Pears from Concentrate, Sugar, Dried Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Modified Corn Starch, Fructose, Grape Juice from Concentrate. Contains 2% or less of Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil, Malodextrin, Cottonseed Oil, Citric Acid, Carrageenan, Glycerin, Monoglycerides, Sodium Citrate, Malic Acide, Potassium Citrate, Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), Agar-Agar, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Xanthan Gum, Color (red 40, blue 1, yellow 5).

Uggg. We usually buy Fruitabu. The ingredients:

Apple puree concentrate, natural lemon juice concentrate, natural apple flavor.

And you know what? My kid likes — no, loves — the Fruitabu. So what’s the need for all that other garbage? I’ll tell you: it’s cheaper, so you can turn a better profit. It’s also sweeter so you can hook the kid in and get them wanting more.

That’s why I was not only happy but surprised when — while browsing at Target — I saw a “natural-ized” version of the traditional Fruit Rollups: Simply Fruit Rollups. Could it be because the company is being sued in a class action lawsuit that alleges General Mills made “misleading health claims?” Who knows. But I am so impressed with the new version of the product that I actually bought it! I want to do a side-by-side taste test between Fruitabus and the new General Mills Simply Fruit Roll-Ups. Here’s the ingredients, taken directly from the packaging:

Apple Juice Concentrate, Dried Apples, Blackberry Puree, Strawberry Puree, Canola Oil. Contains 2% or less of: Fruit Pectin, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), Black Carrot Juice Concentrate and Blueberry Juice Concentrate Added for Color, Natural Flavor, Citric Acid, and Sodium Sulfite Added to Protect Color.

Yes, I could do without the preservatives and the oil, but not bad compared to the original version. Definitely a big improvement!

This post is how I am participating this week in Food Renegade’s Fight Back Fridays — an awesome campaign to get people eating real food again. What do you think of the packaged snacks that are out there? What do you give your kids?

Over the years I’ve kept my toe (okay, right now it’s an entire leg) in the technology waters writing and editing for business and trade pubs, but the reviews slowed down. And yes, I’ve also kept writing for women’s magazines, but the stories are more likely to be about weird toddler habits than which sippy cup is best. Yes, I’ll admit it: I miss the rush of writing a review.

There’s nothing like being able to dissect a product, explain why I like it and what missed the mark. This is why — next week — I will launch reviews. I am committing to at least one review a week, although knowing myself that will balloon up quickly. I’ll have themes, of course. We’ll have Mommy Mondays for toys, baby- and kid-related items, Tech Tuesdays for — what else — technology and consumer electronics reviews — Whatever Wednesdays, which is my catch-all category and Foodie Fridays for food-related items. My first review will be for a reusable diaper. And now on to this week’s Favorite Things…

Yummly.com. This site sounds amazing. (And I intend on reviewing it, actually.) It’s a recipe site that, like Netflix, “learns” the types of recipes you like and makes suggestions based on past usage. With more than 500,000 recipes and a Universal Recipe Box that helps you tweak ingredients, this site may become the answer to this week’s blog post question: What’s for dinner?

Sunnygram.com. This is another one I can’t wait to review. So my mom is okay when it comes to technology. Okay, but not great. She’s not on Snapfish or anything like that. This site lets you upload all your photos and create — get this — a printed color newsletter that features all your pictures. I think it will be amazing for anyone who likes to write Christmas letters or someone who, for example, might be getting married and want to keep everyone up-to-date on the planning.

StorySnoops.com. I really, really love this idea. And yes, I will be reviewing it. So my Big Girl is only in first grade. (Gulp, second now, I guess!) But she’s reading on a fifth grade level. Finding books that challenge her but don’t introduce topics and subjects that I am just not ready to discuss is a chore. This site provides book reviews from a parent’s perspective. Will I, as I learned on the fly when we were reading Superfudge, have to skip an entire chapter about Santa Claus? (Thank goodness we were reading that one together!) I never knew. This site will help me answer that question, I hope!

Hope you have a great weekend! As usual we have ten parties and five events to run to. But I still plan on relaxing a bit. How about you?

Kenneth Cole sells shirts to support the Gulf cleanup efforts.

