{BOOK GIVEAWAY} Rich Food Poor Food: The Ultimate Grocery Purchasing System

Two years ago I was invited to a luncheon hosted by Stonyfield Farms. The featured speaker was Robyn O'Brien, a concerned mom, an author, and a food activist. This luncheon turned out to be a light bulb moment for me. It was an awakening of sorts. You can read all about it here, but in short, I learned some disheartening facts about the American food supply.

I left the luncheon wondering not only about the damage that I had done to my own body but to my children's bodies as well. I was overwhelmed. The entire ride from Philadelphia back to the Jersey shore was consumed with thoughts of how I could move forward and feed my family the foods that would be most healthful to them.

Ever since this luncheon, I've been on a quest to learn more about the food that I eat. I've given up processed foods in favor of a diet comprised of real, whole foods. I've switched to primarily organic foods, especially dairy products. I've made considerable changes. Some met with resistance from my family, and others have been welcomed changes all the way around.

It hasn't always been easy an easy road to travel. Old habits die hard. But I know that more we know about our food, the more we want to eat the foods that are truly good for us.

Most of the foods found in our conventional grocery stores are processed foods. They are filled with chemicals, additives, preservatives, and artificial colors. Yes, even sour cream has artificial colors in it. How do I know this?

Well, I've been reading Rich Food Poor Food: The Ultimate Grocery Purchasing System (GPS) by Jayson and Mira Carlton. This book is both a guide and a resource for everyday grocery store shopping. Whether you are trying to shop more wisely or you've recently adapted a new diet, this book offers valuable advice for navigating your supermarket.

I received this book as part of my participation in the Stonyfield "Yo-Getter" brand ambassador program.

The book is divided into "Aisles". Just as you would navigate aisles during a typical shopping trip, you can do the same when reading this book. But before you start reading, the first few chapters offer helpful insights into the dangers and traps found in your grocery store and how to avoid them and the sneaky culprits lingering in our foods such as food dyes, chemicals, and synthetic hormones.

Once you hit the "Aisle" chapters, the book offers alternatives to purchasing store-bought foods, such as recipes. Have you ever made your own mayonnaise? Now would be a great time to start! There's a recipe for mayo in the book.

There are "STEER HERE" AND "STEER CLEAR" suggestions for what to buy (Steer Here) and what not to buy (Steer Clear) and why, including the harmful ingredients found in the Steer Clear items and the healthy ingredients found in the Steer Here items. This book proves that not all ketchups, rices, broths, meats, dairy products, are created the same.

This book identifies 150 common and often hidden poor food ingredients so that you can avoid those and choose a healthier alternative instead. We should know what we are eating. We should know what's in our food, and since the American government does not require food manufacturers to place warning labels on food when certain ingredients are used, this book is a great place to find the information to need to arm yourself when shopping.

WIN IT!

Pieces of a Mom is giving away one Rich Food Poor Food book to one lucky winner. Also included with this giveaway are five (5) coupons for free Stonyfield Greek yogurt. The book has a retail value of $24.95, and can also be purchased through Amazon.com (see button below Rafflecopter form to order).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Just can't wait for the giveaway to end? Order your copy of Rich Food Poor Food now!



Stonyfield provided me with a complimentary copy for myself as well as one to give to a lucky reader. I was not compensated to write this post. All opinions on the book are my own.

0

Online Shopping at CookiesKids.com #cookieskids

At the beginning of every season, I make every effort to purge the clothes that no longer fit or aren't suitable for wearing. The feeling I have when I clear out the closets and drawers is liberating. When I see the piles of clothes that will be donated to someone who can fit into them fills me with relief. But with purging comes replacing. Replacing means shopping, and sometimes shopping for kids clothes with 2 daughters who have very different tastes in clothes and stores can be challenging.

Since most of my day is spent online, I see A LOT of online advertisements throughout the course of the day. One that I've been seeing frequently is for CookiesKids.com, an online children's department store, which also happens to have 7 retail locations throughout the greater NYC area including Brooklyn, Bronx, and Jamaica. In 1972, a young man named Cookie and his brother Marvin went into business together. They rented a 1600 square foot store in Jamaica, Queens, fixed it up, bought inventory and Summer and Fall, and opened a day after Thanksgiving with a full stock of holiday toys. The toys were a success and they put the extra money toward buying children's clothing for the next season. When that did well, they bought more clothing. The business was on it's way.

