Winner Winner (Lemony) Chicken Dinner! We Tried Three Different Meals Services! Part 4 of 4!

24 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by elanbuendia in Cooking, Cooking for Family and Babe, Meal Delivery Reviews, Reviews

Tags

Bean and Turkey Chili, Beef Bibimbap, Blue Apron Meal Reviews, Blue Apron Reviews, Forbidden Rice salad, Hello Fresh Credit, hello fresh delivery service, Hello Fresh discount, Hello Fresh Recycling, Lemon Chicken Quinoa Soup, Lemon Chicken Soup, Love Beets, Meal Delivery Service Winner, plated delivery service, Pork Chops with Apple and Kale, rice salad, Sausage and Bean Soup, Seared Steak and Cauliflower Mash, Walnut Crusted Salmon

Here’s to the Winner!
HelloFresh Website -and- MamaBendia’s HelloFresh Review
This post finishes a 4-Part Blog Series on our experiences and reviews of three (3) Meal Delivery Services : We attempted to use each service for two weeks.

The other two services we tried and their reviews :

Blue Apron Website : Plated Website

Blue Apron Review : Plated Review

Thanks for joining me and my family on this culinary journey!

~ HELLO FRESH ~

The Back Story

I received a $40 off marketing postcard in my Parent’s Magazine subscription.

(I enjoy receiving Parents magazine, for the content, and the great discount offers they present subscribers.)

Let me offer you $40 OFF your first box!!!

Go to http://www.hellofresh.com and use code : YVHN87

-or-

Simply click this link!

The Details

HelloFresh offers 3 days of meals for 2 people (this is what ‘a week’ consists of). Additionally, there is a 4 person meal option.

The meals range from 500-800 calories, include farm fresh ingredients, and offer a Flexible Subscription option.

All for $10.75 per meal including shipping. $69 per week (per their website FAQs)

($9.08 per meal for Vegetarian options.)

The Pros

~ Farm Fresh ingredients, including hormone free meat.

(AND Love Beets…ya gotta love Love Beets! Just the name is cool, then you taste them… yum!)

~ Quick prep recipes.

~ Can choose 3 of 5 meal options per week. So, you’re not ‘boxed’ into the 3 meals they choose for you!

~ Beautiful Recipe card booklet with pictures of completed dishes. Features a “Let’s Talk About” page on the back : Grains, Beans, Leafy Greens, Nuts & Seeds, etc.

~ One can choose a Vegetarian Option, which is slightly less expensive.

The Cons

~ There is no ‘Dietary Profile’. Though, one can chose to go with the Vegetarian option, if needed. We do have a few restrictions…some Gluten-Free, some Spices, and some Seafood. Luckily, we can choose out of 5 meals, so I pick three meals that are more catered to our needs and modify as desired.

The Goods

~ Most meals took about 35 minutes to prepare.

~ Meals were acceptable to most of my family’s tastes.

~ Meals could be Gluten-Free!

~ I chose recipes that would get my foodie brain thinking about new ways to cook.

A few photos of our delicous-ness along the way :

Lemony Chicken Dinner…

Legit style Pork Chops w. Walnut Apples…

STEAK…

Beautiful Vegetarian Forbidden Rice Salad…

We, also, had HelloFresh delivered during the Holidays…family in and out, schedules up and down made us want ready-to-cook meals!

In that week we received :

~ Beef Bibimbap w. Carrot & Zucchini Ribbons ~

OMG! I am still thinking about this meal! I have no idea why I haven’t recreated it yet!

Don’t forget my offer : $40 OFF your first box!!!

($55-$69 depending on Vegetarian option.)

Go to http://www.hellofresh.com and use code : YVHN87

-or-

Simply click this link!

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!

This post contains referral links.

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HelloFresh Review! Tried Three Different Services! Part 3 of 4!

17 Thursday Sep 2015

Posted by elanbuendia in Cooking, Cooking for Family and Babe, Meal Delivery Reviews, Reviews

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Bean and Turkey Chili, Beef Bibimbap, Blue Apron Meal Reviews, Blue Apron Reviews, Cauliflower Mash, Crockpot, Forbidden Rice salad, Hello Fresh Credit, hello fresh delivery service, Hello Fresh discount, Hello Fresh Recycling, Korean Beef, Lemon Chicken Quinoa Soup, Lemon Chicken Soup, Love Beets, Meal Delivery Service Winner, plated delivery service, Pork Chops with Apple and Kale, rice salad, Sausage and Bean Soup, Seared Steak and Cauliflower Mash, Walnut Crusted Salmon

Here’s HelloFresh…I’m writing a 4-Part Blog Series on our experiences and reviews of three (3) Meal Delivery Services : Reviews and Pictures of each service, in order in which we used them. We attempted to use each service for two weeks.
Blue Apron : Plated : HelloFresh
I will complete the series with a recommendation of our preferred service!! Basically, the Winner!

Thanks for joining me and my family on this culinary journey!

~ HELLO FRESH ~

The Back Story
I received a $40 off marketing postcard in my Parent’s Magazine subscription.
(I enjoy receiving Parents magazine, for the content, and the great discount offers they present subscribers.)

Let me offer you $40 OFF your first box!!!
Go to http://www.hellofresh.com and use code : YVHN87
-or-
Simply click this link!

The Details
HelloFresh offers 3 days of meals for 2 people (this is what ‘a week’ consists of). Additionally, there is a 4 person meal option.
The meals range from 500-800 calories, include farm fresh ingredients, and offer a Flexible Subscription option.
All for $10.75 per meal including shipping. $69 per week (per their website FAQs)
($9.08 per meal for Vegetarian options.)