I have a big problem with plastic. It’s everywhere. Everything we buy — even at environmentally-conscious stores — is wrapped in it. Bread comes in plastic bags. Cereal is in a box. Inside the box: a plastic bag. Most cheese is wrapped in plastic. Even the paper milk cartons we use are lined with plastic. Very disheartening. It was making me really sick. With everything going on in the world today couldn’t I find a way to reduce my plastic use? Which brings me to my first Favorite:

PlasticBagRecycling.org. This site is where I found out I could recycle, “grocery bags, retail bags (hard plastic and string handles removed), paper towel and toilet paper plastic wrap, plastic newspaper bags, plastic dry cleaning bags and all clean, clear bags labeled with a #2 or #4.” Oh, and bread bags, Ziplock bags, potato bags, and others. Sweet. I was able to search for drop-off locations in my area, too.

Of course, there are other types of plastic that weren’t covered on the above site, which led me to my next Favorite:

1-800-RECYCLING.com. This site is wonderful. You click on the type of plastic (using the number on the bottle or packaging) you want to get rid of, enter your Zip code and receive a list of where you can take your junk. And it’s not just for plastic, either. You can also search and find drop off locations for electronics, paper, glass, metal, automotive, yard, household and hazardous waste, too. (Who knew Target takes Plastic #2?!?)

Once I get rid of all the plastic in my house I’ll need to tackle all the piles and piles of clothing I have. Especially since my little girl is outgrowing stuff and my husband is tossing a lot of his unwanted work clothes. I needed a place to get rid of everything in an eco-friendly way. Enter my next Favorite:

Bigwardrobe.com The site, which is finally making its way to the U.S., is part Craigslist and part eBay. Dedicated to clothing as well as a limited number of household items, you set a price, upload photos and sell. You can also find really nice stuff to buy. Right now most of the items are located in Europe, but it’s worth browsing around. Buying on the site is free; it will cost you one euro to sell, however.

And speaking of clothing: my last Favorite is from a press release I got via e-mail. Kenneth Cole is raising money for Gulf cleanup by selling t-shirts. All of the net profits will go directly to AWEARNESS, The Kenneth Cole Foundation, which is committed to supporting the Gulf efforts. They come in 14 colors and 12 slogans. (Cute and poignant: “We Can All Clean Up Well,” and “I Clean Up Well,” are two of the 12.) They are a little pricey at $35, but worth taking a look at. Oh, you can only buy them on the company’s Facebook page. Just thought you should know…

Hope you have a great weekend. By the way: Are you following me on Twitter? Find me @NaturalAsPosMom. I tweet pretty regularly throughout the day. Also, see the little brown button to the right? The one that says Top Mommy Blogs? (You might have to scroll down a bit.) Well, can you click on it and then click to vote for me? I’ve fallen out of the top 100 and I’d like to move back in. You can vote once a day…

DJ Lance spins for the babies!

This week we spent the early evening at Brooklyn Bowl, which, to me, is really just a club that happens to also have bowling lanes. It was a launch party event for Yo Gabba Gabba’s live show. My big girl has watched the show. My baby, who won’t turn two until the end of June, hasn’t.

We went inside and saw throngs of people — kids, moms, dads and babies — milling around. All the characters were there, too, as was DJ Lance, who was actually using a turntable and spinning records. (Yes, actual vinyl! Each one encased in its sleeve and the sleeve encased in plastic.)

My big girl was excited to be there. The little one was a little scared. The noise, the darkness, the flashing lights. Once she settled down, however, she loved the music. Only ten minutes after we arrived, she stopped clinging to my shoulder and started dancing. Then she started clapping her hands.

It was a fun even even though I had to snag a bracelet from someone leaving (I was told at the front door they had no more to give) so we could get onto the dance floor. Once we stepped down onto the floor we participated in the meet and greets with everyone. I think my husband, who I am technically not allowed to write about anymore, was most excited. He really wanted to meet DJ Lance, who turned out to be one of the nicest, most down-to-earth people I’ve ever met. I asked him to do a video intro for the blog. Not only did he do it, but he did it twice since he didn’t get the name right the first time. The video will go up over the weekend or on Monday. (Have to let hubby work his technical editing magic on it.) In the meantime enjoy the photo, the following Favorites and the rest of your Friday!

