November 24, 2014

Wet Ones Product Review





 I was chosen by Smiley360 to do a review on Wet Ones Hand Wipes. They sent me an awesome kit that included a 24ct box of single hand wipes - perfect for on the go, a travel pack of 15 wipes, and a tub of 40 wipes all in the limited editions Citrus Scent. I was also sent some coupons to share with family and friends so they could try out Wet Ones for themselves. With so many kiddos in my family those coupons were definitely appreciated! I of course shared some wipes with my brothers so they could try them out with their little ones.

If you'd like a chance to try out some great products for yourself and your family then check out Smiley360 - Click Here. It's a great program that puts you in touch with a lot of great brands waiting to hear your opinion.

My Review:

I grabbed the box of single hand wipes and started stuffing them into my kiddos bags. I've seen how they eat at home, I can only imagine how messy they get at school. I like that they're easy to open, even for the youngest. The hand wipes are really large, larger than other hand wipes I've used. They were really moist and didn't dry out too quickly. They were able to clean up the messiest of faces, especially after eating one of my chocolate cupcakes. I really didn't want to share, but sharing is caring - right? Kids will always get messy, so it's great to have these single packs handy if you don't want to carry the tub around. The wipe has a nice soft citrus scent to it, not very strong at all. It also didn't dry out my skin, so I know it was gentle on his. It doesn't have a huge alcohol type smell to it either, like some other wipes tend to do.


Next was the tub which took a little work. I found it a little difficult to get the wipe into the top part. Once I threaded it through I then had a problem of keeping it to pull the next one up with the one I was going to use. Not sure if that makes sense to everyone, but bear with me. After several attempts I finally got it working. I just used the extra wipes to clean up the counters and tables so they wouldn't go completely to waste. You probably won't have as much trouble as I did, I'm sure I was doing it incorrectly. Either way these wipes were more like the size of baby wipes. They had the same scent as the single packs and the larger pack. I love these tubs and find them super handy when all you have is one hand to use. Yea, try chasing a one year old around trying to wipe his face when he absolutely wants none of it. Good luck!

Wet Ones Hand wipes are anti-bacterial so they kill 99.99% of bacteria, wipe away grime, and get nice soft hands. They use aloe so that way you hands stay nice and soft and don't get all dried out. They're hypoallergenic as well so they're pretty gentle on your hands. Have a kiddo with sensitive skin? No problem! They also make a special Sensitive Skin wipe that is extra gentle. They are hypoallergenic, alcohol- and fragrance-free! All varieties of Wet Ones are readily available at most grocery and big box stores and are pretty affordable. So head to your local store and find them for yourself - you'll be happy with the results.



Disclaimer: I received this mission kit from Smiley360 for the sole purpose of doing this review. All products contained in this post were given to me for FREE in return of an honest review. All opinions are my own and no further compensation was received.






November 20, 2014

Zep Cleaning Products












I received 3 bottles of All-Around Cleaner and Degreaser, and 2 bottles of Quick Clean Disinfectant from Zep and Crowdtap. I shared some bottles with my brothers and kept one of each for myself.

So what's so different about Zep cleaning products?
Well Zep is basically commercial strength products that you can easily use in your home. But as strong as it is, there aren't any harsh chemical smells, and it didn't kill my hands when I used them without gloves on. They have every type of cleaning product imaginable and all at a really affordable price. Whether you want products that are for a specific area of your home, or an all purpose cleaner - they have it all.

 

All Around Oxy Cleaner and Degreaser
What I love most about this cleaner is that there are no harmful fumes. No gross smells choking you, preventing you from breathing. It has a very light scent to it, much like most other cleaning products. I tried to clean different areas of my home so I could get a feel for what it could do. I started with the stove, which I must admit has seen better days. Lately I hadn't really had the time to clean it and well, it definitely showed. Everyone cooks, but no one cleans and well these kiddos love to leave a mess behind. As long as they don't have to clean it they're dirtying it up. Something had obviously overflowed and had now turned into a burned and charred mess. I'm not sure if the cleaner wasn't strong enough, or the greasy whatever had just fuzed into the stove and was now not going to come off. I was committed though and tried hard to win the battle, but in the end the mess won. I'm sure with another round of Zep will finish it off, but for today it'll stay. Hey don't judge me for my messy stove okay? I've got 5 kiddos here and even the grown ups look at the mess and leave it for the next person. Overall, I think this cleaner got a 4 out of 5 rating for me. It did wonderfully with the smaller messes, but for the larger more involved messes - well I just needed more oomph.


