Product Review - Baby Bottles - Dr. Brown's Options Narrow

I have been testing this bottle for a few months and finally have time to upload a video about it. This post is not sponsored, I received a sample bottle for free when I signed up for a mailing list. 

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Dr. Brown's released a new bottle this year that is supposed to address the concerns from their previous line: large bulky body, too many parts to wash, doesn't work without the vent. See my last bottle review for a refresher. Here are my thoughts.

Photo from Dr. Brown's site

Dr. Brown's Options Narrow Bottle - 4 oz

The bottle is meant to work with or without vent by having a different type of nipple and ring that does not leak, pretty much what Avent does. The body is slimmer which is a very nice modification even compared to Avent.

Video version of my review here:

Photo from Dr. Brown's site

Photo from Dr. Brown's site

However, the cons of this bottle are that it has a small and narrow nipple. The soft nipple with a large base was Dr. Brown's biggest selling point as it was closest to the real breast. This new Options bottle loses that feature which is unfortunate because having the ability to use the bottle without vent isn't a strong enough selling point versus the realistic nipple. While the bottle can be used without vent, the flow is significantly slower without the vent. So to really optimize the performance, you should still use it with the vent, thus there would still be as many parts to wash. 

Overall, I think Dr. Brown's is making progress with the new design. A slimmer body is a good feature. But the other improvements are not enough to get me to switch from Avent. 

Hidden Garden Foods Gluten Free Cookies + Giveaway

It takes no effort to convince me to eat my veggies. I love them. However, my husband is a different story. But his motto with foods he doesn't like is that if he can't taste it, he won't hate it. Our household has been taste testing bags of cookies from Hidden Garden Foods this past week. Oh such hard work! Woe is me...Really though, someone ships me free cookies that are absolutely addicting. Life can't get any better.

The found of Hidden Garden Foods makes cookies with vegetables "hidden" in them to get her children to eat more veggies. Alas, such a thing as chocolate chip and pumpkin was born. The other flavors we tasted were Red Velvet made with beets, Cocoa Cherry made with spinach, and Ginger Snap made with butternut squash. They're also gluten free which is great news for GF kiddos out there! I found the packaging to be very attractive and enticing with its colorful letters. 

There are currently 4 flavors and they retail for $4.99 a bag. They are sold in Bristol Farms, Berkeley Farms, and will be available in Sprouts in April.

Here's what they look like. The photos are in order of my favorite to least favorite flavors.

Tastes just like choc chip - only a hint of pumpkin. 

I couldn't taste the beets at all in this one. 

Only a hint of spinach. 

Stronger ginger flavor than butternut squash.

Hidden Garden Foods is sponsoring a giveaway of 2 bags of each flavor, that's a total of 8 bags of cookies (retail value $40). Enter in the Rafflecopter widget below. RESTRICTED TO US RESIDENTS ONLY.

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Blue Isle Mediterranean Yogurt Spread

When Blue Isle told me they were sending samples of their Mediterranean spreads, I thought I would get one or two containers or at least a coupon to get some at my local store. Behold, they sent me 10 containers, two of each flavor. What to do, what to do...

I brought the spreads to a few holiday dinners and tasted them on their own. My favorites were the spicy vegetable, original, and blueberry flavors. They hold up pretty firmly and have the consistency of a softer cream cheese. It's much less of a dip and much more of a spread.

Blue Isle is available in the following flavors:

·       Original

·       Honey

·       Blueberry

·       French Onion

·       Spicy Vegetable

Available for purchase at Harmon’s, Mollie Stones, Central Market, Fiesta Mart, The Fresh Market, New Seasons, H-E-B, Lucky’s, QFC, Fred Meyer, Jon’s Marketplace, Strack and Van Til, at natural food stores and better supermarkets nationwide.

Suggested retail price is $3.29 for an 8 oz tub.

When my friend invited us to her house for the holidays, I thought it'd be a great chance to try my favorite Cheesecake recipe using a mix of the Blue Isle plain and honey flavors. I replaced cream cheese with the spreads. It is a lower calorie, healthier version. I'll call it probiotic cheesecake. hee hee

I didn't have graham crackers for a crust so I used Pamela's gluten free brownie mix for the bottom. This is a sample size. All you do is add water and oil to the mix. Very easy and very tasty. It made the cheesecake even healthier!

