Smiley Cookies sent us a sample package of one dozen cookies and between the kids and us grownups they were gone the same day. We only allowed one cookie per child since the cookies were so the adults probably ate most of them.. ok yes, us adults did eat most of them.

Smiley Cookies would make perfect cookie gifts for the upcoming holidays. Shaped like a heart, these cookies are iced with pink icing and white icing is used to make the smiley faces on these particular cookies. The best thing about the cookies is that they are soft cookies. Looking at the cookies you’d think they were the hard sugar cookies you often find but these cookies were soft and delicious. I myself prefer the softer cookies so I was in heaven. They’re also oversized cookies so they are much bigger than your typical cookies.

I was extremely surprised, in a good way, when I found out the price of these cookies. You get one dozen (12) of these large cookies for $9.99 which is a good price and makes a great treat for parties, especially any upcoming Valentine’s Day parties you may have.  A friend of ours is actually going to be purchasing a few packages online for her daughter’s Valentine’s Day party at school since both her and her daughter enjoyed the cookies while they were here.

Smiley Cookies are available online at http://www.smileycookie.com in different shapes and icing flavors (chocolate, dark chocolate or white icing) and colors for the designs. If you’re ordering for Valentine’s Day events or as gifts, be sure to order by February 8, 2010 to receive your order in time. (All cookies are shipped within 48 hours of being ordered. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday orders are baked and shipped on Monday.)

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The Slow Cooker Mate™ is a better version of the original crockpot.. it’s an all in one cooker that saves a lot of time. It’s similar in most ways, but instead of having only a pot to cook in, the Slow Cooker Mate™ has three separate chambers. The three chambers allow you to cook your meat or main dish in the bottom chamber while two separate side dishes cook in the top divided chambers.

I’ve been using the Slow Cooker Mate™ for at least a few weeks now and I have to tell you.. honestly.. I don’t know how I lived without it before. I had actually never even heard of it until the creator Diana York, the inventor, asked me if I’d like to review it. After reading the description and imagining the time I could save with it.. I couldn’t say no to the review! I had to see for myself how well it worked and if it would really save me time. And it definitely does!

I love that if I just want to use it for a main dish I can use the larger bottom pot and then if one night we want to have a side item that needs warmed up or cooked for a little bit I can, without digging out more pots/pans. I also love that it’s easy clean up! The lid and both of the stoneware inserts are dishwasher safe.. yay!

The Slow Cooker Mate™ features a digital programmable timer. With the timer, you can program the cooker to cook up to 18 hours and then at the end of the programmed cooking time, it automatically switches to the “keep warm” setting and will keep your food warm for up to 8 hours.

One your food is ready, both of the inserts can be taken directly to the dinner table so there is no need to dirty anymore dishes as you serve the food!

On the Slow Cooker Mate™ website you can also find great recipes that are perfect for the unit, but keep in mind you’re not limited to just these recipes… these are just extra little goodies! You can cook pretty much anything in this bad boy!

Find more info on the Slow Cooker Mate™ or to purchase visit http://slowcookermate.com

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If you remember, my local store didn’t carry some of the newer items yet but they’ve finally got them in stock. This time was I was able to pick up the quesadilla snacks and the mini stuffed pizza slices. Both are delicious and my husband couldn’t get enough of the quasadilla snacks.

You would think items like these wouldn’t taste good frozen and reheated but you’d be wrong.. they tasted great and didn’t come out soggy or hard which was a nice refresher. They’re extremely delicious so watch out because they’ll probably just be your favorite new appetizer too!

Thank goodness all Farm Rich products are free of trans fats and are made with premium ingredients! Since many are fortified with vitamins and minerals, and are a good source of calcium and protein, so they make a great snack option for kids. I like them because they’re delicious and really convenient. Most are microwaveable, but I prefer how they come out when heated in a oven.

Look for Farm Rich products in the freezer aisles of your favorite grocery store. To find a store near you, just select a product from the product locator, enter your zip code, and you’ll see the 10 stores closest to you that carry it.

Do you have a favorite Farm Rich product? We’d love to hear what it is!

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Flora Springs Winery

Recently, I was able to enjoy some wines from Flora Springs Winery and Vineyards. Both wines were enjoyable, competitively priced, and come from green farming methods.

Flora Springs, a third generation winery in St. Helena, California, offers a wonderful selection of wines and they use sustainable and organic farming practices (20% is certified organic, with another 240 acres to be certified this year). The winery, owned by the Komes-Garvey families, own 650 acres of sustainable vineyards. All of their wines come from their estate grown fruit to ensure that they maintain the quality of their wines. In December 2007, Flora Springs implemented solar power at the Komes Ranch on Zinfandel Lane, enabling all of their red wine production to go completely off the grid. (per Flora Springs Facts, Jarvis Communications).