As the brothers Cookie, Marvin and Sonny, who had come in as a third partner in the business, began to open new stores in new locations, inventory expanded. Besides the latest fashions, our customers wanted shoes, toys, backpacks and accessories and we were prepared to deliver.By the late 1990's there were six superstores throughout the NYC area, and though they previously had different names, by that time they were all named Cookie's Kids. Also in the late '90s came an important addition to Cookie's Kids' inventory: school uniforms. It was the steady success in uniform sales that paved the way for founding CookiesKids.com in 2007, which originally sold uniforms and soon after the entire Cookie's Kids Inventory.

Rather than venture out to the mall, I decided to check out CookiesKids.com as an alternative to conventional, mall-style shopping for kids clothes. Not only can I shop Cookie's Kids from the convenience of my home, but I can shop at the convenience of my schedule and my children's schedule. Shopping at Cookie's Kids doesn't require me to set aside a full day to browse several stores and spend countless hours in the fitting rooms.

Shopping at CookiesKids.com couldn't be easier. The site is organized primarily by gender and type of item. Cookie's Kids carries clothes from infants through size 16.  They also offer school uniforms, Shoes, and Toys. On this particular "shopping trip", we were in search of some winter basics. My 6 year old daughter wanted a new winter hat, and my 10 year old daughter wanted some fancy skirts for the upcoming holiday season.

We went straight to the "Girls Dept" from the navigation bar. Once you choose the department that you want to shop, you are presented with a list of categories within that specific department and the brands that qualify for that category. We clicked on Hats & Gloves, and we were on our way to finding the perfect hat.

There was a wide variety of hats ranging from fun to functional. Most items were under $10 with the exception of some of the higher end brands such as The North Face. Once my daughter located the fun hat that she wanted, we added it to the cart. She chose the Critter Collection "Owlette" Knit Hat for $6.99.

Cookie's Kids details the product and if reviews are available, you can read what other's have to say. Cookie's Kids also offer recommendations for other products based on the product that you are currently viewing. I love when retailers do that since it's not always easy to see the similar products when shopping online the way it is when you are shopping in-store.

Here's one of the best things about shopping online at CookiesKids.com, I can stop shopping at any point and save what's in my cart. Since my daughter was finished shopping for hats, it was time for my 10 year old to browse skirts. However, she was at an after school activity and was unavailable at that very moment. So, I saved the item in my cart and logged off.

A few hours later, I returned to continue shopping for skirts with Emma. We headed straight for the Girls Dept. and clicked "Bottoms/Skirts". We chose her size category. and I let her loose to look around. My 10 year old was shopping by herself in the Girls Department of Cookie's Kids from our kitchen!!

She had a difficult time making a decision. She found many skirts that she liked, and she loved every color choice. Cookie's Kids had short skirts, long skirts, slim skirts, full skirts and many options in jeans too including colored jeans and traditional denim. Finally, she narrowed it down to 2 skirts, and one was very festive, perfect for Christmas!

You can see why her decision was difficult to make. The skirt is available in 6 colors, all of which were super cute. Because the holidays are upon us, she chose the "Red".

I am always hesitant to order online because you can't use a fitting room. You're flying blind when it comes to choosing particular sizes. I usually wing it and hope for the best. What Cookie's Kids does differently than many other online retailers is they offer the Alva Kids sizing chart. It's simple to use, and accurately sized both of my daughters. When you select a particular item to view details, available colors, or read the reviews, you will see a small, square icon that says "Alva Kids" next to the size selector. When you click the icon, you will be asked to create an account or you can proceed with sizing without creating an account. You simply add the requested information about each of your children. Alva Kids will suggest a size as it applies to this specific item.

I love that the sizing is item-specific and not generic based on the child's general size. I found this feature to be extremely helpful in determining sizes for my girls who are tall and thin with long legs.

We had chosen our items, and now it was time to checkout. Check out always seems to take more time online than it should. It's not as easy as swiping your card in the register. There's always so much information to type in. And I generally forget something or mis-type a number. I was hoping all would go smoothly on CookiesKids.com.

