I am new to this whole eating healthy thing. I am trying so hard to eat right and lose weight. Eating healthy can be a real pain in the butt for someone who has eaten unhealthy their entire life.

We were recently contacted by Sambazon about trying out some of their new smoothies that hit the shelves this spring. One of our writers, Catherine, tested them for us and found out that they were in fact pretty tasty.

The Chocolate Almond Coconut Milk Protein Superfood Smoothie was the first one I popped open on my busy rush out the door.  Wow! The flavor burst just stopped me in my tracks.  I was expecting something a little grainy and thick but it was smooth and tasted wonderful. This smoothie is packed with healthy omegas and 10 grams of protein.  I loved how full it kept me!

 

 

The new Supergreens Superfood Smoothie features the “new” hip superfood, kale.  I was excited to try this one mostly because I know I don’t get enough green food in my diet and this was a way to do that!  It is packed with six greens + fruit (nutrient-rich blend of grasses, kale and sea greens plus a hint of ginger with the sweet flavors of acai, mango and bananas) which gives you two servings per bottle.  I also love that this does not contain green tea.  This smoothie gives me energy without the side effects of caffeine.  Although I didn’t find the taste of the Supergreens Superfood Smoothie as nice as the Chocolate Almond Smoothie, it was still delicious.  My advice is…drink it cold.  It’s much better chilled.

About Sambazon:

It all started in 1999 during a trip to Brasil when local surfers introduced us to açaí. We were blown away by all the incredible flavors and potent nutrition of the local fruits. We wanted to share these amazing superfoods with the world – but in a way that respected the people and protected the natural resources of the area. So when we discovered that sustainable growth and harvesting of Amazon superfoods was not only possible, but could also create jobs and help protect the rainforest, we knew it was an opportunity of a lifetime. Before we left Brasil, we had a plan in place and in early 2000 Sambazon was born.

Click here to find a retailer near you.

Connect with Sambazon

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Use the Rafflecopter below to enter the giveaway to win both flavors. Remember, the  more ways you enter, the better your chances are of winning.

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We were sent some of both of Sambazon’s newest products to try. All opinions remain our own.

When you have a family, it can sometimes be hard to get everyone talking when you want them to.  For our family, dinnertime is our time to chat about our day or anything else that may come up.  Even still, there are times that conversations need a little help getting started.

Since my children are so young, finding topics that keep them interested can be a little more challenging.  However, when we make talking seem more like a game for them, they have fun with it.  That is why I love TableTopics.

TableTopics is a company that creates conversations for any setting in an instant.  The first TableTopics cube that I ever purchased was one for families.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was hoping it may have questions that we would find interesting and fun to answer together.  The good news is, that is exactly what it turned out to be.  Since that first purchase my collection of cubes has grown.  As a matter of fact, I have even begun to branch out to TableTopics To Go.

I recently had the opportunity to check out the Happiness Cube by TableTopics.  It was one that I had been wanting to try, but just hadn’t gotten around to purchasing.

I am not sure about the rest of you, but there are certain days that I can really use a pick me up.  This particular cube is perfect for those times.  The questions you will find in the “Happiness Cube” help to get your mind focused around the things that make you happy.

With questions like, “Who has the most beautiful smile in the world?” and “What’s the happiest song ever written?”, you are sure to find yourself smiling at your answers.

On the other hand, the questions in this cube are also thought provoking, like “How do you unnecessarily spend money?” and “What everyday problem bothers you?”.  When I first read some of the questions, I thought, okay my answers aren’t making me very happy.  However, then I realized that if you turn the cards over, they share a tip with you.  For example, on the card about unnecessarily spending the money, the tip is:  Live in a place where you won’t have pressure to buy anything more than what you have.  I love that it guides you to find a place where you can be happy.

You can find the Happiness TableTopics Cube on their website for $25.  The cube contains 135 questions and is recommended for ages 12 and up.

If you are looking for ways to get conversations flowing, while creating happiness for yourself and others, the Happiness Cube is a great solution.

