Snuggin Go Giveaway

Snuggin Go (Designed by a Mom/Neonatal Nurse Practitioner)

As a mom of three, and a mom who had two premature babies, one in the NICU and battling plagiocephaly, I absolutely fell in love with this product! This is not your standard head rest, the Snuggin Go is for infants 4 pounds and greater and up to one year of age. This amazing product was invented by Beth Rumack, a neonatal nurse practitioner and mother of three. After many years of teaching parents how to use rolled up blankets and towels to position their babies safely in their car seats, in 2004 she designed the Snuggin Go.
The Snuggin Go is especially beneficial to babies with airway problems because it helps to keep the airway in a neutral position. It is also great for babies who have torticollis or favor holding their head to one side. The Snuggin Go helps solve many problems by helping to give support where it is needed.
The Snuggin Go is not only great in car seats, but in strollers, high chairs, swings and infant seats.
Check out this award winning product at http://www.snuggingo.com/ and enter to win one here on my blog!

Here’s how to enter: First, sign up to Google Friend Connect to follow me and “like” Snuggin Go on FB:

Each entry below counts as 1
Share your story with me and why you love this product to
Tell me why you want this product, is it a gift or for your own baby, etc.?
Share this giveaway on Twitter
Share this giveaway on FB
Become a fan and like Snuggin Go on FB www.facebook.com/snuggingo
Contest ends Monday Dec. 13th, winner will be chosen @ random via random.org and will be contact by email as well as announced on my blog. Winner will have 48 hrs. to respond or another winner will be chosen. Don’t forget to leave your email address along with your comment!

Wordless Wednesday

Rainbow's 1st Race for the Cure!

Easy Fudge!

I always make fudge for the holiday's and love to try out new recipes, which I will be sharing with you as I try them. Someone recenlty asked me about peanut butter fudge, so I decided to post a few of my fudge recipes on this wonderful Monday.

Creamy Peanut Butter Fudge
1 (14oz) Can of Eagle Brand Milk
1/2 c. of Creamy Peanut Butter
8oz. Bar of White Chocolate
1 tsp. Vanilla

First you want to line a 9in. square pan with wax paper
Heat Eagle Brand and peanut butter over medium heat, stirring constantly
After it starts to bubble add white chocolate until melted then stir in vanilla
Pour evenly in pan and let chill aprox. 2hrs
Lift wax paper from pan and cut fudge into squares and serve

Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge
1 (10 oz.) pkg. of Peanut Butter Chips
1 (14oz) Can of Eagle Brand Milk
1/4 c. margarine
1/2 pkg. of Chocolate Chips (about 6oz.)

First you want to line a 9in. square pan with wax paper
Heat Eagle Brand milk (a little more than half the can),peanut butter chips, and about 2tbs. of the margarine over medium heat, stirring constantly until melted
Pour peanut butter mixture into pan
In seperate pan mix remander of milk, margarine and choc. chips until melted
Pour chocolate mixture over peanut butter and let chill aprox. 2 hrs.
Lift wax paper from pan and cut fudge into squares and serve

Hand Crafted Basket Giveaway from RellaRoo

Check out all the awesome designs @ Rellaroo's

on Mindi's Etsy Page

It’s giveaway time!

Mindi at Rellaroo’s has
agreed to take part in my first giveaway and I am so happy to be able to give you a chance to win a handmade basket of your choice from her Etsy page. I have a basket of my own and have used it for several different things already. They are great for so many uses! Storage basket/organizer, diaper caddy, gift baskets, party baskets, decorative uses, Halloween candy, or other holiday décor…the list could go on. I think any of you would love a great handmade basket! Here’s a little history from Mindi @ Rellaroo’s to get you started:

Rellaroo's
My name is Mindi and I have been sewing (since my mother made me take lessons) I was about 9 years old. Thanks Mom!
I grew up in Michigan and have transplanted to hustle and bustle of New York City where I live and work in the city with my husband.
My loving sister (who also sews and makes beautiful quilts!), inspired the shop name of RellaRoo. She was fond of calling me Minderella! :)
I love creating something beautiful yet functional. Nothing makes me prouder than when people receive a handmade item and say …”You made this?”
I also enjoy putting together gift baskets for friends, relatives paying special attention to the detail of what that individual would like. If you are interested in a custom gift basket, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