Cookie's Kids offers $5.95 shipping on every order, every day. No exceptions. I love that shipping isn't calculated based on number of items or the amount of your transaction. I don't have to estimate what my shipping will be. I know immediately what it will cost when I start shopping.

We placed our order and within a few days our merchandise had arrived. I don't know how it goes in your house, but my girls can't wait to wear their new clothes.

The Owlette hat was a big hit! These hats look so cute on little heads!

Here's a close up of the Owlette hat from #cookieskids. How cute!

Unto the skirts. Both skirts were so pretty. I worry about the quality when shopping online. You can't touch or see the fabric or stitching so it's hard to know exactly what you are going to get. But these skirts are adorable and a great value for the money.

I adore this Pink Angel Heather Knit Skirt. It was $7.99. $7.99!!!! So cute, and you cannot beat that price. It would be super cute with a black turtleneck or a cami and a sweater. It is also available in red and black.

Every fancy girl should have a fancy skirt! This is the "Pleaded Pretty" Taffeta Bubble Skirt in red. It's perfect for this time of year. You can dress it down by pairing it with a simple tee or you can dress it up with a much fancier top. This skirt was $12.99.

How seriously cute are those skirts? If you have a daughter, you'll want to pick up a few for her. At those prices, you can't refuse. And now until 12/21/2012 Cookie's Kids is offering Pieces of a Mom readers a 10% discount sitewide!! Orders must be placed by 12/21/2012. 

Enter code: piecesofamom at checkout.

Hurry!! Hurry!! Start shopping now! Visit www.cookieskids.com to get started.

Be sure to review the holiday shipping policies if you are ordering for delivery by Christmas. http://www.cookieskids.com/HolShipGuide_POPUP.htm

You can also find Cookie's Kids on Facebook and on Twitter.

Be sure to check out my Cookie's Kids path to purchase story on Google+.

Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Cookie’s Kids. #CBias #CookiesKids #SocialFabric

0

Cypher Kids Augmented Reality Cards #CypherKidsClub

One of the aspects I love about the iPad is how family-friendly it is. There are so many applications that appeal to all ages and interests.

In addition to an abundance of entertaining games, there is a plethora of educational apps for young children. One such app is Cypher Kids Club - Wild Animal Adventures. It is an educational experience that utilizes both the electronic application and printed flash cards.

The Cypher Kids Augmented Reality Cards can be purchased at Target for $29.99. The learning cards are found in the electronics department with the iPad accessories. I made the mistake of heading to the children's book section of Target when I realized that the logical place to find the cards would be with iPad accessories. In addition to Wild Animal Adventures, the cards are also available in Letters and in Numbers.

I had the expert help of my iPad aficionados.

Once we purchased the Cypher Kids cards, we downloaded the free app from the iTunes app store. It was incredibly easy to find simply by searching on Cypher Kids or you can scan the QR code on the front of the box to download the app.

Once installation was complete, it was merely a few seconds before we were exploring the wilderness.

The combination of the app and the learning cards was straightforward and fairly easy to operate. My daughters used a team approach with one holding the iPad and one holding the learning card beneath the device (as if you were taking a picture of the flash card). Occasionally if the card was not directly centered under the iPad, the picture that displayed on the screen was slightly off-center. It took some skill to get the card placed correctly under the iPad.

Once the Cypher Entertainment Augmented Reality card is scanned, the animal appears on the screen in its natural habitat. The animals move around and make sounds. Even my 10 year old loved the animation. She thought it was super cool and much more interesting than seeing a still life photo of the animals.

You have a bird's eye view of the animals. Although animated, Cypher Entertainment does an incredible job at making the action seem real. The colors are vibrant, and the images and action are accurately depicted. My children favored the sea animals such as the penguin, the polar bear, and the walrus. I loved the large cats such as the lion and the tiger.

The Cypher Kids Augmented Reality Wild Animal Adventures cards by Cypher Entertainment are the perfect learning tool for little minds and those who are animal lovers or are inquisitive about animals. My children love animals and they loved learning about the variety of animals that were featured in the card collection. It would make a perfect holiday gift also!

For more information about Cypher Kids Club, visit the Web site, Facebook, and Twitter.