Leafware = I have a new compost bin. I entertain a fair amount during the summer. I hate plastic.

I’m hoping this statement — if I was doing a truth table — would come out all true. (I’m expecting a sample some time soon, so I will let you know.) Leafware, as the company says is  “leaves of specific trees and vines, sewn together with bits of stem” to form plates, bowls, and trays. If you buy them in bulk they come out to about $.50 each. I’m personally willing to give it a try, especially since I can throw it into my compost when I’m done. Again, I’ll let you know what I think.

BetterWorldBooks. I am a reader. I’m also someone who writes stuff that goes into newspapers and magazines. And yet I hate the thought of how many trees I’ve probably killed doing what I do for a living. This is why this site may be one of my favorite new haunts. Every book it sells ships free in the U.S. (the international shipping fee is $3.97), and the company offsets its shipping by buying carbon offsets from Carbonfund.org. It also collects old, unwanted books and sells them to support literacy efforts. To date, the company says it has diverted 33,082,876 books from landfills. Not bad. Now do they have my next book club book?

Let’s Go Chipper! app. I got a press release about this one. Sounded pretty neat, so I checked it out. It’s an educational storyline (books, movies, activities and iTunes downloads) for kids ages 2 to 6 that teaches them about ecology. With the summer coming up — at least here in the northern hemisphere — the stories explain how to keep the environment the way you left it. A plus: Chipper, who is a chipmunk, is pretty cute, too.

That’s it for now. I’m back to work. Another few interviews to do today and then we’ve got a birthday party and I have a flip-flop party to go to. Whoohoo! What are you up to this Friday night? p.s. See that little brown box over to the right? The one that says Top Mommy Blogs? I am trying to move up in the rankings. Would you pretty please click on it and then click to vote for my blog once you get to the landing page? Thanks in advance! I only need 30 clicks through to move into the top 10 in the Eco category.

Watching the videos, I found myself crying a lot. Happy tears. Tears of disbelief. Sad, where-did-the-time-go tears. Watching myself pregnant. Seeing all three of our pets, our first babies but now long gone, walking around the house. Seeing Katelyn as a tiny baby with pin-straight red hair. (Her hair is now the same beautiful red, but a mass of curls.) Watching her first bath. Seeing Keira only a few days old. Watching her first bath. Watching six years worth of Christmas mornings. (WHY didn’t I put my contact lenses on and change into something decent-looking?) Listening to Katelyn’s language and emotional development. Watching my belly bounce around with first Katelyn and then Keira inside. Watching Katelyn get on the kindergarten bus for the first time. So innocent, so sweet.

The people on the video tapes seemed like they were here only yesterday and yet, at times, it seemed like a lifetime ago. Oh, and they were a little clueless. (“Look, she’s trying to lick the water!” Umm. No, that baby is nine-days-old. She’s not trying to do anything, dumbass new mommy and daddy.) And a little rude. I won’t even go there, but I will say that I had MUCH less of a filter back then, and wasn’t always the nicest person. My husband and I had a few laughs over those parts.

After we turned off the television at 2 a.m. and came upstairs I truly wanted to keep Katelyn home today and spend the day playing hooky. Maybe a little Barbie fun. Or a ride out to the aquarium. I see how fast it’s all slipping by. My little baby is growing into a big kid. My littlest one will soon follow her sister into big kid world, too. Everything is always changing, and it’s up to me to make sure I enjoy the ride. I didn’t keep her home, though. I have an immovable work thing today between 9:30 and noon. I did let her break the rules and eat her cereal in the den. I turned on the video of her second Christmas — she was only 14 months or so — and let her see how adorable she was.

“That’s not me!” she said. Yes, I told her. It is. And she sat there with the same goofy smile on her face that I had last night as I watched in rapt attention, staring at the video of the beautiful little girl I fell in love with so long ago.

I’m not picking Favorite sites today. Nothing compares with the favorites I am still going over in my head. Maybe, since I am blogging all weekend, I’ll post the sites and services I’ve got in my “Blog Fodder” folder. Or maybe I’ll just moon over my kids some more. Hope you’ll check in and find out.

