What a cool idea this is, no petit fours, no punch to make and no clean up – but ALL the fun of a real baby shower including games, prizes and a chance to connect with other expectant moms.  Just go to parentsconnect.com and start having fun, you don’t even need to dress up, we’ll never know you were in your jammies!

Spring Baby Shower Prizes

Check out all the AWESOME prizes up-for-grabs at the Spring Online Baby Shower on March 10th from 10 AM – 8 PM ET! You don’t have to be pregnant to WIN WIN WIN!

Here is our giveaway!

Jack’s Harvest Organic Frozen Baby Food
These delicious certified organic fruits and vegetables are gently prepared in small batches then quickly frozen to capture nature’s fresh flavor, vibrant color, rich texture and essential nutrients. Organic herbs and spices feed curious taste buds and add extra health benefits. Jack’s Harvest keeps in the freezer up to 6 months. You baby will love it when you win this six-pack, delivered right to your door!
Retail value: $56

I know this is such a huge event for all of you – have you gotten your tree decorated with ice cubes yet?  Just kidding – but since Jack’s Harvest is frozen, we do want to celebrate just a little and what better way than with a SALE.

We are offering this special Frozen Foods Day Sale in our retail stores and on-line so put down your decorations and get it while it’s cold!

Amazon.com Special Offer
Save an additional 10% on eligible Jack’s Harvest products sold by
Amazon.com. This discount will be reflected in your cart at checkout. Offer
valid through March 31, 2010.

WFM $1.00 Coupon (good through March 31st)
http://www.jacksharvest.com/wholeFoodsCoupon1.html

And because I know you are so interested in frozen foods, here is a link so you can read more about it!

National Frozen Food Day, Saturday, March 6th
http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/March/frozenfoodday.htm

I wanted to make you aware of a great program created by our friends at Nourish . Here is the program in their own words…

In fact, it is at the suggestion/request of some of you that we now announce the Nourish Haiti Program.  As we witnessed the horrible devastation in Haiti last month, like many we immediately looked for ways to help as individuals and as a company.  What we discovered is that surviving the earthquake was just the first challenge that the most vulnerable survivors (the babies and children) will face.  Now these infants and children struggle daily to survive with lack of access to clean water and nourishment.  While many programs focus on temporary assistance immediately following the disaster, we wanted to find a way to help in an ongoing fashion.  Thanks to the amazing folks at Peachtree Christian Church and Peachtree Childtown Preschool, we were introduced to Childspring Internationaland the Nourish Haiti Program was born.

How does it work? Simply go to www.nourish-inc.com and click on the “Nourish Haiti” button in the upper right corner to donate one or more cases of Nourish.  We not only subsidize the cost of the water but we handle the shipping…  We deliver cases weekly to Childspring International and the water is then delivered to Haiti every few weeks.  We don’t collect money or stockpile product – it ships regularly and directly to the babies and children in need.  We will notify you of your case number and its ship date.  Nourish has already donated 500 bottles of water as well as baby formula and the feedback has been extremely positive.  In fact, Nourish enables formula to be mixed for babies in a way that ensures that not only is the water safe but the bottle is clean given the local water source is not often sufficient for consumption or for cleaning bottles.

Please help us in this effort today.  Long after the news crews leave and the initial response teams dwindle, these children will struggle to stay alive and healthy.  While we are a small company, we know that with your help we can make a big difference.  We hope to continue to support these children in an ongoing fashion.  We are also looking for any ideas on getting formula in bulk or even donated to travel with the waters.

Those were the words of wisdom from a friend of mine about traveling with children.  I am heading to Orlando with the three kiddos – not excited about braving Hartsfield airport’s security or trying to keep everyone together and happy, but I am so excited about getting out of the cold and spending time with my mom and stepdad.

In order to make the trip less stressful, I am going to CVS tonight and buying snacks, coloring books, crayons, magazines and all sorts of cool stuff to put in my carry-on bag.

I am heading home to get us all packed and organized for the trip and will be offline for the next week or so – stay warm and safe!

What are your best travel with kids tips???  Send us a comment.

Jack’s Harvest went through the long and arduous exercise of getting our HACCP certification last year before we were accepted on the shelves of Whole Foods.  It is a lengthy process and required us to examine every aspect of our manufacturing procedures.  Now you’re thinking, that’s great, but what does it have to do with me??  A lot actually as you run a kitchen of your own with lots of little people running around and getting their little hands into everything.  Here are some things we have found work really well in our kitchen and will work great in your kitchen as well!

• Soak all your produce that has skins in a clean sink full of water filled for 5 minutes.  According to the University of Virginia food sciences department this kills more germs and bacteria than any of the washes on the market!
• Regularly go through your refrigerator and check the expiration dates on perishables – throw them out once they are expired – yes, even sour cream and yogurt can go bad!
• Keep cold food cold and hot food hot – room temperature is not your friend but it is the friend of bacteria everywhere.
• Keep a separate cutting board for meat and poultry and label it with a sharpie so everyone is aware that this is not to be used for veggies.
• Wipe down all surfaces whenever you switch from meat or poultry to anything else.
• I wear my food prep gloves in my home kitchen anytime I handle meat or poultry.
• Use a thermometer to test the temperature of your meats and poultry you do not want to just “eye” this!  Below is a great chart that you can print and put up in the kitchen for safety guidelines.

