Mother-ease Sandy's Fitted Diaper and Air Flow Cover- Review & GIVEAWAY ***CLOSED***

Mother-ease Cloth Diapers leak-free cloth diaper systems offer several unique products including One Size Fitted Diapers, Sandy's Fitted Diapers, All in One Diapers, side snapping diaper covers called Air Flow Covers, and wrap style covers with an aplix closure called Rikki Wrap Covers.

I am reviewing the Sandy's fitted diaper and the Air Flow Cover!

I was really happy for a chance to try out Mother-ease's Sandy's award winning fitted diaper. I'd heard it raved about on the diaper pin, and it surely did not disappoint!
Sandy's diapers are made of soft stretchy terry cloth, with an extra layer sewn in the middle. They are available in the following fabrics: stretchy cotton terry, colored stretchy cotton terry, organic cotton terry, and stretchy bamboo terry. Mother-ease prides themselves in their quality, custom knit fabrics!

Sandy's is a two size system. The Small Sandy's fits babies from 8-20 lbs and absorbs 12 oz. (350 ml). The Large Sandy's fits from 20-35 lbs, and absorbs 15 oz. The stretchy fabric allows them to fit for a long time!

Sandy's Diapers come in a great array of colors! I love them all!!!


I've been testing driving this Small Sandy's in white cotton terry:


Here's a view of the inside of the diaper:


And the outside:


It came with this nice absorbent liner:


Here's a closer look at the side snapping options:






The verdict:

I love love love this diaper! Even without the liner it is SO absorbent. The first time I sprayed it out I was like WOW! I know that has a hint of valley girl to it, but I really said that! It became so heavy in my hand that it really surprised me. I've sprayed a lot of diapers that never felt this heavy when saturated!!

I have a heavy wetter, so I love absorbency. I can see why this diaper is a favorite for many moms. I really enjoyed reading about the history of Mother-ease Cloth Diapers on their web-site, and learned that this diaper was actually designed for heavy wetters, and named after their son!!! Let me make a list of reasons I love this diaper!

1. The material is truly super soft and stretchy. It feels VERY comfy!!!
2. It's thick, but has a nice fit and isn't bulky (in comparison to what I'm used to with prefolds.)
3. The elastic snug around the legs and back, but totally comfortable.
4. As I mentioned, it is very very absorbent!
5. With the liner, it's a PERFECT nighttime diaper! (It's on my baby right now as she sleeps!:)
6. It's still soft after line drying!!!
7. I absolutely love the color choices.
8. I like the look of side snaps and that they help with toddler proofing later on and comfort for babies with chubby bellies.
9. I like it that one size will fit for a long time!
10. I like the look of it! It's cute. I like the ruffly look around the waist and legs.

I would change nothing about this diaper and have absolutely no dislikes! I'm seriously considering getting more in multiple sizes and making them our main overnight diaper.

I also had the opportunity to try out the Mother-ease Air Flow Cover!

This cover is made to be worn with Mother-ease fitted diapers. It is designed to be leak proof, but still allow ventilation. The way it works is that between the snaps at the legs and those at the waist, it buckles allowing an opening for air to flow in and out. This picture from Mother-ease web-site helps show what I mean: It took me a while to get used to this cover because I was accustomed to covers fitting more snugly. However, as I learned more about the cover and how it worked I realized that it is not meant to fit snugly, but loosely so that the air can circulate in and out. Now, after getting used to it and realizing that it is supposed to fit that way, it has grown on me and I think it's cute!

One problem I had at first was that it was leaving red marks on my baby's chubby legs. Most diapers leave slight red marks, but these were a little more prominent and enough to concern me. I tried putting the leg portion on a larger setting, and it has been better. The binding around the edge of the cover is a thin, breathable material, so it does not add cushion to the edge of the diaper cover. However, as I said before, putting it on a looser fitting setting has worked fine, and is also more conducive to airflow, which is the objective of the cover! I have had no leaks with it on the larger leg setting either, which I think was my fear to begin with. I find myself warming up to this cover more and more as time goes on!