Connect with Table Topics

• website
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest

Enter to win your very own Happiness Cube from Table Topics

Use the Rafflecopter below to enter this giveaway. Remember, the more ways you enter, the better your chance of winning.

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This post was written by 5 Minutes for Mom contributor Laurie. You can find Lauri blogging at Guessing All the Way.

Have you ever watched a small child stack cans, blocks or building bricks? You can see the expression on the child’s face. That child is a picture of concentration. What is he thinking?

If I stack the blocks this way will the tower stay up?
If I stack the blocks that way will the tower fall?
Can I stack 3…4…5…6…or 10 blocks?
When will the tower fall down?

Learning truly does happen through play. I remember my oldest child stacking blocks at her grandmother’s house. She used the wooden blocks to create a road for her cars, a house for her dolls, even a tea set. She once even made a make believe bridge and walked on top of the blocks…she was little enough that her tiny feet fit perfectly on the flat wooden blocks. She loved that small cloth bag of blocks. So did her brother and sister and cousins.

Blocks allow for endless play and children learn through play. Blocks are the perfect toy to grow with your child. I recently received an enormous bucket o’ blocks from Back to Blocks. The bucket o’ blocks came in a box that became a playhouse for my son. He rolled around the kitchen in the box. Never seen a kid have so much fun until…he opened the bucket o’ blocks. Oh my, was he surprised with what he saw inside.

My son dug straight in to the blue bucket and pulled out handful after handful of blocks. Eventually he dumped the whole bucket on the floor. He was mesmerized by all the different shapes and sizes. He held piece after piece in his hands, examined the edges, placed one piece and then another, and yet another on top of each other. The pieces were long., flat, chunky, curved, archways, roof shaped, and many other shapes and size. It was more than a bucket o’ blocks, it was a bucket o’ fun!

Back to Blocks sent me the Wooden Block Set “Fun With Friends.” Blocks come in 20 different shapes and sizes and have over 160 pieces. The “Fun With Friends” retails for $110.99. The blocks are stored in a 5-gallon bucket — white, yellow, blue, and red.

Want to learn more about the Back To Blocks?

Search Back To Blocks for the perfect block toy.
Look for special offers on blocks.

Enter to win your Own Bucket of Fun from Back To Blocks

5 Minutes for Mom will be giving away a Fun with Friends Blockset. Use the Rafflecopter below to enter this giveaway. Remember that the more ways you enter, the better your chances are of winning.

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  I was sent the Fun With Friends set to facilitate my review. I was also compensated for this post. The views expressed in the post are my own. I follow the tenets of Blog With Integrity. 

Jill Berry @MusingsfromMe is a writer who stays at home or a SAHM who writes…it depends on the day and her mood. While playing a writer on the internet, Jill has the gray hair AND blogposts from raising a kid, a preteen, and a teen. When not blogging at Musings from Me, Jill seizes family time whenever she can…dinner as a family, movie night, marathon family game sessions, traveling…you name it she wants to do it.

My eight-year-old son had talked a lot about wanting to keep a diary. I thought that was a great idea, so I gave him a notebook as he requested, but he didn’t use it a whole lot. I’m still hoping to tap into that desire, because as I writer I know how therapeutic and inspiring and cathartic writing can be.

With two creative and artistic kids, I definitely thought that The Scribble Diary: My Brain Right Now by Lisa Currie could help them entertain themselves as they examine their days. This is a book that is a twist on a traditional diary — designed for all ages to be able to use.

Each two-page spread has a place to record events and feelings in a creative way, either writing or scribbling. Honestly, when I first looked at it, I wasn’t sure how it would really work in a practical way.

But my son LOVED it. He has used it consistently for the last week, even doing more than one entry during a day when he was feeling inspired. I even picked it up and left my own entry for him to discover.

So whether you want to encourage your child or teen to record their lives, or give them a creative activity for the summer or a long road trip, or create a fun family book, The Scribble Diary: My Brain Right Now is a unique way to do that.