Yes, even here in Southtown we have had our share of snow days and just plain old crappy weather; rainy, cold and miserable.  I have developed a nasty case of cabin fever and so have the kiddos.  In order to not go Jack Nicholson in The Shining (All work and no play makes Heather a dull boy… you get the picture) we have a few stand by fun and more importantly time consuming games that we play.

• Treasure Hunt – and by treasure I mean a dollar at the most!  I write and draw clues and put them all over the house -each clue leads the kids to another clue until they solve the puzzle and find the dollar.  I keep the clues BTW and recycle them for later games.  We can do this over and over again and it really is fun.
• Fort – grab blankets and sheets and drape them over a couch or chairs, grab books, flashlights, snacks and games and play camping.
• Floor Picnic – set out a blanket and have lunch or diner on the floor – this also works great under the fort.
• Charades – write out a bunch of kid’s movie titles, kid’s book titles or even just emotions i.e. angry, sad, happy.  I keep these in a tupperware bowl for cabin fever emergencies.
• Baking – Make cookies, brownies, pizza whatever your kids like and make them help you clean up – this can kill an hour easy!!  Check out www.jacksharvest.com for some great recipes.
• Get Crafty – Get out the coloring books, construction paper, crayons, scissors, glue, paint, sparkles and markers and make some masterpieces.  This can turn into some great art!  I actually LIKE to color and so do my older ones so this is an activity we all can agree on.
• Movie Theatre – dim the lights, pop the popcorn and put on a great movie like 101 Dalmations or The Aristocats.  So fun and necessary after all the the activities above.

Good luck and pray for spring!!  Heather

Hi to all my friends in the Southeast!  Do I have a deal for you?  We are offering a dollar of Jack’s Harvest at all our Whole Foods stores.  It’s so easy to get your savings, just Click HERE. Pick up the coupon off your printer and take it into Whole Foods and save, save save!!

Happy Early Valentine’s Day from me and Connie – oh, and Jack’s Harvest hearts don’t have any sugar and won’t ruin your New Year’s Resolution!

This has been such a hard winter for all of us.  Record levels of snow, ice, sleet and all other winter nasties even here in Southtown!  Seasonal Mood Disorder is very real and the more grey days we have and the less sunlight we see the more real it becomes!  Here are some great tips to raise your spirits (and your immunity) during these dark cold days.

• When the sun is shining make sure you are out in it!  Ten minutes of direct sunlight supplies your daily dose of Vitamin D.  The light also acts as a natural anti-depressant.
• Exercise on a regular basis.  It is so tempting to curl up on the couch with your Snuggie and not move until Spring, but exercise boost your immunity, raises your endorphins (feel good hormones) and also helps you sleep.  It is more important than ever to move your bod!
• Try to stay away from the refined carbs and simple sugars – they are so tempting especially when you are on the couch in the Snuggie, but they will just leave you with a sugar crash.
• Full spectrum lamps that mimic the sun can also be very useful for curing the winter blues.
• Stay warm.   I have been heating up my lavender filled silk pillow and curling up with that and a cup of tea.
• Get plenty of Omega 3s in your diet, fatty fish, flax seed oil and fish oil all are rich in this supplement.
• An apple a day really does keep the doc away.  Eat yours with a little cheese or peanut butter for a balanced snack.

Finally, remember spring will be here before you know it and we can put the winter of 09-10 to bed!

We were so excited to meet with All Star Angela of Kid’s Concern AM590.  We had a great chat about nutrition that morphed into a chat about following your dreams and finding a way to turn your passion into a career.  Since this show is directed at kids and their moms it was fun to let them know that you don’t necessarily have to follow convention when choosing a career.

We also discussed the importance of incorporating fruits and vegetables into your diet.  There are so many ways to incorporate veggies into your day.  Guacamole is awesome with baked pita chips, smoothies can be enhanced with carrot puree Jack’s Harvest’s Yummy Bunny Carrots are great but so is carrot juice, adding applesauce or sweet potatoes to french toast or pancakes or brownies  (what could be more painless than brownies???).  Our spot will be airing at 6 AM (I know, set your alarm) at AM 590.

For more great ways to get fruits and veggies into your diet go to www.jacksharvest.com for recipes and food ideas.

Kiwi magazine is surveying parents to pick the winners for the 2010 KIWI Kids’ Food Awards. Jack’s Harvest needs your help. If you answer no other questions, please take a quick minute and answer question #10 and write in JACK’S HARVEST as your favorite organic baby food. (By completing this survey, you could also win a $200 Whole Foods gift
certificate!)

VOTE NOW: http://www.kiwimagonline.com/EmailBlasts/2010/pab/foodawards/?refer=eml-pabf%20oodawards

Thank you so much for your help! It means the world to us!

Warmly,
Heather