Weekly Giveaway – Cozy Cocoon Winner
By mom4life | Category: 4 Free Friday Giveaway, Surprize Me! | Posted Wednesday, February 23, 2011
We’re announcing some things a bit early this week because our blog will be under construction on Friday!
Retail Value: $34.99 – $168.50, on sale for $31.49 – $151.65
Congratulations to Heather Birr, who won the Cozy Cocoon Baby Bunting Gift Set in the style of her choice. All Cozy Cocoons will be 10% off, Friday, February 25-Thursday, March 3.
Many Styles Marked Down from $39.99 to $26.00
We’re so sorry!
But our blog is under construction this week!
We will be back with another giveaway on Friday, March 3!!
The pause after the last period
By mom4life | Category: The Journey of Motherhood | Posted Sunday, February 20, 2011
*ahhhhhh*
I just clicked “send” and prayerfully bid farewell to my completed manuscript and book proposal as it whisked away in cyberspace to my contact at D.C. Jacobson (the literary agent I would like to have represent my book). I should hear back within 4-6 weeks.
Part of me would love to hear back from them tomorrow, but in reality the wait offers a nice down time to my writing.
Part of me would love to know how many hours I put into the words that comprised that document, but maybe it is better that I don’t.
Part of me hopes for a “yes” while I logically set myself up for the possible “no.”
Part of me stands in awe at the published authors who have walked this road before me and I find myself even more impressed at the process that is involved in writing something truly great.
Regardless of where this ends, I want to thank those of you who have been so supportive along the way. I couldn’t have done it without you.
P.S. the Women of Faith Writing contest that I entered last month did not chose my manuscript as one of the 30 finalists. While disappointed, I was not particularly surprised because I felt that the topic of my book (grief) was likely to narrow for their general audience. However, Angela Gifford, our very own Mom 4 Life customer service assistant has been working on a book of her own for the past several years and also entered the contest. Her manuscript, Never Go Hungry Again, which addresses our need to stay spiritually nourished and ways to do that as busy moms, did catch the judges attention and is one of the 30 finalists! Results to the Women of Faith writing contest will be announced on March 1 (we are rooting for you Angela)!
P.S.S. I won’t be posting much this week because we are doing a back-end transfer of our blog host and during the transfer we can’t make updates to the blog. Provided all goes smoothly, I will see you back here this Friday for our next weekly giveaway. If we run into problems the giveaway will be postponed until the following week. 
Weekly Giveaway – Cozy Cocoon Baby Bunting
By mom4life | Category: 4 Free Friday Giveaway | Posted Friday, February 18, 2011
sewExpecting Ebook by Leigh Ann Tennant
20 Simple Projects for the New Mom and Beginning Seamstress
Retail Value$22.00, on sale for $19.80
Congratulations to Kerry, who one a copy of the sewExpecting Ebook by Leigh Ann Tenant! The sewExpecting Ebook: 20 Simple Projects for the New Mom and Beginning Seamstress is on sale this week for 10% off (until Thursday night).
in chocolate Brown
Marked down from $40.00 to $12.99
Marked down to $11.99
$13.75
Cozy Cocoon Baby Bunting & Tassel Hat or Cozy Cap Gift Set
Retail Value: $34.99-$41.99
One lucky winner will receive a Cozy Cocoon Baby Bunting Gift Set (with a tassel hat or cozy cap) of their choice!
The original, the only, one piece baby body sock!
More than just a product, the Cozy Cocoon is an idea, which is that by swaddling our newborns with comfort, beauty and soft color, we encourage healthy development of the senses and we nurture the child’s adjustment out of the womb and into the world. By this means, Cozy Cocoon supports parents and caregivers in building a strong foundation for the child’s developing sense of self in the world. When babies are tucked into the Cozy Cocoon there is no jerking, startling movement, no skin-irritating synthetic fabrics and no harsh colors to startle them out of their dreamy reverie and into the rollicking world. One seam along a softly-colored, natural fabric into which baby is completely tucked and held, the most natural progression from out of the womb and into the arms of the caregiver, with basic style. These are the points that make the Cozy Cocoon the obvious first choice for parents and caregivers of the newly born. The idea of the Cozy Cocoon rests on the wisdom of ancient and indigenous cultures that finds a unique manifestation in our own time not based on sentimentality or replication of old ideas, but by recognizing that in our modern times we need modern solutions to the most basic and beautiful of life’s experiences ~ bringing new life into the world.
How do you win?
Take a look at all the fun Cozy Cocoon Body Socks, and “share your thoughts” here. Which one is your favorite?
You have until Tuesday evening, February 22, to enter.
Good Luck!
How to: make your own cultured buttermilk
By mom4life | Category: Recipes & Kitchen Tips | Posted Wednesday, February 16, 2011
At the beginning of the year, I stumbled upon a blog post about making cultured buttermilk. (Side note: isn’t it fabulous how many fun and inspiring things we can learn from other blogs?) Having only previously purchased buttermilk from the store or discovered the “old fashioned buttermilk” that is produced when I make butter, I was totally intrigued by the idea of making it. First, I hadn’t fully known what the difference between “old fashioned buttermilk” and “cultured buttermilk” was. After emailing Kristen Michaelis (the writer behind the blog, The Food Renegade) what the difference was between the two, I learned that:
Old-fashioned buttermilk is what you get when you make butter. Cultured buttermilk is what most modern recipes MEAN when they call for “buttermilk.” That’s what my tutorial teaches you how to make. You can culture old-fashioned buttermilk to make cultured buttermilk, too. The process works the same as it does for regular milk.
