family

Fun, Free Weekend Activities

Abby H.

file4361308158952If you are looking for some fun on a budget, we have compiled a list of national retailers with hands-on workshops, classes and free in-store events for this weekend and many more that are coming soon.

Share this fun,money-saving list with your friends and family. And, if you know of any others to include, please let us know! It is always best to call ahead and make sure that your local store or retailer is participating to avoid disappointment.

 

 

 
Free National Park Entrance:  April 18-19th  opening weekend of National Park Week  Find out the list of participating parks (over 405 of them)
Barnes & Noble Saturday, April 18th at 11 AM Story time featuring Aqualicious plus related activities at many B&N locations. Most stores have free toddler story time, NOOK events, hands-on learning events and author events – find the times and participating Barnes and Noble stores here.

home depot workshops for adultsHome Depot Workshop for Adults

Saturday, April 18th from 10 AM to 11:30 AM – Organic Gardening

Sunday, April 12th from 1 PM to 2:30 PM – How to Install a Toilet

You can pre-register online here.

 

 

whirly twirly windwill Lakeshore LearningLakeshore Learning Store

Saturday, April 18th from 11 AM-3 PM and a few locations offer crafts every Sunday.

Kids make and take a Whirly Twirly Windmill Craft. Get more information here.

 

williams sonoma free jr chefsWilliams-Sonoma Free Technique Classes for Kids

Saturday, April 18th at 10 AM

Junior Chef: Baking Bundts – kids will learn to prepare different flavors and sizes of Bundt cakes with three different glazes. The Jr. Chef’s class is suitable for kids ages 5-13.

 

williams-sonoma free techniques classWilliams-Sonoma Free Technique Classes for Adults

Sunday, April 19th -contact your store for class time

Coffee Techniques Class: Be your own Barista and learn brewing methods and discuss various roasts and grinds that affect your finished drink. To reserve a spot, and find out specific class times, contact your closest store right here.

 

And Coming up in a few weeks:

Earth Day/Month Events in San Diego

4/21/15 at 11 AM: Pottery Barn Kids Decorate biodegradable flower pots and plant seeds for Earth Day. Call your local PBK store here for a reservation.

5/2/15: Free Comic Book Day.  Find participating stores here.

5/2/15 from 9 AM to 12 PM: Home Depot Workshop for Kids Kids Learn How to Build a Picket Fence Photo Frame ~You can pre-register online here. (Some Home Depot locations do a kids workshop each week, no pre-registration required)

5/8/15: Free Admission to National Public Gardens. A favorite annual events just in time for Mother’s Day. Find Gardens Near You

5/9/15 at 10 AM Lowe’s Build and Grow Kids make and take a Mother’s Day Planter. Register at the website here.

5/10/15 at 10 AM: Pottery Barn Botanical flower arranging. Get more information and RSVP here.

5/18/15: Free Art Museum Day. Many art museums will be offering free or discounted admission. Find our more information here.

Lego Stores Free Model Build. Usually held monthly in stores, kids ages 6 to 14 can build and binoculars. Contact your closest LEGO® Store here for details.

And one of my favorites…Bowling for Kids all Summer: Kids Bowl for Free all summer at select bowling centers. Get two free games for each child, every day, all summer long. She rental is not included. Check to see what nearby bowling alleys are participating here.

And Starting in June: Family Movies for $1 During the Summer Participating Regal Cinemas, United Artists, & Edwards Theaters offer 9 weeks of family movies, rated G or PG, for just $1 on Tuesday or Wednesday mornings at 10 AM. You can see the schedule, starting dates and movies here on the Regal website.
Be sure and check out your local library (San Diego County Library event website) and parks and recreation departments for free programs and events right in your hometown!

 

Thanks to Lori at More with Less

April 14, 2015: Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day!

Abby H.1 Comment

It’s BAAACCCCK!!!Screen Shot 2015-04-13 at 7.39.18 AM

Tomorrow is the day! Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s locations all across the US from noon until 8pm.

Find your local participating location here.

After our doctor’s appt, Lil’ Man and I will be heading down to Seaport Village for a free scoop, a walk, and a picnic lunch!

There are two locations in San Diego: Horton Plaza Mall and Seaport Village.

If you’ve never been, the line at Seaport Village goes pretty fast. It’s a great time, enjoying a tasty treat and watching the boats in the bay!