Happy Friday, folks. Do you take a lot of videos? How do you store them for safekeeping? We’re going to be digitizing all those old video tapes. Maybe I will throw some up online.

My husband got sick back in August. Those of you who have been reading for a while know that. At the time he had his own business. As soon as he got sick he stopped working. He didn’t have disability, so that was that. It’s been all me. Four operations later he’s finally feeling well enough to work again so he’s out on job interviews. He’s been on seven or eight — I’ve lost count. (Quick aside: I’m thinking, based on activity around here, that the recession seems to be waning.)

Anyway, the one I wanted him to get is close to our house. (The others are in New York City, which would mean a train ride and a very slim possibility of being home before the girls go to bed.) While on the last interview at the close-to-our-home place my husband brought up my kids. He said he liked seeing them in the morning. Today he found out he didn’t get the job because they need someone who is available all the time. “A 24/7 employee.” They never said that having kids was a problem; I am reading between the lines. He was told he was the best candidate and yet I’m pretty sure that one mention of kids crushed his chances. Bah.

This proves that once again no matter what anyone says, parents — moms and dads — are often looked down upon on in the workplace. We’ll  hear how he did on another of his interviews next week. Fingers crossed, people. And now onto the Favorites…

Oyster.com: There are plenty of websites that rate hotels and give people the skinny on travel spots. This one, however, is building in details about how green those locations are, too. For example, whether it is LEED-certified or making efforts to conserve energy and water. I like it.

World Vision Gift Catalog. Wait, Mother’s Day (another made-up holiday I don’t really love) is Sunday? And you haven’t bought your mom anything yet? Why not buy something that will help others? The World Vision people (I checked them out on CharityNavigator.com and they do excellent work) have a gift catalog that lets you buy things like medical supplies, building and farming supplies and food for impoverished or displaced people. There’s even a section for victims of the Haitian earthquake. Prices range from $16 to $39,000. Great idea — definitely.

Green Your Small Business Challenge. I get a lot of contest pitches. I usually skip them. I hate posting stuff that doesn’t apply to more than a handful of people. However, with so many people out there working for or starting their own businesses I figured this one was worth it. A 100-word essay will net some small business owner a $10,000 green office makeover.

Glass Water Bottles. I love my stainless steel water bottle, but I am afraid to put anything but water in it. These Aquasana bottles are made of glass. You have to buy the AquaKoozy (sort of like a padded bottle cover) to make sure it doesn’t break and shatter, but it looks like it’s something worth trying out, right?

I’m still participating in the WordCount Blogathon, so I’ll be here all weekend, folks! Hope you stop by and say hi.

BookSwim. Last week I bought The Red Tent. It was our book club selection. I wanted to take it out of the library or nab it on BookMooch, but after waiting patiently I finally gave up. Wish I would have known about BookSwim before I made my purchase. The service, which charges you between $9.95 and $59.95 per month depending on how many books you want to borrow per month, will mail books directly to you and take them back when you’re done.

Safety Assessments for playgrounds. How safe is your school’s playground? How about the one at your park? The University of Alabama at Birmingham has created playground safety checklists that can be downloaded here. (Click on Supporting Documents at the bottom of the page.) A wonderful free resource for any parent or grandparent.

Child Online Safety Guide. With accounts of cyberbullying and cyberstalking making the news all the time I decided I would pass along this resource, which a PR person passed along to me. Good list of dos and don’ts related to online safety for kids. (I plan on using it next year as the basis for a a Girl Scout Brownie Try-it patch.)

Open Center Online Learning. The New York Open Center is a holistic learning center located in — where else?– New York. So if you want to attend one of the more than 500 programs it runs you need to come this way. Until now. This month the Center launched an online repository of downloadable podcasts that include subjects like Reiki, meditation, reflexology, Feng Shui and Chinese Medicine, among other topics. Some are free; others require payment. (I’m planning on downloading some to my iPod the next time I have to go into the city.)

That’s it for now. Hope everyone has a good weekend. I plan on blogging over the weekend since I am starting WordCount’s Blogathon 2010, which requires daily blogging from May 1 to May 31. Not sure how coherent my weekend posts will be — my weekends are crazy with more events and chores than time to do them — but we’ll see! Hope you’ll stop by to check it out.