The Pros
~ Farm Fresh ingredients, including hormone free meat.
(AND Love Beets…ya gotta love Love Beets! Just the name is cool, then you taste them… yum!)
~ Quick prep recipes.
~ Can choose 3 of 5 meal options per week. So, you’re not ‘boxed’ into the 3 meals they choose for you!
~ Wednesday Delivery option.
~ Beautiful Recipe card booklet with pictures of completed dishes. Features a “Let’s Talk About” page on the back : Grains, Beans, Leafy Greens, Nuts & Seeds, etc.
~ One can choose a Vegetarian Option, which is slightly less expensive.
~ Actually offer a ‘recycling’ return for their padded box liners.

The Cons
~ ‘Recycling’ return is not all that, but at least it was an option available to me vs. throwing out or dumping into my recycling.
I returned 3 weeks worth of box liners at the cost of $26 via UPS, and received a $16 credit on my account. So, I didn’t even get a credit equal to the cost of shipping, but at least I got some sort of credit.
~ There is no ‘Dietary Profile’. Though, one can chose to go with the Vegetarian option, if needed. We do have a few restrictions…some Gluten-Free, some Spices, and some Seafood. Luckily, we can choose out of 5 meals, so I pick three meals that are more catered to our needs and modify as desired.
~ Our first box has a couple frozen veggies, which they promptly credited me for.

The Goods
Week 1, First Meal :
Korean-Style Beef with Broccolini & Brown Rice
30 Minutes
Gluten-Free (with correct sauces)

Korean-Style Beef!? Heck Yeah, bring it! And, yes, it was good!
We love a good Asian-inspired meal in our house and this met the expectation.
And, yippy, they used Brown Rice! We only use Brown Rice in our house, so it was nice to see a meal delivery service do that same.

Modifications : Added Garlic

Week 1, Second Meal :
Walnut Crusted Salmon with Roasted Green Beans
50 Minutes
Not Gluten-Free

This was good, it was not gluten-free…but I loved the walnut crusting idea.

Modifications : None

Week 1, Third Meal :
Lemony Chicken & Quinoa Stew
40 Minutes
Gluten-Free

This was surprisingly delish and I didn’t expect it to be so! The flavor and texture worked so well together.

Modifications : Did not use the Chili Flakes.

Week 2, First Meal :
Roasted Pork Chops with Sauteed Apples & Kale
30 Minutes
Gluten-Free

Delicious and gluten-free. I’m not typically a fan of sweet along side my savory dinner, though I know it’s ‘tradition’ to have apples/applesauce with pork chops, so I knew the deal. Though I loved the addition of kale and then I served mine up with the nuts garnishing the apples vs. the kale.

Modifications : No Modifications.

Week 2, Second Meal :
Seared Steak with Cauliflower Mash & Green Beans
30+ Minutes
Gluten-Free

Yum, because…STEAK! 🙂
I messed up and made more of a puree vs. a mash, though it turned out lovely to have an awesome sauce to go with this dish. So…basically…the dish was Awesomesauce!

Modifications : No Modifications.

Week 2, Third Meal :
Forbidden Rice Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash
apx. 25 Minutes
Not Gluten-Free

Good…I didn’t really know what to expect, but I’d really wanted to try Forbidden Rice. Thus, I was super happy to have this as a menu option.

Modifications : Added Chicken to hubs and nephew’s portions.

Overall Impression
Very good!
Even though the cost of sending in the recycling material did not match the credit I got, I am happy that is an option.

We, also, tried HelloFresh during the Holidays…family in and out, schedules up and down and a credit sitting in my account prompted us to go for another week of HelloFresh meals!

In that week we received :

~ White Bean & Turkey Chili ~
Gluten Free and pretty tasty.

~ Sausage and White Bean Soup w. Swiss Chard ~
Not to shabby and Gluten Free.

~ Beef Bibimbap w. Carrot & Zucchini Ribbons ~
OMG! I am still thinking about this meal!
I have no idea why I haven’t recreated it yet!

Don’t forget my offer : $40 OFF your first box!!!
($55-$69 depending on Vegetarian option.)
Go to http://www.hellofresh.com and use code : YVHN87
-or-
Simply click this link!

Be sure to check back at the beginning of next week…
I’ll be posting Part 4 : THE WINNER!

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER! I can’t wait to tell you!

This post contains referral links.

Plated Review! Tried Three Different Services! Part 2 of 4!

18 Tuesday Aug 2015

Posted by elanbuendia in Cooking, Cooking for Family and Babe, Meal Delivery Reviews, Reviews

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Blue Apron Meal Reviews, Blue Apron Reviews, Chicken with Carrots and Dates, Colette's Lemon Tree, Glazed Chicken drumsticks, Grilled Roasted Chicken, hello fresh delivery service, plated delivery service, plated meal delivery, plated meal reviews, Ribollita Stew, Sesame Ginger Wild Salmon, Soup Spoons, Tuscan Ribollita Stew, Wild Salmon Miso

I’m writing a 4-Part Blog Series on our experiences and reviews of three (3) Meal Delivery Services : Reviews and Pictures of each service, in order in which we used them. We attempted to use each service for two weeks.
Blue Apron : Plated : HelloFresh
I will complete the series with a recommendation of our preferred service!! Basically, the Winner!

Thanks for joining me and my family on this culinary journey!

~ PLATED ~

The Back Story
I saw the ‘Sponsored’ offer floating around Facebook and decided to try Plated next! The Offer was for $40 off a week’s delivery!

Now, I can offer YOU two (2) Free Plates with your first week.
Just Click Here!

