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I had two cups of kale, a carrot, an apple and half a cucumber for breakfast this morning. And I drank every last drop.

I’ve been on a juicing kick lately. It started after watching the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead that chronicles the journey of Joe Cross as he attempts to improve his health through juicing. But I’ve found it’s been a great way to up my veggie intake (breakfast is a hard meal to have a salad), another way to use all the greens that have been coming in my CSA bin and a fabulously sneaky way to get my kids to consume all sorts of veggies they normally wouldn’t.

Juicing has come a long way in recent years. One of the current trends is slow juicing, a process of slowly squeezing the nutrient-rich juice out of fruits and veggies instead of quickly spinning the heck out of them which some claim breaks up the nutrient molecules.

I had the chance to check out three recently-released slow juicers plus have a great giveaway for those of you who want to get started.

The first juicer I tried was the Healthy Juicer Electric from Lexen Products. This juicer is a masticating style juicer with what looks like a long single drill bit. The juicer slowly presses, squeezes and crushes fruits and veggies to release their juices. Unlike a blender or a traditional juicer, since the juice extraction is slow, it doesn’t heat the juice  and destroy any of the natural live enzymes.

The Lexen Healthy Juicer has an external pulp screen which means you can choose to leave it on (completely smooth juice, no pulp) or take it off if you like a little pulp in your juice. I also liked the beyond juice, the Lexen Healthy Jucier can be used to make pasta (3 pasta attachments included), wheatgrass (separate auger included), babyfood, soy milk, nut butters and frozen desserts (put in frozen fruit, get delicious sorbet!)

I was pretty impressed with the versatility of the product and how when you use the external pulp screen, the juice truly is completely smooth. Like most juicers, the Lexen has a fair number of parts, but the Lexen juicer was also very easy to clean. One drawback – since the Lexen Healthy Juicer is longer than it is taller, you’re going to have to sacrifice some counter space.

Next I tried two very similar juicers – the Hurom Slow Juicer and the new Omega 350 VERT. Both of these juicers have a compact vertical design. Even with all the pieces on, I can easily store it on my counter under my upper cabinets. Both juicers are slow masticating juicers which crush and press the fruits and veggies (instead of grinding, blending or chopping) to extract the most juice possible without damaging the nutrients.

Compared to the Lexen, I found both the Hurom and Omega VRT 350 to be faster, easier to add fruits and veggies one-handed without much tamping, and able to extract more juice. But the juice is not completely smooth like with the Lexen. The Hurom and Omega are also a little trickier to clean. Both come with a two-headed toothbrush/pick and yes, you need to use it.

The differences between the Hurom and Omega VRT 350? The Omega comes with 2 juicing screens (a fine and a course for more or less pulp) and is $10-$20 more expensive. The Hurom has a handle on the back which can be useful for tipping the machine to get the last bit of juice out. Overall, both are stellar machines and a great way to up to your veggie intake.

**GIVEAWAY** The kind folks over at Omega are hosting a 10 juicer giveaway of their new Omega VRT 350. A perfect way to counteract all those holiday cookies and cocktails or a great gift for someone in your life. To enter, leave us a comment below answering this: What is your biggest holiday temptation? Is it the eggnog or the appetizers? Candy canes or Starbuck’s yummy holiday coffee drinks? Leave us a comment below and hopefully you’ll be on your way to a healthy and happier holiday season!

One entry per person. US residents only. No PO boxes. Entries must be received by Dec. 2, 2011, 11:59 pm. Winners chosen by random.org and notified via email. If winners do not reply with their shipping details within 2 days of notification, a new winner will be chosen.

So I’ve been having fun playing around with a new app from the California Wine Club – the CWC Food and Wine Pairing Wheel. The app provides seven different categories to choose from – Meat, Poultry, Fish, Pasta, Cheese, Starters and Desserts – and within those categories a number of specific flavors, meals or ingredients to choose from. For example, under Meat I can choose from suggestions for Roast Pork, Pork Chops, Pork Tenderloin, BBQ Pork Ribs which I love since not all pork cuts or dishes are the same. Just the same for Poultry I can choose between Cordon Bleu, Chicken Marsala, Roasted Chicken and BBQ Chicken just to name a few in the category.

