Kellogg’s said the packages were recalled because it identified a substance in the package liner that can “produce an uncharacteristic waxy-like off-taste and smell.” They were caused, the company said, because of elevated levels of a common substance that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in packaging. The Environmental Working Group identified the substance as methylnaphthalene, a petroleum-based product.

From an EWG press release: “This compound, methylnaphthalene (methyl-NAP-tha-lene), has been the subject of major, on-going government and oil industry testing and information-gathering initiatives to identify potential safety issues and fill basic data gaps, according to an Environmental Working Group (EWG) analysis of the scientific literature. Kellogg’s has not publicly identified the chemical but provided the information to EWG in response to our inquiries.”

The EWG did a little research on methylnaphthalene and didn’t find much info, but what it did find is troublesome. For example, four years ago the FDA asked for “toxicology information” about the substance. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said it wasn’t easy to get exposure to it unless you lived near a hazardous waste site. Wow.

So we don’t really know very much about a substance that is commonly detected, according to the EWG’s press release, “cigarette smoke, diesel and gasoline engine exhaust, wood smoke, tar and asphalt.” We do know, however — according to the same EWG research — that “methylnaphthalene causes lung damage when exposure occurs via inhalation, ingestion and skin contact. Mice given feed containing 0.075 percent or 0.15 percent of 1- or 2-methylnaphthalene for 81 weeks had lung damage known as ‘pulmonary alveolar proteinosis,’ marked by abnormal lipids, proteins and fluid in the lung.” And to date no one — no agency or organization — has set safe limits for the chemical. And yet there it is in cereal marketing to and made for children.

I don’t know about you, but that completely and totally ticks me off. Completely and totally. The EWG is calling for the FDA to do its job and actually “investigate and regulate all chemicals that make their way from cardboard boxes, plastic bags, metal cans and coated papers into our breakfasts and our bodies.” I say that’s a good place to start.

Does this recall affect what you’ve been buying for breakfast? Do you worry that the FDA isn’t taking our best interests to heart? What can we do to make our food safer? How can we best work with companies like Kellogg’s and other food manufacturers to ensure they are thinking about our safety? I’d like some answers.

This post is my participation in Real Food Wednesdays and Fight Back Fridays — two awesome campaigns to get people eating real food again. Would love to hear any tips you might have to help keep kids focused on eating. What super-yummy, high calorie foods can you suggest? I’d like to know.

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?

For me, the answer has always been: It depends. What time of the month is it? (Sorry, TMI, I know.) Am I going to the gym in a few hours where they will get very sweaty and be tossed in the hamper in a bit? Will anyone else be seeing them? Do I have an event going on in a day or two and am I running short on the good ones? You can guess where this is going, I’m sure. I wear the really cute ones only on special occasions. The old ones are my daily staples.

I realized this tonight as I staggered out of the shower on my way to bed. I looked at the neatly folded knickers and made a choice between two pair. The cute blue striped Aeries and the sorta old, sorta past-their-prime Olga Secret Hug flowered number. I was just about to grab the nice pair when I realized that I would change them anyway in the morning. Why waste a good pair, I thought, as I pulled on the ones that should have been tossed a few years ago. This is a problem.

Why shouldn’t I wear really nice, really awesome underwear for myself? Just because they are comfy and dainty and fun? And forget about the fact that I will only be wearing them for about seven hours before changing them again. Yes, this is a problem and the story of my life. I need to figure out why I don’t feel like I deserve the nice underwear all the time. Why I don’t pitch all my old drawers and buy a drawer-full of cool panties? I’m not sure, but I’m going to explore it this week. That’s for sure.

Do you deny yourself anything today? If so, what and why? And what’s your favorite pair of underpants? Have any tips for me? I’d like to know.

Digressing as usual…so we get out to the outlets and I ask Chris where he wants to shop. Saks Off 5th is his answer. I was about to start walking in that direction, but I stopped and looked at him first. Something went off inside of me. No, he wasn’t going discount this time. No, he needed something that would wow people. In the business world — especially New York City — he deserves to wear the best. Yes, it’s okay to buy $4.99 slacks for hanging around the house or going out to dinner with friends, but he needed to look like a million bucks when he stepped into his new place of business. So it was settled (at least in my mind): We were going to Brooks Brothers, someplace we’ve never stepped foot in. Ever.

After a little prodding we walked into the store. The Brooks Brothers outlet was really nice. Even sizing was a breeze since they had every size of shirt in the dressing room for him to try on before he got busy shopping. The salespeople were so helpful, too, and the clothing was really sharp. My husband is tall and has broad shoulders but is thinner through the waist, so he usually has a tough time shopping. Not at Brooks Brothers, though, where we discovered they have something called Slim Fit –shirts and suit jackets cut broad at top and narrower through the waist. He tried on one of the Slim Fit shirts in his size. He looked amazing. He didn’t have any of the annoying “puffy” look around his back and waist that he’s always complaining about. While he was trying on shirts I started looking at pants. I found the softest, lightest summer slacks I have ever seen. Tropical wool, they are called. I grabbed a few colors in his size and brought them to his dressing room. He tried them on and was ooohing and ahhing over them. We both agreed they would be so comfortable for commuting.

