Eardoc Review

{Ear Infections Meet Your Match- Eardoc!}

I have been on the lookout for a good ear infection cure since last year when Moose got his first one and I stumbled upon the Eardoc. I found that it was a non-invasive alternative to treating lots of ear problems!

The Eardoc can be used for-

• Ear Infections or ear pain in general
• Alternative to ear tubes
• Safe for all ages, children and adults
• Removing water from your ears after swimming (I am so excited to try this after scuba diving! I hate that feeling of having water in your ear canals!)

The Eardoc has been clinically reviewed and was found to be safe and was also found to be effective at loosening blockages in the ear tubes.

I had read somewhere that the Eardoc may help Vertigo and this was another main reason that I knew I just had to get one! I get Vertigo pretty often and it is highly unpleasant, I hate it, my head is spinning and every time I move it feels like the room spins around me; the worst part is that the only known cure is moving your head around more (which if you have ever had it, you know that is the LAST thing you want to do!) I thought that this would be great if it worked. One day I felt the Vertigo coming on, if you have it then you know what I mean, so I tried the Eardoc and it felt so good! It really felt like a bit of relief and you know what? The Vertigo didn’t ever come on fully, I don’t know if the Eardoc was the reason for that but I like to think it was! I will certainly be using it from now on.

I have to say that all 3 kids (Moose, Tater and Louie) all loved it! I had to take it away from them to keep them from killing the batteries! They weren’t scared of it and they certainly didn’t think it hurt; they were giggling and holding it behind their ears, so cute. Follow Eardoc on Twitter @eardoc and visit their Facebook page to share your reasons for needing the Eardoc!

Superior Doughnuts- Denver

{Superior Doughnuts- Denver}

This is a sweet story by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tracy Letts (August Osage County) about a little family owned doughnut shop and Arthur the guy who runs the place. The doughnut shop is failing when Arthur hires a young man who has plenty of ideas on how to revamp the business and gain new customers. 

Superior Doughnuts is playing at the Space Theater, this theater in the heart of the Performing arts complex is a beautiful one! It is unique in the way that there are seats in a full circle around the stage and no matter where you sit you have a great view of the action!

{My Opinion}

We loved this show! It was great! Judging by the name and the description I was not sure how it was going to be but I just crossed my fingers that it wouldn’t be awful and showed up. After a few minutes I knew that this was going to be a really good one. I felt drawn in, the characters were really funny and fun to watch, the acting was great and you truly felt like a part of each scene. I would really recommend this one; I think it is the best show we have seen in a while.

Superior Doughnuts is playing from April 1st 2011 to May 7th 2011 tickets start at only $10 (and are well worth it!) you can get your tickets by clicking here. 

Another Apron

{Another Lovely Apron}

Look at what I made- another retro apron from the same pattern as the last one. I made the bias tape for this one too and it ended up being ok but not great by any means, I will need lots of practice.

I love the green fabric

I think it turned out pretty darn good overall! 

Blog Hop 4/5/2011

{Wednesday Blog Hop!}

This is week 8 of the I ♥ Blogging hop that I co-host with Jen from Mom's Online Garage Sale and Mickey from A Helicopter Mom. This hop was created to gain new followers, subscribers, tweeters and facebook fans.  

Every Wednesday a new linky will be posted.  Join in on the fun!

{Featured Blog}

{Rules}
1.  Please become a GFC Follower, Twitter or FaceBook Fan of Moose Tracks and Tater Stacks and my 2 co-hosts Jen, Mickey and our featured blogger Amber
 2.  Adding the Hop Button to your site is appreciated however isn’t mandatory
3.  Be sure to leave us a comment stating you are now a follower of one or all three so we can do the same for you.

<a href="http://mooseandtater.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc206/BusyBee68/Iheartblogginghopbutton.jpg" /></a>

Build A Great Blog

{Are You a New Blogger?}

This is a sticky post and will remain at the top of my blog for a while.

I have been meaning to post about a great blogging class that I found. When I was thinking about starting my blog a few months ago I stumbled upon a post by another blogger who was raving a class by Blogelina, I researched it and found only good things so I decided to join. The class is only $5! I figured even if it was awful it was only five bucks, so no real loss. Luckily I ended up loving the class! I have met so many great bloggers and friends from the weekly online class and that in itself has been worth it.

The class includes so much free stuff that you are actually making money by attending and that isn’t just something I am saying. You get:

• The class manual- this thing has been so helpful, it answers most of the questions that I had starting out (and even now!) Full of hints about starting your blog, questions to ask yourself, how to choose your blog host, design ideas, how to gain visitors and more.

• 4 online classes with other bloggers- It is really nice to have a place to ask all of your questions and meet new friends. If you are wondering if something you are doing is good or looks good you can just ask and get honest feedback right then.