Family fun at The San Diego Kids Expo & Fair (and a giveaway)

Abby H.5 Comments

KIDS fESTSummer means tons of family fun all over San Diego! One of our favorite is the The San Diego Kids Expo & Fair and it’s right around the corner! It’s a
fun springtime fair complete with music, dance, sports demos, games, cooking classes, plus a NEWLY added Playland that kids will LOVE!

The spring San Diego Kids Expo & Fair is happening at the Del Mar Fairgrounds on Saturday April 25 and Sunday April 26 from 10am to 5pm.

I took kiddo last year and we had a blast. There is tons of fun stuff to see and do, including two of our favorite things: The play area sponsored by Playtown and Free Kids Workshop by Home Depot. If you’ve got a kiddo that loves princesses, you’re in luck, there will be character photo ops too!

Kidsfest 1 Kidsfest 2In addition to fun activities indoors, there are all kinds of fun activities and rides outdoors, including a zip line, Human Hamster Ball, Water Rollers, Laser Tag, Xorbing Balls, Body Bubbles.

You can learn all about The San Diego Kids Expo & Fair on their website, including hours and ticket prices.

Giveaway Time!! The awesome peeps over at the The San Diego Kids Expo & Fair have generously offered a family pack which includes two adults tickets and unlimited children under age 12, valid for either Saturday April 25 or Sunday April 26. It’s easy to enter! Just leave a comment letting me know why you are excited to win this giveaway. I’ll choose a winner on April 18th in the evening!

Giveaway Time: Dial Miracle Oil Hand Soap

Abby H.9 Comments

unnamedThanks to the nice ppl over at Purex Insiders, we recently got to experience Dial Miracle Oil Hand Soap.

Much like the body wash that I reviewed recently, the Miracle Oil Hand Soap is infused with Marula Oil to nourish and deeply hydrate your skin while protecting it from skin-damaging free radicals.

It’s got a great scent that is not overpowering. We’ve been using it non-stop for 2 weeks, and even the kiddo loves washing his hands with it! Thanks to the Marula Oil and vitamin E, our hands are feeling soft and clean!

Thanks to a recent episode of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, the battle of handwashing is now over. Everything goes a lot easier when you have a song to sing!

I’m super excited to be able to share Dial Miracle Oil Hand Soap with my readers! Two lucky fans will each win a coupon for 1 bottle of Dial Miracle Oil Hand Soap.

It’s easy to enter: Just leave a comment with your favorite spring time activity! I’ll select a winner on April 17th!

Thanks to Purex Insiders for supplying me with a full sized bottle of Dial Miracle Oil Hand Soap to facilitate my review. I was not financially compensated for my review.

3 Ingredient Chocolate Cake!

Abby H.3 Comments

I love this cake recipe. It’s quick, easy, and it disappears so quickly! And the best part, it’s loaded with pumpkin, so you don’t have to feel bad about serving it to your family. It’s easy enough that you can let even the littlest chef help you prepare it without risking a total cake failure!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cake

Screen Shot 2015-04-10 at 10.50.18 AMIngredients:

  • 1 Cake Mix (chocolate or Devil’s Food) I prefer the mix with pudding it it- the cake is moister
  • 1 small (approx 15 oz.) can of pumpkin
  • 1/2-1c chocolate chips (I use semi-sweet)

 

Directions:

  1. In a large mixing bowl combine cake mix and pumpkin. I used an electric mixer, but you can always mix it by hand.
  2. Add chocolate chips, stir to combine.
  3. Bake as directed on cake mix packaging. If making cupcakes, do not use cupcake liners, use spray release. Remember, there is no added fat in the recipe, so you’ll need the spray release, or you’ll be picking muffin-y goodness off the cupcake liners!

Screen Shot 2015-04-10 at 10.50.28 AMThis is the yummiest, fudgiest cake you’ll ever have. This is a great cake to take to potlucks!

  • Vegan Option: Use a vegan Cake Mix, and Vegan Chocolate chips
  • GF option: Use a GF cake mix

It was so good that we snuck some cupcakes for breakfast!Screen Shot 2015-04-10 at 10.50.41 AM

We also shared it with our friends at a play date! Even our pickiest eaters gobbled up the cupcakes!

Shopping Online to save big!