For each dish, the app provides 3 different wine pairings – often both red AND white options. Welcomed news for a girl who doesn’t drink much white.  The app is a breeze to use, helps you think beyond the “red meat-red wine” paradigm and currently is free! I snuck a peak at it last weekend when the husband and I went out for dinner to find a good match for his rack of lamb (Cab, Syrah or Merlot), and used it yesterday at Trader Joe’s when I received a text for an impromptu wine and dessert get together from a girlfriend. For the record, the tawny port the app recommended was stellar with the homemade créme brulée.

I’m not very knowledgeable about the world of cheese, but with the help of the CWC Food and Wine Pairing Wheel, I just might attempt that wine and cheese party I’ve been thinking about.

The CWC Food and Wine Pairing Wheel is available for both the iPhone and iPad. Visit the California Wine Club for more information or the Apple  iTunes App store to download.

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MWS was not paid for this post. We did receive an early release of the app to review.

Kate Bayless is a writer, editor and happy to attend any and all wine tasting parties you want to invite her to. Her work has appeared in Parents, American Baby, Fit Pregnancy, iVillage, Momtrends and other publications. Visit her at www.katebayless.com or @katebayless.

The first product is one that we used over and over again and were thrilled that we had it with us. My husband was a bit skeptical about why we really needed it, but boy was he ever so thankful that we had it with us on the very first day of our 9-day vacation!

Minimus.biz is the leader in all things travel-sized and individual-sized. They stock more than 2,000 products including over 100 pre-packaged kits and gift sets. Products you couldn’t possibly imagine come traveled sized and Minimus.biz carries them all. All of their liquids and gels are TSA compliant (3.4 oz or less), which makes packing that carry-on all the easier.

The Traveling with Toddlers kit holds all of the essentials you could possibly want as a parent. It contains 21 travel-size products in a zippered 10″x8″x2.5″ clear vinyl bag which makes it a breeze to find what you need at any time! The kit came in handy when the following happened on our trip:

- My son fell on pavement and scraped his elbow pretty badly. Never fear – the handy first aid kit came to our rescue. The kit contained not only bandages, but towelettes to wash the area, alcohol prep pads to cleanse the wounds, anti-biotic ointment (bacitracin) to promote healing plus more!

- My son had developed a diaper rash and needed cream. I never carry cream anymore and was thrilled to have Boudreaux’s Butt Paste in the kit which instantly gave him relief and eliminated me from having to take a trip to the store.

- My kids’ hands needed disinfecting and washing a lot as we were very active with activities everyday. Hand sanitizer and the Candy wipes came in handy often.

- My kids’ noses were always running so the pocket tissues were a huge help!

- We forgot shampoo for my kids’ baths and were thrilled to find California Baby Shampoo/Bodywash and Bubble Bath!

- The stall in the airport was out of toilet paper so the Charmin To Go was perfect!

- We had a few spills in the car and the Bounty to go Mini Roll of Paper Towels was the best!

There is so much more inside the kit as well. It even came with a small flashlight with batteries included. We were so impressed with this kit and couldn’t get over how many times it came in handy and made travel easier! We were so thankful to have it with us on our trip. It has found its new home in my car and has been great to have on the go!

We also received some travel games such as Candy Land Travel Fun On the Run and Tangoes which my kids loved playing on the plane and when we had down time. They were both the perfect size to travel with. Also, with airplane food a thing of the past, we were well-prepared on the plane with great travel friendly treats. My kids enjoyed the Squeezers Peanut Butter & Jelly combo and individually wrapped Ritz Cracker packages while my husband and I had the Wild Garden Hummus To Go and Cracked Wheat Wafers which were delicious. We all liked the Kool-Aid 2 Go packets which we just dropped in our water bottles!