• The best part? This is where you are “making” money; you get a whole year of web hosting with Godaddy.com for FREE! That is an $84 value… technically you just made $79 bucks!

If you join now you can enter to win an Apple iPad too! Just click here for details, I promise, I don’t endorse products that I don’t believe in; I believe in this class!

Food Dyes and ADHD

{Artificial Dyes and Kids}

So recently I stumbled onto a blog post about the artificial food dye “Red 40” I can't remember what blog it was on, I wish I could! It got me thinking and she gave a lot of good information and then I went to Google for some more info but didn’t change anything in what we were eating.

Moose is our hyper, off the wall, crazy little boy and sometimes it seems like he doesn’t know how to control it but I had always just assumed it was normal behavior for him; although some days are worse than others. This weekend he was having a great day; he was being calm and sitting with his daddy on the couch… until I gave him a colored juice drink. About 30 minutes after he drank that juice he was jumping around, running all through the house, doing flips (literally) and just disobeying in general. It lasted for a few hours and during that time I was thinking about the blog post I had read earlier and wondering if the change in activity and this juice were tied together?

We are going on 48 hours of not having any Red 40 and so far I can see a big difference in his attitude and activity. I am not one to just say things are different if they aren’t, I truly believe that his behavior has been better. I had noticed before that certain days he was great and certain days he was bouncing off the walls, maybe this had something to do with it? Only time will tell, I will update in a week or two and let you know how it is going.

What do you think about artificial dyes? Do you keep them away from your kids? Do you believe that they could be linked to hyper activity in children? 

Click here for more information on Red 40

Black Bean Tostadas

{Meatless Monday- Black Bean Tostadas} 

This is a delicious Mexican style recipe that is meatless but you wouldn’t think it was “missing” anything when you taste it. Black beans are a great replacement for meat in this recipe. This whole meal should take about 30 minutes to prepare.

{Ingredients} 

Spanish rice

Refried black beans

Tostadas shells

Mexican cheese

Salsa (optional)

Tomato (optional)

Avocado (optional)

Lettuce (optional)

You start with Spanish rice and this recipe is super easy, I learned it when I was about 16 from my friend’s aunt and I have never forgotten it.  

{Spanish Rice}

{Ingredients} 

A drizzle of olive oil

1 Cup of uncooked rice

2 cloves of garlic

2 Cups of broth

¾ Cup of tomato sauce 

1/2 Can of corn (optional)

{Directions}

Put the oil in a medium or large sauce pan over medium heat

Add the rice to the oil and let it brown slightly, stir it frequently so that it doesn’t burn

Add the garlic and stir it around for a minute

Add in the broth and the tomato sauce, stir and bring to boil

Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes

If you are adding the corn, stir it in now and allow it to warm (the heat from the rice will warm it up)

Next you will need some refried black beans, another super easy, quick recipe

{Refried Black Beans} 

{Ingredients}

A drizzle of olive oil

2 Cans of black beans (drained and rinsed well)

½ Teaspoon of garlic salt

1 Teaspoon of chili powder or Cajun seasoning

1 Cup of broth (Same kind that you used for the rice)

{Directions}

Put the oil in a medium or large sauce pan and add the beans over medium heat

Add the seasoning and the broth

Using a hand held blender or potato masher blend the beans to the texture you like, I like mine very blended (add more liquid if they seem too dry)

{Tostada Directions}

• Get a tostada shell and put a spoon full of black beans on top, smear it around
• Put the rice on top of the beans
• Top with cheese
• Add any extras that you like; salsa, tomatoes, lettuce, avocado

30 Day Picture Challenge- Day 29

{Day 29- 30 Day Picture Challenge}

A picture that can always make you smile

I love this one of my boys; it gives me faith that under all the fighting they really do love each other.  

First Falafel

{My Falafel}

When we went to Israel this summer I tried falafel for the very first time and I realized that I had found one of my true culinary loves. If you don’t know falafel is like a little meat ball with no meat, it is just ground up chick peas and some seasonings; you put it in a pita with some humus and it is amazing!

I found this blog- www.humus101.com it has a bunch of recipes for authentic humus and falafel so I decided to try making it on my own.

The directions were simple

Soak, rinse and dry the chick peas

Mix ingredients together

make them into balls and fry in a little bit of oil

No one mentioned that they burn *super* easy! So several of them burned but most of them were great. They were really quick and easy but I think I could use some hints from a pro before I give it another shot. There are some great looking humus recipes on this blog that I will be trying though! 

30 Day Picture Challenge- Day 28

{Day 28- 30 Day Picture Challenge

A picture of something you are afraid of

I am afraid of a lot of things but I think recently my big fear is bed bugs! Now that there is a problem of possible epidemic proportions I am really worried! Every time we go to a hotel I call and ask if they have them (like they will just say “Yes! Yes, we do!”) then I check the second I get in the room. If we ever have them I am sure I will never sleep again.