Heartburn Tips for Long Lasting Relief

Posted on June 27, 2014 by Krissyar

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Pepcid. Though I was compensated for my post, all opinions as usual, are my own.

When I was younger I scoffed my family and friends who complained about heartburn. They were constantly looking for relief, as most nights it would keep them from sleeping well. I never realized their pain until after my first pregnancy. Heartburn ragged through my entire pregnancy – and each one after. After that I couldn’t eat some of my favorite foods without paying for it later that night. The suffering seemed to never stop, and I needed relief. So I started to do my research and found some great information about  heartburn relief.

heartburn-tips

What exactly IS heartburn?

Heartburn happens when acid escapes from your stomach into your esophagus. Your lower esophageal sphincter is supposed to prevent that, but  sometimes it relaxes or doesn’t close properly which causes the acid to escape. Unlike the stomach, the esophagus isn’t meant to house acid, so that’s why you feel the  burn!

Who gets heartburn?

Almost everyone has occasional heartburn (as I learned!) 2.5 million adults experience heartburn daily. What triggers heartburn varies from person to person, but some of the common culprits include:
Stress, alcohol, smoking, diet, being overweight, and caffeine.

Why do some foods hurt?

Food is the most common heartburn trigger. Your stomach may react to some foods by increasing acid production, slowing down digestion, or inhibiting the esophageal sphincter’s ability to prevent stomach contents from leaking back into the esophagus.  Tomatoes, fatty foods, and coffee are amount the usual suspects.

pepcid

Best Tip for Heartburn Relief

  • Take antacids such as , Pepcid Complete, antacids are always my go to. I keep them in my medicine cabinet, and I even carry them in my purse (Hello Mexican restaurant after church!) PEPCID® COMPLETE® is an antacid and acid reducer. It starts to work in seconds, and last all day.

What I love about Pepcid Complete, besides that it’s so fast – and long lasting – is that it actually taste good. Most antacids are chalky, leave a horrible after taste, and actually makes you wonder which is worse..the taste, or the heartburn. I love the berry flavor, and it’s more like a soft piece of candy then an an antacid. The first time I tried it I took it right after a spicy meatball sandwich – it started working right away, and I had relief the entire night. The next time I tried it was after a nice ‘hot and spicy burrito’ at my favorite Mexican restaurant. Again – relief immediately, and long lasting relief. I’ve recommended Pepcid Complete to a few family and friends, and they are impressed as well. I definitely recommend you try it for long lasting heartburn relief!

tell-me-about-heartburn

 

For more information on PEPCID® COMPLETE® and the PEPCID® Tastemakers Series, visit the PEPCID® Facebook page

 

I have received information, product, and materials from McNeil Consumer Pharmaceuticals Co., the makers of PEPCID®. The opinions stated are my own. This is a sponsored post for Mom It Forward.

Posted in Fitness/Health | 40 Comments

Ad: Help End Hunger with Tyson – Join The Fight!

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Krissyar

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for #CollectiveBias and its advertiser.

Tyson

It’s hard to believe that in the good ol’ US of A – the country of freedom and opportunity, with the luxury of grocery stores everywhere and fast food stores on every  corner , there is an epidemic at large.

Hunger.

For 1 in 6 people* in the United States, hunger is a very real struggle. Many people believe that the problems associated with hunger are confined to small pockets of society, certain areas of the country, or certain neighborhoods, but the reality is much different. Millions of Americans are at risk of hunger.  These are often hard-working adults, children and seniors in your community who simply cannot always make ends meet and may be forced to go without food.

In an effort to help raise awareness of hunger in the United States, Tyson Foods initiated the KNOW Hunger campaign in early 2011.  The project is designed to encourage people to KNOW the scope of hunger in their own communities and get involved in relief efforts, so someday there will be NO hunger in our country. The campaign launch also included Tyson’s commitment to donate one million pounds of high quality protein (boneless, skinless chicken breasts) to 37 food banks across the U.S. during the month of March.  Each food bank will receive a full truck load, or about 29,000 pounds, of boneless chicken, enough to serve 116,000 meals per community.