Quick Clean Disinfectant
How many of us have Lysol in our households, I'm sure a great number of us. I do have Lysol, but honestly no matter what scent there always tends to be a chemical smell. The Zep Quick Clean Disinfectant has a light smell that deodorizes while it kills 99.9% of bacteria. With 5 kids the bathroom was definitely where I was taking this bad boy. The restroom can get so gross with 4boys in the house so I wiped down practically every surface in there. The main areas - the sink and toilet were first. There was basically no real smell that I could notice, just clean. I just sprayed it and let it air dry. I did wipe certain areas afterwards though so no spots could be seen. For this I give it a 4.5 out of 5, only because you have to wipe afterwards if food is coming into contact with the surface you just sprayed. For me it seems a little counter productive when I have to wipe what I just disinfected.

Overall I think Zep products are definitely worth a try and you should add some to your household products. You can buy Zep products at most Walmarts and other stores, just check their website to see what stores are included. I'll be trying out other Zep products in the future especially the Calcium, Lime, and Rust Remover because down south here in Texas we have some really hard water.





Disclaimer: I received the 5 bottles of product from Zep and Crowdtap for the sole purpose of reviewing them. All opinions are my own and no further compensation was received.







Hidden Valley Ranch Fest






I was super duper excited to be chosen for the 2nd Annual Hidden Valley Ranch Fest courtesy of Crowdtap. I received some great stuff from them including: a fantastic green shirt,recipes, cute little dipping bowls, packs of seasoning/dressing mix, coupons for Hidden Valley Ranch, and a bottle of ranch dressing.

The bowls are super cute and easy to place on your plates. They're really convenient, especially for my family who have a lot of people who don't really like dressing touching their food. The recipes were in both English and Spanish which was perfect for sharing with some of my family members that don't read English well.

I had a party planned, but sadly the weather didn't want to cooperate so I just handed out the dressing mixes along with some bowls, recipes, and coupons to some family and friends. They all tried making the potatoes with ranch because I mentioned how awesome they were. Seriously whether you use instant or "real" potatoes, russet or red, you need to get some ranch taters in your life! Below is the recipe I got off of the Hidden Valley Ranch website, feel free to use it as you wish. I omitted certain ingredients, but they still came out fantastic.

Original Ranch Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:
  • 1 tablespoon canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
  • 2 pounds peeled Idaho potatoes chopped
  • 2 tablespoons Hidden Valley® Original Ranch Salad® Dressing & Seasoning Mix
  • 3 tablespoons butter softened
  • salt to taste
  • ⅓ cup half-and-half
  • pepper to taste
Directions:
Place potatoes in large pan with water over high heat and boil until tender but still firm, about 15–20 minutes. Heat butter, half-and-half and peppers in saucepan over low heat until combined. Drain potatoes and place in mixer with butter sauce. Add dressing mix and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

I cheated and used instant Idahoan Potatoes for the mashed potatoes and left out the chipotle peppers because I'm not a fan. The mashed potatoes came out super flavorful and I'll definitely be using real potatoes next time.

I also used the seasoning on my country style pork ribs. I took the package and slightly sprinkled over top and then rubbed it into the pork. I let it sit for about 20 minutes before putting it to cook. Once it was almost done I then took a little bbq sauce and just basted the ribs with it. If you've never had bbq chicken or ribs with ranch dressing before, you're definitely missing out! As you can see below the kids absolutely loved it and were wanting seconds, sadly there wasn't any more left and they asked me to make it again next time.



So that meal was two days ago and today, Nov 19, I'm using the ranch dressing mix to season my drumsticks and russet potatoes. I just sprinkled 2 tbsps onto the potatoes first and mixed them really well. I dumped them into a pan and proceeded to coat the chicken. I set the temp at 375 as that's normally what chicken recipes ask for. I've honestly never made this before so hopefully it comes out delish.

My nephew had a long practice so wasn't able to get a picture of the monsters eating. They practically inhaled everything without breathing, I don't know how they do it. They're like teenage tasmanian devils, all that was left was some chicken bones and happy kids.

I loved Hidden Valley Ranch before this and I definitely love it more now. I didn't think there were many ways to use ranch other than on top of a salad, or as a dip for buffalo wings. It's much more versatile and I'll definitely be adding ranch to my spice rack.


Disclaimer: I received the products shown above for the sole purpose of doing a review. All opinions are my own and no further compensation was received. If you would like to try out great products, then join Crowdtap.