We have TWO copies to give away today. Just leave a comment, and we’ll announce the winner in our 5 Minutes for Books column right here on June 4.

The winner of I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag is #46 Lori D.

Welcome to our weekly roundup here at 5 Minutes Around the Blogosphere.

As you know, you can come back all week and add a post or giveaway to our Linky. Be sure to check back often, as new links will be added daily. You don’t want to miss out on something fun.

What’s been going on at 5 Minutes for Mom?

• What Did You Expect When You Were Pregnant?
• Neato Robotics Vacuum for Your Home
• Eye Smart Week is This Week
• Wholesome Snacks for Your On-the-Go Kids
• Do Dr Sears and Attachment Parenting Make You Feel Guilty?
• Nature’s Hand-Granola That Every Family Member Will Love
• Creamy Blueberry Coconut Popsicles
• Experience Brave and Carland With Me
• Checking in with the Sisters-The Good Enough Mom
• Have you checked out the current deals featured at 5 Minutes for Deals?

Giveaways at 5 Minutes for Mom

•  NEW! Centrum Prenatal Vitamin giveaway (100 winners)
• NEW! Neato Robotics giveaway
• NEW! Mega Blocks Steer Me Steve Giveaway
• NEW! HTC Mobile Phone Giveaway
• NEW! Smartmune Giveaway
• NEW! Rabbit Air Minus2 Air Purifier Giveaway
• NEW! Use Your Words (Book) Giveaway
• Method Giveaway (30 winners)

Giveaway Winners Announced!

Giveaways galore! We’ve got more winners to announce for giveaways that ended this past week. Congratulations to all our winners! Emails have been sent…

The Winner of the Kodak Hero Printer is Danielle Dein.

The winner of the Hoodie Pet Giveaway is Heather Sidwell.

The winners of the Two Blue Peas review is Kenia Garcia and Sindy Murray.

Please note: all giveaway winners were selected using random.org.

Giveaways Around the Blogosphere

Would you like to share a fun giveaway? Please add it to the Linky below. You can come here any time this week to add in your link. Don’t miss out on the fun. Be sure to visit throughout the week as the linky grows, and more sites are added.

Or if you prefer the traditional linky….

Written by 5 Minutes for Mom Advertising and Communications contact, Jennifer. You can find me blogging at For Such a Time as This and tweeting at @jennifer_sikora.

When I was pregnant, I expected that my pregnancy would just be like everyone else’s – yes, I was truly that naïve.  I thought that I could open up the book and follow along with each week to know what would be going on.  Little did I know that everyone has a different pregnancy experience.  In fact, my two pregnancies were very different.  I expected that I would develop all sorts of fun cravings.  I couldn’t wait for when I wanted pickles and ice cream.

Silly me, of course it wasn’t what I expected.

Instead of having cravings, I tended to develop revulsions.  It was many, many months after my babies were born before I could even think about touching chicken again.  And while I loved oranges for the first three or four months of my pregnancy with Little Miss, I discovered I couldn’t stand the sight of them anymore after she was born (I wish I would have known that before  I had bought a twenty pound box of them!).

During my pregnancy, my body changed — I mean really changed.  I don’t remember hearing about how tired I would be during pregnancy. For someone who was never able to nap,  I happily spent many days after I’d gotten home from work just sacked out on the couch. My hair went from being shiny and lustrous to just regular again.I thought about getting pregnant again, just for that gorgeous hair! It was tempting –very tempting.

For me,  I think I craved knowledge more than anything else.  I devoured every book I could find, and I couldn’t wait until I was far enough along that I could take the birthing class.  The fact that I chose the weekly class that happened to be across the street from my favorite ice cream shop where I might have gotten a milkshake every single week will be our little secret, right?

Regardless of what I craved or how my body changed, nothing compares to the feeling of carrying your baby around inside of you. I loved that. I loved it so much that I did my best to take care of my body by taking prenatal vitamins.

Today, Centrum wants to help you –during your pregnancy–to take care of your body. Centrum recently released a new prenatal vitamin that helps in the growth and developement of  your special bundle of joy!

