all over the US and Canada
  • All of Beanfields Bean and Rice snacks are vegan, not by accident, but on purpose.  Even our Nacho and our Ranch chips do not contain dairy as an ingredient and are perfect for vegan diets.

What Do They Sell?

Why Beanfields Snacks Bean & Rice Chips?

  1. 200% more fiber* (6g)
  2. 150% more protein* (5g)
  3. 36%-44% less fat* (4.5g)
  4. Made in a nut free facility
  5. Contains no major food allergen ingredients
  6. No corn ingredients

*  Compared to the leading, comparably flavored corn tortilla chips

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Mama’s Experience

I have never been a huge chip person. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I like to occasionally indulge at parties or events. I just never bought them (this makes my kids and husband very sad). I really like a nice salty crunchy but found it in other ways. I was excited to try Beanfields Snacks chips for a few reasons.

  1. They are better, way way better for you than regular chips (one of the main reasons I don’t buy regular chips).
  2. They have veggies (beans) in them. If I can sneak a vegetable in my kids belly, I will jump on it!
  3. They are a NON-GMO product.

I love salt, so I wanted to the Sea Salt flavor first. MAN! They are so good! I was shocked really. I got the salty crunchy that I desire from a chip but not the guilt or greasy hands that previously followed the chips. They are not heavy on the salt. Its a light salt. My 3 year old wouldn’t eat them, and I think it was because when she has had chips, they are covered in salt. That is what she expects now in a chip. I then offered her a barbecue flavor.  She liked those way better. They too have a light flavor. Not over powering at all. You are still able to taste the natural yumminess of the bean and rice. There are so fun to eat. Each flavor is just as good. They really hold true to their flavor and are not greasy like potato based chips.

Each bag had a unique taste and satisfying flavor that made it excited for my kids. They are so excited that now they get to eat them! I love that I can allow them a handful here and there and not worry about their little bellies being filled with empty carbohydrates. Now they can enjoy chips that are good for them (and don’t leave my walls all shiny with greasy hands). Thank you Beanfields Snacks!

What the husband (chip eater) had to say:
  • Salted – Good. Nice flavor. Good for dipping.
  • Barbecue – Excellent. Very nice BBQ flavor.
  • UnSalted – Not his favorite. Good for dipping.
  • Ranch – Least favorite. Not a deep ranch flavor other corn chips provide. Could use more flavoring.
  • Pico De Gallo – Favorite! Best chip they make. Spicy. Slammed 1/2 a bag in 1 sitting. Loves this chip!
  • Nacho – Good but not what he expected based on other nacho flavored chips. Expected artificial, but this was more of a real cheese flavor.
  • Salt & Pepper – Decent snacking chip. Not too flavorful but not too plain.

Where to Buy

You can buy all of the flavors Beanfields Snacks has to offer here at their website.

To use their store located to find a local brick and mortar local to get your hands on these super chips – click here.

Win Your Own

Now that you are drooling over these totally awesome chips, you have a chance to win a full case of Beanfields Snack Chips!

Click here to enter to win a case of Beanfields Snacks Rice & Bean Chips

Runs 10/15/15-10/31/15 – US only

giveaway