Abby H.3 Comments

One of the ways I am able to keep us so well dressed (or in kiddos case, just dressed- that kid grows like a weed!), is I am always on the hunt for a good deal on clothes.

Here are a few ways we save:

I am always looking for coupons for department stores. JCPenney’s and Kohl’s are notorious for having dollar off (for example $5 of $25+ purchases) or percent off coupons. These coupon are either paper coupons mailed to you, or available to print on their website. In the case of JCPenney’s, these coupon codes can be used online too! Both Kohl’s and JCPenney’s give you the option of ordering online and having items shipped to the store closest to you for either free or a reduced shipping.

I order most of our clothes online, for a few reasons:

  • Better selection than most stores, in terms of sizes and clearance goodies.
  • I can search for extra discounts and coupon codes while I’m online.
  • I can shop whenever (yes, even at 2am!).
  • I can go through a shopping aggregator for extra savings.

Which brings me to my next tip: Use a Cashback/Points site. Two of my favorites are Topcashback or Mypoints. You will earn cash back in the form of a paypal payment,  an Amazon.com gift card, or points that can redeemed for gift cards. You can use these sites along with a coupon code to save even more!

Most of these sites work with thousands of stores, so you’ll find a store that you like to shop!

If you have a rewards credit card, use that too.  I do not ever use ATM/Debit Card online. While our bank account is FDIC insured, there is a long process involved in getting your money back in cases of fraud, whereas with our American Express, I make a few calls, and fill a form out online, and it’s done. PLUS- I earn extra cash back when I shop online at certain retailers or types of retailers.

Use Gift Cards (or Paypal)! If you have a pre-paid gift card from a rebate or gift, or if you have a Paypal Balance (I usually have a few bucks in my paypal account from doing surveys online), use it! Most online retailers accept Paypal.

Screen Shot 2015-04-08 at 8.08.32 AMHere is one of my last JCP.com purchases, using some of the tips above:
Kiddo needed new shorts. He keeps growing, so it was time for new shorts!

 

 

 

3 pairs of shorts $5.49/each
Polo Shirt $8.99
Subtotal: $25.46
Sales Tax .80
S&H: $3.95
_____________________________

Discounts:
-$10/$25 purchase coupon code (was available on the JCP website)
-$10 Gift Card (from the JCP rewards program)
Total Out Of Pocket $10.21 (I used my Paypal Balance to pay this)

I shopped through Topcashback to earn an extra 3% cash back (approx. .15.  Every penny helps!)

Now hopefully the kid will stay the same size long enough for him to wear these new clothes out!

 

Sales Cycles: When are items on sale?

Abby H.

file0001262541721Sales are cyclical- certain items are on sale during specific times of the year, either due to holidays or special events. For example- Barbeque sauce is on sale in the summer, when people barbeque a lot. Manufacturers and stores will put out coupons and places items on sale to entice shoppers to spend more. Use this to your advantage. Combine sales with coupons and increase your stockpile and plan your menu.

Here are some examples (but not a complete list):

JANUARY

Diet Food and Weight Loss Equipment (New Year’s Resolutions)
Gyms have sales and free trials
Healthy Food including Veggies
Television and other Electronics (Super Bowl Sunday)
OTC Medications (FSA’s expire in Jan./Feb.- Use it or Lose it!)
Winter Clothing and Shoes (Formal clothes are usually 75%+ off)
Organizers (totes, Christmas ornament storage containers)
White Sales (Sheets/Towels)
Snack-y food for Super Bowl parties: chips, dip. Velveeta, salsa, taquitos. There are often times really great rebates for snack food and beer or soda around the Super Bowl.
FEBRUARY

Diet Food and Weight Loss Equipment (New Year’s Resolutions)
Healthy Food including Veggies
Furniture and House wares
Candy and Chocolates

MARCH

March is National frozen food month. Many Stores like Albertson’s have a “fill a bag” sale where you are given a paper or plastic bag and you receive a discount (typically 15-25%) on each frozen item in that bag.
Spring Apparel (Easter Dresses and Suits)
Depending on when Easter falls, look for sales on Easter Dinner food: Ham, Prime Rib, stuffing, veggies, eggs, and Easter Basket Supplies.
Luggage and Travel (Spring Break)
Spring-cleaning sales will start and there will be rebates for cleaning supplies- especially with SC Johnson Products.
Between March 13-17th (St. Patrick’s Day) Corned Beef, Potatoes and Cabbage are all Dirt Cheap. Stock up!
During Lent, seafood is inexpensive.