Flora Springs 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon – This Cabernet has a spicy, pepper aroma with a piquant, berry flavor and velvet feel when you drink it. The tannins hit the back of your tongue but do not over power this wine. Cabernet Sauvignon is typically paired with beef and heavy pasta dishes; and I really enjoyed this wine with both spaghetti Bolognese and beef stroganoff. The heavy cream sauce and beef in the stroganoff really complemented the spicy aroma and flavor of this wine. This wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and all of the grapes come from 3 of the Flora Springs vineyards. At $36, this is priced very competitively with other Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons. The Winemaker notes that this wine should be enjoyed now through 2014.

Flora Springs 2008 Oakville Sauvignon Blanc, Soliloquy Vineyard – This wine is brand new to the Flora Springs collection. This pale yellow wine smells of tropical fruit, citrus, and floral notes. None of the aromas overpowered one another. The Oakville Sauvignon Blanc has a floral, citrus taste as well. This wine is 100% Oakville Sauvignon Blanc from their Soliloquy Vineyard. I enjoyed this wine both alone and with lighter meals. Although this is not a typical pairing, I really enjoyed it with home made chicken noodle soup. The light chicken broth really complemented the flavors of this wine. The Oakville Sauvignon Blanc retails for $20.

If you enjoy Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc, consider Flora Springs. With their estate grown grapes and competitive pricing, they are a must try. For more information about Flora Springs Winery and Vineyards and their wines, visit: http://www.florasprings.com/.

Review Disclaimer:
The Wine Mom has a review policy in effect that promises to only post reviews on products my family or I absolutely love. You likely won’t hear about the products we didn’t like, and you can be guaranteed that I won’t post a review just because we got a product for free.

Flora Springs Fence

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Food is one of my favorite things, and if it’s made of chocolate or has chocolate on it.. I’m already a fan . This giant fortune cookie is really something else! I’ve never seen a giante sized fortune cookie.. just one of the usual smaller ones you get at different restaurants so I was blown away when I saw the cookie from EdibleGiftsPlus.com in person. It’s huge and looks fantastic.. fantastic enough you don’t want to eat it.. you just want to admire it!

It’s also very fun and really delicious! The fortune cookie, which is about the size of a football, is hand-dipped in your choice of chocolates, then decorated with hand made Royal Icing and sprinkled with a good amount of bright candy confetti.

I just can’t wait until the holidays get a little closer! I know of a few girlfriends that would just die to have one of these and since I enjoyed the giant fortune cookie, I know they will.

A few of my other favorites:

EdibleGiftsPlus.com has a wide variety of edible treats.. everything from brownies to dipped friuts and even some goodies for your furry friends! They also have photo cookies which would make great gifts this holiday season for anyone… logo cookies for businesses, great edibles that would be perfect for weddings or receptions and more.

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Founded by Christina Ip-Toma, citizenpip is a mom-powered business and was inspired by the belief that making small changes in your daily habits can make a significant impact.  Feeling guilty about the four plastic baggies she was throwing out each day just from one kid’s lunch, she started using reusable containers.  But she couldn’t find exactly what she was looking for.  She wanted food-safe materials, something airtight and leak-proof, and something she could easily throw in the dishwasher.  Figuring a lot of other people might switch to reusable if they could find an easy alternative, she decided to start citizenpip.

What makes this one different from other waste-free lunch systems?

• Everything in one kit:  It comes with everything you need to pack a reusable lunch – an insulated lunch bag, water bottle, insulated food jar, BPA-free food containers, fork+spoon, and napkins.
• Flexible:  It has the convenience of coordinated items with the flexibility to work with other types of containers.
• Muck-free: All products have been tested by a CPSIA accredited lab to be lead-free,phthalate-free and BPA-free.

The Review

This review is from Jodi, one of our Mom Fuse mommies!

I have had the opportunity to review several products from Citizenpip.  I received the BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag) Kit which included an insulated zippered lunch box, plastic food containers ranging in size from small, medium and sandwich size, a drink thermos, insulated hot/cold food thermos, real silverware and cloth napkins.

Plastic food containers: BPA-free polypropylene with silicone seal  -  100% airtight  -   100% leak proof  -  Dishwasher safe  -  Freezer safe

For me, the best way to test the products from Citizenpip was to set my kids up for lunch and send them to school, so here’s my kid’s review…

This stuffs pretty cool and my sandwich was still soft and not smooshed and the drink bottle is cool looking, looks like a sports bottle.

The little containers are cute and I can eat my applesauce out of it with my matching real silverware then use my matching napkin.

My (canned pasta) was still warm at lunchtime in my thermos, it’s awesome eating hot lunch out of my lunch box.

Moms review:  Citizenpip is stylish, easy to use, easy to wash and well…the kids love it.  My dilemma now is, I have 3 kids and one lunch box..guess who’s going shopping!

