Living Green With Jerinda: TalkingRain Organic Twist Flavored Water

USDA organic, all natural, no artificial sweeteners, "water with a twist of fruit and antioxidants": TalkingRain Twist flavored water. We were sent two of the flavors to try out of this delicious water, Mandarin White Tea and West Indies Lime. Both varieties were refreshing and tasty with just a hint of natural flavors to accent the water’s clean taste. I really love flavored water and this one didn’t disappoint. If you are a fan of flavored water too, you will love Twist .  The TalkingRain beverage company also chooses sources of production that provide high quality products, but a low carbon footprint.

You can find a retailer for Twist Essence Water on their website, www.DrinkTwist.com. It is available in six yummy flavors, such as Mango Acai, Wild Strawberry, Lemon, Pomegranate Blueberry, and of course the Mandarin White Tea and the West Indies Lime.

Thank you to TalkingRain for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.

Living Green With Jerinda: Hint Naturally Flavored Water

Hint water is a delicious flavored water that has no sugar or artificial sweeteners. It features just a hint of natural flavoring, just enough, but not too much. Hint’s water is really delicious and refreshing. We had the opportunity to try several of their flavors. I loved many of the flavors, including mango-grapefruit and raspberry-lime, but the watermelon was my favorite. My husband really loved the blackberry and my kids’ favorites were strawberry-kiwi and watermelon as well. Their other flavors are pomegranate-tangerine, cucumber, pear, honeydew-hibiscus, and lime. There weren’t any we didn’t like, we just preferred some over others.

Hint is a great alternative to sodas or juices, which contain a lot of sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup. My children really enjoyed it and asked for it at meals. My kids love water and drink a lot of it, but this would really help encourage children who usually don’t drink water to drink it. Plus, parents can feel good about it’s ingredients.

You can buy Hint Water online at DrinkHint.com, Amazon.com, or any major health food stores, such as Whole Foods, The Fresh Market, or Henry’s. You may also be able to find it at your local Starbucks. Check their website to find a retailer near you and don't forget to visit Drink Hint on Facebook.

Thank you to Hint for sending us sample product free of charge to base this review upon.

Boston's Mom Central Aquafina FlavorSplash Event

On May 27th, a small group of Massachusetts bloggers convened in the home of Stacy Debroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central, a consulting team based in Newton, MA known for their successful marketing campaigns targeting moms. This evening, we were invited to enjoy good food and conversation accompanied by the 6 delicious flavors of Aquafina FlavorSplash.

I very much enjoyed meeting Stacy and the entire Mom Central staff. There are many I have communicated with via email a hundred times over the past year or so. It was nice to be able to meet them face to face. I was also happy to reconnect with some bloggers I have met once or twice in the past, as well as meeting the authors of some great blogs that were unknown to me until last night.

From Left: Janice (Meal Makeover Moms), Stacy (Mom Central CEO, The DeBroff DeBrief), Liz (Meal Makeover Moms)

Members of the Mom Central team went through great efforts to pull off a successful evening. They even offered a raffle and planned a trivia game for our enjoyment. We split up into 3 teams. Luckily two of the teams each had a knowledgeable food blogger on their side because the topic was fruit!

The Winning Team! From Left: Keri (Toy Queen), Jill (The Daily Grind of a Work at Home Mom), Janice (Meal Makeover Moms)

Liz of Meal Makeover Moms won a Zoku Quick Pop Maker, which is just about the "coolest" invention I have seen in awhile (pun intended). Although I was totally jealous, I am so glad that Liz won. I can only imagine the wonderful things she will come up with to make using her Zoku.

Did I mention that this event was catered? Yes, my husband would be so sad if he saw all the delicious food we were served. Sorry, Honey, maybe next time.

Enjoying dessert and Aquafina FlavorSplash! From Left: Niri (Mommy Niri) and Nicole (Good Golly Miss Blondie)

Thank you to Mom Central, Aquafina, and the DeBroff Family for making it possible for local bloggers to come together when we might not have otherwise. I am so happy to have more business cards to add to my stash solely devoted to Massachusetts bloggers.

I wrote this post after attending an event sponsored by Aquafina FlavorSplash and Mom Central. I received FlavorSplash goodies and a gift card as a thank you for posting.

Giveaway & Review: Fruit2O Essentials Flavored Water [CLOSED]

If your household is as busy as mine, then you know that it is difficult to make sure each member of the family drinks enough water and eats the recommended servings of fruit everyday. It is nearly impossible to keep track of how much I consume myself, never mind four other people. Fruit2O Essentials flavored water seems to be the perfect solution to this problem. This product could easily replace sugary juices for my children, which I usually reserve for a treat, only my children will be able to drink this beverage daily.

The current flavors available for Fruit2O Essentials are:

Cranberry Raspberry

Strawberry Kiwi

Peach Mango

Citrus

Blueberry Pomegranate

Cherry Acai

Everyone in my household was surprised at the taste of this flavored water. It did not taste like water with a hint of fruit, but rather it was sweet and tasted like a punch. We received all six flavors to try. I am lucky I got a sip of two of the flavors because my husband and 6yr old son drank all the bottles of Fruit2O Essentials so quickly. I really should not complain because each bottle gives my family several of the vitamins and minerals found in two servings of fruit plus 1g of fiber. This product also contains no calories or sugar.

Adding Fruit2O Essentials to the grocery list is something I can easily commit to if it means helping my family be healthier. Here are some other small changes you and I can make according to celebrity fitness trainer and wellness expert Desi Bartlett . . .

1) Start your day off with water instead of coffee, juice, or another beverage

2) Keep yourself hydrated throughout the day with low-calorie fluids

3) Sweat once a day

4) Stretch or do yoga for 30 minutes twice a week

5) Leave yourself encouraging notes to stay active

6) Consume fresh, clean, foods and lots of water

7) Plan out the portions for your own meals and snacks ahead of time just as you would pack your child's school lunch

Fruit2O has partnered with the American Diabetes Association to help women make small changes such as these to better their health. Beginning May 14, 2010 Fruit2O will donate $1 to your local American Diabetes Association chapter in exchange for each pledge made to make a small change for the better. You can read the details on the Fruit2O Facebook page.

Thank you to Fruit2O for providing us with samples free of charge to base this review upon and for providing additional product for our contest prize. This article was written as part of a campaign for MomSelect.

What you can win:
One lucky reader will receive a one-month supply of Fruit2o Essentials water.

Limitations:

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:

Leave a comment telling me what small change you could make to take a baby step towards a healthier life. You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1) For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.

2) For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3) For 10 extra entries, blog about this contest linking back to this post AND Fruit2o.com . Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments with the link to your blog post.

4) Friend me on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Facebook profile.

5) For 2 extra entries, share the link to this contest post on Facebook. Then leave TWO separate comments with the link to your Facebook profile.

6) Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter profile.

7) Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.

8) Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or you can follow me through Blogger or subscribe via email (widget is on sidebar). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

9) Subscribe to A Blog of Goodies' feed (the sister site to 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

10) Add my button or blog link to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.

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(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)


Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed on Monday, May 17th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Good luck in the drawing!