The Details
Plated offers a minimum of four (4) ‘plates’ per week…in other words, 2 meals for 2 people. This can be increased all the way to six (6) plates per meal/recipe.
We used our plates for either Lunch or Dinner depending on the meal and our interests for the day.
This is a gourmet delivery service, there is no presumption of time to prepare, as it’s about the experience.
Plates range from $12-$24 per plate, depending on how fancy and ingredient heavy the recipe is! Shipping is included, however that’s a range of $24-$96 for the minimum of four (4) plates.
To compare apples to apples, I’ll use the base price, so six (6) total plates will be…$72.00 per week!

The Pros
~ Fresh ingredients, including hormone free meat and sustainable seafood.
~ Beautiful Recipe cards with pictures of completed dishes. Includes a little history of the dish and are reusable!
~ One can choose Vegetarian plates, which are typically always base price.
~ True to listed prep time…within about 10mins. So I knew what to expect.
~ Can edit your ‘Taste Profile’ to include or exclude plates containing :
Beef, Poultry, Vegetarian, Lamb, Pork, Fish, Seafood.
~ Delivery options allow for weekly or every other week/fortnightly shipments.
~ Delivery was on Wednesday! (earlier in the week than Blue Apron offered.)
~ Nutritional Facts, including allergen ingredients, on each meal’s ingredient bag.
~ I enjoyed that each ingredient was label with the meal title it joins with!
~ Leftovers! (we had a large meal and were able to eat leftover next day for lunch.)

The Cons
~ Packaging Waste…sorry but this makes me cringe. Though I was able to pass along the cold packs and foiled bubble wrap to local fisherman and such.
~ Ingredient waste…in our first recipe (Ribollita) directions actually read, “Peel red onion and thinly slice 1/2, discarding remainder.” (Discard remainder!? Surely, there are other uses for a whole half of a red onion!)
~ The ‘Taste Profile’ is limited and only offers the opportunity to select main entree types : Poultry, Fish, Vegetarian, Lamb, Beef, Shellfish, Pork.
We do have a few restrictions…some Gluten-Free, some Spices, and some Seafood.
~ Ordering! UGH! Really!? It was not as straight forward at BlueApron, in which they simply picked 3 meals for you and if you made no modifications then they would send those 3 meals! At Plated, you have to go in and pick your meals (they do not auto-select for you) and then you must ‘check out’ in order for those meals to be delivered. Of course, my first week I didn’t understand this and upon calling on ‘drop day’ to ask if it was going to ship or not, they simply told me that I wouldn’t be getting my box that week (2nd week). UGH! I was left in a lurch, because BlueApron couldn’t pick up the slack that late in the week…so, I just went to the market myself! HA! No big deal, of course! But, of course, it was annoying.

The Goods
Week 1, First Meal :
Tuscan Ribollita Stew with White Beans and Toast
40 Minutes
Not Gluten-Free

This was a nice way to make a gourmet soup. I loved the white bean and kale ingredients. I enjoyed the final preparation of broiling with sliced red onion and added cheese.
This was yummy and offered us leftovers!

Miso Hungry…Indeed! Soup Nazi…because…Seinfeld fan here!

Modifications : Added Mozzarella atop.

PLUS…I was stoked we got to use our custom Soup Spoons, created by my friends at Colette’s Lemon Tree!
I’m mean these soup spoons are too funny…and I love the juxtaposition of having these sayings on Granny’s Silverware. 🙂

Week 1, Second Meal :
Sesame Ginger Wild Salmon and Tatsoi in Miso Broth
35 Minutes
Gluten-Free

I’d never prepared miso before and was stoked to use this as an ingredient. It turned out lovely, fun to have potatoes and tatsoi (greens) in this dish.
This made me unafraid to begin using miso on my own…in my own soup creations!
I’ve recently learned, that since Miso has great probiotic benefits, to add it last so as to retain most of that benefit and not heat up the probiotics too much, too long. (Wanted to pass that little nugget of info on to you!)

Modifications : Added Garlic and extra Sesame Oil

Week 1, Third Meal :
Sweet and Spicy Roast Chicken with Carrots and Dates
50 Minutes (and marinate time)
Gluten-Free

For some reason, I kept putting off making this third meal.
I liked what Plated was offering, but it wasn’t super duper overly wow’ed by the the supposed gourmet-ness of it all. So, I lost interest with a simple roast chicken dish…by the time I went to it a few days later, chicken when bad, of course, that was, actually, my bad to begin with!
So, we brought home some Chicken Thighs instead and set out to prepare the dish. I liked the marinade, it was yummy, and the addition of dates was a novel approach.

Modifications : Bought Chicken Thighs to use.

Week 2, First Meal :
…No second week!
I just couldn’t get motivated enough to move forward with Plated.
(Couldn’t be bothered!)

I guess this mean you’ll figure out that Plated was not the winner, but stay tuned there is one more service! And then a Winner will be announced!
Hello Fresh…
If you don’t want to wait around for posts…
You can get $40 off your first order with Code : YVHN87
If you do, let me know what YOU think! 🙂

Overall Impression
Good, I can see the potential for lovely, gourmet meals. But the cost compared to other services and the pain of ordering squelch my interest in using Plated.

I love how they have the nutrition facts for each meal presented on the bag that contains each meals ingredients!

Be sure to check back this week…I’ll be posting parts 3, and 4 every couple days! Next up…Hello Fresh review!

Oh my gosh…could soy sauce get any cuter!? 🙂

This post contains referral links.

Blue Apron Review! Tried Three Different Services! Part 1 of 4!