I halved the recipe to make only 8 cakes.

The shape didn't hold up perfectly but I was surprised that it did hold up at all given the softness of the replacement ingredients. I'm really impressed. The texture was also quite close to cheesecake. It has a little more squish when bitten but otherwise it's very similar. The probiotic cheesecake tastes mostly like the normal version, just less indulgent. It's sweet and creamy yet not rich like cheesecake. I gained some of my pregnancy weight during the winter by eating cheesecake so I welcome a healthier, lower calorie version. I am now a converted fan of replacing cream cheese with Blue Isle yogurt spread.

On another attempt, I thought I would try something savory with the spreads by using my favorite Recipe for spinach dip. Once again, I replaced cream cheese with Blue Isle yogurt spread plain flavor and replaced sour cream with Greek yogurt. The spinach dip tasted very close to the original version. Once again less rich but in a savory dish like this, I didn't mind so much. It doesn't spread as smoothly as the original version does but the taste is about the same. Hooray to health!

Thanks again to Blue Isle for sending me these samples. I truly think it's a great product and would actually buy it in stores. Especially to use as a cream cheese replacement.

Also don't miss your chance to win $25 credit to Caviar food delivery service.

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Product Review - Baby Lotions for Eczema, Diaper Rash, Yeast Infections

We are caught in such a rigid lotion routine here because my son's skin is so sensitive. He gets eczema in the summer from heat and dryness. This winter we are dealing with dry skin from the cold and irritation from his drool. Just recently he started having yeast infections in his diaper area which has spread to his belly button and his armpit?!? How did it get there? Ahh. Well here are the products I use to deal with these issues. If you have any suggestions, I'm open to hearing them.

 This is an example of eczema patches on his right side. It was more red in person and there were some patches on his body.

*Hooray for me finally getting my video to be under 4 mins* 
*All links are affiliate* 

 Aveeno Baby Fragrance Free Daily Moisture

We use this one for everyday, full body coverage. It's good for babies without sensitive skin who don't need something stronger.

http://amzn.to/1YKDy9E

Eucerin Eczema Relief Body Creme

We use this lotion when he has eczema flare ups. It's more effective than the Aveeno above. I'm actually just waiting to finish the Aveeno bottle and will use this Eucerin one for everyday use.
http://amzn.to/1YKCrH3

Cortizone 10
Check with your doctor before you use Hydrocortisone. The over the counter version has 1% steroid which is a very small amount and should still be safe for use. I checked with my doctor and I still use it sparingly. This creme is very effective for eczema flare ups. One or two applications and the redness fades away. Then I go back to using Eucerin until the next flare up.

http://amzn.to/1YKDRRO

Aquaphor Healing Ointment
This ointment is a great multi-purpose one to keep around. The jar lasts a long time. In the winter we use it for his dry skin all over his body. It works wonders for dry skin caused by cold weather and drool on his face. Otherwise, we use it with every diaper change.

http://amzn.to/1OtzsDp

Aquaphor Diaper Rash Cream
When diaper rashes get too red, one or two applications of this cream clears it up right away. It works much better for diaper rash than the one above but it is not a multi-purpose cream.

http://amzn.to/1YKEAT9

Lotrimin AF - Antifungal for Jock Itch
For yeast infections, we use antifungal cream, active ingredient is Clotrimazole so any brand should be ok. Please check with your doctor use of this too. We knew he had a yeast infection because his diaper rash was more red than usual, did not go away despite using all the usual creams above, persisted for 5 days. It also ended up spreading to his armpit and the creases of his thighs. The nurse told us to soak him in a baking soda bath for 10 mins at a time, three times a day. Then use the Lotrimin three times a day. Also put regular diaper rash cream on top of lotrimin. After a week, this combination of treatment cleared up the infection.

http://amzn.to/1YKEOd1

This is an example of how smooth his skin can be when he's not irritated by anything.