Here’s how you can enter (each counts as 1 entry)
Mandatory Entry:
Sign up to follow TheCooksBuns with Google Friend Connect
Leave a comment letting me know your entries and contact email
(each entry below counts as 1 entry)
 Follow TheCooksBuns on Twitter
 Add Rellaroo’s to your favorites on Etsy
http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_query=RellaRoo&search_type=all.com/
 Share Rellaroo’s on FB and or Twitter
 Tweet or Facebook this: Enter to win a fabulous handcrafted basket by RellaRoo at http://www.thecooksbuns.blogspot.com/

Leave me a comment to let me know what task or tasks you have done to enter
Contest ends Nov. 30th at midnight, winner will be chosen @ random via random.org and will be contact by email as well as announced on my blog. Winner will have 72 hrs. to respond or another winner will be chosen. Don’t forget to leave your email address along with your comment and good luck to you all!

Cheesy Shepard Pie

Cheesy Shepard Pie

This very simple meal is sure to be yummy with all that cheese! And under 10 steps to make :)

1. Cook your ground beef with chopped onions until browned

2. Peel potatoes and bring to boil with butter and water, then mash with mixer when tender

3.Chop carrots and steam until tender

4. In a baking dish add a can of drained corn, edamame or peas (i dont like peas but some do) carrots and a can of cream of mushroom soup w/a splash of milk and ground beef

5. Top w/mashed potatoes and add lots of cheddar cheese and scallions on top

6. Bake @ 375 for aprox. 25 min. until cheese is toasty

7. Scoop and serve, salt and pepper to taste

8. Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday Our Family Pictures

My fight against Endometriosis

Through many years of suffering from endometriosis and many surgical treatments, drugs, money spent, time and pain I am going to try something new and I am going to share the experience with you guys throughout this journey. I was finally diagnosed 8yrs. ago after years of extremely painful monthly cycles and infertility. I have stage 4 (severe w/dense adhesions) endo. and am still suffering in many ways from this awful disease even after all my efforts and medical treatments. This has brought me to the point I am at now. After years of research I have decided to get real with myself and try the holistic approach to helping with this disease. Endometriosis is not typically fatal, but it does put a woman at greater risk for other disease (which I already have). In a woman's normal monthly cycle if you do not become pregnant you shed the lining of your uterus (endometrium) and you have a period, but in women with endo. the flow backs up and this results in internal bleeding into the pelvic and abdominal cavity which also causes inflammation. Through gathering information over the years I can say that I now have some hope again and am ready to try this new approach to the disease.
One thing I will be doing is changing my eating habits. Here's an idea of what I will be eating and avoiding.
Foods to avoid: Meat,Dairy,Soy,Wheat,Caffine,Butter and Sugar
Foods that are important to your diet: Organic Fruit/Veg.,Fiber,Omega3,Green tea,Dark green vegetables,Nuts,Flaxseed,Beans, and Water
Feel free to share your story or ideas with me...I am very open at this point!

My Kitchen

Italian Veggie Stew



For this yummy recipe you can add or take out whatever you like to make your family happy because there's a lot of options to use and still get the same flavor.
I started with a turkey sausage and then added veggies and italian spices then topped with fresh spinach and mozzarella to top just before serving. Keep in mind I am not a measuring cook nor do I stick to the recipe, so feel free to improvise :)

Turkey Sausage (brown with chopped onions and a chopped garlic clove or two)
Then add chopped veggies
Carrots
Brocolli
Cabbage
Then add juices (and italian spice,I use a palm full of 5th seasoning)
Veggie Stock (1 Can)
Tomatoes (canned)
Chick Peas (canned)
Tomatoe juice (1 cup)
Add water to fill pot the rest of the way to cover and simmer soup until veggies are tender.
Just before serving add fresh spinach and cheese

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday to Wranglers Best Buddy! Buddy pics from past 3 yrs. We love you!

Roast

Roast Potatoes and Carrots, Yummo!


Here's one of my favorite meals, ever! It's a classic easy crock pot meal, my favorite way to cook.
Roast Potatoes and Carrots:
Use whatever kind of roast you have, or stew meat works easy as well
Diced Carrots in Chunks
Diced Potatoes
Celery (optional)
Sliced Onions
1 Can beef broth
1 Can tomatoes (optional)
1 brown gravy mix or french onion soup mix (to your taste)
add water to cover vegetables and season to your taste with salt, pepper, garlic,etc.

