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Below are the CPSC recalls that I have received since Wednesday, April 14, 2010.  Just three this week!  Of course there’s another sweatshirt with drawstrings are being recalled.  {annoyed!}
As a reminder:
In February 1996, CPSC issued guidelines(pdf) (which were incorporated into an industry voluntary standard in 1997) to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled in the neck and waist drawstrings in upper garments, such as jackets or sweatshirts.
Be sure to check old hand-me-downs for this!
You can find even more detailed information on all recalled products mentioned below on CPSC.gov. All information below comes directly from the CPSC website.
Smiles
Smarty Pants Mama
PS – Has Recall Wednesday ever alerted you of a product that you actually have had in your home? I want to hear about it!!! Please share!
Name of Product: Mares Nemo Air Dive Computers
Hazard: An O-ring in the high pressure air …

Wondering about Wonder Hanger?
Congratulations to Angi from timandangi.com/blog for winning her own Wonder Hanger!  She commented that, “We could really use these in our boys closet. It’s so tiny and they have so much stuff to hang.”  I am so excited for her to see the wonders of Wonder Hanger in her boys’ closet!
Yes, we’ve all seen it on TV.  The miraculous Wonder Hangar that claims to:

Triple closet space
Keep clothing organized
Keep clothing wrinkle free

I was intrigued. Would the Wonder Hangar actually work in my closet?  Mind you, my closet would never make the cover of any “organized mom” magazine!  It’s on my list of things to do, I swear!
Anyway, I wasn’t hopeful that it would work, but I put together the 8 hangars to give it a shot. Nothing to lose, right?  I decided to try it on Smarty Pants Dad’s side.  (Yes, I was not …

Once upon a time there were three little pigs.  The first little pig built his house of …
I am certain each of you, and your munchkins, can finish the story.  It’s a story that has been retold orally and in books from as far back as the 1840s!
I challenge you to use the storyline that we all know so well of The Three Little Pigs to introduce a new story and new vocabulary to your preschooler/elementary aged little one.  The Three Little Javelinas by Susan Lowell is a great start.  With the great familiarity of the “pigs” storyline, your child will be quick to understand the story (what happens first, second…) as new words are introduced with this rather hilarious Southwestern variation.  A conversation about straw and bricks will easily be replaced with adobe bricks and tumbleweeds.  You can …

Below are the CPSC recalls that I have received since Wednesday, April 7, 2010.  Guess what we’re seeing again????  That’s right, mores sweatshirts with drawstrings are being recalled.  {annoyed!}
As a reminder:
In February 1996, CPSC issued guidelines(pdf) (which were incorporated into an industry voluntary standard in 1997) to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled in the neck and waist drawstrings in upper garments, such as jackets or sweatshirts.
Be sure to check old hand-me-downs for this!
You can find even more detailed information on all recalled products mentioned below on CPSC.gov. All information below comes directly from the CPSC website.
Smiles
Smarty Pants Mama
PS – Has Recall Wednesday ever alerted you of a product that you actually have had in your home? I want to hear about it!!! Please share!
Name of Product: Decorative Wood Chests and Tables
Hazard: The surface coating paint …

What a great surprise last week when we ordered a chicken and rice dish at a new sushi restaurant! I’m sure you’re not surprised that my little 3 1/2 year old LOVED it! Now I need to get myself a boat to keep in the cupboard, because guess what?  She certainly didn’t argue about eating, when taking bites from the boat.  (Normally she’s like a little bird who pecks for a minute and then is “done”!)