With over 2,000 items and 15 categories to choose travel products from, you’ll be sure to find what you are looking for. The next time you travel or just want some simplicity for the travel sized products you tote around town the most, check out Minimus.biz – you’ll be thrilled you did!!!

Save 5% off the Traveling with Toddlers Kit or the Toddler Travel Kit (smaller version of the Traveling with Toddlers Kit) by entering code mommieswithstyle at checkout until March 31, 2010. Free shipping is offered on orders over $20.

Click here to see my Turkey Cowboy Chili Whrrl Slideshow here.

Next, we tested the Whole Grain Apple Cinnamon Pancake/Waffle Mix ($5.99). You have the option to add on Agave Nectar to use as syrup — which was delish. The whole grain pancake mix includes applesauce. The suggestion to add frozen berries to the mix was brilliant. They were amazing and my children downed them! The Healthy Pantry’s was one of the best mixes I’ve used (and I’ve used many mixes!)

Dad Keith Lauver started The Healthy Pantry, after his busy lifestyle as a technology company executive led him to unhealthy eating, an extra 40 pounds, pre-diabetes and high cholesterol. The Healthy Pantry’s mission is to help others eat better by removing the biggest barrier: the lack of time to cook at home.

Exclusive for MWS Readers: Use code MWS for 10% off. To use code, shop their site and click “My Cart” before Checkout (and enter code MWS there, not the checkout page). Click here to start shopping.

The company supplied meal testing kits for review purposes.

Kashi products are widely available.

"Meatless" meatballs - you wouldn't have known if I hadn't told you, right?

We recently tested out a couple of new brands of food for my kids that were both such a hit, I just had to blog about it.  The first was from Quorn.  I had received some info from them in the mail.  As a former vegetarian, my eyes and ears always perk up at any all-natural, meat-free options I can buy in my local grocery store.  Plus, my oldest son just finished three years of preschool at a Jewish preschool that allows no meat into the building, so we’ve had to get creative with the vegetarian foods.

The next time I was in my local grocery store (Wegmans), I picked up a pack of Quorn Meatless Meatballs – they were so good!  My entire family, meat-loving hubby included, were fighting over these meatballs, which are lower in fat and higher in protein than the good old fashioned beef kind.  If you have a store near you that sells Quorn, I highly recommend checking out their label.

The other brand I wanted to blog about may be a familar one to many of you, as I’ve been seeing them out and about more and more:  Revolution Foods.  Revolution Foods makes healthy snack packs and options for lunch boxes.  These all-organic snacks can be found at your local Babies R Us and many grocery stores across the country. (Our local Giant sells them.)  My kids love the Mash-ups, which are more or less drinkable fruit.

Flavors in the 6.75 fluid ounce size are Tropical Orange, Berry Berry and Strawberry Kiwi. Tropical Orange’s main ingredients are apple, pear, orange, yellow carrot, sweet potato, pineapple, passionfruit, tomato concentrates and filtered water. Berry Berry’s main ingredients are apple, pear, purple carrot, butternut squash, beet, strawberry, raspberry, tomato concentrates, and filtered water.

Strawberry Kiwi’s main ingredients are apple, pear, purple carrot, sweet potato, butternut squash, beet, strawberry, kiwi, tomato juice from concentrates, and filtered water. The sugar is 1/3 lower than regular juice (15 grams, which naturally come from fruit, not added). It’s 66% juice (rest is filtered water, is 70 calories and no high fructose corn syrup is used. The juices come in packs of 8 and is one complete serving of fruits and vegetables.
At the local warehouse clubs, my mother found smaller servings of Fruitables in a pack of 27, with Sesame Street Characters on the front. Flavors are Apple Carrot, Berry Banana & Pear Peach. Younger kids (around 2 and 3 years old) will love this size for a preschool snack.
In addition to giving my son Fruitables, I still serve him veggies (which he mostly disdains), vitamin supplements, and still “sneak” veggies into his food. Hopefully he’ll get his daily requirement of vegetables somehow!
Fruitables are available nationwide.