KidzShake Review {and Giveaway}

If you read my blog frequently you know that I have four children. They all have different nutritional needs and with everybody in full day school this year breakfast will be challenging. With kids in Grades K, 3, 4 and 7 there simply is no way to feed them one breakfast that fits all. Two of my kids are not morning people and eating a big breakfast before leaving the house is simply not in the cards whilst two of my other kids needs to eat a big breakfast before leaving the house to not be starving by lunch. Chaos? Every morning!

I had been looking for a breakfast solution for a while to avoid the "Grab a cereal bar and run" breakfasts my middle schooler prefers, a drink that would supplement my always hungry GF kid and a drink that would also entice my non-morning kids to eat enough to hold them over until lunch. But none of the products I found were kid-friendly and healthy or contained tons of sugar and gluten. UNTIL, I found KIDZ SHAKE! 

It is nut-free, gluten-free, lactose-free, all natural and (hard to believe but true:) SUGAR FREE!

Dr. Rach, the pediatrician and Mom of 4 behind KidzShake, created KidzShake after moving to the States from Australia and being overwhelmed at the amount of sugar added to kids products. Do you know that the avarage American child eats 20, 30 and sometimes even 50 teaspoons of sugar EVERY DAY? Not being able to find a nutritional shake to supplement her kids' diets she had the idea for KidzShake. "I wanted something that had ZERO sugar in it and nothing artificial. Artificial sweeteners are in many cases just as bad as sugar. Then I wanted to have it packed with essential vitamins and minerals. Not just a little but a real BANG of the good stuff they need. Finally it had to be delicious. It was no use having a great healthy shake if I had to force feed my kids to drink it. Uses natural sweeteners found in Mother Nature not developed in some laboratory. It tastes as good as any milkshake you can buy or make at home."

The above graphic shows you the difference between KidzShake and some of the common breakfast choices kids have either at home or school.

So why is KidzShake a better alternative?

• the lack of bad fats in KidzShake that are prevalent in many snacks and breakfasts
• KidzShake has nearly 400% more fiber than any other product on this chart
• Some of these foods have a very high level of added sugar including high fructose corn syrup(KidzShake has ZERO sugar and yet is naturally sweet)
• KidzShake is by far the best source of protein on this list
• KidzShake is the only product with digestive enzymes
• KidzShake is the only product except yogurt with probiotics
• KidzShake is the only product with omega-3’s
• KidzShake can be customized for kids ages 2 - 12+ 

 My kids absolutely love KidzShake and we cannot wait to try the other amazing flavors!

CURIOUS? Want to try this amazing kids nutritional shake for yourself?

I am giving away THREE Kidzshake prize packs! You can win 1 bottle of KidzShake (you choose the flavor) and a shaker bottle:

a Rafflecopter giveaway US Residents only. Winners will be notified via email. Winners have 24 h to respond to Mamabelly to claim their prizes or I will redraw. GOOD LUCK!

Star Sandwich Cutter BentoUSA Review

Do your kids love food on a stick? Mine do! They especially love sandwiches on a stick and I wanted to show you my favorite sandwich-on-a-stick maker. Drum roll please...

The SANDWICH on a STICK MAKER! Ours is star shaped but All Things For Sale also carries them in the form of a heart, a flower, a mini hexagon and a mini square!

This cutter is easy to use, easy to clean and simply perfect for quick sandwiches on a stick!

The cutter comes apart for easy cleaning and thanks to the plunger you can easily extract your made sandwich! This means , PBJ, jelly or nut butter sandwiches are no sticky messes!

Directions:

You need two slices of bread. One plain and one with the topping you would like.

Start with the plain bread. Cut out the shape. Leave the shape in the cutter and cut the bread with the topping next. Alternate until the cutter is full. Insert bento pick or toothpick. Press the sandwich gently out of the cutter and your shaped sandwich on a stick is ready!

My daughter wanted turkey and cheese sandwiches and we made some together.

Fun, right?

To illustrate the layers the sandwich maker produces we alternated bread, turkey and cheese.

 Perfect for little hands or...

...for the lunchbox!

