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Our family has been living gluten-free due to Celiac Disease for over 6 years. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, barley, and very similar to the protein found in outs. This means that any food needs to be made specially – bread, pasta, cake, pizza crust, pretzels, cookies, etc. Finding the Betty Crocker gluten-free mixes was a wonderful surprise!

Over the past 6 years there has been a huge increase in availability of gluten-free products, but most of the GF products have been found in the health food aisle of the grocery store or in a specialty store.

However, gluten-free products are becoming more mainstream as the number of people diagnosed with celiac disease rises, as well as the number of people living gluten-free for other reasons. Last summer, General Mills introduced a new, gluten-free formulation of Rice Chex (they changed the sweetener from barley malt to another sweetener). In addition to becoming more mainstream, gluten-free products are becoming much more commonly available and found in most grocery stores.

One of my friends who is not on a restricted diet (and therefore actually looks at the boxed cake mixes) noticed the Betty Crocker GF mixes while doing her weekly shopping. So, the next time I was shopping, I picked up the Betty Crocker Gluten Free Devil’s Food Cake Mix. The ingredients* are free of gluten, dairy, and eggs, but they have a “may contain soy” warning, which is somewhat disappointing – there are a lot of people who are sensitive to gluten, dairy, and soy. However, the package is labelled gluten free, and the packages have also been labelled as being produced in a GF facility – which means it is unlikely that any gluten flour could end up in the gluten-free mix. The package is also labelled as Kosher pareve (no dairy or meat products per Jewish law)

I made our cake with real eggs (the instructions call for 3 eggs), 1 stick (1/2 cup) dairy-free margarine in place of butter, and water. I followed the directions for a 9″ round cake and ended up with a wonderful and moist cake.

The cake rose well and was moist, fluffy, and delicious. We frosted it with a delicious and fluffy chocolate frosting, and then sprinkled candied violets on top. We brought the cake to my Nana’s 87th birthday lunch, and none of the people there would have guessed it was gluten-free if nothing had been said. Unlike a lot of gluten free flours, the rice flour in the Betty Crocker Gluten Free Devil’s Food Cake Mix is not gritty.

My one criticism is that the folks at General Mills/Betty Crocker chose to use rice four rather than a more nutrient rich flour. However, a cake is a treat, not a dietary mainstay, so that’s a minor complaint. The price is in the $3.50-$4 range, higher than the gluten-containing mixes, but lower than many other gluten-free mixes.

Betty Crocker Gluten Free Devil’s Food Cake Mix Ingredients: sugar, rice flour, potato starch, cocoa processed with alkali, tapioca starch, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, monocalcium phosphate), salt, guar gum.

Betty Crocker Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix Ingredients: sugar, rice flour, potato starch, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, monocalcium phosphate), xanthan gum, salt.

We’ll be trying the Betty Crocker Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix soon, as I picked up a box of that too. General Mills is also selling Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownie Mix and Betty Crocker Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

My girls, like many other children today, are very interested in saving energy and keeping the earth clean. Solar energy is a renewable resource, and one that doesn’t pollute the earth; it’s something the girls and their friends want to learn more about. My daughters also have a love of science, so the Solar Science Lab is a perfect fit for our family. Add in that the Solar Science Lab includes all the scientific equipment you will need

When introducing solar energy to children, the Solar Science Lab discusses different sources of energy – renewable and non-renewable. Within the context of solar energy, they differentiate between direct solar energy, such as what will be used for experiments in this lab, and indirect solar energy, which uses energy collected in plants through photosynthesis (ie: burning wood and converted into ethanol).

While the Solar Science Lab is aimed at kids 8+ and 3rd grade +, our homeschooling coop of kids ages 4-11 really enjoyed the activities! There is a great mix of very quick and easy experiments, as well as more involved experiments – from looking at how light changes through colored lenses to burning feathers. Some experiments require more set-up time and household items that aren’t included in the box, but many are easy to set up with just the contents.

I am really happy with the Solar Science Lab, and found this to be a great way of mixing science and ecological awareness, and in a way that is fun and engaging. The girls and I had so much fun with this kit, as did their friends. My only complaint is that some of the paper and cardboard pieces aren’t as sturdy as I would like for long-term use. This is balanced by there being a solar cell, thermometer, and other very sturdy pieces, however. If you’re looking for a fun and affordable way of introducing your kids to solar energy, this is a must-buy.

