Activewear Haul

Mommylicious

It is a thing with me that I like starting to do things, things I have been procrastinating about, at the beginning of something new. For example, I will start eating healthy from the new year, or a new month, or my birthday etc. Is it strange or is it just me? Like I have been planning to start working out and losing all my pregnancy weight but somehow have not been able to do it. My son is a handful and I have not been very good at time-management with a baby. 

So, as we moved into our new house and my son turned one, I decided enough is enough. I really needed to workout and get fit. Seeing my old photographs were both motivating and sad. But I needed further motivation, so I went shopping for workout clothes. Cute new activewear can make me head to the gym. 

It is a collective haul as I have been to 3 stores over the weekend - TJ Maxx, Walmart and Forever 21. Yes, Walmart was completely unexpected. 

Let me start with the basic necessity, sports bra. I got both of them from Forever 21. I have been using Forever 21 sports bras forever and I like the quality and how comfortable they are. Each bra was $10. And this is what I love about Forever 21, you can get such great variety at such reasonable prices. 

This is my first yellow bra and I got it because I like my active-wear to be in fun colors. The back is interesting and is perfect for the strappy racer-back tank tops. 

This is a simple racer-back one. The back has a mesh kind of detail, which looks really cool. I love this bright girly color. 

Moving on to tank tops. I like tanks as opposed to tops with sleeves as they make me less sweaty. 

I picked up this orange tank from Forever 21 for $10. It is not very form-fitting and is very comfortable. It is soft and light and so bright! I am not a fan of colors like orange and yellow but I decided to change things up a little bit this time around. 

This plain black tank is by Danskin from Walmart. I was just walking past the active-wear section when I happened to spot this. It was just $4 and I thought it was a steal. It is super soft and light and comfortable. I loved the way it fit me. 

This tank is from TJ Maxx. I got it for $9. This one is slightly more fitted and thicker. But it really looks smart and I love the red and black combo.

This tank is from Walmart and it was $12. I love the double strap look. It has an in-built bra, so I can skip wearing a sports bra with this. This is one of my favorite shirts. 

Now the leggings. I like capri style leggings and need part of my legs to breathe in the open air. I am not the shorts kind of mommy. Not yet, at least. May be when I have a more toned body I can make the switch. 

This black animal print legging is from TJ Maxx and was $20. It is by Calvin Klein and it is so comfortable to workout in. It has a little mesh detail at the calves, adding to the cool quotient. 

The next 2 leggings are from Forever 21. They are $20 each. This legging is dual colored - it has gray in front and black at the back. I love the thick band at the waist, it prevent the legging from slipping during workouts. It also tucks the mommy pouch in!  

This one is plain black with the pink detailing in front. It is slightly shorter than the other 2 leggings and I love it. It is really light weight and flatters my body type. All the 3 leggings I got have hidden pockets, but honestly, I don't know what to hide in them! 

As you can conclude by now, I am not big on spending a lot on active-wear. I like to stick to affordable brands and stores. That way I will not feel guilty if these wear out soon. Rather a perk is I can get new ones. But from my previous experience with Forever 21 I know that only a handful of their clothes are the disposable kind; the others are keepers.   

Retail therapy always works for me. It lights up my mood for the time. And this time around, it has also motivated me to hit the gym. It is hard for me to prioritize working out as my son demands attention and then there is all the household chores. But I have been trying really hard to go to the gym everyday and burn, burn and burn those stubborn pounds. Hoping to see some results soon. Who ever said being a mom is easy!!

The Body Shop Haul

Mommylicious

I have been dealing with acne for a while now. It comes and goes on its own. But I am always on the lookout for products that work well for my acne-prone skin. Of late I have been breaking out a lot and I was shopping online for products that might be any help. I binge watched a lot of videos and read a lot and finally zeroed in on the Tea Tree Oil Skincare range from The Body Shop. 

I had used the Tea Tree Oil face wash from The Body Shop about 3 years ago and was pretty happy with the result. So, I decided to explore the other products in that skincare line. I ordered a bunch of stuff from the Tea Tree Oil Skincare range and I decided to share it with you guys. 

I wanted to start a full skin care routine using products from this range only so I got everything I needed.

Tea Tree Skin Clearing Facial Wash

 

This is a gel based face wash with tea tree oil for everyday use. It is very gentle, yet does the job well. I use a coin sized amount twice a day and work up a lather. And going by the size of the bottle I am guessing this face wash will last me for months. What I really like about this face wash is that it leaves the skin feeling very refreshed. It had a minty and cooling effect that gives me a much-needed burst of freshness both in the morning and at night (you know, after a long day). I have used this for 3 weeks now and I have noticed a difference. This face wash does not leave my skin dry but takes off the excess oil. The only con I have noticed so far is that it does not take off makeup very well. In case you are using this on a full face of makeup, you will be have to go with a makeup remover wipe first. I have found traces of BB cream and foundation on my skin after using this once. But this is not something the product claimed, so I will not blame the product. 

The 250ml bottle retails for $14. You can always find some offer or discount at The Body Shop website, just in case you are wondering how to get a good deal!

