It’s Apple Season!
By christinesteendahl | Category: Recipes & Kitchen Tips | Posted Sunday, September 30, 2007
I don’t know about you, but I adore fall – I love the weather, the beautiful colors, the smell – just everything about the autumn season. One of our favorite family traditions is a visit to the apple orchard. I grew up in Washington State – which is apple country, so maybe that is part of it… Now that we are in the Midwest finding a fun orchard is a bit more challenging, but still worth the effort.
Apples are the single most versatile fruit today . There are thousands of varieties the world over that vary in taste, color, and crispness. The best part is you can find them in the grocery store the whole year long!
Being that there are over a thousand varieties of apple, we can’t name them all. However, there are a few that are better known than others. Some of the more popular apple types are: Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Braeburn, Jonagold, McIntosh, Rome, Gala, and Jonathan.
All apples are not created equal. Each has its own unique characteristics and uses. Take the Red Delicious apple for instance. It is the most widely known apple. Its shiny, deep red skin has become the unofficial symbol for apples everywhere. Its taste is sweet and crisp. But beware—its skin stays the picture of health long after the fruit has become mushy. These apples are good for salads or eaten fresh, but break apart quickly when baked.
Golden Delicious apples are no relation to the Red Delicious. Their skin is yellow and thin, hiding a sweet but tender fruit. This apple has a sweetness that is perfect for pies or as part of an applesauce. The apples keep well in the refrigerator, but not so good at room temperature.
Granny Smith is the premier green apple. Its taste is extremely crisp and tart. It is an overall excellent apple with many uses. When making a pie, using other apples in conjunction with Granny Smith will mellow the tart taste. They hold up well when baked whole, but require quite a bit of added sugar when used in an applesauce.
Gala apples are pinkish in color and small. This in no way dulls their taste. They are very sweet and crisp. Eaten fresh, they satisfy the sweet tooth. They are also good in conjunction with other apples in an applesauce or an apple pie.
McIntosh is a winning choice in the apple world. They are tart but tender and full of juice. It is the main apple used to make apple cider. These apples are also great for making applesauce. They don’t bake well, usually falling apart rather quickly.
Jonagold apples are a cross between Jonathan and Golden Delicious apples. It is a crisp apple with a tangy-sweet taste. These apples are a European favorite and excellent for baking, pies, and salads.
All apples are a good source of dietary fiber. The average apple contains five grams of fiber per serving. They are also ideal for lowering cholesterol and promoting digestive health.
So what is your favorite use of apples? Caramel apples, apple pie, applesauce, apple bread, a plain fresh juicy apple? Share what your favorites are and if you have a favorite recipe, we’d love for you to share that as well!
For a complete culinary apple exploration, jump on over to www.menuplanningcentral.com/main.html where you will find even more info. and all kinds of yummy apple recipes!
Christine Steendahl
Mom of 3 and owner of www.themenumom.com
OnTray 2Go winner & Ah Goo Baby Plush Pad Giveaway
By Heather Ledeboer | Category: Mom 4 Life News & Giveaways | Posted Friday, September 28, 2007
We have a winner! Debra from Spokane Mama will be the newest mom in the store with her hands free because of her ULTRA cool OnTray 2Go Multifunctional Container! We picked our winner this week by assigning each person that entered (there were 25 total) a letter of the alphabet in the reverse order of entry (the last person enter was letter A). Then we visited the Sesame Street Letter of the Day webpage and the letter of the day was "L" thus determining our lucky winner. Thank you Siri H. for sharing this great idea for this in your comment on a previous post. Don’t fret, if you didn’t win, you can still snatch up yours at the super low price of just $6.99 (with free shipping) until next week Thursday when the price will go up to $9.99. If you get email notification of our blog entries, you will have to click here to see how we choose this week’s winner. A side note that I am wearing a white Belly Hugger in the video as well as one of my favorite necklaces (you see me wearing it in most of the giveaway videos) from little JULES that has the names and birthdates of my kids. Just a reminder that it is super easy to sign up for email notifications of our blog entries, just use the sign up box in the upper left hand corner of the blog.
This week This week we are giving away an Ah Goo Baby Plush Pad made with a high-density, memory foam pillow and fashioned with ultra-soft fabric selections that are water resistant and machine washable. Retail value is $47.00.