We are a family which loves to play games. Card games, board games, outside games, and other games that seem to defy description. When Parent Bloggers Network was looking for someone to test the Discovery Store game Rapelli, we were happy to give it a try. The Rapelli Game is a 15 minute game which is part of the Discovery Store’s new line of bamboo products, and is designed for kids ages 4+.

Bamboo is a renewable resource which has become popular for creating everything from sheets to flooring. Bamboo grows and matures quickly, making it easy to harvest and then plant another crop, unlike slow-growing trees. Bamboo’s versatility is well-utilized in Rapelli, the pieces are multi-sectioned caterpillars, dice, and a cylinder, all of which look just like wood. Discovery has a pop-up window which explains more about their eco-friendly products, the natural materials, and environmental sustainability. Usually the consumer is torn between wood, which is natural but requires cutting down trees, and plastic, which could contain any number of chemicals, but doesn’t use up the forests. Bamboo offers a third choice which combines the benefits of both, without the negatives of either. Bamboo grows well in China, and the Discovery Store collection of bamboo toys are made in China in conjunction with several agencies.

The set-up for Rapelli takes only a few moments, the two halves of the cylinder snap together, and then the 18 caterpillars get stuck into the cylinder. The directions are easily understood – choose 2 or 3 caterpillar colors (2 if 4-6 players, 3 if the game has 2 players) to be yours for the game, then roll the dice, and follow the directions on the dice. First, find a caterpillar that matches the color on the first die, then either pull it out or push it in 1-3 segments based on the arrows on the second die. Your goal is to collect as many caterpillars of “your” colors as possible. If having players choose colors and sharing colors becomes confusing for some children, you can instead play with the goal of collecting the most caterpillars regardless of color.

We brought Rapelli to our homeschooling coop a few times, and it was enjoyed by the pack of 4-5 year olds there, in addition to being enjoyed by our family. When our family played, we followed the original directions, and while that was fun, there were certain individuals who had a hard time with the idea that their chosen color was someone else’s chosen color as well. So, when there were four 4-5 year olds playing, I tried using a variation on the directions, just collecting whichever caterpillars you could pull out. This worked much better for that age group, and while no one was happy to lose, there were fewer tears.

I am very impressed with the quality of the materials used in Rapelli, as well as the thought behind the choice of using bamboo. The game itself is fun, but several kids were confused by “pick a color” and then rolling the dice and having a color they didn’t choose appear on the die. However, once we made “house rules”, the game went smoothly, and was chosen frequently. There are 22 pieces in Rapelli, and 20 of them are relatively small, so it isn’t a game for chewers, babies, or people who always lose pieces.

I knew Rapelli was a hit when there was a chorus of “not fair!” when we had to start picking up at the end of coop. While the box says ages 4-99, it was enjoyed most by the 4-6 year olds, and they enjoyed it a lot. A combination of eco-friendly, well-made, lovely, and fun make Rapelli a winner here!

We thank Parent Bloggers Network for the opportunity to review the Discovery Store game Rapelli, We give it 4 spotlights out of 5, as the original directions were very brief and confusing to the kids, though the game was lovely enough to inspire creating “house rules”.

(This entry would usually have some great pictures of the kids playing the game, but unfortunately my camera broke)

Spring and Summer have arrived, so it’s time to break out the outdoor games! Gamewright has been our favorite source for games for the past year and a half, and with its new releases, it looks like that trend will continue. (and not just because they send us games for review!) We spend the winter (and evenings) playing games from Gamewright, so it is only fitting that we are playing one of their new games, Boochie, outside!

Boochie is a game that reminds me a bit of horseshoes, a bit of bocce, and a bit of Calvinball (games with rules made up on the spot by kids). The game is designed for children 8 and up, but my 4 1/2 year old was able to play it reasonably well, and it was fun for all of us. Unfortunately, the game is designed for four players andwe have 5 people in our family, but you can play in teams, or have one person be the judge/scorer.

The rules of Boochie are pretty simple. Every player has a wrist counter, a ball, and a hoop of the same color. Someone tosses the large, multi-faceted ball, then each player tosses their ring and their ball towards the multi-faceted ball.

For scoring, there are points awarded for being closest to the Boochie ball, and for being farthest away. The ball itself has scoring that changes each time you toss it – you never know what bonus scoring you’ll get! Once you’ve noted your points on your wrist counter, you go back to the line to toss again. Only now the wrist counter has some new trick for you – can you throw laying down? on your knees? under your leg? with the opposite hand? Everyone will be challenged!