Product Review - Breast Pumps - Spectra S2 and M1, Medela Harmony

Breast pumping has been a major part of my life for the last 7 months and hopefully for another 5 months as I strive to exclusively feed breast milk to my baby for the recommended first year. As you can expect, I have many opinions on many things and breast pumps is now one of those things.

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My baby is 7 months old. Supplemented with formula in the first 5 weeks then exclusively on breast milk ever since. I exclusively pumped until week 8 when I re-introduced nursing. Now I pump 5 times a day and nurse twice. On weekends, I exclusively nurse. He drinks 32-35 oz of milk a day, 4.5 oz at a time. He eats about 3-4 oz of solids, twice a day.
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Here's a video I made to show the three pumps I use. I am very impressed with the Spectra line of products. Thanks for sticking with me through these long videos. I'm working on saying less but I find that to thoroughly review the entire product, I feel like I need to cover so much information. At least this is an improvement from my last 10 minute video on bottles.

*Links are affiliate links*

Spectra S2

Photo from Spectra - annotations by me

This pump was available through my health insurance. It retails on Amazon for $114. It is a hospital grade pump and has lasted me for 7 months and counting through heavy use in the first few months (8 times a day at 15 minutes each session) and currently used once daily. It runs on wall plug in only. Be sure to play around with the cycle speeds and vacuum strengths to your comfort. I thought it was uncomfortable at first until I learned to adjust the vacuum strength and cycle speeds and now I think its very gentle. I get the best let down at a cycle speed of 70 with a vacuum strength of L03. I read that hospital grade pumps need to run at a cycle speed of at least 60 to mimic a baby. The S2 goes up to 70.

This pump comes with two flanges for double pumping but you can close one off to do one sided pumping.
Weight: 3.3 lbs.

Spectra M1

Photo from Spectra, labels by me

The M1 is a portable version and runs on either a wall plug in or battery. I find that it can run straight for about 30 minutes, or I can pump 2-3 times of 15 minutes each on one charge. It is a bit weaker than the S2. To get the same amount of milk, I turn up the cycle speed and suction which puts more pressure on my breasts but its not too bad. I use this 4 times a day, 15 minutes each, at work. It is louder than the S2 but still nothing too bad. This pump comes with one flange and you can buy a second one from the Spectra website for double pumping.
Weight: 1.5 lbs

Medela Harmony
This is a manual, single sided hand pump. It works really well as an emergency pump. When I came home from the hospital engorged and with swollen nipples, I used this pump for a gentler suction and an ease into what would become my exclusive pumping journey for a few weeks. Some people have sensitive nipples and can't tolerate even the lowest levels on electric pumps, then I think the Harmony is a good option for them. I say any bit of breast milk you can feed your baby is still better than none. The Medela Harmony is a good price/value for this purpose.



Converter kit for using the Medela collection bottles and flange with the S2 or M1
The bottles for the Spectra pumps can be loose so I prefer to pump with Medela bottles. There are tubing attachments sold for making the Medela flanges compatible with the Spectra. I can't find the exact link to what I have but here are two similar options. It's the yellow tube part that's most important. There's also a way to hack the Medela flange to fit the Spectra. I personally don't want to do this because I don't want to cut the hose.

Extra Flange with attachment tube - 21 mm

 

Extra flange with attachment tube - 24 mm

Hands Free Pumping Bra
Do yourself a favor and get a hands-free pumping bra. It is so worth it. I use the Simple Wishes one in black, XS. Sizes are adjustable because your breasts will change sizes as the months go by. Don't buy it too large, you can adjust up but there's a limit to how small you can make a larger bra. You want the flanges to be held securely to your breasts.

Product Review - Baby Bottles - Dr. Brown - Avent - Munchkin Bottle Cleaner - Dr. Brown Microwave Sterilizer

Being a mother is one of the craziest and hardest jobs I've ever had. The learning curve is steep and fast. I knew nothing going into it but babies are effective teachers and mine made sure I learned how to take care of him quickly. Everyone has their own journey and I would like to share mine in product reviews. I'm going to post a series of baby product reviews that will hopefully provide some would-be parents an insight into what brands and products to buy for their needs. Here are my thoughts on Avent and Dr. Brown baby bottles.