Tyson Foods has stepped up- and even Walmart is getting involved and promising to feed 5 million kids this summer! Are you doing your part?

summer-of-giving-1

I talk openly to my kids about how blessed we are – I had times when I was a single Mom that we would of been added to this list of statistics if it wasn’t for friends and family who pitched in and dropped off groceries when money was tight. I can’t tell you how many nights I ate a 45 cent bag of noodles (at least I had food – and let me tell you I could make some mean noodle-hot-sauce-cracker dinners!) Because we are so blessed, my family loves to “pay it forward” whenever we can.

I love to buy from companies that give back so the  kids and I made a trip to Walmart to pick up some great Tyson Food items – for us – and for a needy family who recently experienced a loss of a parent.

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We grabbed some great easy to heat up Tyson Day Starts for breakfast, Tyson Grilled & Ready steak and chicken strips for a yummy lunch (so many options with these) as well as some BBQ Any’tizers , and Tyson Chicken Nuggets for dinner. We also grabbed some bread, milk and cheese to donate to the family in need.

Tyson-summer-of-giving

Since we know the needy family, we decided to stop by and have my daughter give them the bags of food. They were extremely grateful, and even promised to pay it forward when they got back on their feet. My kids felt great being able to help out a needy family, and it made me feel good to know that I’m raising some pretty great kids.

help-end-hunger

What I love about Tyson is they can definitely help make dinner simple. Our family loves mexican food, but making our favorite enchilada recipe  can take time – especially if you have to bake the chicken, let it cool, shred it and then season it up. Tyson’s Grilled & Ready Chicken and Steak Strips actually make it pretty easy. Through on some re-fried beans, make the enchilada sauce,  get out the guac and salsa and bam! Dinner is served!

enchiladas

Remember to HELP Tyson END THE HUNGER – join the fight and make it a #SummerOfGiving

Posted in Recipes, Reviews/Giveaways | 37 Comments

Peace of Mind in a Box: VTech Video Monitor (and GIVEAWAY)

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Krissyar

Disclosure: I received the following monitor at no cost to me for review purposes. Opinions here are my own.

When I first became a Mom, video monitors were just coming out on the market and to be honest, they were “tre expensiva” (VERY EXPENSIVE!)  they were in black and white, and didn’t have many options. As a single Mom I settled for a basic monitor in which I used only a handful of times. Mostly because I was so nervous about my daughter being out of sight, so nervous in fact, that she slept in my bedroom (in her bassinet) until she was too big. Then I moved her into the playpen and then and only then when she was too big for that did she make her way into her own room. I am pretty sure I was up every hour checking on her, making sure she was breathing O.K, and that she wasn’t tangled in her blanket or God forbid something worse.

Not until my 3rd child did I start seriously looking into baby video monitoring systems. When I was doing my research I came across the Vtech safe & sound pan & tilt full color video monitor.Can I just say I was super impressed?
With a husband, and 2 other children, I don’t have the option to be by his side 24/7. Life is busy – we have homework, and bake sale items to bake, not to mention dinner to prepare, laundry to do, and sometimes we just need to relax. I needed something besides just a basic ‘noise’ monitor to keep an eye on my son. A video monitor was more than just a preference – it became a necessity.

vtech-video-monitor

 

WHAT I LIKE:

PARENT UNIT

  • Works on a rechargeable battery
  • 2.8 Color LCD Screen to allow you to actually see the baby.
  • Great clear picture during the day. Night vision is okay.
  • Talk-back – Allows you to talk to your baby or toddler through the nursery camera.
  • Pan/Tilt – Scans 270 degrees around the room and 124 degrees up and down to really see all the action
  • 2x Zoom – This is standard on baby monitors.
  • Good handheld size about the size of a bulky iPhone
  • Temperature Sensor and alarm to monitor temperature of the nursery.
  • Great range! VTech advertises a 1000 ft range- all we know is that we never lose the signal in our large home.
  • Monitors up to 4 cameras at a time. (Only one camera comes with the monitor – the others would be purchased separately.)

CAMERA

  • Volume for the talk back feature.
  • Temperature sensor to monitor the temp in the room.
  • Looks sleek and modern.
  • Comes with a wall mount feature.
  • Has rubber feet to keep it from sliding.

WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED:

  • The nursery camera has to be plugged in to work. I would love to see a rechargeable battery included for those times when an outlet isn’t convenient for where the parent would like to place the camera.
  • While the night vision works and you can see the baby, it could always be better.