17 Monday Aug 2015

Posted by elanbuendia in Cooking, Cooking for Family and Babe, Meal Delivery Reviews, Reviews

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bagoong, beef on weck sandwiches, Blue Apron Meal Reviews, Blue Apron Reviews, Chicken Schnitzel, Crockpot, Crockpot meals, Croque Monsieur, Filipino Laing, Glazed Chicken drumsticks, hello fresh delivery service, Hello Fresh discount, Leek and Potatoes, plated delivery service, rice salad, Seared Hake

I’m writing a 4-Part Blog Series on our experiences and reviews of three (3) Meal Delivery Services : Reviews and Pictures of each service, in order in which we used them. We attempted to use each service for two weeks.
Blue Apron : Plated : HelloFresh
I will complete the series with a recommendation of our preferred service!! Basically, the Winner!

Thanks for joining me and my family on this culinary journey!

~ BLUE APRON ~

The Back Story
A mama friend sent me a referral link for a week of free meals with Blue Apron! How could I not go for that!?

Having a toddler makes meal-planning a tad bit ‘cumbersome’…and, even though, it was CrockPot season, I thought it would be nice to have meal options ‘outside the pot’. 🙂 I quickly signed-up!
Also, I love to cook and wanted to get some inspiration!

I was only offered the option of delivery on Thursday or Friday. I wanted something earlier in the week to allow for spontaneous weekend dining out, without worry of spoiling meals in the fridge.

The Details
Blue Apron offers 3 days of meals for 2 people (this is what ‘a week’ is).
The meals range from 500-700 calories, include fresh ingredients, and are suppose to take about 35mins to make.
All for $9.99 per meal…so, $59.94 per week!

After you’ve been with them for awhile they offer a referral link to send to friends. But I moved on after two weeks (one paid week) to the other services…thus, they did not offer me a link to share with my readers!

The Pros
~ Least Expensive of all the services :
$59.94 including shipping, for 6 total meals = $9.99 per meal
~ Fresh ingredients, including hormone free meat.
~ Quick prep recipes…most were fairly true to around the 35min completion time.
~ Beautiful Recipe cards with pictures of completed dishes. Includes a little history of the dish and are reusable!
~ One can choose a Vegetarian Option, which is slightly less expensive.

The Cons
~ Late delivery…in week AND time of day!
The earliest day we could receive our box, at the time, was Thursday!
So, I waited all day on our first Thursday…and dun, dun, dun…received our box at 8:40pm (Eight-Freaking-Forty!). Needless to say, that first night’s dinner was not a Blue Apron dinner and our Toddler went to bed a bit later than normal!
~ Packaging Waste…sorry but this makes me cringe. Though I was able to pass along the cold packs and foiled bubble wrap to local fisherman and such.
~ Recipes that were not true to the 35min time…were so far off! Nearly an hour!
~ The ‘Dietary Profile’ is limited and only offers the opportunity to select main protein sources : Beef, Poultry, Fish, Lamb, Pork, Shellfish.
We do have a few restrictions…some Gluten-Free, some Spices, and some Seafood.

The Goods
Week 1, First Meal :
Croque Monsieur-Style Sandwiches w. Bacon, Radish, Little Gem Salad
35 Minutes
Not Gluten-Free

I’ve seen this on the menu at our favorite French Cafe in Redwood City, Ca. Pamplemousse. Though I’d never ordered it myself when we lived there!
Boy, was I missing out, this was delicious!
Blue Apron portions were big and the salad was huge!

Modifications : Bacon on the side, Substituted Provolone for the Swiss.

Week 1, Second Meal :
Seared Hake w. Melted Leeks & Fingerling Potatoes
50+ Minutes
Gluten-Free

I am a Leek and Potato girl, and hubs is a fish guy…so this meal was so our style!
However, the prep took forever and our total time was 50+ minutes before we ate.
Thankfully we ate it at lunch and, thus, weren’t set back for a late dinner.

Modifications : Omitted Paprika and Added Garlic

Week 1, Third Meal :
Yuzu Kosho-Glazed Chicken Drumsticks w. Shitake, Turnip & Rice Salad
55 Minutes
Gluten-Free
(Prepared on the 5th day from delivery (!) for Dinner, due to late delivery as described above in the Cons section.)

This was another wonderful dish that is very much our style.
It had a wonderful flavor and was one that our toddler enjoyed as well!
There was plenty of food for more than the allotted two servings.

Modifications : Substituted Organic Brown Rice for the Jasmine, Added Extra Sesame Oil, Omitted the Togarashi Spice Blend due to being unsure of Paprika, would have loved more Ginger.

Week 2, First Meal :
Beef on Weck Sandwiches w. Heirloom Potato Salad
30 Minutes
Not Gluten-Free

Oh. My. Goodness! This was good! We didn’t know what to expect, and we were pleasantly surprised! The delicious crunch of the airy bread was just too amazing!
However, the beef was thinly sliced vs. shaved, as was stated in the ingredients…shaved would have been so lovely! Plus, I looooove Arugula!

Modifications : Panfried Bread in Butter vs. warming in oven, Added Mayo to Potato Salad, Added provolone to sandwich.

Week 2, Second Meal :
Shrimp & Mustard Green Laing w. Jasmine Rice
30 Minutes
Gluten-Free

Ohhhh…yeah…this is our style, I mean Hubs is Filipino, afterall!
This was good and tasty, I loved the shrimp with the sauce, and the freshness of the cilantro was amazing.

Modifications : Substituted Organic Brown Rice vs. Jasmine Rice, Needed my own Garlic (as it was not in the box!), Kept Bagoong on the side for hubs to eat as desired!

Week 2, Third Meal :
Chicken Schnitzel w. Watercress, Apple, Beet & Red Walnut Salad
35+ Minutes
Not Gluten-Free

This was so yummy…just straight up goodness.