*All links are affiliate links*

I started out fully investing in the Dr. Brown's family of products.

Dr. Brown's Starter Set - comes with three 9 oz bottles and two 4 oz bottles, 3 pipe cleaner brushes. They work just fine but are a hassle to clean. Advertised to reduce colic. I couldn't tell the difference.


Dr. Brown's Microwave Sterilizer - Works great. Easy to use. Fits in any standard microwave. Much faster than boiling water.


Dr. Brown's Bottle Cleaner - Most bottle cleaners are standard. It was my personal preference not to use one with a sponge on top. It needs to be sanitized and replaced often. I'd rather just get the bristle only brushes.

Munchkin Bottle Cleaner - I preferred this brush more. It comes with a twist out smaller brush used for cleaning nipples and small parts. A very convenient option.

The Avent brand is my favorite right now. I have so many of their products and hope to stick with it as the parts are compatible with each other.

Avent Natural 4 oz 4 pack - The Natural bottles are rounder and meant to be more natural for the hand to grip. I find them a little bulky. I send 5 bottles with my baby to my mom's house each day and these don't fit as neatly into the cooler bag.

Avent Classic 4 oz 5 pack - I prefer the Classic bottles more for their convenient slim size. I bought 8 bottles.

Avent Classic 11oz 3 pack - This size is quite large for any baby but I wanted the flexibility. I could freeze milk or pump into this bottle. I only bought 3. With the 3 large Dr. Brown's ones, I have 6 large ones for when my son grows up.

Avent Sealing Disc - These sealing discs are so handy. They convert all Avent rings (Natural or Classic) into closed caps. The caps make the bottles into storage containers. I freeze breast milk or store pureed food in any bottles I don't use. 

Avent Sippy Cup - It's too early for sippy cups but I took advantage of a product discontinued by the manufacturer. For some reason these green bottles aren't manufactured anymore even though they're just as great as other Avent cups. I'm currently using the bottles with the Classic rings and nipples

Munchkin Bottle Warmer - I don't mention this one in the video. It's the bottle warmer I use and it's been really great. It fits all the bottle sizes mentioned above. When I put pureed food into the Classic bottles, I can use the warmer to heat it up. I prefer not to microwave food that my baby gets. I'm hippy like that. This warmer has a digital timer. The directions have a chart for how many minutes are required to warm up how many ounces.

Primizie Thick Cut Crispbreads

An interesting new snack food came to my attention recently. Primizie Crispbreads sent me samples of their Gouda and Garlic flavored chips (technically it's bread). Primizie is run by a husband and wife team from Texas who previously owned a catering company.

I was really pleasantly surprised with the balanced flavor in these chips. They taste exactly like pita bread with the hummus flavor baked in. The gouda is not too strong and the garlic is prominent but not overpowering. These are great by themselves, with a dip, or topped with salsa. You can get them at Raley's for $3.99 a bag.

Sampling Manresa Bread in Los Gatos

If you've so much as peeked at the internet lately, you have probably learned that Manresa Bread recently opened a brick and mortar shop in Los Gatos. It is the result of hard work from partners David Kinch of two Michelin Star restaurant Manresa, and Andrew Burnham with head baker Avery Ruzicka, formerly of Per Se and Bouchon before heading the bread program at Manresa. I was invited to stop by and try some samples and I was in carb heaven!

The rotating menu is determined daily/seasonally, hence it is just written on brown butcher paper and crossed off as items sell out. You'll have to ask for the prices, it's not listed. Manresa Bread opens from 7AM to 3PM Wednesday through Sunday and will eventually open 7 days a week. They open until they sell out which has been earlier than 3PM since grand opening.

Left: (I think this is the hazelnut brown butter cake) Sweet with a creamy hazelnut center topped with a toasted hazelnut was one of my favorites. Not super sweet nor oily, a little crumbly and nutty tasting.
Right: Chocolate filled croissant. The chocolate was a little too dense for me but the croissant was light and flakey and perfect.