Second, aside from the simple intrigue of trying to make something new, I was totally unaware of all the ingredients found in most store bought buttermilk (there is a photo from a buttermilk label and more details on this over at the buttermilk tutorial).
What I am going to explain below is how to make buttermilk using raw milk since that is the only way I have done it. But if you don’t use raw milk but still want to try it, click on over to this buttermilk tutorial for details! By the way, the process of making buttermilk from raw milk (as opposed to pasteurized milk) is a longer process, but it is not a all hard.
Ready to try it yourself? Brace yourself for this long list of ingredients 
:
-1 Cup Raw Milk (if you are not using raw milk, click here for instructions)
-And. . . thats it!
-Set your cup of milk out on the counter at room temperature until you start to see it thickening up and getting clumpy (this is called “clabbering”). This will most likely take a few days (mine took about three). What is clabbered milk? I wondered the same thing. This is what Wikipedia tells me:
Clabber is a food produced by allowing unpasteurized milk to turn sour at a specific humidity and temperature. Over time the milk thickens or curdles into a yoghurt-like substance with a strong, sour flavor. In rural areas of the Southern United States, it was commonly eaten for breakfast with brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, or molassesadded. Some people also eat it with fruit or black pepper and cream. . . With the rise of pasteurization the making of clabber virtually stopped, except on farms that had easy access to unprocessed cow’s milk. A somewhat similar food can be made from pasteurized milk by adding a couple of tablespoons of commercial buttermilk or sour milk to a glass of milk.
-Once your milk has clabbered (see the photo below and how it looks clumpy), remove 3/4 of the cup of clabbered milk and discard leaving 1/4 cup of milk in your jar.
-Add 1 cup of new milk to the 1/4 cup of clabbered milk. (At this point your newly added milk can be raw or pasteurized.) Cover and shake it up to mix it well and again, allow it to stand at room temperature until it once again, is fully clabbered. It will likely take slightly less time to clabber this second time around.
-After it has clabbered, again, remove all but 1/4 cup of the clabbered milk from your jar and again add to it a new cup of refrigerated milk, cover, shake and leave on the counter.
-Continue this process until the time needed for the clabbering process is 24 hours. Once you reach this stage, smell and taste a small amount to be sure that it has a nice tangy flavor and has thickened nicely with no off flavors. Then transfer 6 oz of your clabbered milk to a quart jar and fill with fresh milk.
-Now begins the last stage of the process: cover, shake and let your quart jar sit on the counter until it clabbers.
-Once it clabbers, put it in the fridge and use it for all your wonderful buttermilk recipes such as buttermilk pancakes, breads, biscuits, ranch dressing. . .
Isn’t that amazing that you can start with one cup of milk and with nothing else but time and room temperature get buttermilk?! Isn’t it amazing that the milk doesn’t “go bad” after leaving it out at room temperature?! I was totally shocked that the milk was simply a tart/tangy buttermilk, not at all sour smelling or tasting!
Aside from being a fascinating project to try and a much healthier way to enjoy buttermilk, the most wonderful thing I discovered was that once the innital process (explained above) is complete, I have a wonderful buttermilk “starter”. So whenever my jar of buttermilk runs low I simply refill with fresh milk, cover, shake and set it out on the counter until it clabbers (usually only one day) and I have a brand new jar of buttermilk!
Good to note: Kristen, from The Food Renegade mentioned that in making buttermilk, quantities don’t matter as much as proportion so if you stick to the ratios it won’t matter how much you are making, it will turn out great.
A question I had: I found myself wondering if there was something I could use the 3/4 cup of clabbered milk for that I was pouring off rather than just throwing it away. After reading through the comments here I found that others had this question as well. It seems that since this milk is not fully buttermilk and no longer just milk it is sort of an an awaked stage that makes it not really that useful for most purposes. What you are trying to do is build up the active bacteria cultures to a concentration that will allow the milk to clabber within 24 hours, thus the need to repeat the process.
I began the process of making buttermilk at the end of last month and have refilled my quart jar 3 times now and still have and endless supply of lovely buttermilk at my fingertips! If you decide to try this out, I would love to hear how it goes for you!
2 Weeks of Love…..from Baby K’tan
By mom4life | Category: Mom 4 Life News & Giveaways | Posted Monday, February 14, 2011
Thinking about purchasing a Baby K’tan Baby Carrier? Now is the time!
Purchase a Baby K’tan Baby Carrier between now and February 28, send Baby K’tan your receipt, and they will send you a free infant t-shirt and hat – a $12 Value!
Click here for more details and your order form.
What’s so great about a Baby K’tan?
- 8 comfortable positions to conveniently carry babies in style
- Easy to use and put on; NO WRAPPING INVOLVED
- No buckles, rings, snaps, clasps, bulky padding, metal or plastic
- Made entirely of 100% cotton knit fabric with cross-stretch
- Soft, breathable, machine washable and dryer safe
- Unique (patent pending) figure 8 design & adjustable back support band offers greater support for back and shoulders
- Creates ideal environment for premature babies and babies with special needs
- Fosters Kangaroo Care
- Assists and promotes successful breastfeeding
- Discreetly nurse babies while on the go
- Unmatched double loop design holds baby more securely than traditional slings while distributing weight on both shoulders.
- Durable enough to carry babies and toddlers from preemie to preschool (42 pounds)
- Innovative double loop design can hold twins
- Matching baby hat and sash included
- Recommended by lactation specialists
- Chiropractor, Physical & Occupational therapist recommended