Modifications : Surprisingly, no modifications…that is so rare for me!!

Overall Impression
Very good, except for the late deliveries.

I love how they have little brown bags labelled as “Chicken Knick Knacks” and such, these are all the little goodies for each meal, so you know where it is!

Be sure to check back this week…I’ll be posting parts 2, 3, and 4 (THE WINNER!) every couple days! Next up…Plated Review!

This post contains referral links.

Mama likes!! Citrus Lane September ’14 Review

01 Monday Dec 2014

Posted by elanbuendia in Citrus Lane Reviews, Mommin', Reviews

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bend Baby, Boon Bath Toys, bumkins snack bag, Citrus Lane, Citrus Lane Discount, Citrus Lane Review, Citrus Lane Reviews, Citrus Lane Sept Review, disney snack bag, Emily Press Labels, Free Citrus Lane Box, Free Tea Collection, Mama Bendia, Preschool write on labels, SFO Baby, Stone Soup Bend, Stone Soup Resale, Tea Collection, Toddler Bath Toys

We received Bean’s September Citrus Lane box and Mama was sooo happy!

Wanna Try it out! Get 50% off your First Box here!

Thank you for joining me here, at Mama Bendia, where I’ll provide product reviews, talk mama-ness, things to do in Central Oregon, baby-friendly restaurants, and general musings!

Upon signing up for Citrus Lane, we provided age and gender of our little guy and receive a wonderful box of age-appropriate goodies every month!

Here’s a look inside Citrus Lane’s September 2014 box for a 23mth-ish old boy :

~ Long Sleeve Tee from Tea Collection :
OK! I’m a mama obsessed with Tea Collection, I can’t help myself, I just love their clothes and designs. The styles are adorable and the quality is top-notch.
So far, I’ve actually found great used baby and toddler items on-line and at my local high-end children’s resale shop, Stone Soup.
And…then…this month Citrus Lane completely won me over…completely!
(I mean, I was already a fan, but still, they excelled!)
There was a little long-sleeved Tea Collection Tee for Bean in this month’s box!
WOOT!
Plus, an amazing promo code, which I quickly took advantage of.
Buying my first actual product(s) from Tea, themselves, was thrilling for me!
Then…we received the package! It came with a sweet little activity book for Bean! Pure awesomeness!
Way to go Tea Collection and Citrus Lane for teaming up! I’m a happy mama!
(More on Tea to come in a future post!)

~ Foam 3D Links for Bath by Boon :
We’ve received Boon Bath toys in our Citrus Lane before…LOTS of them…and they are always so amazing! Bean loves his DIVE Bath Appliques and these Link were fairly similar.
Turns out the timing was terrific, as we had a 4yr old Birthday for a little friend coming up and these Bath Links were a great gift!
So…a great toy from Boon was given to another kiddo, I like that story!

~ Write Your Own Labels from Emily Press :
Whoa! Cool idea!
Especially as Beans begins to become more social and we go places that require his name on his own items…good timing. Hoping they work out well!
We got little Animal themed ones!

~ Disney Snack Bag from Bumkins :
We’ve received a few things from Bumkins in our Citrus Lane box in the past…wet bags, small snack bags, etc…I really like all the products we’ve received so far.
I like that this bag is larger and can hold a sandwich or larger item and it has the same washable fabric as our other Bumkins bags.
This was a ‘pick your item’ month with Citrus Lane and the print of this bag was the customization we got to choose.

~ FREE Citrus Lane Box for a Friend :
WHAT!? This is awesome! We received a code to send a free box to a friend! I take this as a win for being a Citrus Lane subscriber for so long!
I quickly jumped on this and sent out a box to my niece, 6mths older than Bean!
Can’t wait to see what she gets!

If I had purchased all these items individually… I’d have easily spent more than $75, not including shipping & tax. We, also, received great coupon codes for almost every company/item represented in the box! We opt for a yearly membership, so we pay just about $16/mth… but you can go a month at a time for just $29 AND Get a whopping 50% off your very one 1st box here! It’s so fun watching our little guy open the Citrus Lane box every month!

This post contains referral links.

Cup of T, U, V! Citrus Lane August’14 Review

15 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by elanbuendia in Citrus Lane Reviews, Mommin', Reviews

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Tags

animal flash cards, Bend Baby, care.com, Citrus Lane, Citrus Lane August 2014 Review, Citrus Lane Discount, Citrus Lane Reviews, Green toys tea set, little pim, Mama Bendia, Me4Kidz, petit collage, SFO Baby, Toddler cooling pack, Touch Blue Sky Baby Sign