Our family has really enjoyed our games of Boochie. They were fun, and competitive in a way that continued the fun rather than making someone thing they weren’t going to win, so they should give up. Boochie will be a great beach game this summer, and it’s a great game for spring when you’re starting to enjoy going outside again. We give it 5 spotlights out of 5, and are looking forward to playing it again soon (after Daddy mows the lawn).

Do you remember that feeling of squickiness and shame when the school nurse found out you had lice? ick But now parents are not only worried about eliminating the lice and nits, but also worried about using pesticides on their children’s heads in order to kill off the lice. Everyone needs to comb every strand of hair, but coating the head in olive oil or mayonaise and then a hair thingie for 3 hours seems to work, but not everyone can do that. The kind folks at MomCentral have teamed up with Lice MD to show parents that there’s an alternative to pesticides sitting on their pharmacy shelf.

LiceMD Hair Lice & Egg Treatment was easy for me to find on the pharmacy shelves, it was right near all the pesticide-filled treatments. The pricing is also comparable, which was encouraging, as many natural products are priced significantly higher than the non-natural products. Plus at Lice MD.com you can download a $1 off coupon (but only if you are using Windows).

LiceMD has created a product that has many advantages over pesticides, and even some over the oil-on-head method. The product eliminates lice in 10 minutes after it has been applied (much nicer than 3 hours!), and also super-conditions the hair to make it easier to comb through. The LiceMD Hair Lice & Egg Treatment includes a patented lice comb, and after the treatment has sat for the 10 minutes, you need to comb every section of hair very carefully. They suggest using bobby pins to section off the completed hair.

You do need to check your child’s head daily for 10 days and also wash bedding and clean your house, but because LiceMD Hair Lice & Egg Treatment has no pesticides it doesn’t contribute to pesticide-resistent lice, and also can be used more than once if the lice recur.

My children didn’t get lice during my review time, but I’m very impressed with the LiceMD Hair Lice & Egg Treatment and the information on the LiceMD webpage. This is good information to be saved for later use! It’s nice to know that companies are making pesticide-free options for lice treatment!

Kinzin works independently, or in conjunction with Facebook as a social networking site that allows you to personally invite and restrict individuals access to pictures of your kids. In addition, you can make books that are grouped around a certain child, an event, or anything else. Our current “book” is filled with spring pictures of the girls. Additionally, you can tag your kids with what they are currently doing, just as you do for yourself in other social networking sites.

The Kinzin interface is easy to use, you simply add a page to a book, and there’s a pull-down menu for importing an image from your computer, flickr, or a couple other places. Selecting from flickr was easy – I just chose a flickr set and clicked – the title and caption were brought over, too! It’s really handy to have all our spring pictures in one place that is easy to browse! If you want to share your pictures online only, without the automated mailing, Kinzin is completely free, and happily without ads!

Once you have added pictures to Kinzin, check out your “outbox” and make sure you delete any duplicates (I forgot to do that the first time, oops!). Then you can sign up to have Kinzin deliver 10 pictures to any address for $2.99/month. Right now, if you add a 3rd address, it’s free! Who can resist a bargain?

We sent pictures to my grandmother in Connecticut, my husband’s parents & grandparents in Texas, and my father and step-mom who live about an hour away. All 3 were very impressed with the pictures – they are beautifully printed, and come in a nice envelope. My grandmother lives in an assisted living place, and her pictures came at breakfast, and she was the talk of the dining room! She was so proud to show off her great-grandchildren!

The one problem I noticed is that I am used to viewing images online rather than having them printed. So, there needed to be some black framing on a few images because I didn’t crop them for printing as a 4×6.

Overall, I really like Kinzin – it’s easy to use, a fun and safe way to share pictures online, and the automated photo-mailing means that your relatives will really get your pictures, rather than just your intentions to mail pictures!

We happily give Kinzin 5/5 spotlights, with a few added beams from our very pleased family members who finally received long-promised prints!

I worked with BG to choose an invitation (this one) and a picture (this one). It was remarkably easy to enter the invitation and choose the image on tiny prints. The hardest part was really narrowing down the invitation – there were so many great choices! There was a problem with how the image would print on our invitations, so the tiny prints folks contacted us and made it very easy for us to upload a new image (this one), which wouldn’t be grainy. The customer service folks were friendly and very helpful, and we fixed it quickly. (The pic of the invite is before the change)

Once we had the invitations ordered, they shipped quickly and arrived here a day or so before they were expected! We were very impressed with the quality of the paper and the sharpness of the image, text, and design. These are beautiful invitations that people will enjoy putting up on their wall/fridge! BG is thrilled with the invites, and loves the attention.