In the end he came home with three dress shirts and two slacks. Brooks Brothers shirts are usually $79.50 or three for $199. The slacks are usually $178 each or two for $279. I have to say it: WHO PAYS THAT KIND OF MONEY FOR BUSINESS CASUAL CLOTHING??? Okay, sorry, I lost it for a sec. Anyway, there was a HUGE sale going on plus I snagged a 10 percent off coupon from someone (“Excuse me, miss, are you going to use your Brooks Brothers coupon?”) so we paid about $170 for everything. Yes, that’s way more than I would ever pay for five items of my clothing, but I looked at Chris and, bursting with pride, I knew he deserved the splurge.

The sweet part was that he hesitated at the last minute. Are you sure, he wanted to know, as he stood waiting to check out. He knows how I stress over spending money and how I like my bargains. He knows my past still colors my present. I know that a simple phrase like, “Are you sure?” doesn’t seem like such a big deal, but it is SUCH a big deal. He gets me. Not only does he get me, but he respects me and how I feel. That’s huge. But what’s just as huge is that I didn’t stress too much about spending that kind of cash. I really can’t wait to see him all dressed up in his new clothing on Tuesday. I can’t wait to see how handsome he looks. I think we’re finally finding a happy medium between my fear-of-poverty mode and his the-pricetag-doesn’t-matter shopping style. It’s a refreshing change.

What’s the most you’ve ever spent on an item of clothing outside your wedding dress or tuxedo? What’s your shopping style? How much is too much to spend on clothing. And again: Who pays $178 for a pair of work slacks?!? I really want to know!

Anyway, didn’t watch the SATC television shows. Didn’t see the first movie. But tonight, when a few friends wanted a girls’ night out, I agreed to see SATC 2. It was a LOOOONG movie. I am an antsy person. Ask my husband. He will tell you that watching movies with me is tortuous. I get up. I go to the bathroom. I make him pause all the time. I don’t like to sit in one place. Sometimes I fall asleep. Maybe it’s because I sit in front of this computer for hours and hours at a time, but I am almost incapable of sitting through a two-hour movie. But tonight I made it through the entire 146 minutes in that theater.

It was a pretty good movie. I knew the characters. (Is there anyone in the world who doesn’t know them?) I knew the back story. (I love reading Entertainment Weekly, which has — over the years — reported on the SATC trend ad nauseum.) I can honestly say I enjoyed the movie. But my biggest take away: there was too much product placement in the movie.

Again, maybe it’s because I write about advertising and marketing (among other things) for a living, but I kept being pulled out of the story by the very obvious-to-me placements. A Cuisinart coffeemaker wakes Carrie up one morning. She gives Big a gorgeous Rolex watch their anniversary. There’s a giant HP logo on Samantha’s monitor. The girls hold up Pringles cans on the private jet. And Carrie even SAYS the brand’s name! In another scene, Samantha finds her Hermes Birkin bag acting as a pivotal plot point. And screams the brand name out loud. In the middle of a market.

What’s my biggest problem with the placements? They were too and obvious to me. I understand why they are in there. The movie is going to make a ton of money. Lots of women are going to see it. Women admire and love the franchise and the characters. So of course marketers want to link their brands to the movie and the franchise. But people, people, we’re not idiots. We really don’t need to pan that long on the coffeemaker and the Cuisinart logo, do we? We get it, we get it. Carrie and Big own a Cuisinart, so we should go buy one, too. (And I have nothing against Cuisinart. I actually WANTED that model way before I saw the movie.)

I think there is a very fine line between integrated, integral product placement and pure huckstering. And to me, lots of what I saw fell into the second category. Still, the movie was really good. It was a whimsical way to spend a Friday night. Even if I did have a big problem with the Aiden/Carrie plot line. I won’t say any more since it’s a big-time spoiler…

How’s your weekend going? Stay safe, and stay healthy!

It’s got a full flip out keyboard, lots of apps, a touch screen. I can check my personal email and my work email. I can text. I’ve even approved blog comments from the phone while sitting in a spin class. (I’ve also tracked an entire spin class playlist using the Shazam app.) Oh, yeah. And I can make and receive phone calls. My G1 is my indispensable toy. With it, I can actually leave the house and stay in touch with work, the kids, friends and family without losing my mind.

Okay, so about two weeks ago my touch screen stopped working. I was too busy to do anything about it. (Stupid, stupid, STUPID.) I just used the track ball to navigate around. That was fine until all of a sudden the rest of the phone died, too. I started getting an “android.process.acore has stopped suddenly. Force close?” error message. Now I can’t make or receive calls. I can’t check email, either. (For some wacky reason I can get text messages, though, and use my browser.) That’s why, early last week, I called T*Mobile.

