The name says it all.  It’s a Green Container. 

Greentainer is the plastic alternative to storing your food and your children’s snacks.  The brainchild of two mothers with a mission to give a healthier and environmentally friendlier option to their customers, it does nothing short of that.

Made with a high quality food grade stainless steel, it’s easier to clean and sleeker in design.

As a mother, I love that it’s just simply functional.  I can use it to store fruits for my children and or use it as a bento container for my lunch (rice on the bottom and side dishes on top).  When it’s time to clean it, it’s simple and time saving (with plastic, that’s hardly the case, especially if you are trying to remove the tomato sauce stain from your child’s spaghetti).

Greentainer is the perfect combination of functionality and design sensibility. But what’s more important, it’s green and healthier!

Want a chance at winning your own Greentainer of your choice?  Please read below for your chance.  Also, Greentainer has offered my readers free shipping with code “MOMMASINTHEHOUSE10“.

(Disclosure: The products were provided by Greentainer for review purposes and does not affect my views or feedback of the products.  This review is based solely on my personal opinion and experience and results may vary person to person.)

GREENTAINER GIVEAWAY

If you would like to have a chance at winning a Greentainer of your choice, you must (mandatory) visit Greentainer and leave a comment here telling me what product you would like and why.

For Extra entries (please make every entry separate even if you comment on multiple posts):

Giveaway ends November 7th, 2010 at 11:59 pm PST. Please make sure you leave a valid email address so that we can notify the winner. We will notify the winner, and the winner has 48 hours to respond. If the winner fails to respond within that time period, we will choose a new winner. Open to US residents only

Scared that your baby will be nipple confused?  No more worrying.  Introducing the Adiri Nurser, the bottle that was made for mommies and babies in mind and the way nature intended (well, in a man-made way). 

My biggest problem when I tried to introduce just any bottle to my baby was that she wanted nothing to do with it.  She only wanted the real thing and of course, if there was a choice, who wouldn’t.  The truth is that sometimes I needed a break from nursing or I had to leave the home for a couple of hours to attend some meetings and needed her to be able to take a bottle.

I went through a dozen bottles, until she took a liking to one bottle which pretty much looked and felt like a boob.  Even though she did like that particular bottle, she would spit it out after a minute or two. 

While both my kids are no longer at the bottle-fed age (my youngest being 14 months old), I still tried the Adiri Nurser out to see if she would take it since I still nursed her.  And… she did!  I think she was fascinated by how it looked and felt. 

As a mom, I love it because it has so much more too offer than being simply just a bottle.  Recently, I wrote a post on Savings.com about using the bottle to store snacks and the Adiri Nurser does just that.  Once your baby graduates from the bottle, you can use the cap and bottom to hold finger snacks. 

The bottle is made up 100% polycarbonate-free material (natural-like) and it resembles and feels like a real nipple-breast which helps to reduce nipple confusion. The leak-resistant petal vent protects the baby from being too gassy and or colicky (any parent who deals with this knows that it leads to sleepless nights and cries that will drive you insane).

I hate when I have to stick a syringe down my baby’s throat (not exactly, but that is how I feel), just to make sure that my baby takes her needed medicine to get better.  I simply hate it when it comes to medicine time because I know my baby hates it which means I hate it too!

This next product is definitely a must have for a variety of reasons and if you are a momma or a poppa, I do not have to explain why.  Reliadose, is a bottle with a removable syringe for your medicine.  You decide how much medicine will be dispensed at a given time (mixed in with their milk or juice).  On top of that, you can see how much medicine was given and how much is left.  To me, this innovation is one that will make every parent’s life easier and every baby’s sick day, a much more pleasant one.

Both the Adiri Nurser and Reliadose, retail for only $14.99.  They are  two must haves that don’t break the bank and will make your life so much more manageable.

(Disclosure: The products were provided by P3R Publicity and WaterGeeks for review purposes and does not affect my views or feedback of the products.  This review is based solely on my personal opinion and experience and results may vary person to person.)