About Centrum:

Centrum Specialist®  Prenatal is a complete multivitamin specifically designed to support your baby’s growth and development, plus your own pregnancy health.* It provides all the health benefits from Centrum®, the #1 doctor recommended brand. For more information on Centrum Specialist® PreNatal, visit the Centrum® – Nutrition Possible Facebook page.

Enter to win a seven day supply of Centrum Specialist Prenatal multivitamin

Centrum is partnering with 5 Minutes for Mom and they are giving us 100 samples of their new prenatal vitamin to give away. To enter this contest, simply leave a comment answering this question:

What are you expecting during your pregnancy? Any specific cravings or expectations?

This giveaway will end on May 30th and 100 winners will be chosen by Random.org.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am participating in a sponsored campaign hosted by Centrum Specialist® Prenatal multivitamins. I received compensation for this post. While all opinions stated are my own, I make no claims about Centrum Specialist® Prenatal as a product or its effectiveness.

Written by 5 Minutes for Mom contributor Michelle who sometimes misses being pregnant but never admits it to any friends who are currently pregnant and miserable.  You can follow the exploits of her family on her blog Honest & Truly! and on Twitter where you can find her as @HonestAndTruly.

Rules for participation:

• NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY.  PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.Must be 18 or older and a legal resident of the 50 United States and DC to enter.  Not eligible: employees of  selected bloggers posting the giveaways, Ketchum, Wyeth LLC (“sponsor”), and each of their parent, affiliate or related companies (“Sweepstakes Entities”), or their immediate family or persons living in the same household.  In addition, healthcare providers are not eligible to receive a sample of Centrum Specialist® Prenatal for their personal use. Enter by submitting the required information, specified by the host blogger. Use of automated or scripted programs to submit entries are prohibited. Host Blogger will choose a winner from all eligible entries at random. If a winner does not respond within 24 hours, the blogger will select another prize winner. All decisions are final. 100 winners will be randomly selected by the blogger to win a sample of a one month supply of Centrum Specialist® Prenatal. Winners will be contacted via email by blogger. If a winner does not respond within 24 hours, the blogger will select another prize winner. Blogger must provide shipping information to Ketchum to ship samples to blogger. Odds of winning depend on the number and timing of the entries provided.  Winners must provide contact information to ship prize.  Failure to respond to prize notification or provide required information may result in forfeiture of the prize and award. Except where prohibited, winners agree that the Sweepstakes Entities have the right to use their name, city and town and likeness in any advertising and marketing material, without compensation or any right to review and approve. Sponsor: Wyeth LLC, 5 Giralda Farms, Madison, New Jersey, 07940

Jennifer here-

I love finding new gadgets on the market that help me keep my home clean –I mean really clean. I am not one for dirt or grime at all, and of course with me having all my dogs, sometimes that is just not possible. Dog hair gets on the floor and it causes a lot of extra cleaning involved.

However, I recently discovered a new product that makes getting all that pet hair up seem like a breeze! Let me introduce you to Neato Robotics.

Neato Robotics has just released the XV-21 robot vacuum cleaner. It does everything that I hate to do — without me doing it! When I was reading the box, I thought to myself, “How in the world is this little machine going to clean my floor?”. I am here to tell you that it does that and more!

As soon as the machine  was delivered to my home, I took it out of the box and charged it. I was chomping at the bit to see if it actually would do what it said it would do. As soon as it was charged (which only took about 2 hours for a full charge), I set the language on the Neato and then I let it rip to go hog wild on cleaning my carpets.

My dogs did not like my new toy.

The dogs were running all around my Neato trying to figure out just what it was doing. However, I knew it was really cleaning my carpets. In fact, it was picking up tons of hair and dust bunnies that I thought were already clean thanks to my daily vacuuming.

Watch this video to see how Neato Robotics really works! I am amazed at its capabilities.

My favorite aspect of the Neato is the fact that I can schedule it to clean. I don’t have to remember to turn it on. I just set the schedule and it does the rest.