APRIL

More Spring cleaning sales and rebates
Paper products (plates, napkins) start to have really good sales.
Paint & Wallpaper (In the same vain as spring cleaning, a lot of people start to spruce up their homes in the spring)
Jewish Foods and Eggs (Passover)

MAY

May is the start of picnic season. Barbeque food, Hotdogs, hamburgers, ribs, condiments will all be on sale throughout the summer and will be until September.

Auto Maintenance (tires, oil changes, tune ups)
Beverages, Hot dogs, Ground Beef, BBQ sauce, Ketchup, Mustard, Ribs (Often times there are some really great rebates WYB beer or soda)
Bug repellents – Sprays and Candles
Home Maintenance (carpet cleaning, duct cleaning)
SPF and After Sun products (like Aloe)

JUNE

Summer Clothes
June is National Dairy Month- Dairy Products
Summer Activities (local attractions sometimes have “locals only” days or rates)
Beverages, Hot dogs, Ground Beef, BBQ sauce, Ketchup, Mustard, Ribs (Often times there are some really great rebates WYB beer or soda)

JULY

Air Conditioning units
Summer Sports Equipment & Craft Supplies (things for families to do together)
Beverages, Hot dogs, Ground Beef, BBQ sauce, Ketchup, Mustard, Ribs (Often times there are some really great rebates WYB beer or soda)

AUGUST

BBQ and Patio Equipment (Just in time for Labor Day!)
White Sale – Linens and Towels
Back to School Supplies – Sales may Start in Late July, Depending on when school starts in your part of the world)
Bathing Suits and the last remnants of summer clothes
Back to school clothes
Jackets and light coats for fall
Beverages, Hot dogs, Ground Beef, BBQ sauce, Ketchup, Mustard, Ribs (Often times there are some really great rebates WYB beer or soda)
Breakfast foods (cereal, oatmeal, juice, bars) Cereal sales will start this month and continue into September as school starts up.
Lunch box food- juice boxes, lunchables, snacks, chips, yogurt

SEPTEMBER

The traditional Back to School Sales will start. For most school, classes begin the Tuesday after Labor Day. This is a great time to stock up on snacks that are healthy and shelf stable. 100 calorie snack packs, fruit leathers, 100% juice boxes, bottled water, peanut butter. Watch the inserts for Lunchables coupons too- they will start going on sale!

Back to School Supplies (Office Depot, Staples, and Walgreen’s often have Freebies)
Canned Goods. Canned soup and spaghetti sauce also starts to go on sale in September.
Frozen Pizza

The last three months of the year are packed full of holidays. Now is the time to stock up on “holiday foods”- Stuffing, turkey, instant mashed potatoes, broth/stock, cranberries (you can freeze the real ones for up to 6 months!), marshmallows, pudding, gelatin, flour, sugar, French fried onions, cream of mushroom soup. These ingredients can be used in everyday foods, not just once a year. Stock up when they are cheap (OR free!) and you will eat well all year.

There are LOADS of rebates during the last three months of the year for “holiday” foods, especially food that is usually served when entertaining, like crackers and cheese.

OCTOBER

Home goods such as serving dishes, and glassware (to prepare you for the onslaught of entertaining you will be doing for the holidays)
Candy, nuts
Baking/candy-making items (choc chips, sprinkles, vanilla, corn syrup, nuts, etc)
Fall/Winter clothing
Fabric, Patterns, sewing machines (Halloween)
Coats/Jackets

NOVEMBER

Winter Clothing
Blankets and flannel sheets
Heating Devices (space heaters, in wall heating units)
Turkey, ham
Canned goods (soup, chicken broth, condensed milk, veggies etc)
Baking goods (flour, sugar)
Baking wear
DECEMBER

Toys –Coupons.com usually has coupons for Fischer Price Toys in December
Gift Items There will be a lot of TMF offers and rebates on personal care this time of year. Stock up and fill your stockings and keep your wallet full.
Post-Holiday Sales I like to stock up on plain colored paper goods after each holiday and stockpile them to use throughout the year for parties and events. No one will know the red napkins are from Valentine’s Day, not from Christmas. Light Blue gift paper from Chanukah will wrap a present for a baby shower gift just the same.
Party Foods, Baking Goods, and Various Meat There will be a lot of rebates, keep your eyes open!
Canned goods (broth, soups, etc)
Prime Rib, Turkey, Ham

Year-round after a holiday, you can always pick up cheap cookie dough. Cookie dough freezes really well for about two month. You can also find plain colored paper goods, including plain colored wrapping paper and tissue paper after each holiday in the clearance section.