For more info on Citizenpip and their reusable lunch kits visit Citizenpip.com.

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My twins aren’t used to using actual utensils yet so I pretty much just let them get the feel for these TinyTongs and “practice” with them to see how things went. Right now they’re at the stage where their fingers are much easier to use than utensils.. so food goes everywhere but in their mouths! I will never forget the first time we had spaghetti! Why I thought it would be a good idea to put food on a plate I have no idea lol, spaghetti was everywhere.. from the dog to to the cabinets!

My son is more interested in learning how to use utensils to eat than my daughter is.. so I let him try out the TinyTongs first. He took a good look at, moving it around to see what it was all about and then figured out that it the tongs closed when he put a little pressure into it. At the time he had it in his mouth and was chewing on it, so when he squeezed the tongs together, he ended up catching his tounge.. but it must not have hurt because he thought it was pretty hilarious.

After a little while of playing, he had it figured out. He was scooping up his food with the TinyTongs and having no problems at all. I was amazed and had my husband come in to the kitchen so he could check it out for himself. We praised him and told him what a good job he was doing and he just ate it up! It was darling. Once my daughter caught wind of what was going on she decided it was her turn to try out the tongs, but she just wanted to play with them and had no interest whatsoever in actually using them.

With twins we usually have to buy two of most things, just so there is no competition or fighting between the two. Since our son loves the TinyTongs and uses them.. we plan on getting a second pair for my daughter so that when she’s ready she can use the TinyTongs as well.

For more info on TinyTongs visit http://tinytongs.com

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I have to admit, when I opened the Halloween Cookie Bouquet didn’t want to eat them because the cookies themselves looked too cute to eat. I had a friend over when the package came and she couldn’t stop checking out the cookies and couldn’t stop complimenting on how well cute they were. The cookies looked just like they were advertised on the website.

After a good long few minutes of admiring the cookie designs, I decided it was time to try the cookies out to see if they were as good as they looked. At first glace you’d think the cookies were hard but they’re not. They were just right – soft enough to eat and a little stiff so that shipping didn’t crumble them to a pile of crumbs. The cookies themselves tasted great and between us and our friends’ children.. the cookies didn’t last long. I love that the cookies are larger that your average cookie and decorated so cool.  They whole package just looks great and I already know we want to send a few cookie bouquets to some family members this holiday season. (If only I could afford to hand these out at Halloween! I’d be the best house for treats in town!)

This particular cookie bouquet is called the “Monster Bash Cookie Bouquet”. This bouquet and their other Halloween bouquets will be available to order online at CorsosCookies.com from 9/2 to 10/31. For more edible Halloween gifts click here.

Corso’s Cookies makes other great holiday and event treats! From Anniversary, Wedding and New Baby cookie bouquets to Get Well, Congratulations, Birthday bouquets and more.

Visit http://www.corsoscookies.com for more info.

About Corso’s Cookies:

Like so many other kids, Tina Corso loved baking cookies. She started with an Easy-Bake Oven then graduated to baking with a real oven in her grandmother’s cozy kitchen, using cherished family recipes. Creating art was another of Tina’s passions, leading her to make and sell tee shirts, decorative clay pots, and , of course, cookies.

Being a smart cookie, Tina wondered if she could blend her twin passions of baking and art into a business. She started out small in 2001, creating uniquely cool, hand-decorated cookie bouquets and cookie gift baskets. To spread the word about Corso’s Cookies, Tina posted flyers and handed out business cards around the city of Syracuse. Her first customers were attracted by how beautiful the butter creme cookies were decorated – like edible works of art. After tasting them, folks clamored for more and told their friends about Corso’s Cookies. (Tina likes to say that the word about her cookies spread by mouth, literally – one delicious cookie at a time). Soon Tina’s dream of creating a thriving business out of her passions came true, and her home-based business expanded then moved to its current bakery location.

Since then, Corso’s Cookies has quickly become the company that people turn to for custom made, hand-decorated, beautiful, delicious cookies. The Corso’s Cookies Crew consists of nearly 30 talented bakers, gift designers and decorators, working together to create unforgettable gifts for the people special to you. Today, you can find Corso’s Cookies in more than 100 catalogs and web sites, including ProFlowers, Amazon, and Gifts.com.

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You may have heard of Silikids: Siliskin Glass Bottle Covers but you might not have seen their new item.. the Siliskin Glass. A glass for toddlers, with a protective silicone sheath so they can drink like the “big kids” do!

I was excited to try this because in less than a year my twins will be considered toddlers. They’re still taking a bottle with milk once a day, the rest of the time they drink out of their sippy cups. They haven’t mastered the whole cup thing quite yet.. but they’re on their way to.