We weren’t going to need the minimum order of 25 invitations, but because the invitations are lovely, we decided to send a few to out-of-state family members as well as children we were inviting. It was a great way of making the out-of-state folks feel very included. Even if they can’t attend, they know they were wanted.

The responses about the invitations have been overwhelming. It really catches your attention, and people loved seeing a recent picture of BG. While I’m not sure our budget could allow us to use these invitations for 3 parties a year, they are very, very special, and perfect for a milestone birthday such as BG’s 10th or for another special occasion.

After navigating the website, ordering, and receiving invitations from tiny prints, I highly reccomend them. Great quality and wonderful customer service. We give them 5/5 spotlights!

Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse vol. 1 Expressing Yourself is a DVD from NoteAbilities, which is aimed at children ages 2-7 with Autistic Spectrum Disorders and other associated issues. If you’ve struggled with helping your child understand how others are feeling, you might need more tools to help your child recognize emotions in others and cope with their own emotions. Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse is a great way to add tools to your toolbox and to your child’s toolbox in a fun way with catchy songs.

Hosts “Handy Sam” and “Miss Angela” (as well as Kibbles the dog) lead a group of four children through activities and songs. Each activity helps children with their emotions and building their skillset to cope with emotions and recognize emotions in others. Throughout Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse, Miss Angela and Handy Sam demonstrate, sing about, and talk to the children so they can learn how to cope with anger, frustration, and other emotions. We really liked the song refrains of “use your mouth to ask for things”, “take 3 deep breaths and count to 10″, “I’m OK when things don’t go my way”, and “I can accept no as an answer”!

In Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse, there is also a segment called “Kibbles World”, in which Kibbles the dog can talk, and helps the kids identify emotions, and work on their “use your words” skills. Kibbles also adds some activities that are interactive – Kibbles gives you a problem, and goes through the options, and the studio audience chips in with the answers. My girls were quick to chime in with the answers as well, and always love talking dogs. Using a style that is reminiscent of “Elmo’s World” and “Blue’s Room”, Kibble’s World engages the children and almost tricks them into participating.

I really liked the messages in In Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse, and thought that they were well-executed. There were examples of “good” and “bad” ways of dealing with anger, meeting people, and coping with strong emotions. Some DVDs only show the “good” way of dealing with a situation, which doesn’t feel realistic to me or my kids. The songs are very well integrated into the action, and the songs are fun and very, very catchy, yet not overly sweet. I was happy to find a fun, song-filled DVD that is aimed at helping children with life skills.

Regardless of how I feel about Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse, it was important what my daughters thought of the DVD, they won’t watch DVDs just because I like it. All three enjoyed the songs, and were up dancing for each one. They all agreed that this DVD gave them tools to help them through problems. While some of the tools mentioned in Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse were strategies I had already discussed with the girls, somehow it sticks better when it’s on a DVD with a great soundtrack! When Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse was over, the girls were upset, asking “is that all there is?” We quickly found the “Special Features” section, which includes a bonus Kibbles World episode, and a karaoke option for the songs inside Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse. They were also thrilled that there is a sing-a-long CD we can play in the car, too. As the parent who has to listen to most of the songs, I can safely say that these songs are much better than most childen’s music, and the fact that they have a message makes them even better – catchy and fun without being insipid.

While it’s too early to say if the strategies presented in Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse will make lasting changes, it did help recently when my oldest daughter got frustrated at the beach. We were able to work through her anger, and get to the root of the trouble rather than just patching up the surface issue. I’m crossing my fingers that this DVD will help reinforce the messages I’ve been teaching, and it will be in our “to watch” stack for the foreseeable future! If you are looking for a Social Skills DVD, Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse is the one to get!

If you want to check out Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse vol. 1 Expressing Yourself
for yourself, visit the Kibble’s Rockin’ Clubhouse website to check out a video. Check their website again soon, NoteAbilities will have kid-focused printouts and activities on their website, plus further information for parents.

We give Kibbles Rockin’ Clubhouse 5 spotlights out of 5, with a special extra bonus points for engaging kids in our house from 4-10, and conveying messages without turning preachy and insipid!

Skill Building Buddies is a DVD by Mazzarella Media aimed at kids ages 5-12 with language or autistic spectrum disorders. If you have a child in either of these categories, you will definitely want to check it out, as it helps teach a positive way of working through transitions. Even if you have a child without any labels, but one who has trouble with transitions, you’ll want to read on to learn more about Skill Building Buddies!