We received Bean’s August Citrus Lane box and it got a little wordy… so we just added water! Wanna Try it out! Get 50% off your First Box here! Thank you for joining me here, on my Mama Bendia blog, where I’ll provide product reviews, talk mama-ness, things to do in Central Oregon, baby-friendly restaurants, and general musings! Upon signing up for Citrus Lane, we provided age and gender of our little guy and receive a wonderful box of age-appropriate goodies every month! Here’s a look inside Citrus Lane’s August 2014 box for a 22mth-ish old boy : ~ Alphabet Flash Cards by Petit Collage : Bean is savoring the ABCs… which I sing and sign in ASL (Thanks Touch Blue Sky Baby Sign Language Classes!)! He knows quite a few letters and enjoys ‘practicing’ the signs with me. So, I was thrilled to see these Alphabet cards in his box this month! These will make a super cute addition to our ABC repertoire! There are a number of Alphabet themes to choose from, and we happened to get Animals! Yay! We love animals in our house! We’ve received other items from Petit Collage… just as cute! ~Tea for Two by Green Toys : While the Tea for Two set was created exclusively for Citrus Lane subscribers, Green Toys has a hit on their hands no matter the size of toy! We have lots of Green Toys in our home, including the full size Tea Set. What I liked was that this little set came in a mesh baggie with a little tea kettle, two tea cups, and two saucers… adorbs! And a perfect addition to the Tea Set with Spoons, Creamer, and Sugar Bowl that we already have. Bean was very happy to open this box while lunching in one of our favorite restaurants… he took a spot of … Water, in his! 😉 ~ Reusable Cool It Buddy from Me4Kidz : Me4Kidz is a great little company that makes adorable first aid items for kiddos. We received their MediBuddy first aid kit in a previous Citrus Lane box! I love using little cooled packs on Bean’s ouchies and Bean loves them too. So, this was a great addition to our freezer! ~ Language Video Digital Download from Little Pim : My mom is obsessed with Little Pim for the kiddos… she got us all a Spanish set last Holiday Season. I wasn’t so stoked and Bean was on to other things. I do want him to learn as much as possible and another language is a great idea… but I’m so into ASL (as mentioned above, hooked on it via Touch Blue Sky) and Bean enjoys the Signing Time with Alex and Leah videos so much, that I haven’t pushed another spoken language on him. Though I do like the Little Pim offers downloads AND they have Mandarin Chinese! We, also, received a code to try out Care.com! If I had purchased all these items individually… I’d have easily spent about $35, not including shipping & tax. We, also, received great coupon codes for almost every company/item represented in the box! We opt for a yearly membership, so we pay just about $16/mth… but you can go a month at time for just $29 AND Get a whopping 50% off your very one 1st box here! It’s so fun watching our little guy open the Citrus Lane box every month!

This post contains referral links.

Little Dude is growing… and CL knows it! Citrus Lane July’14 Review

30 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by elanbuendia in Citrus Lane Reviews, Mommin', Reviews

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3 day potty training, Aqueduck Faucet Extender, Bend Baby, Bjorn Toddler Stool, Citrus Lane, Citrus Lane Discount, Citrus Lane July 2014 Review, Citrus Lane Reviews, kaleidoscope camera, Mama Bendia, Oogaa Silicone Placemat, Peachy Faucet Extender Review, Plan Toys Camera, Plum Organics Mighty 4 Pouch, potty training at two, PurLisse Sunscreen, SFO Baby, SFO Newb, sippy cup, Toddler Faucet Extender, Toddler Food Pouch

Our little guy is really embracing his toddlerhood and is very much into every learning opportunity on the planet!
We received Bean’s July Citrus Lane box and it was full of super fun things to help him do just that!

Wanna Try it out! Get 50% off your First Box here!

Thank you for joining me here at my Mama Bendia blog, where I’ll provide product reviews, talk mama-ness, things to do in Central Oregon, baby-friendly restaurants, and general musings!

Sooo… upon signing up for Citrus Lane, we provided age and gender of our little and now receive a wonderful box of age-appropriate goodies every month!

Here’s a look inside Citrus Lane’s July 2014 box for a 21mth-ish old boy :

~ My First Camera by Plan Toys :
Ummm… LOVE this!!
I think I loved it more than Bean, to begin with!
July was a ‘pick your item’ month… and the Plan Toys items was what I got to choose from; there was a Phone or a Camera… since we have a couple ‘toy phones’ already, I opted for the camera.
And. Was. Not. Disappointed!
Not only are Plan Toys made super well… sustainable and safe for baby… but their toys are adorable!
This camera has a actual button, a little wrist loop, and a rotating lens cover… and a kaleidoscope lens!!! Bean didn’t ‘get it’ when I first gave it to him and showed him how to look through the lens… it took about 4wks and then he walked around with it all day, while he looked through the lens, and told me everything he saw ; “Mama”, “Doggie”, “Balloon”, etc! Ummm… Adorable!
Thanks Plan Toys!

~Aqueduck Faucet Extender :
Hmmm… sometimes I get things from Citrus Lane and I think we’ll never use them. Such was the case with this faucet extender by Peachy. However, I added it to our most used bathroom sink, just in case. Bean hadn’t really started washing his own hands yet, but he was getting close and has a bathroom stool by Bjorn to help him out.
THEN, we had a playdate and I noticed the kids that were just about 4-6mths older than Bean were having great success with the stool and faucet extender.
After that playdate, and a quick try at ‘the 3 day potty training’, I had Bean start washing his own hands more frequently. He’s now a pro, steps right up on the stool and puts his hands directly under the water… which easily reaches him due to this fascinating invention! 🙂
He’s still working on the potty training… but he’s not even two years old… so I’m happy with the fact that he wants to flush and interact with the toilet at all!

~ Silicone Placemat by Oogaa :
Soft and flexable placement… I had been on the look for a placement that we could take out to eat with us and Bean could color on with dry erase markers, then this was in our CL box! Timing!?! 🙂
We used it right away with some dry erase markers I bought, that were sold just for this purpose, unfortunately those markers do not wash out of clothing… so I’ve put this up for a bit while I figure things out.
This was our second Oogaa product from Citrus Lane… we received a silicone bowl a few months ago… so far, they have good stuff.

~ Mighty 4 Pouch by Plum Organics :
We’ve had some good luck with Plum Organics in our CL boxes in the past and I like that Citrus Lane is keeping up with Bean’s growing needs and offers food products geared to toddlers… It’s a nice way to try out something before we invest in a full package.

~ Pur~Protect SPF 30 by Pur~Lisse :
Yay! A little something for mama, baby, and daddy…!
We’ve received a Pur~Lisse product before… a lip protect! It was a nice addition to my daily lip needs… so I was excited to see this trial size of sunscreen, perfect size to keep in our JJCole travel diaper bag!