The nice customer service person explained that I was outside the one-year warranty by 12 days. Great. So they couldn’t really help me. They referred me to HTC, which makes the phone. HTC told me that they would take my credit card, charge me around $30 or so for diagnostics, but that a touch screen problem would probably be about $225 to fix. WHAT?!? I only paid $195.51 for the phone! Sheesh.

I hung up and moped around for a bit until it hit me: Could it be possible? Did I buy the phone with my American Express card? I went to my account online and, hands shaking, ordered a PDF of my old statements. Was it on the May or June statement? I ordered both. And there it was on the May statement: $195.51 charged at my local T*Mobile. Score! American Express extends your manufacturer’s warranty. So my one year manufacturer’s warranty became a two-year warranty.

I dialed the extended warranty line and got a nice guy on the phone. Yes, he said. I was entitled to make a claim. And did I want a check or a credit on my account should the claims adjuster accept my claim? Ummm. Neither, I said. I want the phone FIXED. It’s got my contacts on it. It’s got my photos. It’s got my apps. I don’t want a credit. I want my PHONE back. Doesn’t a warranty mean you’re going to fix it for me? But alas, that’s not how the program works, he said. I know, I know. I shouldn’t be complaining. But…sigh…I love that phone. (Insert bigger sigh and dramatic sob.)

Before we got off the phone he told me I have to wait for the insurance adjuster to deal with my claim, which could take up to 45 days. I can’t go without a phone for more than a month so I have a decision to make: What to do about my phone. Do I waste $30 on diagnostics when the HTC guy pretty much told me that touch screen problems are $200+ jobs? Do I go to T*Mobile to buy a new phone? Do I try the new cell phone repair store up the block? (Funny thing. The place just opened. When I first saw it I scoffed at it. WHO would need a cell phone repair shop, I wondered. Indeed!) I guess I’ll sleep on it. And in the meantime if you need me, text me. At least that function still works.

Which phone do you have? Do you love it? I only want a slide out keyboard, so please don’t tell me about how much you love your iPhone…

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.

When I got home I opened them up and there, instead of finding a plastic tray I found a compostable tray! I was so excited I put the tomatoes in the crisper and starting putting all my food waste from the evening cooking right on that tray. When we were done and everyone went home I carried that tray outside and threw it, along with all the scraps, right into my compost bin.

Thanks, Trader Joe’s! Although I think it would be way better if you sold everything loose and let me use my reusable vegetable bags to take my tomatoes home this is a nice compromise — at least for now!

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!

Katelyn is on a soccer team. Way back when she first joined we ordered her uniform at the local soccer shop. When my husband went to pick it up he was informed that the shop was out of shorts. It was fine, though, because it was pretty cold by that time. She just wore leggings along with one of the two flimsy shirts that we ended up buying. The season went on and I must admit here that I just forgot about picking up those shorts. It was a low priority. Still, a uniform is a uniform so when the next season started, I went back to the store to buy the shorts. The shop, which is only open Monday through Saturday from 10 to 6, was out of them again. Again! I made two additional attempts and decided it wasn’t worth it. Then came spring season.

This Sunday I sat watching all the kids running around. Katelyn was the only girl on the field who wasn’t wearing those stupid shorts. Feeling like a horrible mommy, once the game was over I grabbed the baby — not remembering that the place was closed — and went over to the shop. Ten minutes later I stood in front of that locked door muttering under my breath. There had to be a better way.

Driving home I passed a garage sale. I decided to jump out and look around. I walked through the boxes of dolls, books, and toys but didn’t see what I needed: the pair of size small maroon shorts with the little Nike swoop on the leg. I saw the homeowner sitting there, though, and his two little girls and figured it was worth a shot. “Excuse me, you don’t happen to have any soccer shorts for sale?” The guy turned to his daughters, who appeared to be a few years older than Katelyn and asked them my question. One of them jumped up and went inside. Two minutes later she was standing there holding a new-looking pair of soccer shorts with the little swoop on the leg. I was excited but cautious. How much, I wanted to know. I couldn’t beat the price: $2, and he would throw in the five paperback books, Cooties game, and a Polly Pocket house I had been carrying around. Score!

I lugged my spoils home and spread them out on the table. My husband was incredulous. Only I could go out to a garage sale and come home with what I was looking for, he said. But I disagree. I think anyone can go on their own treasure hunt and come up a winner. If we want or need something, chances are someone else has needed or wanted that same thing at some point in time. There is someone out there who owns what you need and they’re probably looking to get rid of it. Maybe not for $2, but for a price.

So I say, as someone who saved $30 and all the environmental costs associated with buying new, it’s worth asking around for what you want. Try Craigslist, Freecycle.org, garage sales, consignment shops, your neighbors, your friends, eBay. You never know unless you try, right? (And FWIW: The shorts fit Katelyn fabulously, and she loves her new books and toys, too.)

What’s your best used buy? Where do you shop when you don’t want to spend a lot of money?