The strategy for staying calm throughout transitions in Skill Building Buddies is “Look” “Listen” and “Stay Calm”, and the DVD comes with cards that can be used to remind kids of these three tips. There is a pattern of cartoon explanation, live-action demonstration, then cartoon. After two live-action segments, there’s a song break. This pattern can be comforting to children, especially when they are children who prefer patterns and dislike change!

In Skill Building Buddies children are presented with an expected or unexpected change/transition. The cartoon characters show hosts Mikey and Mandy introduce each live action character’s issue, and discuss how they handle it. The children’s changes include needing to watch TV in a different room & chair, not having your favorite snack, needing to move from clay to reading, having to stay inside for recess, and when your friends want to change games. Each live-action character’s change is a day-to-day issue, something that isn’t life-shattering, but children can relate to as a source of frustration/anger/sadness. The theme song sings “when things change, you’ll be ok”, a great message for everyone!

I really liked the message in Skill Building Buddies, and the way the DVD reinforced a coping strategy that could be used in a wide variety of situations. Look at the person, listen to what they are saying, and then stay calm and move on – that’s a great coping strategy for everyone. In the segments, the children asked questions a few times, showing their frustration, but they all went along with the change. I would have liked to see one segment where the child did not go along with the change, and instead threw a tantrum (as a what not to do), but I know that there would be children who mimicked the tantrum rather than the coping strategies.

My 4 year old really liked Skill Building Buddies, but my 7 year old thought there were too many singing breaks. That said, she was singing the song days after watching the DVD, and called it “catchy”. My oldest (almost 10) has some learning differences, and she was upset that the DVD didn’t pay attention to the different ways children responded to the change – some just accepted it, some asked questions, etc. I think she wanted reassurance that it was OK not to like the change, but you needed to cope with it anyhow. My oldest also pointed out that the majority of scenes took place in a school, and since we homeschool, she didn’t relate to them as much. Finally, she was upset that in a DVD about change they didn’t change up the format (segment, segment, song). She did admit that the coping strategy might be helpful, and she’s willing to try it to see if it’s useful for her.

If you have a child diagnosed on the Autistic Spectrum, I strongly recommend picking up Skill Building Buddies. Watching the DVD multiple times will help reinforce a positive coping strategy for dealing with change. Changes and transitions are hard for all children, and we can all learn more ways of facilitating positive interactions despite our frustrations. We recommend Skill Building Buddies to anyone who needs help with transitions and change. We look forward to seeing additional titles from Mazzarella Media, and give Skill Building Buddies 4 out of 5 spotlights.

Have you and your kids had a chance to watch Hip Hop Harry: Move Those Feet or any of the Hip Hop Harry shows on Discovery Kids? We hadn’t caught the show, but since my girls love to dance and rhyme, I was excited to be able to review Hip Hop Harry: Move Those Feet for the Parent Bloggers Network!

All three girls (almost-10, almost-8, 4 1/2) sat in rapt attention when I started Hip Hop Harry, and even the older girls quickly started repeating after Harry, “I say ‘hip hop’, you say ‘Harry’! ‘Hip Hop’”, “Harry!” Hip Hop Harry’s main character is a human-sized teddy bear who leads the children through activities in this live-action show. Unlike the bear in “Bear and the Big Blue House”, the bear in Hip Hop Harry doesn’t have a moving mouth, but that didn’t seem to make any difference to the kids at all. In the picture on the right, I caught them during one of the few moments they were sitting down. Harry quickly had them on their feet, dancing and rapping with him.

I’m not a big fan of rap music, but the songs were fun and catchy enough that I occasionally find myself humming them. With songs like “I love to learn!”, they are a fun way to teach concepts and encourage kids to sing, rhyme, and move. One segment I really enjoyed was when the kids learned to exercise using a hula hoop, showing them that any time you move your body, you are exercising, and exercising can be a lot of fun! I have very active girls, my kids spend all day moving, so getting them to exercise isn’t top on my list of parenting issues, but it’s great to reinforce early that exercise doesn’t equal something distasteful.

Here’s a little video of the girls dancing around with the Hip Hop Harry: Move Those Feet DVD. It was rather hard to make even this short of a video, as the girls were up and down and all around with their moves, so keeping them in the frame was tricky!

Hip Hop Harry: Move Those Feet gets 5 spotlights out of 5 from the Gaggle of Girls! It’s a great way to get kids moving, plus there’s a lot of thinking and learning. A great combination. This was enjoyed by all 3 girls, ages 4-10, and they think that kids a little older and/or a little younger would also like the DVD as well. We’re going to try to check out the show on Discovery Kids and pick up the second DVD, Hip Hop Harry – Fun with Friends!