The Sandwich on a stick Cutter is available at All Things For Sale here:

Koala Lunch 3 Ways

Mamabelly is part of Wendolonia's 3 Tools, 3 Lunches series today! I am so excited! Head over to Wendolonia to see what everybody made with the new CuteZCute Cuddle Palz, Easylunchboxes and animal food picks!

I only submitted one lunch to Wendolonia but actually packed the lunch three different ways for my kids:

This first Easylunchbox container contains:

• a CuteZCute Cuddle Palz Koala holding a pepperoni sandwich fork
• celery bamboo
• a carved apple with the cute CuteZCute Koala pick
• grape tomatoes with leaf picks

This second Easylunchbox container contains:

• a CuteZCute Cuddle Palz Koala holding a pepperoni sandwich fork
• celery bamboo with a Koala climbing up one
• a carved apple tree with the cute Koala pick
• grape tomatoes with leaf picks

The third Easylunchbox container contains:

• a CuteZCute Cuddle Palz Koala holding a pepperoni sandwich fork
• celery bamboo
• a carved apple tree with the cute CuteZCute Koala pick
• grape tomatoes with leaf picks

I am so thrilled that Wendolonia asked me to be part of this series! I love Wendolonia's bento lunches and her site was one of the first ones that inspired me to back bento lunches myself! Thank you, Wendy!

If you are ready to pack some Koala lunches yourself, here is what I used (contains affiliate links):

Snoopy Lollipop Sandwiches

Got a reluctant sandwich eater? Or is your child chatty at lunch and never finishes what you pack?

Make sandwiches fun and lunch easy to eat while socializing with friends with these cute but easy Lollipop sandwiches!

This lunch is packed in Easylunchboxes and holds:

• 3 peanut butter and jelly lollipop sandwiches 
• cheese crackers
• and fresh apple rings

To make the Lollipop sandwiches I followed the directions to make the MOMables DIY popsicle sticks and then used my snoopy cookie cutter and stamp set to make the sandwiches and filled them with peanut butter and jelly. Now you simply slide the popsicle sticks into the sandwich and you have a cute snoopy lollipop sandwich!

Things I used to make this lunch (contains affiliate links) :

HOW TO PACK A BENTO BOX {with picture tutorial}

I have gotten lots of questions on HOW TO PACK A BENTO BOX so everything actually looks as cute as it was when you packed it. So I decided to show you how I packed my Moose bento box from the previous Literary Lunch post: Duck, Duck, Moose! Instructions on how to make the Moose sandwich can be found in that post as well!

1.) Get all your bento box ingredients ready.

• the sandwich (how-to instructions HERE) 
• fruit or vegetables, washed and ready to use
• crackers, nuts or any other smaller foods that can fill the empty spaces of the bento

2.) Place the sandwich first.

Since the sandwich was the biggest part of this lunch I placed the sandwich carefully first (the blueberries are glued on with peanut butter and the nose and nostrils are "glued' with peanut butter as well so I know those parts won't move (more DETAILS here).

3.) Place the rest of the lunch items to fill the spaces around the sandwich.

I started with the crackers on one side...

...and added the fruit to the other side to separate the two foods and prevent the crackers from getting soggy.

Then I filled the spaces between the antlers with almonds.

Lastly, I added a sprinkle smile to the sandwich and used honey to make them stick to the sandwich.

All you need now is a lid and a hungry child :)

Cuddle Palz on Vacation

We have not been packing many lunches since we have been on vacation but once my new Cuddle Palz cutter from CuteZCute arrived I could not resist packing a quick vacation themed lunch for the kids!

How cute is this little sightseeing tiger? Adorable right? I found this idea on the CuteZCute page and could not resist. 

We packed our Easylunchboxes with a simple lunch of:

• cherries
• carrot sticks
• and a CuteZCute Cuddle Palz Cheese sandwich tiger.

What I used to make this lunch:

A Lunch for Peanut Butter Lovers

Do you love Peanut Butter or nut butter? Then this lunch box idea is for you!

Our Easylunchbox is chock full of:

• carrots
• apple slices
• celery 
• peanut butter for dipping
• and a peanut butter tortilla

This is a great power lunch for camp, the pool, a museum outing or work.