Beer Bread: Quick, Yummy Food!

Abby H.3 Comments

Lil’ Man and I love to cook together.  Recently I was fortunate enough to receive a Danish Dough Hook from the nice folks over at Kitchen Simple and Tomoson. Since it’s been pretty warm recently, we decided to skip making a complicated recipe that would have us in the kitchen for a long time. We opted to make beer bread!
Screen Shot 2015-03-31 at 8.56.32 AM

Beer bread is an amazing, easy to make, versatile food. It can be made to go with any meal, or it can be a meal itself! For this batch, we used Butterscotch Beer (it’s actually soda), butterscotch chips, and semi-sweet chocolate chips,  in addition to the basic ingredients below.

It was a very sweet, light dessert bread. Lil’ Man ate 3 pieces before the bread cooled!

If you’ve never used a dough hook before, it’s a kitchen tool that’s great for mixing up bread, cookies, even batters! It has a long, sturdy handle, and a wire loop that helps incorporate the ingredients. It’s a great addition to any kitchen, whether you are an every day baker, or only bake during the holidays. If you’ve got a cook in your family, they make a great gift too!

The basic recipe is as follows:

Ingredients

  • 3 cups self rising flour (sifted) (Or if you don’t have self rising flour, mix together: 3 cups flour (sifted), 3 teaspoons baking powder,1 teaspoon salt)
  • 1/4 cup white or brown sugar
  • 1 (12 ounce) can beer or other carbonated beverage- See below*
  • ½ stick melted butter

Directions

  1. Sift the flour and sugar together.
  2. Slowly pour the liquid over the dry mixture and mix until combined. We used the dough hook, but you can use a strong wooden spoon.
  3. Pour dough into a greased Dutch oven or a greased bread pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes-1 hour or until when inserted, a knife comes out clean.

You can add any one of the following before your mix it together:

½ cup of the any of the following (feel free to mix and match).  If you want more “stuff” in your bread, feel free to add more than 1/2 cup:

  • Dried fruits (make sure it’s bite sized!)
  • nuts
  • chocolate chips or any other kind of chips (white chocolate, cinnamon, butterscotch)
  • shredded or cubed cheese
  • chopped onions (raw or carmelized)
  • shallots
  • green onions
  • chives
  • To make it a main dish, pour 1/2 of the bread dough into the pan, pour in a layer of cooked meat (I like taco seasoned beef, or cut up/shredded cooked chicken breast cooked with ranch dressing powder or herbs), then top with the remaining bread dough. Bake as directed.

Any of the following spices are delicious (add to your taste):

Cinnamon, nutmeg, apple pie spice, Pumpkin pie spice, Italian seasoning, Mural of Flavor, garlic powder, onion powder. Add the herbs/spices into the flour before you add the liquids.

If you want to make a sweet dessert bread, make a crumble to top the bread with prior to baking:

  • ½ C. flour
  • ½ c. brown sugar
  • ½ c. softenened butter
  • Spices (I like Apple Pie or Pumpkin pie spice)
  1. Combine all of the ingredients together.
  2. Top the uncooked bread with this mixture.
  3. Bake as directed as directed above.

 

*For a different texture, try different varieties of soda (fruit or cream sodas are great), soda water, light beer, Guinness or other dark beer. Match the type of beer with the other added items.  When using soda, add 2 teaspoons of yeast so you get the correct rise (beer contains yeast!).  Feel free to use whatever beer or soda you have in your house!  I don’t recommend using Root Beer- it makes the bread bitter.  Don’t use diet soda!  Baking with artificial sweeteners other than Splenda can make the bread bitter.