 

Overall, I think the VTech Safe and Sound monitor is a great option for a baby video monitor. It retails for $179.95, which is very reasonable for a monitor with all these features. You can purchase the monitor with 2 camera’s for approximately $259.90

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posted in Parenting, Reviews/Giveaways | 60 Comments

Do You Need New Brakes?

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Krissyar

 

Signs that You Need New Brakes

If it has been a while since you got your Pennsylvania brakes checked, it may be a good idea to look for some of the most common signs that they are wearing out. Remember, the last thing that you ever want in a vehicle is for your brakes to fail entirely. You must do regular maintenance – or bring the car in to someone who can do it for you – to keep them in good shape. Brakes simply wear out over time, as you use them, so this is something that you should expect when thinking about the cost of ownership of your vehicle.

1. A scarping noise when you brake. 
This is the most obvious sign that the brake pads are wearing out. There is a metal bar built into each pad. When you get through most of the pad, it starts scraping every time that you use the brakes to tell you that the pads are low. They will still work, sometimes for weeks, so do not think you have to run in and get them changed the next day. However, this is your indicator that you need to act in the very near future, before you wear all the way through the pads and the rotors begin to wear out as well. That would be way more expensive.

2. Decreased performance. 
Another indicator can just be brakes that seem to take longer to stop the car. Does the pedal feel a bit too “soft” when you push it down? Does your car seem to reluctantly slow down, even when you slam on the brakes, rather than jerking to a stop? The brakes may still technically work, but things like this can show you that you need to have them worked on so that you get optimal performance.

3. Leaking fluid. 
Hydraulic brakes use fluid inside your car when they function, and there are lines and containers that hold and transport this fluid. If one of them gets punctured, the fluid could leak out and the brakes would be unable to function at all. If fluid leaks and you think it may be brake fluid, have them checked immediately.

Posted in Money Matters | 1 Comment

Tips for Teeth Whitening

Posted on June 21, 2014 by Krissyar

white teeth

 

How Early Is Too Early to Start Whitening teeth?

 

One of the most frequent questions relating to teeth whitening has to do with potential safety concerns. These products are completely safe when used as directed, but there is some question with regard to when it is too early to begin the teeth whitening process. While there is no definitive answer, there are some guidelines that should be followed by users of all ages. Regardless of when the whitening process begins, it is absolutely vital that the proper product is selected in order to ensure the best results, and there are a number of considerations that should be taken into account when making this selection.

 

Before Permanent Teeth Have Come In

 

It is somewhat unfair to say that there is a time that is too early in someone’s life to begin teeth whitening, as the products and their ingredients are safe for use at any age. However, if a guideline is to be set, it should be done with regard to the presence of permanent teeth. Since permanent teeth come in right around the age of 10, it is safe to say that this is the appropriate time to begin whitening if necessary. Of course, proper dental hygiene should be practiced in conjunction with the use of a whitening product, and it may be helpful to gain an understanding of the dietary behaviors that can lead to teeth whitening becoming a necessity.

 

Many Reasons to Opt for Whitening

 

To some, it may seem unnecessary to consider whitening at an early age, but there are many reasons why it is important to take measures to ensure the consistent whiteness of teeth. Perhaps the most obvious reason relates to the feeling of self-confidence that a bright smile can bring. The last thing that any parent wants to see is that their child is afraid to smile due to the appearance of their teeth, especially since this can cause some very serious consequences in terms of the development of confidence and self-assurance.

 

Considerations for Choosing a Whitening Kit

 

When it comes to teeth whitening, there are a number of options to choose from, and it may seem daunting to try to make the ideal selection. There are certain qualities and ingredients that are ideal, which include the following:

 

  • In-home kits: These kits allow the whitening process to be conducted at home in a comfortable manner, and they are frequently more affordable.
  • Money-back guarantee: This ensures that the company selling the product has the utmost confidence in its effectiveness.
  • Dental office strength: Ideally, the whitening product will use Carbamide Peroxide as its active ingredient; 35 percent is generally considered the ideal percentage.
  • Custom trays: Trays that are fitted to each individual result in greater effectiveness.

 

At-Home Kits Are Exceptionally Effective

 

While there are many people who will turn to a dentist for their teeth whitening needs, this is likely a costly and unnecessary proposition. The at-home kits that are available are just as effective and do not require the inconvenience of having to schedule an appointment during normal business hours. Instead of missing out on school or work, it is much more convenient and just as effective to use an at-home kit.

Posted in Beauty | 1 Comment