Click here to see additional pictures of our Target shopping trip and our #CypherKidsClub experience on Google+.

Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Cypher Kids Club #CBias #SocialFabric. All opinions are my own and are based on my and my family's use of the products mentioned herein.

0

Convert Coins using #NOFEECoinstar at Stop & Shop {#CBias}

Do you remember the days when you had to roll your coins in wrappers and take them to the bank for redemption?

I do!

It was a tedious and time-consuming process.

Thank goodness those days are long gone. Thanks to Coinstar's coin conversion kiosks, converting coins is simple and convenient. Depending on which option you choose for redemption, you can avoid the steep 9.8% conversion fee.

We've been collecting coins in a bucket for quite some time. The coins usually don't last long, as my daughters don't have a whole lot of patience to wait for the collection to grow. In the past, we've gone to a local bank to use the conversion machine, but unless you are an account holder, you pay a service fee. The service fee has steadily been climbing over the years, and is now a whopping 9.5%. Yikes.

I recently learned that Coinstar now offers other options for redemption other than cash, which is assessed a service fee of 9.8%. Did you know that Coinstar kiosks in Stop & Shop stores offer you the option of converting your coins to a Stop & Shop gift card with no fee? Yep! That's right. I love this idea. We all shop for groceries. So what better way to use our coins than for a Stop & Shop gift card??

The #NOFEECoinstar kiosks are located in the front of the Stop & Shop stores. You can miss them!

I loved the clever signage!

We gathered our change and headed to Stop & Shop.

There are 3 options for conversion: cash, gift cards or eCertificates or donate to charity.

The service fee applies only to the cash voucher. There are several options for gift card or eCerts:

How fabulous is this? Seriously. I had absolutely no idea that this type of conversion existed. I thought it was cash voucher only, and a service fee would apply. Those service fees are a real bummer. I loved learning that there are options other than the cash.

It was showtime! We loaded our first batch of coins.

If you choose a Stop & Shop gift card or an eCertificate, both are issued directly by the Coinstar kiosk. There is no need to take a voucher to Customer Service to redeem it. I love this! There is a little bit of a wait time for your card or eCert to come out of the machine, but it's worth it if it means I'm not paying a fee.

Voila! There's my Stop & Shop gift card!!

I retrieved my card and headed back into the main shopping area of Stop & Shop. There's a Stop & Shop around the corner from my home, so I frequently pop in there to pick up items throughout the week. On this particular trip, I needed a few items for the school lunches and snacks throughout the week.

I was quickly sidetracked by magazines.

We headed for the Lunchables. We don't normally buy these, but the kids like the pizza and the chips & salsa Lunchables. I allow those, and the prices at Stop & Shop this week were great!

It's always good to have a little help when shopping.

We will definitely be back to use the Coinstar kiosk again. Saving those coins really pays off!

For more information about Coinstar, visit the Web site at www.coinstar.com. "Like" Coinstar on Facebook and follow Coinstar on Twitter.

To find a Stop & Shop near you, visit the Web site at www.stopandshop.com. "Like" Stop & Shop on Facebook to stay up to date on all the sales and in-store promotions.

To see my full Coinstar experience, please visit my Google+ story.

Disclosure: I have been paid (at Coinstar's request) to try and blog about Coinstar's products/services as part of a Collective Bias shopper insight's study. All opinions are my own.

0

Berry Pancakes using #ClearAmerican Sparking Water

I am always looking for new ways to change up tried and true recipes. You know, take the meals we love and put a new twist on them. But quite honestly, I am just not that creative in the kitchen. I wish I were. I can follow a killer recipe to a "T", but place several ingredients in front of me and ask me to whip up something stellar, and I am left struggling.

Lately, thanks to some campaigns that I've worked on for Collective Bias (#CBias), I've been getting more adventurous in the kitchen, and I'm finding that I am really enjoying the challenge.

My latest challenge was to create a recipe using #ClearAmerican sparkling water. Clear American is the number one brand of sparkling water in the U.S. and is sold exclusively at WalMart. It is available in a variety of flavors and retails for about $0.70 per bottle.