Yummy combos:

  • Orange soda goes great with chocolate chips and orange zest.
  • Light beer, sharp cheddar cheese, Mural of Flavor and caramelized onions are great together.
  • Lighter beer (I like Stella Artois), Italian Seasoning, shredded mozzarella cheese or string cheese cut into cubes, and chopped dried tomatoes.
  • Chocolate stout beer, dark chocolate chips, dried cranberries.
  • Sam Adams Summer blend with apple or pumpkin pie spice, chopped dried apples, and dried cranberries.

 

I want to thank the great people over at Kitchen Simple and Tomoson for the chance to review this product. I was not financially compensated to review these products, however I received a Danish Dough Hook for free to facilitate my review. I only recommend products and services that I feel may be a good fit for my readers.

Clothing Swaps: Family Frugality at it’s best!

Abby H.4 Comments

VRj6VzFtGot piles of clothes stashed in a closet that the family has outgrown or are no longer worn? Have you thought about participating in a clothing swap? For those who aren’t familiar with clothing swaps, it’s a pretty cool concept:

Gather friends, family, co-workers and everyone brings their unwanted clothes, shoes, and accessories. For each item you bring, you receive 1 ticket. Each ticket is exchangeable to another piece of clothing, accessory, or pair of shoes. You bring ten items, you get ten tickets, you leave with ten items.

You can do kids clothing, women’s, men’s, whatever your group of friends is interested in doing.

There are a bunch of already established clothing swaps in San Diego.

Kinders Keepers is a fun clothing swap group in San Diego that meets quarterly.  You can learn more on their Facebook page here.

The Sonrise Church in Santee has a clothing swap too! One for kids clothes, and another for women’s clothing. Miss Charity’s Closet & Little Blessings Boutique 2nd Saturday of every month at 9:00 am
Contact Charity Murphy for more info clmurphy71@gmail.com

Not strictly clothing related, there is the San Diego Really, Really Free Market. They also meet about once a quarter in various areas around town.

Also not strictly Clothing Related, but one of my favorite give back orgs is the Buy Nothing Project. There are chapters all over the US, and we have a few here in San Diego.  I’ve been able to share clothes, panty staples we no longer needed, Lil’ Man’s outgrown toys and clothes.

If you don’t want to wait for an upcoming swap, check out consignment or resale shops! Just last week, I took some items over to Conceptions Children’s Resale. It’s a nice resale shop in Santee, I take a lot of Lil’ Man’s outgrown clothes and toys. In exchange I get 50% of the price they will sell the items for when I chose to receive Store Credit. Since #2 is on the way, I’ll usually take store credit. You can keep credit on file too. I’m saving mine up! There are tons of kid’s resale shops across the US, I bet there is one close to you. There are consignment or resale shops for adults too!

And of course… don’t forget Freecycle. Do a quick google search for Clothing swap + the name of your city.

What are some of your favorite money saving strategies when it comes to keeping the family clothed?

Review: Reusable Baby Food Pouches

Abby H.

When Lil’ Man was younger, that kid was all about the squeezy pouches, which was great! They are easy to carry, come in lots of varieties, and are overall a million times more convenient than glass jarred baby food.  HOWEVER, they make a lot of trash.

Recently I discovered the Easy Anywhere Reusable Baby Food Pouches. These pouches are incredible.  IMG_2886
You can refill the pouch again-and-again. No accidental spills with the reinforced double zipper. No more spending a lot of money on store bought pre filled pouches (over $1.00/each at most stores!).  It’s made of sturdy but very flexible material that’s environmentally friendly (BPA-free, PVC-free & phthalate-free).

If you’ve got kids that don’t eat a lot in one sitting, you’ll never waste food in a pouch again with the convenient window at the back of the pouch!

They are easy to use too. Pour your delicious homemade purees (Or you could use pudding for a fun dessert) easily into the large opening on the top of the Pouch. You don’t need any special appliances to fill the pouch. No weird, rounded corners that are difficult to clean. Just use a bottle brush to clean the pouch and pop it into the washing machine.

We used ours at the zoo last week. I filled one with chilled pudding, and a second with homemade applesauce.  These pouches would be great for backpacking or camping as well.

I’ve already picked up another set to share with a friend who is expecting soon! These make a pretty cool gift.

I want to thank the great people over at Easy Anywhere Brands and Tomoson for the chance to review this product. I was not financially compensated to review these products, however I received a four pack of Easy Anywhere Reusable Baby Food Pouches free to facilitate my review. I only recommend products and services that I feel may be a good fit for my readers.