If I had purchased all these items individually… I’d have easily spent over $40, not including shipping & tax.
We, also, received great coupon codes for almost every company/item represented in the box!

We opt for a yearly membership, so we pay just about $16/mth… but you can go a month at time for just $29 AND Get a whopping 50% off your very one 1st box here!

It’s so fun watching our little guy open the Citrus Lane box every month!

This post contains referral links.

Nurturing the little dude! Citrus Lane June’14 Review

29 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by elanbuendia in Citrus Lane Reviews, Mommin', Reviews, Uncategorized

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Bend Baby, bumkins, bumkins wet bag, Citrus Lane, Citrus Lane Discount, Citrus Lane Reviews, disney wet bag, forest friends puzzle, Mama Bendia, mudpuppy puzzle, plum organics mighty 4, SFO Baby, SFO Newb, sippy cup, skip hop straw bottle, toddler nutrition bars, toddler puzzle

Wow! It’s been awhile! We finally moved into our new home and getting ready for our housewarming party… reviews and other posts were put on the back burner!
But… we did continue to get amazing boxes every month and you’re sneak peeks are forthcoming!

We received Bean’s June Citrus Lane box and it was full of great nurturing items… for eating and for experiencing!

Wanna Try it out! Get 50% off your First Box here!

Thank you for joining me here, at my new Mama Bendia blog, where I’ll provide product reviews, talk mama-ness, things to do in Central Oregon, baby-friendly restaurants, and general musings!

Upon signing up for Citrus Lane, we provided age and gender of our little and now receive a wonderful box of age-appropriate goodies every month!

Here’s a look inside Citrus Lane’s June 2014 box for an 20mth-ish old boy :

~ A Disney Themed Bumkins Wet Bag :
This was a ‘pick your item’ month… so I got to pick the print of the wet bag coming to us. I picked Mickey Mouse, my little guy was lookin’ Mickey Apps at the time!
So, this item was not a surprise for me… though I loved receiving it! We have another Bumkins wet bag and it’s amazing when we go swimming… now that swimming includes mama, daddy, and a toddler (vs. mama -or- daddy and a baby in a baby swim class) we need ever more space to put our wet items.
Ta Da! Bumkins Wet bag to the rescue!

~ Forest Friends Puzzle in a Pouch :
Cute large puzzle (14″ x 11″) with little animals friends; a deer, owls, fox, rabbit, raccoon, fawn! All in a pouch that contains all the pieces!

~ Skip Hop Zoo Straw Bottle :
We are loving straw bottles in our home these days… so it was great fun to get one that had a super cute shark on it!
We love Skip Hop toys, in general, so this was a nice little surprise.

~ Mighty 4 Nutrition Bar by Plum Organics :
Immediately upon seeing this, Bean wanted me to open it… then immediately upon taking a bit he said, ‘Yummmm’… So I guess this was a hit!
And we got a coupon, for more, to boot!

If I had purchased all these items individually… I’d have spent about $30, not including shipping & tax.
We, also, received great coupon codes for almost every company/item represented in the box!

We opt for a yearly membership, so we pay just about $16/mth… but you can go a month at time for just $29 AND Get a whopping 50% off your very one 1st box here!

It’s so fun watching our little guy open the Citrus Lane box every month!

This post contains referral links.

Goats and Coyots… and Soap! Local Soapmaker and Farm Tour!

10 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by elanbuendia in Bend, Kid Friendly Bend, Reviews

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bend soap company, central oregon coyotes, goat farm tour, goat milk lotion, goat milk soap, Kid Friendly Bend, MMOCO, Moms Meetup of Central Oregon, Tumalo tour

Recently, I set up a Kids and Mama tour at Bend Soap Company‘s farm and workshop in Tumalo. Just minutes away from Bend, Ore. though, certainly, out of town and decidedly more ‘farm country’!

I came across Bend Soap Company at WinterFest in early-2014. As we chatted with the friendly owners, we learned that they offered tours of their farm and soapmaking workshop! YAY! I just knew this would be a perfect event for my local mama’s group, Moms Meetup of Central Oregon and it did, indeed, turn out to be fun!

At the end of May, 9 mamas, 1 grandma, and about 11 kiddos embarked on the goat farm of Bend Soap Company.

Perfect timing to see a few goat kids!
We were welcomed by a super friendly staff and excited sons of the owners. The Johnson family boasts 6 boys and 1 baby girl!
We got to see the workshop of a larger scale lotion and soapmaking endeavor. (larger, anyway, than my home kitchen, where I’ve experimented with a variety of whole body concoctions!)
We were then taken out to see the goats… the Johnson boys were, seriously, so adorable in the way they ran about picking up baby goats and bringing them over to the fence so that our kiddos could interact and pet these cute little babies!

My own toddler son was more interested in playing with water hoses than the goats… but, eventually, he noticed the goats and wouldn’t stop talking to them! Then he started pretending to eat the hay with them!

The tour was great… but let’s not forget about the products!
The soap was born out of the need to help one of the boy’s with this eczema… it worked wonders, so they started selling it!
Bend Soap Company’s soap is silky smooth and they have some great ‘flavors’… Lavender, Almond Biscotti, Gardenia, Licorice, Island Coconut (new!), and more!
They have, also, added lotion to their product line… this too is silky, thick, and nourishing! With all the great ‘flavors’ as the soap… by far, Island Coconut being my favorite at the moment.
There are lots of other products to consider, including bulk soap scrap and tee shirts.