I think I have fallen in love.

Neato can be purchased at places like Lowes, Sears, and Amazon. Neato retails for around $350.

You can find Neato on

• Facebook
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Enter to win

One lucky 5 Minutes for Mom reader is going to get her chance to win her very own Neato XV-21 Robotics. Use the Rafflecopter below to enter this giveaway. Remember, the more ways you enter, the better your chances are of winning.

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Written by 5 Minutes for Mom Advertising and Communications Contact, Jennifer. You can find her sharing her thoughts at her own blog Jen’s Journey. Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

When my kids were small, they loved MEGA Bloks.  We had more sets of them than I could count, and they’d spend hours building castles, walls as high as they could go, or anything else their imaginations came up with.  There are so many things I love about MEGA Bloks – the large pieces that are easy for little hands to manipulate, their ease in snapping together and pulling apart, the bright colors and variety of sets all make them a hit in my book.

My boys also loved dump trucks, piling up the bed with all kinds of cargo, pushing them across the room, and then dumping it out.  That’s why Steer-me Steve, the new dump truck from MEGA Bloks, is the perfect toy for preschoolers.

Your truck loving child can drive around with the Steer-me Steve Dump Truck by Mega Bloks and pretend he is a big rig driver himself. Steer-me Steve is perfectly designed for little hands to grip the steer along wheel as they drive through the house picking up the included blocks in the set as his cargo. Stack the blocks on the truck bed or carry them to a new location for construction – it’s all up to Steve and where your child takes him. Once Steer-me Steve and your child reach their destination, the dump truck bed empties the cargo with a simple lever pull. After Steve is empty, it is time to go find another load!

Steer-me Steve’s happy, smiling face encourages interaction with your child as they drive around looking for new building adventures!

• Easy grip plastic steer along steering wheel
• Quick pull lever to empty cargo
• Fun, colorful design
• Includes 7 big Maxi blocks
• Cheerful, friendly face

MEGA Bloks also has a fantastic Family Club that includes tutorials, a blog and other great features. Click on the above signup link to sign up for the MEGA Bloks newsletter.

Enter to win

We have a fantastic prize pack for one lucky winner.   To enter this giveaway, leave a comment below letting us know what your child’s favorite Mega Block Toy is.  This giveaway will end June 2, 2012.

The winner will receive:

Steer-Me-Steve
80 piece Big Building Bag
Build ‘n Learn Table
Small Tub Town Construction Site

I received Steer-me Steve to facilitate writing this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This review was written by 5 Minutes for Books writer, Nancy. Nancy is the mom of 2 very active boys and in addition to working full time, she enjoys driving Mom’s Taxi and volunteering on various school and Cub Scout committees. She writes about her busy life at Life With My Boys and Books.

Jennifer here –

What in the world do you get a mom who has everything she needs? Well, if she is crazy busy like me, a new phone might just be the gift she would love to have!

I recently had the opportunity to review the newest phone from T-Mobile — the HTC One S.

While I have always been an Apple Iphone user, I am tempted to change to an Android phone now that I have had a chance to try one out first hand. I am sure that many of the Android phones on the market are fabulous, but the  HTC One S is an awesome phone!

The HTC One S is thin and lightweight. It weighs 119.5 grams with battery in, which is amazingly light. I held both my Iphone and the HTC One S in my hands to see and feel the difference and there was NO comparison.

The next thing that I loved about the HTC One S is the fact that I can talk/text on it. This was a feature that my daughter discovered and once she did, I started texting everyone! You just open your texting and set the settings and choose who to send your text to. Then you speak in the speaker and it will type what you speak! I love this hands free feature for when I need to send a text but have my hands tied up in work.

Here are some more great specs about the HTC One S:

• Upload your entire music library, even Itunes (up to 20,000 songs) for free
• 8 mp camera on the back and a face front camera of 2mp
• 4G
• 10.5 hours of talk time

The HTC One S is available for purchase as a contract phone, so be sure and check with your TMobile rep to find out more.