I let both of twins hold this new Siliskin Glass just to see if they’d try to drink out of it or not. Our little boy did try, if there was anything less than a few tablespoons of juice in the cup, it would have been all over the floor… but at least he tried and you could really tell he wanted to figure it out. But after showing him multiple times and encouraging him, we decided he just wasn’t ready yet.

My daughter.. well, she’s how she usually is.. she didn’t want anything to do with something new.. so the glass got thrown on the floor after she had a good look at it and felt the silicone covering! Once it ended up on the floor I rushed down to pick it up checking for any breakage or cracks.. but thankfully there wasn’t any. I then decided we’ll try again with the “big kids” cup holding in a few months and we’ll stick to the sippy cups for now.

I love the Siliskin Glass. I think it’s a great idea to have a glass for toddlers with a protective cover of it. The silicone will also allow them to easily grap the glass and that means less spills! It also seems pretty sturdy considering my daughter chucked it a good way and there was not even a crack in the glass. The Siliskin Glass gets a thumbs up from Mom Fuse. The glass come is a 6 oz. size and has a price tage of $7.95 at Silikids.com.

About Silikids

From two moms whose children are growing and inspiring new ideas, comes a new option for the entire family! The Siliskin-Glass is a clean alternative to plastic drink-ware. BPA-free, and made from 100% food grade silicone, the Siliskin—Glass helps prevent slipping and adds extra protection to the glass inside. Glass is the cleanest option for drinking and it lasts because it’s reusable, and recylable. The Siliskin is hypo- allergenic, has no open pores to harbor bacteria, is dishwasher safe, and can be boiled to sterilize. Two simple ideas have come together to make the perfect drinkware better for your family and the environment.

The Silikids line currently features:
• Siliskins – universal silicone sleeves for a variety of different glass baby bottles
• Siliskin Bottles – 4oz and 8-oz. glass bottles covered with a siliskin
• Silibibs – soft and easy to clean bibs made entirely of silicone
• Silipads – stylish silicone kneepads for crawlers and toddlers
• Siliskin Glass – a 6oz drinking glass for toddlers learning to use a “big kid” glass

The Silikids Silicone Benefit as explained below:

• Unique for its hygienic and hypoallergenic, safe, durable and green benefits, silicone is a great solution for children’s products. Silicone is commonly used for baby bottle nipples, pacifiers, teethers and baby spoons.
• Widely used by the medical field and cooking industry, silicone is a non-porous material which does not harbor germs or bacteria also preventing mold.
• Silicone is an environmentally friendly, green substance. Unlike petroleum based plastics, silicone is made from sand. From its manufacturing to its disposal, no harmful by-products are produced. Silicone also promotes reuse, which is a good ecological alternative to the current disposable culture.
• Silicone is extreme temperature resistant allowing it to be freezer safe, boiled for sterilization, as well as washer/dryer and dishwasher safe.

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So when we were sent a few products from Contigo to review I couldn’t wait to see what my husband thought.. he uses these type of products more than anyone I know.. so I figured I’d see if it gained his approval.

The Contigo line is a spill-proof, leak-proof line of travel mugs, hydration bottles and kids mugs that contains a special autoseal feature which will allow you to drop it, shake it, etc.. and you’re liquid will stay put instead of going all over the place. My first thought was that if these were true to their word and didn’t leak or spill.. I had to get more of these.. and I hoped they would have sippy cups or cups with lids for small children (like mine!) available or available soon!

I am quite impressed with the travel mug and kids cup that I received.. the autoseal feature was a lifesaver on our shopping trip. We have to travel a good 40 plus miles to get to a decent mall and my husband of course had to take coffee with him.. so we took the opportunity to try out new travel mug we received.

The mug is sleek, it’s a stainless steel travel mug that just looks good. The blue button (on the image above) is a magical button! When you’re ready to take a drink, just press the button and take a sip. Once the button is released, the autoseal feature kicks in and you don’t have to worry about any spills. This particular mugs holds up to 16 oz. and fits most standard car cupholders. My husband loves this travel mug.. he said his favorite thing about the mug was that kept his coffee hot for hours without the outside of the mug being too hot to handle.. and he loves that it doesn’t spill, no matter how many different ways you drop it.

Now I know a lot of products claim to be leak-proof and spill-proof and most of the time do leak.. but I can promise you that these Contigo products really work. I don’t know how many times we dropped the mug – or my kids got a hold of it and dropped it- but we never once had a spill.. not a drop liquid came out of the mug.

The kids mug is recommended for ages 4 and up. The autoseal technology works the same, press to sip, release to seal. It’s the perfect size.. not too big but not too small and it easily fits into a kids hand. The design is also very sleek and the blue and green colors make the mug fun.

The mugs come in a variety of different colors, they are durable and well made and look very sleek. This is a must-have for traveling whether you’re by yourself or with the family.

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