Earth Day meets 45th Street

I spent Friday in the city at the ASJA Writer’s Conference, which took place at the Roosevelt Hotel. Great conference, I was excited to see all the people I talk to on Facebook and on our online forum. Once I left the hotel, though, and made my way down 45th Street I was really excited. Right outside the hotel was EarthFair Outdoors, a celebration with music, booths and characters. As I walked through the crowd enjoying the beautiful weather and relaxed vibe I found a few things that have the possibility of becoming my favorites. I thought I’d pass them along…

Wicked, the play. Okay, I lied. This is already on my list of all time favorites. Still, what does Wicked have to do with Earth Day? I’ll let them explain. (From the tag on the cute baby evergreen they gave me to take home and plant: “Green. For Good. This tree has been planted in tribute to Elphaba and all the green things on earth.” So basically my favorite play of all time was giving out free evergreens for Earth Day. Outstanding!

Seed Body Care. I am a sucker for a sweet-smelling cream. And if that cream happens to have shea butter and be scented like my two favorite herbs, lavender and sage? Swoon. Seriously. And if it’s paraben-, phthalate-, presevative-, petrochemical-, and artificial color-free? I may be tempted to shell out the cash. They were showing three products — a body bar, a lotion, and a shampoo bar. I’m thinking I need to buy the body bar. (I kept sniffing my hands, scented from the tester, all the way home on the train.)

Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. What happens to livestock that isn’t well enough or hearty enough to be slaughtered? Some of the chickens, turkeys, cows, pigs, and goats end up at this place, a home for the animals that don’t make it to your table. The sanctuary gives tours daily from April 1 through October 31 where children and adults can learn about how and why the animals arrived there and what we as human beings can do to reduce our meat consumption. Sounds like a nice day trip…

The New York City Compost project. Okay, so you live in a small house or — in this case — an apartment. Still, you cook. You eat. You have non-meat food scraps. What can you do to recycle them? This project, funded by the New York City Sanitation Department, teaches apartment-dwellers how to create an indoor compost bin with worms. You can learn, too, by clicking through on this link. (Yes, there were worms at the event, but no, I didn’t get a photo!) Okay, if folks in apartments are composting I will finally make it my business to create a compost bin at my house. And I plan on doing it this weekend.

The components that go into the Sprout watch.

The Sprout. I got sucked in by the tubs of bamboo, cotton, and corn pellets, which reminded me of the tactile boxes at my big girl’s Gymboree classes. Once I got closer I saw that the bin contents represented what the company makes its watches out of. The watch body is corn resin instead of plastic. Straps are made of organic cotton instead of leather, while the watch face is made of mineral crystal — a type of glass — rather than plastic. The dial is natural bamboo. The result is a watch that is either 80 or 86 percent eco-friendly. Not bad. And they’re cute, too. At $30, it was a steal, but I didn’t have any cash on me. Sigh.

Matthew Modine wants people to ride bikes -- not drive cars.

Bicycle for a Day. Hey! I know that guy! He was the guy in Married to the Mob! (I’m talking about Matthew Modine.) A celebrity hanging out in the middle of the city? Yup, and for a good cause, too. Modine started a non-profit called Bicycle for a Day to help people get out of cars and on to bikes. A noble cause, and one I should be doing myself. I love spinning so much I should be jumping on my bike when I need milk rather than jumping in my car.

CommuterLink. How do people living in the Tristate area get involved in a carpool? This is a good place to start. The site helps you find people to carpool with. Then, once you’re signed up, guarantees that if you miss your ride because the driver has to leave early, they will help you get home free-of-charge. Nice.

How was your Earth Day? Hope you have a fun, relaxing weekend!

Why do I always get weird injuries?

Anyone who has been reading for a while knows that when I get hurt it’s usually in some weird, obscure way. Something that prompts an insurance letter being sent out. The letters always want to know if someone else is responsible for the injury. Because hey, how else could you get a black eye and contusions or a cut on your chin unless someone actually hurt you? I had another wacky accident yesterday, one that will probably result in another letter.