Enter to win an HTC Amaze 4G

The HTC Amaze is similar to the HTC One S and we are going to be giving one away to one of YOU. Use the Rafflecopter below to enter to win. Remember, the more ways you enter this giveaway, the better off your chances are of winning.

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I was sent an HTC One S Unit to try out for a few days and review. All opinions listed are my own.

Written by 5 Minutes for Mom Advertising and Communications Contact, Jennifer. You can find her sharing her thoughts at her own blog Jen’s Journey. Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

This has been a tough year for my family.  We have had to cope with some pretty high stress issues the last 6 or 8 months and the stress has definitely taken a toll on all of us.  Every member of my family has succumbed to illness more than once this winter and heading into spring we are still trying to rebuild our weakened immune systems.  So it was with great pleasure that I agreed to try SmartMune this month.

SmartMune is an all-natural nutritional supplement that works to prime your immune system.  How does it do that?  Well…here’s the technical explanation from SmartMune:

Once swallowed, immune cells in the gastrointestinal tract take up Wellmune WGP®, the only ingredient in SmartMune, and transport it to immune organs throughout the body. While in the immune organs, immune cells called macrophages digest Wellmune WGP® into smaller fragments and slowly release them over a number of days. The fragments bind to neutrophils, via complement receptor 3 (CR3), which are the most abundant immune cells in the body. In fact, neutrophils account for 60-70% of all immune cells.

With Wellmune WGP®, the neutrophils are now primed for activity. Unlike other immune health ingredients, Wellmune WGP® enhances immune function without over stimulating the immune system, which may be harmful.

Here’s my not-at-all-technical-because-I’m-not-scientific explanation: When I take these, my gut digests them into particles that travel through my body.  Then these wicked cool immune cells digest the Wellmune into smaller pieces that get sent out into my system over the next few days.  Then those little pieces find some even more wicked cool immune cells to hang onto and then when my body needs to fight infection, the neutrothingies with the Wellmune hanger-on-ers rush to the infected site to protect the body and kick some evil infection boot-ay!  That’s how I broke it down for my 12 yr old son. Who reminded me that he is 12, not 3 and that he is capable of having an intelligent conversation about immune boosters.  Point taken, my young padawan.

SmartMune has spent over $300 million dollars on development and research and has worked with several major university and government institutions to evaluate its efficacy in humans under various physical and psychological stress situations.  The results found that SmartMune was more than twice as effective as MCG-3, AHCC, mushroom beta glucans and Echinacea.

Things I like about SmartMune:

• no known drug or supplement interactions that negatively impact SmartMune.
• 60-Day Money Back Guarantee
• safe to consume daily
• free of any genetically modified organisms
• non-allergenic

So here’s what I can tell you in no uncertain terms about my experience with SmartMune: I am feeling better since I started taking it almost 2 weeks ago.  The feelings of being run down and tired have started to dissipate and I don’t seem to have as much “brain fog” or tension as I have been experiencing the last few months. I haven’t changed my routine or my diet since I started taking SmartMune, so it’s pretty easy to attribute my improvements to the supplement.  I can’t wait to see how much better I feel after another month of using this “Intelligent Immune System Support!”

SmartMune also has a kid-friendly version of this immune booster called SmartMune for Kids.  I was glad to hear that it is safe for my boys and will be adding it to their daily routine quickly so we can all get back on our feet and functioning at full speed again.

Enter to win

Enter to win a 30 day supple of SmartMune. Use the Rafflecopter below to enter the giveaway. Remember, the more ways you enter, the better your chances are of winning. This giveaway will end May 24th, 2012.

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I received a bottle of SmartMune to help facilitate this review. All opinions expressed in this post are 100% my own. Written by 5 Minutes for Mom contributing writer, Geri Chase.  Geri is mom to 2 hilarious boys and wife to an insanely funny husband, all of whom like to remind her that the fact that she is a girl does not give her immunity from their testosterone induced humor.  While she pretends not to be amused, she secretly laughs herself silly over their antics and frequently blogs about life and family friendly products over at I Am Boymom.