     Picky eater in this house!  How about yours? 
I was provided with a sampling of both the CLIF Organic Twisted Fruit & CLIF Organic Z-Bars.  Here’s what I think:
The CLIF Organic Twisted Fruitare tasty and nutritious!  These fruit snacks come in 6 different flavors, increasing the chances of satisfying the pickiest of eaters!  Each snack is equal to one serving of fruit!  How great is that!  Last week, as a change from the standard snack of fishies or cheese sticks, I shared the CLIF Organic Twisted Fruit with Isabella’s playgroup.  See first hand what they thought:
 
Next up was the CLIF Organic ZBars.  We tried them out on the way home from the park and they were lovedby my daughter!  Isabella enjoys “bars” for snack with a stash of NutriGrain or its store brand version always filling the pockets of my bag.  While these bars are yummy and offer …

Smart Mamas:  Please review this important safety warning about using sling baby carriers with babies. Three babies died just last year from being in a baby carrier the incorrect way.  Below is an easy to understand illustration by the CPSC.  Review the illustration and read the more detailed warning at: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10165.html

“But Mommy, I was just cutting them to make them look pretty,” Isa explained when I found her getting ready for Project Runway last week!
Yes, I am a Smart Mama.
Yes, a Smart Mama would NEVER leave a child alone with scissors.
Yes, I have TOTALLY learned my lesson.
THANKFULLY my daughter’s jammies are “hurt” not her little fingers!
PS – I think she’ll make a great Project Runway contender one day, scissors and all!

Yummy! I love eggplant.  One of my favorite dishes is eggplant parmesan.  That’s a recipe for another day.  Here is a simple way to make eggplant and keep the calories in check.
Grilled Eggplant – ala George Forman
Ingredients

1 large eggplant
1/2 cup of olive oil
3 large cloves of garlic minced

In a small saucepan, heat olive oil medium-low heat for 3-5 minutes until hot.   Add garlic.  Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Meanwhile, peel and slice eggplant into 1/2 inches slices.  When olive oil is ready, brush both sides of eggplant slice with oil.  Grill on indoor grill for 8 minutes (flipping half way if not using a George Foreman.) Season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!

Watch my review!
Where can I buy it?  Retail stores in North America such as, Office Depot, Best Buy, Ace Hardware, Hastings, Zellers, Wal-mart Canada, Canadian Tire, Giant Eagle, Loblaws, Fingerhut, RadioShack, The Home Shopping Network, The Shopping Channel, ThinkGeek.com, and many more shops coming soon this fall including Bed Bath and Beyond & The Container Store.
How much? $4.99 for the 2.65 oz package (great price!)
Where can I win one?  Here!
GIVEAWAY DETAILS
Let’s all have clean keyboards and phones!  There are THREE ways to enter and TEN Cyber Cleans to win!!!  Woo Hoo!
Entry #1 What are you most excited to clean with CyberClean? Visit cyberclean.tv to get ideas! Share as a comment.
Entry #2 Enter daily through Twitter!  Post this on Twitter and share the URL of your post as a comment.
Got crumbs in your keyboard? Win CyberClean to pull the dirt out! To enter go to:

Oh, why do I love Color Wonder???  Let’s just say that the dining room table and chair
would look much different than they did tonight when I found Isabella “making a picture” when I was cooking.  I thought she was coloring and when she suddenly mentions that the “painting” was looking great!  Surprise, surprise, I FREAKED knowing she was sitting in the dining room, quickly envisioning the colors of the rainbow decorating my table, chairs and floor.  Before the true freak out I made a HUGE sigh when I realized she was painting with Crayola Color Wonder!!!
If you don’t have Color Wonder in your home with children, stop reading this and go out and buy it! It will save your sanity, I swear, when the painters are making their masterpieces. Color Wonder is a “magical”  clear paint that does not make any marks on anything but the special Color Wonder paper. 
 
This is not …

Look what was unearthed tonight? The ridiculously large and PAIN to clean George Foreman Grill! I know you have one too. Who doesn’t? This isn’t my first. I originally owned, during my bachlorette days the more standard size. But the moment I was let loose with the bridal registry gun in hand I was certain to include the “FAMILY” size George Foreman Grill. Yes, we did use it, maybe a dozen times during the 1st 6 months or so. The annoyance of cleaning it is what tucked it away to gather dust for years now. Well, with the desire for grilled chicken and severe thunderstorm warning in effect, I grabbed the tot-lock to open that cabinet that holds the George Foreman!
Well, 8 minutes on medium produced absolutely scrumptious, moist grilled chicken! Cleaning it wasn’t too bad. Maybe now in Smart Mama-hood, you quickly learn that a few …