This Mama Cooks! Reviews

Healthy Super Bowl snacking with Salba

With the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl coming up, it’s time to stock the kitchen with healthy snacks. If you’re horrified that your family loves unhealthy treats like  pretzels, tortilla and potato chips, consider serving Salba Smart snacks instead.

Salba is a whole grain high in vital nutrients and minerals that provides:

• 8 x more Omega 3 than Atlantic Salmon
• 2.8 x more antioxidants than pomegranates
• 6 x  more calcium than whole milk
• 3 x more iron than spinach
• 15 x more magnesium than broccoli.
• 3 x more fiber than oats

Salba Smart takes this grain and incorporates it into tortilla chips and salsa, potato chips, tortillas and pretzels making it a healthier (and organic) football party snacking option. They even sell bags of Salba Smart Whole Grain or Salba Premium Ground that you can add to your favorite dips, soups, stews, salads, and sandwiches.

Salba Smart products can be found at Whole Foods, Vitamin Cottage Natural Grocers, and other natural foods stores. You can also order online at efoodpantry.com and Salba Smart at Amazon.com (affiliate link); All products contain 0g of trans fats, and are gluten free (except tortillas and pretzels) and Certified Non GMO.

Neosporin Lip Health 3-Day Challenge review

I recently took the Neosporin Lip Health 3-Day Challenge to try out their Lip Health Overnight Renewal Therapy and the Lip Health Daily Hydration Therapy products.

Neosporin Lip Health Daily Hydration Therapy is clinically proven to restore visibly healthier lips in three days according to their website. It contains antioxidants and essential lipids, peptide and emollients to help strengthen lips, and glycerin to attract and retain lip moisture. It also has SPF 20 to protect against sunburn, which is a big plus for me since I live at high altitude. Also, it has no parabens or other preservatives, which I like. I wasn’t able to find it in the Cosmetics Database, but if it’s like Neosporin’s other lip products, it probably has a low to moderate rating.

So far so good, right? Well, unfortunately I didn’t like the Daily Hydration Therapy product. Too much white cream comes out of the applicator when you trying to use it. The cream doesn’t blend in well to your lips, either. Instead, you’re left with a white ring of gook around your lips if you apply while not looking in a mirror – not attractive! Even though I like that it isn’t artificially sweetened, it doesn’t have a pleasant taste. It also feels gritty on my lips and doesn’t feel like the product is being absorbed.

However, I loved Neosporin’s Lip Health Overnight Renewal Therapy. This is a product I’d use both day and night. It’s greasy and thick, which is what I prefer in any sort of night cream. Since you apply it with your finger out of the pot, the cream blends in and doesn’t leave a white ring around your lips. It doesn’t have an odd taste either. I could feel this product working and have started using it in the morning when I put on my makeup. Like the day version,it doesn’t contain parabens or other preservatives.

To take the Neosporin Lip Health 3-Day Challenge yourself, register to get a coupon good for $3 off any Neosporin Lip Health product. Since the products retail for about $4.99 each, that's a big savings.

More cool stuff from J&J

While you're treating yourself to some beauty items, you may want to pick up another terrific Johnson & Johnson product, BAND-AID Princess & The Frog adhesive bandages for the kids. They are in stores now for approximately $3.49.

With Mardi Gras coming up (the movie took place in New Orleans after all) these may be a fun and safer alternative to beads for your children. Or stick a few in your purse or in the kids’ backpacks so minor cuts and scrapes do not get in the way of a good time. Honestly, I won’t give you the ol’ fish eye if I see YOU sporting a few. Princess Tiana is one cool gal.

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Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Neosporin and received a sample of the Lip Health Overnight Renewal Therapy and the Lip Health Daily Hydration Therapy to facilitate my review along with a gift certificate for my time.

I also received samples of the Lip Health and BAND-AID products from Johnson & Johnson's PR agency.

How Exederm helped one itchy kid

My daughter Lucie has had eczema since she was small. When she was a baby, I remember her sitting outside on the front walkway and scratching the tops of her feet on the sidewalk until they bled.

I’ve tried everything from baby lotions to super hydrating sticky creams and hydrocortisone to prescription ointments. As a baby, Lucie hated baby massage, so greasing her up was a challenge. Now that she’s almost seven, she still doesn’t like putting cream on her body and face since if she’s scratched up, many creams burn. She doesn’t like the stickiness of thick creams like Eucerin either.

During our visit this month to Lucie’s new allergist, the doctor recommended using products with no fragrances or dyes (free and clear) and finding a lotion that was less sticky than Eucerin. Luckily, I had just received the complete children's line of products from Exederm: Baby Eczema Cream, Baby Eczema Lotion, Baby Eczema Oil, Baby Eczema Wash, Baby Eczema Shampoo and their Flare Control Cream to try out and review. Even though Lucie’s not a baby, I knew some of these product would be worth trying out for her since Exederm claims its products are made from the mildest ingredients and are specially formulated so they don’t trigger eczema.