In the spirit of Halloween

Football Season! It's hard to believe the old stadium is gone!

Follow Up On Tillage


Our summer garden project was quiet an experience. I took advice from many people about getting the proper soil, but in the end I kind of did my own thing with a mixture of the ideas. I wanted to make it as inexpensive as possible so I found a local compost center and we got free compost to add to the red Oklahoma clay/dirt. We were out of pocket $10 for a load the second time we went back, which filled an entire trailer bed. So, not bad! I bought a rain barrel ($40) to help water and cut cost watering, unfortunally we did not have much rain. Another thing I added to my soil mixture was coffee grounds, which a local business saved for me and I added them as I got them. The grounds have a lot of nutrients that are helpful to the plants, which I posted about in an earlier post. I planted a variety of things, peppers, onion, carrots, broccolli, lettuce, cucumber, squash, tomatoes and cilantro. Some of which did much better than the others. My best plants were the peppers, squash and cucumbers...the others not so good this time. This was definetly a learning experience as a first time gardener. I will now know more about what to do next year, so even though I was not thrilled with how it all turned out in the end, I did learn what works and what doesnt. I also learned that a garden takes a lot of work! I will keep you updated on what I think worked and what was a waste of time or money.

Snack Mix Ideas:Fun and easy snack ideas for the kiddo's to help with and eat

Cocoa Smores Snack Mix:
Teddy grahams
Marshmallows
Chocolate chips
1 pkg. Hot cocoa (add dry)
Add any other fun sweet treats you like before mixing together

Apple Cinnamon Snack Mix:
Chex cereal (wheat, rice, corn...you decide)
Dried apples
Yogurt covered raisins
Apple Cinnamon cheerios
Almonds
Mix cinnamon and brown sugar then coat mix and its ready to eat.

Our Journey With Plagiocephaly


Do you ever look at your baby and wonder if what you are seeing is real? Is my baby’s head shape ok? It’s sometimes hard for a parent to see what others might because we don’t want to admit that there could be anything wrong with our perfect little one. I went back and forth on this issue, until I finally addressed it and thankfully it wasn’t too late to do something about it. Our pediatrician agreed that Wrangler’s head measurements were off and after I brought it to his attention he sent us to a local therapy place that makes helmets for kids with misshaped heads. After, going for our consult there I was not happy with what they were telling me, way too many side effects from kids wearing these helmets. So, I started to research a lot and this is when I found Cranial Technologies. Cranial Tech’s says they are reshaping children’s lives and this is exactly what they did for Wrangler. After our consult at Cranial Tech I was filled with so much hope. Wrangler was about 4mo. old at the time and this was going to be a long journey AND a 5 plus hour drive on Friday’s, but I knew in my heart it was the right choice for our family and his future. We often left very early in the morning on Friday just me and the 4mo. old baby in the car for 5 hours there just for a 30 minute adjustment visit, only to turn around and drive back 5 hours home. Other times I would meet my mom half way and she would go with us, helping with the crying unhappy baby in the back seat. Then sometimes we flew just thirty minutes there and then back, me and Wrangler on the plane back and forth. All, these times tested my patients big time and at times, I cried, but thanked God at the same time, only hoping for the best outcome. We did this for almost a year, because after the first band Wrangler needed one more just to assure the best end results. I can honestly say with all my heart that this was the best choice for the best end result of our battle with Plagiocephaly and I could not be happier! Plagio has become more common today because of SIDS the doctors are telling us to sleep our baby’s only on their back and then our babies are getting misshaped heads, instead we should be turning them, to their side to sleep as well in my opinion. In most cases it’s the external pressures being applied to the soft baby’s skull that leads to one of the several different types of deformities. Cranial Tech has what is called a DOC Band and here are some quick facts about it below.
If you have any question about the shape of your babies’ head go to their web site and take an online evaluation today, don’t wait! www.cranialtech.com
Facts about the DOC Band and Cranial Technologies:
• The Band weighs only about 6 ounces
• Cranial Tech treats babies age 3 months to 18 months
• The band is made from a material that causes less irritation to skin
• The band is so light it doesn’t interfere with child’s daily activities
• The band encourages growth in the flattened areas of the head
• The DOC Band has been FDA approved since 1998
• The company has been in business for 20 plus years

Wordless Wednesday