Below you can see the size options at the legs and waist:


Here it is on baby!

These two products are truly special. They are designed by a mom seeking to meet the needs of absorbency and airflow for her own children. I love the functionality of these products! They work!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mother-ease is offering one blessed winner a Sandy's fitted diaper and Airflow Cover of their own! Here's how to win:

One Mandatory Entry:

Go to Mother-ease's web-site and come back here and tell me another of their products that you'd like to try!

(Leave a separate comment for each entry. Include your email address if it is not easily accessible through your blogger profile.You do not have to have a blogger profile to enter, as long as you leave a valid e-mail address.)

Additional Entries:
1. Like Mother-ease on Facebook!

2. Follow Mother-ease on Twitter!

3. Join the Mother-ease forum!

3. Like The Cheap and Choosy on Facebook! (Right sidebar) **New!**

4. Follow The Cheap and Choosy via Google Friend Connect (Right Side Bar).

5. Follow me on Twitter.

6. Share about this giveaway on Facebook and leave me a comment with the link.

7. Grab my blog button (top right) and leave a link to where I can find it in your comment.

8. Blog about this giveaway. (3 entries)

9. Tweet about this giveaway and leave the link to your tweet in your comment. You can use the re-tweet button on bottom left! (Up to 3 entries per day as long as they are at least 15 minutes apart.)

10. Subscribe to The Cheap and Choosy via email. (left hand sidebar)

11. Comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. (One entry per post commented on.)

12. Two entries for each of the 3 event buttons (left sidebar!) posted on the main page of your blog. Just leave a link to where I can find them.

Canada and U.S. only. This giveaway is open until Oct. 20, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. EST. The winner will be chosen using a random number generator. I will email the winner, who will have 48 hours to respond. If winner does not respond within 48 hours, another winner will be chosen. I will post the winner when the selection has been made and confirmed by the recipient.

This is not a paid post. I received the product for review free of charge. The opinions expressed are completely my own! You can see my full disclosure here.

Saving With Bunch Spinach {MPM}

We eat a lot of Spinach salad, mostly as an excuse to eat our yummy homemade salad dressing :). I love the health benefits of spinach too, though!

I used to buy baby spinach in a bag because it was so convenient and perfect for salad, but then I saw things on the news that were a bit disturbing about bagged salad, so I started buying bunch spinach. At first I found preparing it for salad to be a bit cumbersome, tearing the stems off by hand and tearing the leaves into bite size pieces. Finally, I had an idea that made it super easy and perfect for salad!
Before taking of the binding around the stems, I lay it on the cutting board and start slicing it, just as if it were a tomato or onion.



I slice it all the way down to the stem in about 1 inch slices, then put the stems in the back of compost stuff and the sliced leaves, which are now perfect size for salad in a colander to rinse thoroughly before saving out the amount needed for our salad that night and putting the rest in a bag in the fridge for later.

It's easy, less expensive, safer, and just as perfect for salad!

This week's menu plan:
Monday: Leftover Curry or Beirrocks
Tuesday: Empanadas
Wednesday: Chop Suey (Lentil sprouts are being grown as we speak!)
Thursday: El Burgos or Pakinstani Kima
Friday: Off to visit family for the weekend!

So Long,Pillsbury! {Menu Plan Monday}

By the time I finish this post it may become "Menu Plan Tuesday" as I'm busy trying to adjust to life with a crawler and no more morning nap (unless it's just the teething).

I will continue with Menu Plan Monday, because my family needs to eat, and it provides a motivation and accountability to sit down and plan out meals and make a grocery list accordingly. This prevents a ton of stress for the rest of the week. Otherwise, you would find me around 5:00 or 5:30 p.m. with my usually by then tired baby (and all that that implies), scratching my head, looking into the fridge and pantry asking myself, "What in the world am I going to cook for dinner?" Then, hubby would come home to a frazzled frustrated wife and no hope of dinner anytime soon. He's so sweet that he would not complain or criticize, but I'd be frustrated and as we all know, that's not a fun state to be in.