I knew one thing going in: I didn't want to make a drink using #ClearAmerican. I wanted to challenge myself to make something totally unexpected. I looked through some of my most frequently prepared meals, and I found it! I found the recipe I wanted to use for this campaign. Pancakes. Yes, pancakes. The carbonation in the sparkling water will create light and fluffy pancakes.

I made my list and headed to WalMart. I had most of the ingredients that I needed for the recipe. I needed to buy Clear American in several flavors since I not only needed some for the recipe, but we drink it also.  Once I got to WalMart and located the Clear American, I was surprised to find that it was the ONLY sparkling water in the aisle. There were no other brands sold.

Since I always buy the lemon and lime flavors, I stopped to take note of the other flavors. I can't believe I never noticed all the flavors. There are so many flavors. I decided to try a few new ones so I picked up a bottle of Peach and Mandarin Orange.

There were at least 8 varieties at my WalMart. They were organized by flavor, and there were plenty of bottles available in each variety. I finally decided on the "Raspberry Blackberry" flavor for my recipe. I had also considered purchasing the "Peach" flavor for the pancakes, but decided that my children would probably prefer the berry flavored water.

What I found to be peculiar was the placement of the Clear American sparkling water. At my WalMart, it was nestled between the "Pringles" (which made sense due to the snack factor) and the highly caffeinated energy drinks such as "Monster", "Red Bull" (which made no sense to me).

In fact, when I was looking for the Clear American water, I actually tried the aisle where the bottled water is located. When I didn't find it there, I had to try another aisle. I was surprised to find it among these items. It would have made more sense to me to place the sparkling water among the bottled water or the soda. I also think WalMart could do a better job of showcasing the number one selling sparkling water using signage.

It was time to check out! My cart was full of goodies, and I was ready to go!

The following morning, I decided to make the pancakes. I woke up extra early because I knew it would take a little trial and error before I perfected the recipe. I gathered my ingredients.

As I always say, I like to gather all my ingredients in one place before I start. As I use each ingredient, I put it away so clean up isn't overwhelming.

I used a basic pancake recipe from Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. My original recipe calls for 2 cups of buttermilk. After a lot of experimenting, I finally decided on the perfect amount of Clear American to use in the recipe. I tried various combinations of buttermilk and Clear American sparkling water. When I used 2 cups of sparkling water, the pancakes were too flat. After trying many combinations of varying amounts of buttermilk and sparkling water, I finally came up with a winning combination. You can use your favorite pancake recipe and adjust the liquids accordingly just as I did.

Berry Pancakes with #ClearAmerican Sparkling Water

Ingredients
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup Clear American Raspberry Blackberry flavored sparkling water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1-3/4 cups All Purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh or frozen fruit (thawed) for topping (optional but highly recommended)
Powdered sugar for sprinkling (optional but highly recommended)

Preparation
1. Heat griddle or pan to medium-high heat.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs.

3. Stir in buttermilk and Clear American sparkling water.

4. Add the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt) to the liquid mixture. Stir just until large lumps disappear. Do not overmix.

For thicker pancakes, add additional flour. To thin, add additional Clear American sparkling water.
The batter will be light and bubbly.

5. Lightly grease the heated griddle. To test the griddle, sprinkle a few drops of water onto the griddle. They should bounce when they hit the griddle. Pour batter, about 1/4 cup at a time, onto hot griddle.

6. Bake until bubbles form and edges start to dry. Turn and cook the other side.

To serve:
You can stick with butter and syrup, but I wanted to try something different.

Since I used the Raspberry Blackberry flavored Clear American sparkling water in the recipe, I wanted to compliment the flavoring of the pancakes with a similar topping. I originally had frozen berries at the ready. But when I realized that I had fresh blueberries and strawberries in the refrigerator, I used those instead.

I topped the stack of pancakes with the fresh fruit.

But then decided it needed an extra touch. I added some blueberries along the edge of the stack for a little flair.

And because my girls LOVE pancakes with powdered sugar, I just had to sprinkle some over the top to make these pancakes totally over the top!!

A perfect breakfast!

Be sure to check out Clear American on Facebook and on Twitter.

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias, which is a vendor for Cott Beverages Inc., the manufacturer of Clear American® brand beverages. All opinions expressed herein are solely mine and have not been influenced in any way by either Collective Bias or Clear American.

0