• When:           Wednesday, October 27th from 7:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
• Where:         Coco’s Bakery Restaurant, 5350 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, CA 90230.
• Who:              Chef Heather Gardea, the creator of Coco’s signature soups, salads and entrees, will make an appearance and will be available to discuss Coco’s Premium Organic Coffee, as well as their amazing partnership with family farmers to purchase 100% organic, fair trade coffee, roasted specifically for Coco’s.
• What:            Guests will be treated to a free cup of Coco’s Premium Organic Coffee.

Just weeks ago, I reviewed the spa services at The Huntington Spa.  On Sunday, November 7, The Huntington Spa at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena is offering a complimentary wellness workshop on the health benefits of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine by  Dr. Paulette Y. Saddler, M.D., F.A.C.P. Other specials include discounts on a luxurious Four Hands Massage and new Thalgo facials. 

If you have the time, definitely take advantage of this offer.  I think it’s a great way to learn about wellness and get your inside look into this wonderful spa.

Halloween was the one day that I really looked forward to when I was a child, for a variety of reasons.  For one, I could be Cinderella or Little Red Riding Hood for one day (which is any little girl’s dream) and I could also eat all the candy my heart desired (well, my Mom had a two candy maximum, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t sneak candy under my bed).

My favorite part of Halloween, besides dressing up and carving pumpkins was trick-or-treating.  I loved the feeling of approaching a door and having people dump candy, money and toys into my bag.

While I don’t want to spoil the “happy” in Halloween, safety is one of my biggest priorities for my children.  While I love having my children join in on the festivities, I also know that it’s a day that could potentially pose a threat to their safety.

So what precautionary measures can you take for you and your children?  There are some steps you can take to make your Halloween a happy one.

1. Go on to The Family Watchdog and search for all registered sex offenders in your area.  In my area, there are two registered offenders and one involves a lewd act with a minor under 14 years of age (and yes, I’ve studied his face, just in case).

Read more of my post at Savings.com.

When I send my daughter’s lunch to school, I want to be assured that her lunch is safe to eat, when it’s time to eat.  With most ice packs that go into lunchboxes, you are never too sure about their longevity because they usually melt within a couple of hours.  With my daughter’s preschool, if the children don’t finish their lunch, they are given their lunch a second time in lieu of snacks.  In that case, most ice packs will not hold up to the needed hours for the lunch to be unspoiled.

PackIt is a personal cooler and lunch bag that keeps contents cold for up to 10 hours.  The lunch bag comes in cute colors and designs.  My daughter has the polk-a-dot one and she loves how it looks, plus she loves that her friends love it too (she’s at that age).  On top of that, it’s PVC Free, non-toxic, earth safe, and reusable.

I love that it’s a no hassle lunch bag.  You literally stick it in the freezer overnight and when you need to use it, you take it out and place the contents into it.  While I use it for my daughter’s lunch, you can also use  it to store drinks, baby bottles, wine, makeup, and pretty much anything else you could think of (of course, size appropriate).

Another added bonus of using the PackIt is that you could potentially save $100,000 by packing a lunch during a 30 year career.  So not only can you eat safely and preserve the freshness of products, you can also save money.  To me, this bag is a winner!

(Disclosure: The product was provided free of charge for review purposes and does not affect my views or feedback of the products.  This review is based solely on my personal opinion and experience and results may vary person to person.)

Did you know your home was a gold mine of unused things?  Seriously, if you took out all the unused items in your home, you probably could set up shop to make some serious cash or save money by reusing.

Having children definitely gets me thinking about ways that I could save and have fun simultaneously.  By recycling and reusing, not only do my children get to have some fun at home, but they learn the value of taking care of the earth and how important it is to do so.

There are so many things you could do with unwanted items.  With a little thinking and creativity, the possibilities are endless.  So I’ve compiled a list of things my family does in order to reuse, recycle, and save money.

• Newspaper & Magazines – After reading them, don’t toss them away.  You could reuse them to wrap gifts or use it for an art project with your kids.  Just coat the paper with a base coat of white, and then you could use it just like any other paper and decorate it to your liking.Hungry for more ideas? Look here to find simple but fun ideas to reuse newspaper.

For extra tips that you never thought of, read more of my post at Savings.com