Oh and about that grocery list made according to my menu plan...have I mentioned that my grocery list is SOOOO simple thanks to More With Less Cookbook? The simple list of things we get weekly or bi-weekly covers many many recipes in the book. At most I get one or two things a week that I buy with one specific recipe in mind, and usually can use it for a few other recipes too. The rest are staples that go in a variety of recipes...and did I mention that they're mostly low cost ingredients as well? Just Sayin'...

I believe I have mentioned that before More With Less, I could barely cook. That is not entirely true, but my list of recipes that I felt confident about was very short, ie maybe 4, and most of them, if not all, involved some pre-made food or another as a main ingredient.

One of the recipes that I loved and served to everyone who came over for dinner at some point (sorry friends if you had it twice...or..thrice...or...yikes!) is affectionately known to us as "Chicken Crescent Rolls" or to our Spanish or rather Spanglish speaking friends as "Bolitas de Chicken."

It was passed on from a family friend, and may have originally come from the back of some some Pillsbury product or another because the essential ingredient was Pillsbury Crescent Rolls.

Do you know that it never occurred to me that I could make the dough myself? I remember thinking many times, "What would I do if we moved to another country? I wouldn't be able to get Pillsbury Crescent Rolls!" It's sad I know, but it's the truth.

Then one day, I was looking through...you'll never guess....More With Less Cookbook, and I found a recipe that looked very similar to my beloved Chicken Crescent Rolls, except...wait a minute...you use biscuit dough? Don't tell me they're just basic biscuit dough! But, sure enough, that turns out to be the case and I realized that you don't need some fancy recipe or ingredients.

So, I finally got around to trying Chicken Not Crescent Rolls without buying refrigerated dough! And guess what? It was easy! I spent about 5 minutes making the dough and maybe 2 extra minutes rolling it out. I dirtied about 2 more dishes, and felt no worse for the wear.

Here are some way overly processed pictures of the experience. I got a little carried away with Picnik. (It's so much fun!) The food may be less processed but the pictures definitely are not!

Here's the ball of dough I prepared first and put in a bowl in the fridge while I got everything else ready.


While doing this I had some chicken boiling, and then chopped it up. I used about 4 breasts. I was going to save some aside to freeze in 1 cup portions for other recipes, but forgot. So we ended up with LOTS of chicken balls!


Then I mixed in half a bar of cream cheese, a dash of salt, a dash of pepper, and a bunch of dried oregano and basil


Next I rolled out the dough and used a mug to cut circles. We don't have cookie cutters so I always use cups or bowls. They work great and offer a pretty good variety of size options! Yay for things you don't really need!!!


Then I grabbed a ball of the chicken mix and placed it in the middle of one of the discs of dough and wrapped it up. I found it actually easier to work with and stretch around the chicken than the refrigerated dough! In the background you can see the bowl of melted butter and the bowl of homemade italian breadcrumbs that I roll the ball in once it is formed.


Finally I ended up with two 9x9 baking dishes full of these yummy things.


With the store bought dough, you cook it for 25 minutes. I found that these needed a bit longer. I forgot to set the timer so I'm not sure how long. We just went based on the look. Next time I'll start with 30 min. and go from there.

So, Scratch Pillsbury Crescent Rolls off my list...FOREVER! Yay!

This week.....

Monday: Chick Fillet :)
Tuesday: Homemade Pizza
Wednesday: Pakistani Kima (pg. 131, More With Less) (We tried this last week...Y.U.M. and really quick!)
Thursday: Beirrocks (pg. 144, More With Less)
Friday: Lentil Barley Stew (pg. 107 More With Less)
Saturday: El Burgos (pg. 138 More With Less)