Oh, yeah, and what’s the deal with the Coyote, as named in the title of this post!?
Well… on our way home… as we passed Bend Distillery (with its great view of the mountains)… a beautiful coyote crossed the road in front of us! It was, actually, really cool to see his Wylie self as he cautiously crossed the road and checked everything out. He was not straggly, but rather fairly healthy looking (translation : he’s been eating!).
I took this coyote sighting as a reminder that the life of a farmer is filled with rewards and hardship and that farmers are such an important part of the landscape of all of our daily lives!

It was a great event and one that I plan to repeat soon!
If you are in the Bend area and have kiddos, get in touch with Bend Soap Company, they might have space or time for a tour Mon-Fri from about 10am-4pm.

Enjoy your Summer and Enjoy Central Oregon!

Mmmm for cookie and other great items! Citrus Lane May’14 Review

26 Thursday Jun 2014

Posted by elanbuendia in Citrus Lane Reviews, Reviews, Uncategorized

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Back to Nature Cookies, Bend Baby, Citrus Lane, Citrus Lane Discount, Citrus Lane May Review, Citrus Lane Reviews, Feet Wipes for Kids, Goodbyn Hero, Goodbyn Review, Hape Sand Toys, Hape Toys, Jasmine Seven, MamaBendia, Melissa & Doug Puzzle, Melissa and Doug Puzzle, Parthenon Sand Toy, Sandbox toys, SFO Baby, SFO Newb, Vine.com

We received Bean’s May Citrus Lane box! We’ve been at this a year now and have no plans on stopping! 🙂

Summer’s around the corner! Get 50% off your First Box here!

Citrus Lane is a Bay Area company, though we now live in Bend, Ore, we think Citrus Lane is a hit! 🙂
Thank you for joining me here, at my new Mama Bendia blog, where I’ll provide product reviews, talk mama-ness, things to do in Central Oregon, baby-friendly restaurants, and general musings!

Upon signing up for Citrus Lane, we provided age and gender of our little and receive a wonderful box of age-appropriate goodies every month!

Here’s a look inside Citrus Lane’s May 2014 box for an 19mth-ish old boy :

~ Wooden Chunky Puzzle from Melissa & Doug :
This was the first month Citrus Lane tried out the ‘Customize’ feature… so I was able to see one of the bigger items that was going to be in our box and customize it for Bean! This was a cool idea!
Turned out this month I got to decide which Chunky Puzzle to receive… this was great, because we already have a number of these awesome puzzles and there were two on the list that we have at home!
We received the Farm Animals puzzle and it’s adorable! Bean loves playing with these chunky puzzles, because not only does he get a puzzle to aid hand-eye coordination and memory/thought processes… but he, also, gets a few ‘toys’ to play with, making animal sounds and learning about animals. Very cool!
Now, if I could just find a good way to store these great puzzles… that would be wonderful… the Deluxe Wire Rack was not helpful at all!

~ Parthenon Sand Mold and Track Roller by Hape Toys :
This, by far, is the most unique and interesting toy we’ve received!
We like Hape Toys, so it was nice to get one (or two) this month… What we have is, literally, a sand mold of the Parthenon!! Soooo interesting and pretty dang cool!
As well, we received a Track Roller in a matching green color… The track roller, basically, looks like a big tire track when you roll it through sand, dirt, homemade playdough… ya know! 😉
Soooo… these are some pretty fun toys for summertime, parks, backyard and such!

~ Hero Bento Box from Goodbyn :
This is cool! Because… not only is it an awesome way for Bean to tote his lunches when he’s older… we got a head start on this product, In. Our. Citrus. Lane. Before it even hit retail shops! Awesome!
OK, so actually, I think I might be using this little doodad before Bean even needs to start using it. It’s great to hold salad and a little dressing and other salad accompaniments… and, of course, it’s also great to hold a PB&J sandwich, apple slices, veg chips, cucumber slices, strawberries, and other kiddie foods!
I love that it’s called Hero! 🙂 Of course, it is BPA and Phthalate free. Hero Bento Style Box… rad!
AND the Goodbyn’s can be customized with Dishwasher safe stickers!?!? Cool!

~ Fresh Feet Wipes for Kids by Jasmine Seven :
At first I thought this was not something I needed (or wanted)… but as we played with our new Citrus Lane box and went in and out of home… I decided to ‘clean’ Bean’s feet, though they kinda’ looked OK, however when I ran these over the bottoms of his feet, indeed, they picked up dirt. Most importantly, the grapefruit scent is delicious!!
With a new home on the way… these might be a staple at all entry doors to clean Bean’s feet… and doggies’ too!

~ A yummy little snack from Back to Nature, courtesy of Vine.com :
We received a little bag of Mini Chocolate Chunk cookies… and, yes, mama and baby were very happy! 🙂
I, also, received a really spectacular coupon for my first order at Vine, plus an additional discount on Back to Nature products through Vine.com!

If I had purchased all these items individually… I’d have spent about $37, not including shipping & tax.
We, also, received great coupon codes for almost every company/item represented in the box!
We are very happy with this box!

We opt for a yearly membership, so we pay just about $16/mth… but you can go a month at time for just $29 AND Get a whopping 50% off your very own 1st box here!

It’s so fun watching my guys (hubs and boy) open the Citrus Lane box every month!
Look forward to June… Summer Fun!! 🙂

This post contains referral links.
https://www.citruslane.com/invitedby/citrus.lane.858187

MamaBendia

~ Mommin' and Bloggin' from Bend, Ore!

Category Archives: Reviews

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Little Dude is growing… and CL knows it! Citrus Lane July’14 Review

Nurturing the little dude! Citrus Lane June’14 Review

Goats and Coyots… and Soap! Local Soapmaker and Farm Tour!

Mmmm for cookie and other great items! Citrus Lane May’14 Review