I love hot dogs, especially in the summer. I didn’t know until Firewurst informed me,  July is National Hot Dog Month. Of course it is! It’s the month each year that Joey Chestnut becomes an American hero by eating as many hot dogs as I’d like to eat. (But, not by dipping them in water. Gross.) Firewurst does hot dogs better. They have flame-grilled sausages, burgers and dogs.

I was excited when they asked me to help promote their celebration of National Hot Dog Month with their goal of “10,000 for 10,000” Summer Hunger Campaign to benefit the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. In July Firewurst has the goal of serving 10,000 hot dogs and donating $10,000 of its proceeds to support the nonprofit’s Stop Summer Hunger Campaign. As a mama, it makes my heart hurt to think about kids who don’t have enough to eat in the summer when they’re out of school. I wanted to help. Some awesome local bloggers joined me for some delicious dogs last night. Thanks to Erin, Jen, Sarah, Theresa and their lovely families for joining us.

We came in and owner Chas Morgenstern greeted us with a smile and told us the story of his business. I love to support family-owned businesses that are successful and growing. They have three locations in the Raleigh area and in my opinion, are a quick service restaurant that is getting it right. They use really good, fresh ingredients and Certified Angus Beef. They have classic favorites along with some delicious and innovative new recipes. Oh, and kids eat free on Wednesdays! I hear your midweek applause, fellow parents who don’t feel like cooking.

 The Firewurst, their signature sandwich. My favorite!

Don’t like hot dogs? Vegetarian? Don’t sweat it. They offer burgers and have vegetarian options. I’m not a vegetarian, but ya’ll, the Bombay Veggie Sandwich was amazing! Sausage fan? Get the Currywurst! They make all their sauces and side in-house. My husband’s favorite was the wasabi cucumber slaw. Sweet potato fries, anyone? There is not much over $7.00 on the menu, but tastes like it costs more. Seriously. They move fast when you have kids and get them fed. It’s a great place.

Please help them get to their goal of selling 10K hot dogs in July. They will donate $10,000 to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. They are a quality non-profit organization. I have worked with them before. Let me know if you stop by this summer! Tweet a pic using hastag #stopsummerhunger Happy National Hot Dog Month!

Disclaimer: Firewurst offered me and my family a meal, but my opinions are totally free and totally honest. We have eaten at Firewurst previously, as well. 

I had another mother ask me if I make my own baby food. I’d really love to say I’m the kind of mother who lovingly purees organic vegetables for my baby, but I’m not. I buy the jars. My hat is off to all of you mamas out there smashing  sweet potatoes and blending peas. I just feel like there are a lot of good options in the stores, so I don’t bother.

Our pediatrician made a big deal about giving Henry only breast milk until he was 6 months-old. I feel like she made a bigger deal about that now than she did when Charlotte was a baby. I gave Charlotte rice cereal at about 5 months or so because someone told me it would help her sleep when she had like, that one night that she wouldn’t sleep well. Ha! If I only knew what I was in for with my second child and sleeping. I didn’t mind waiting until Henry was 6 months to introduce solids to keep his diapers filled with innocent breast milk poop for a little longer.

When Beech Nut reached out to me last month about sampling some of their new line of baby food, I was all like, “Yea! Perfect timing!”

Our pediatrician made a list of baby foods in the order she prefers you introduce them to your baby. This is her list:

1. Rice cereal
2. Yellow vegetables like squash (I can’t really think of other yellow vegetables suitable for baby foods, but whatever.)
3. Green vegetables like peas and green beans
4. Orange vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes
5. Meats
6. Fruits

Obviously this would all be pureed food. Our doctor suggested introducing them slowly over multiple weeks. Now that Henry is 7 months, he’s at #5 on the list and had some pureed meat. She said she likes to introduce fruit last so they don’t get used to the sweetness and then not eat their veggies. Makes sense. Plus, some kids have allergies to fruits.

Beech Nut’s thing is that their food is not baby food, but “real food for babies.” Full disclosure, I tried it. It was pretty tasty. They sent Henry a sample of four of their new flavors of their Real Food For Babies,  just carrots,  just spinach, zucchini & peas, beets, pear & pomegranate and just honeycrisp apple. I have to hide the jar of apples from his big sister the applesauce fiend. Again, I have not introduced fruits, yet. He has only had the fruit in the beets blend. He loved all the other flavors he received. He doesn’t like his food to be runny. Other brands have been a little soupy for his liking. Not these.  They have a nice texture. Here’s something cool about Beech Nut. They don’t cook most of their new line and if they do, they gently cook it with indirect heat. Many of the Real Food For Babies flavors are created from a puree of raw vegetables and fruits.

I want to know a few things. Did your doctor give you different advice or tell you the same thing? How did you introduce solids to your little one? Do you mix breast milk or formula with your baby’s food? I sometimes do that if he’s not taking it well. How old was your baby when you started baby food? How old for finger foods?

Who wants some free samples of Beech Nut’s new line of baby food?! They come in beautiful boxes suitable for adding to a baby gift for a new mama or mom-to-be. If you just want your baby to try some great food, try to win! I’ll pick two winners on Friday. There are only four quick things you have to do. Super easy! Easier than making your own baby food, that’s for sure. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: Beech Nut sent me samples and is offering free samples for my readers. My opinions are free and honest.

The one baby item that we have had terrible luck with is the baby bath. For Charlotte, we registered for a pod-like tub. I was sold on the claim that it was “womb-like” and kept the baby warm. I really hated it. I felt like she was going to drown.  It was cumbersome to wash her in it. Supposedly the seat would help her sit up. It didn’t.  Greyson and I felt like we had to have a two man team to bathe her in it. I got duped into buying a $35 glorified bucket. No surprise, we use it as a bucket now.

With Henry we got a baby bath seat to wash him in the sink or the tub. That worked okay for his first few weeks until his cord stump fell off. Now that he is a month old, we want to be able to submerge him and keep him warmer. Plus, the seat doesn’t have rubber stoppers on the bottom and it slides all around. It’s terrifying. Thank God my kids are good sports about the bath.

When Erin at A Parenting Production asked me about a tub review. I was all like, “Please! Yes! I have terrible tub luck.” Getty Products and Karibu sent me one of their collapsible tubs, I was psyched! Just taking it out of the box, I could tell it was very well-made with a sturdy plastic frame. It was already assembled. All I had to do was put the legs down and expand it out. The soft collapsible part reminded me of those collapsible colanders, but thicker and stronger. I love the colors! They sent me the orange one.

The tub is a great size. It’s small enough to fit in the bathtub properly but large enough to accommodate a toddler if needed. I liked the legs and feet of the tub. The legs were sturdy and the feet were non-slip. I really liked the heat indicator plug. It changes color if the water gets too hot.  You can drain the tub by just pulling the plug. After the bath? It collapses again and has a hook to hang on the back of the door or on the shower curtain rod.

I think this tub will be even better when Henry can sit up on his own. As a newborn, it worked fine with me supporting him the whole time. The second time I used it I tried putting the infant bath seat in it. It was the first time I felt secure using the bath seat. The Karibu tub supported it perfectly. Remember, I said it kind of slides around? It didn’t in the Karibu. If Karibu came out with their own newborn sling or seat to go in the tub, I would buy it. The plastic on the bottom of the tub is a little slick, but no worse than a regular bathtub and didn’t seem to be a major risk to me.

You can get the Karibu tub in lots of cool colors on  BabyAge for $50. Do you have this tub? Let me know if you have used the Karibu Folding Bath, or if you have another baby tub you love.

Disclaimer: Getty Products and Karibu sent me a tub, but my opinions come free. Happy bathing!