I have been working non-stop so I decided I would go to half of a class with Keira. The class is right up the block. I could hang out for 30 minutes and make it back in time for my noon conference call. I got there and we were doing circle time sitting on the floor. Keira, like most of the kids, was getting on and off my lap. At one point she was walking back to me when she tripped. I put my arms out to catch her and her two front teeth met my thumb. I knew instantly we had a problem. Her teeth sliced my thumb open. Blood gushed. I picked Keira up and carried her out while holding my thumb airborne as not to drip and blood on the kid. Keira was fine, thank goodness, and was able to go right back into the class with my mom, who was in the waiting room. But I was a different story. I ended up in front of a doctor getting liquid stitches and steristrips. So today’s Favorite Things is going to be short and sweet. My thumb is still throbbing. I can’t use it to type, and I have three more conference calls today. Sigh. So here, in an abbreviated format, are my favorite things of the week.

Clif Z Bar for Kids. I won a prize in a Twitter party. (Thanks, @Healthy_Child) Part of it: 20 of the chocolate chip variety. Yum. Katelyn loves them, too, so it’s given me another snack option for her lunch box.

ThredUP. I hate throwing clothing away. I hate buying it new, too, especially for the kids. This new site is part eBay, part Craigslist, part Freecycle. You go on, put a “box” of clothing up, and someone will claim it. And you can do the same. All you pay is the shipping on the clothing you’re claiming. Everyone wins. Clothing is reused. You don’t spend a fortune. Love, love, LOVE this, and plan on trying it out this weekend.

MatterofTrust.org I love using surplus in an innovative way. Who knew that human hair from the floors of salons could be reclaimed and reused for oil spills and oil slicks? But it can. This organization helps collect human hair and get it out in the field when there is an oil spill. They also do a ton of eco-education. Ask your salon if they are participating in the program. It’s worth it.

That’s it for now. I’m going to try and add two more things by late Friday. Have a great weekend in the meantime!

This week I purchased the following items (things I could touch): groceries (milk, bread, hummus, berries, the usual stuff), a subway ride card, and a pack of gum. I feel most guilty about the pack of gum. I needed cash and didn’t want to pay an ATM fee so I went to Kmart in Penn Station. There I bought the gum with my ATM card so I could take cash back. The gum has a lot of packaging and it was blue. Not good for me or the environment. Next time I will plan ahead better.

And now on to the Favorite Things…

Stainless steel ice pop makers. When I was little one of my most favorite things to eat in the summer were the homemade ice pops that we made using our ice trays, tooth picks, and orange juice. Yum. I wanted to do the same with the girls, but hate the whole plastic/BPA/wasted toothpicks scenario. The SafeMama tipped me off. I’m passing the tip along to you. Yes, they still require Popsicle sticks, but I intend on washing them and reusing.

RecycleYourMat.com I have three yoga mats sitting in my trunk. One sitting in the house. This organization wants to help me lighten my yoga mat load. They take old yoga mats and upcycle or recycle them. You can search for a drop off location or, if you’re so inclined, ask your favorite yoga teacher to get involved with his or her own yoga recycling program. Studios that get involved have a chance to earn free yoga blankets — a nice thing to have during shavasana.

Great workout music. I love spinning. I love any exercise, really. Still, I dream of the day when I can buy my own spin bike and create my own 60 minute routines. Right now, I am making do with my treadmill, and it’s often difficult to find the right music to work out to. That’s why I really liked ISweat2theBeat.com. The site helps you figure out how many beats-per-minute your favorite songs have so you can create your own exercise mix on your iPod or MP3 player. I will be using this a lot when I get my Spin bike…someday…

Child bike seats. No, I don’t have a spin bike, but I do have my own bicycle, which I’ve been using quite a bit. Now that Katelyn can ride we can all go out together. Right now I have to use my husband’s bike since his is the only one that allows attachment of a rear child seat. I was pretty excited when I found something that would let me ride with Keira on my bike, too. (Hubby is six feet tall. I am 5′ 8″. His bigger bike makes me nervous.) WeeRide’s Kangaroo LTD puts the seat in front without impeding your movement — at least that’s what the Web site says. I’m hoping to try it out to review it. I’ll keep you posted.

Have a great weekend, everyone. It’s been a long, often-difficult week. I am so glad it’s over. How about you? How was your week?