You have until Wednesday, October 3rd at midnight PST to enter this weeks contest, good luck!
Win a Flurville Sling Tote, Stroller and more from emomsathome.com
By Heather Ledeboer | Category: Hot New Finds | Posted Monday, September 24, 2007
Head over to emomsathome.com for your chance to win this retired style, Flurville Sling Tote from Mom 4 Life. You can also win a stroller and a $25 gift certificate from The Warm Biscuit Bedding Company in this same giveaway!
To enter: Just leave a comment on this post by 5pm Monday October 8th and you’re entered. To enter, you must be able to have your prizes shipped to a US address in the event you are the winner.
And an update that you can now get a jump start and sneak peak at the Amazing Month of Giveaways that is happening in October! To find out more and get started early, click here! I will be updating this page with more of the prizes and info in the coming days so check back!
You Can Feed Cancer & Help It Grow
By jennylee | Category: Recipes & Kitchen Tips | Posted Sunday, September 23, 2007
Did you know that every person has a cancer cells in the body? In fact, Cancer cells occur between 6-10 times in a person’s life. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion.
“When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.” It is very important to keep our children’s immune system strong because only then can cancer cells be destroyed and prevented from forming tumors. We can help build strong immune systems by making sure our children are eating nutritious foods. “When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.” In other words, eating healthy foods will help create stronger immune systems in our children’s bodies.
“The Bee-Z Snack Shop has helped me keep track of what my kids have been eating, in a healthy way” says Jan, a mother of two and in turn” is helping me help my kids build a stronger immune system.” So what foods do cancer cells feed on and help them grow?
Foods to Avoid / Why should I avoid this? / Better Food Substitute
Sugar/ Supplies food to cancer cells/ Honey, molasses
Nutra Sweet/ Made with Aspartame; /Honey, molasses
Table Salt/ Has a chemical to make it white /Bragg’s aminos or sea salt
Beef or Pork /Produces high acid environment which feed cells /Fish, chicken
Chocolate,cofee,tea / High amounts of caffeine / Green Tea
Milk / Produces mucus in body; cells feed on mucus / Soy milk
In my next blog, two weeks from now, I will cover ways and foods that will help destroy cancer cells. I look forward in hearing from you so feel free to drop me a line!
By- Jenny Lee- Inventor of Bee-Z Snack Shop, nutrition specialist and Mom of two www.beezsnackshop.com
kickTrak Kick Counter winner & OnTray 2Go Giveaway
By Heather Ledeboer | Category: Mom 4 Life News & Giveaways | Posted Friday, September 21, 2007
Yipeee! We are back with a new video:). Congratulations to Elizabeth for winning the really cool kickTrak Kick Counter by babykick this week. I practically created a new sport this week while we selected our winner. (If you get email notification of our blog entries via email, you will have to click here to view the video). You may also notice I am wearing a Glamourmom long nursing tank top in the new Berry Flora pattern under my sweatshirt (I LOVE those long nursing tanks)! If you didn’t win the giveaway this week, you can get the kickTrak Kick Counter by babykick at 10% the regular price until next week Thursday.
This week we are giving away the OnTray 2Go Multifunctional Container that is just PERFECT for keeping things close at hand while you shop. It comes in four fun colors and is super practical. I love putting a handful of snacks in these to keep my kids occupied while I shop. If I am being TOTALLY honest I really try to avoid almost any shopping with my kids if I can however, my wonderful husband is much braver than I am and seems to do so well each time he takes them to the store. BUT, this product is a wonderful alternative to Ziploc bags filled with snacks that fall on the ground or trying to push the cart with one hand while feeding little Cheerios to your child with the other. At a speical price of just $6.99 (with free shipping) you can’t go wrong.
AND don’t forget to check out our giveaway post from last week to find out about our BIG upcoming giveaway on October 5th for my birthday!! I want to give you a jump start on it so you can be thinking of how you will win. We will have a fun photo contest:).
To enter to win this week: Look over our New Items page and leave a comment below telling me what your favorite new product is and why OR place a link to our giveaway on your blog or a message board and leave a comment with the URL to the page where the link can be found.
You have until Wednesday, September 26th midnight PST to enter.