Left: Savory Tart - This was our trio's favorite item. It's a fluffy buttery croissant-like pastry with cheese, nuts and seeds, and roasted potato wedges on top. It looks and sounds intimidating but is actually a winning combination.
Right: Chocolate chip whole wheat cookie. They only offer one type and it's so good, they only need to offer one cookie.

The ham and cheese brioche was probably my least favorite. Unlike the savory tart which was nice and light, this brioche was dense and heavy and contained ham, cheese, and a billion seeds in its rolls. Well they can't all be winners.

We were given a round of the buckwheat cranberry bread which I fully intended to take home and cut up. Instead we stood outside Manresa Bread and started tearing into it with our hands. By the end, half of this round was gone before we made it to the car. Bread like this sums up exactly what Manresa Bread is about. Fresh baked, rustic style loaves or rounds, hard and crusty on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. 

The staff gave us tips for keeping the bread at home. You can use a bread box or put it in the microwave. If you've already cut into it, put the cut side down. You can also try reheating it in the oven. I put mine in a bread box and it still kept pretty well the next day but was never again quite as satisfying as it was when I ate it outside the storefront on the day it was made. Definitely buy and consume same day if you can.

Manresa Bread is partnering with Verve Coffee and selling their beans in store. Verve Coffee is a small batch roaster in Santa Cruz sourcing from authentic sustainable origins. I just made an espresso from 2 teaspoons of this Street Level variety and was so impressed. I'm not a coffee fan either but I definitely enjoyed this espresso shot. It was smooth, slightly sweet, with semi-sour fruity notes. The description says wet-process, cherry cordial, caramelized, orange zest - so maybe that explains the fruity notes. The bag is sitting at my desk at work waiting to be shared with coworkers and the smell is intoxicating throughout the day.

Mavericks Brewing - Half Moon Bay

Photo Credit: Becky Ruppel

Photo Credit: From Mavericks Press

Mavericks Brewing is a new brewery launching canned beers out of the Half Moon Bay area. The company is named after the legendary surfing competition in Half Moon Bay, which explains their choice in canned vs bottle. They aimed to provide beers that one could bring to beach and enjoy after a cold surf without needing bottle openers. The beers are intended to provide the full beer experience with a lower alcohol content of 3.75%. They currently have 3 flavors, two of which are already available in stores in the San Jose area at these businesses and aiming for a nation-wide release in Spring 2015.

  Ava's Downtown Market - Mt. View

  Maplewood Liquors - San Jose

  Royal Liquors - San Jose

Vyne Bistro

Cork and Bottle

CJ Liquor

Chabot Liquor

Farmers Union

Firehouse

Mavericks shipped samples of two of their three flavors to me. I gathered a few friends and we had a taste test.

Photo Credit: Becky Ruppel

The Rye Pale Ale was clearly the more popular of the two flavors we tested that day. My friend even said it was better than any other IPA she's ever tasted which would be in the closest category as she had never had RPA before. The RPA is made with Cascade and Chinook hops and 20% rye malt in addition to barley malts. It's fuller bodied with more pronounced hoppy notes. We would definitely order this at a bar.

Photo Credit: Becky Ruppel

The Belgian Style Wit was not so popular with our group. It didn't taste bad but mostly left no impression on anyone and was difficult to describe. It smelled stale even though that wasn't necessarily the taste. Brewed with barley and wheat malts and spiced with bitter orange, coriander, and hint of lemon. None of the latter fruity/spicy notes could be tasted.

Photo Credit: Becky Ruppel

The release of the Chocolate Porter is on hold for now. It looks very interesting based on the photo. 

Photo Credit: Mavericks Press

There is also a Tunnel Vision IPA available on tap at the brewery in Half Moon Bay and will be launched in cans by January 2015. 

If you're interested in tasting these beers, make sure to ask for them at your local bars listed above. Or you can visit Half Moon Bay Brewing Company to taste them on tap for yourself. Here is the link to Mavericks website for more information.

http://www.mavericksbeer.com/about.html