Tea Tree Skin Clearing Mattifying Facial Toner

This toner has tea tree oil and is indeed the most refreshing toners I have ever used. It removes impurities and makeup and leaves the skin shine-free. Those with oily skin like me will know what I mean and how important that matte look is. It has some sort of mattifying powder mixed in it which settles at the bottom of the bottle. You will have to shake the bottle of toner to 'activate' it. Just apply it with a cotton pad and you are good to go. The best part is that this toner does not sting my eyes. That is one reason why I avoided using toners for a long time in my life. But after reading about the importance of toners and seeing the difference in my skin, I have incorporated the toner in my daily skincare routine. Just make sure to shake the bottle really really well. 

The 250ml bottle retails for $14. 

Tea Tree Mattifying Lotion

This non-oily tea tree lotion is gets absorbed into the skin in seconds, leaving you feeling refreshed and minty cool (if that's a thing!). Now, my skin is very sensitive to moisturizers. So I keep clear of oily pore-clogging moisturizers. When I started using this tea tree oil lotion, I fell in love with it. It has a gel-like consistency and feel to it but moisturizes the skin. It does not clog the pores and did not break me out (a constant concern with face products). It is not at all heavy and has a cooling effect on the skin. 

The 50ml tube retails for $15.  

Tea Tree Oil Pore Minimizer

This lotion is supposed to minimize the appearance of enlarged and congested pores. It also has this mattifying effect on the face. It is like a primer and you can use it as a makeup base. Again, it is not heavy or tacky but leaves the skin feeling smoother. I guess it fills up the pores. I have not noticed any visible difference but my skin sure feels great. I have started using this pore minimizer as my face primer when I do my makeup. I wish this product came in a bigger tube and would cost less. It is such a great find and I just wish to continue using this. Like forever. Till I find something better.

The 30ml tube retails for $20. 

So far I am impressed by the products I got from the Tea Tree Oil Skincare range. There are many more products in this line which you can check out on their website. I am planning on purchasing the scrub and the oil and may be night lotion. I will leave an update when I do. 

In case you are curious about the 2 other products staring at you from the box, I will give you the details.

The little sachet is a free sample (which you get with every purchase from The Body Shop) of Drops of Youth Bouncy Sleeping mask. It is not a mask mask, but a lotion you keep overnight and wash off in the morning. 

The brown tube is an Almond hand and nail cream. There was an ongoing offer of a free hand cream and I thought why not! Who would not love a free $10 hand cream? Freebies, you are always welcome. 

This is not sponsored by The Body Shop nor are these free samples. I paid for all the products myself. 

Baby Food Haul

Mommylicious

Making baby food is the second most rewarding job as a mother - and it comes second only to breastfeeding. For all the six months I exclusively breastfed my son, I thought how easy feeding a baby was and how difficukt it would get once he starts solids. But when the time came to wean him to solid food I wanted to make my own baby food at home. I have already established in my other post that I am not a fan of jarred baby food. Handpicking fresh organic produce from the local supermarket and making my own baby food at home gives me a different high. It is inexpensive and saves you a ton on money in the long run. But that was not the motivating factor for me. Just wanting to take full control of what goes into my son's food made me go this route. 

I usually shop at Trader Joe's or Sprouts or Whole Foods for my baby food. All these 3 stores are pretty equidistant from my house. When my son first started solids and was having just a couple of types of veggies and fruits I would prefer Trader Joe's. It was convinient because I shop there for our food anyway. But as my son started exploring the world of fruits and veggies and started having a variety daily, I switched to Whole Foods. I do go to Sprouts now and then but Whole Foods is where I end up going the most. I was never such a frequent shopper at Whole Foods Market up untill now. And that is solely because of the variety of food available. I am impressed by their stock.

Typically I shop for my son's food twice a month. I pick out a variety of fruits and vegetables along with meats and dairy. I try to buy a mix of greens, orange or yellow vegetables. For the fruits I just get whatever is in season and looks fresh to me. 

Vegetables:

• Broccoli
• Green Beans
• Carrots
• Butternut Squash
• Summer Squash

 

Fruits:

• Peaches
• Apricots
• Apples
• Pears
• Blueberries

Dairy:

• Yobaby Plain Whole Milk Yogurt

My son is 8 months old now and he is having yogurt, eggs and chicken. I do not prefer getting flavored yogurts as I don't want unnecessary added sugar. I just get plain whole milk yogurt and add my choice of fruit puree to it. 

I get the organic brown cage free eggs and organic chicken breasts. I already got them last week and did not need to stock up anymore.

I also picked up some strawberries and mango from Trader Joe's while I was there.

My son is naturally inclined towards fruits and is not too fond of the veggies. But I give him two types of fruits and one green and one orange/yellow veggie everyday with cereals. 

I use the Baby Bullet for making all the food and it is a life saver. Food gets ready in no time at all and saves a ton of money in the long run. Each fruit or vegetable makes about 5 to 6 days worth of baby food. 

               Peach Puree                      Strawberry Puree

                   




          Blueberry Puree                         Summer Squash Puree


I spent a total of $37.67 on all these foods. My freezer is packed with food cubes and from what I have calculated I have about 16 days worth of baby food or 64 meals. And just to give you some perspective my son is currently on a 3 meal + a snack routine now. So, it boils down to 58 cents per meal (only!!), even when I have all organic produce. Really, can it get cheaper (and healthier) than that? 

If you know more about starting solids for your little one, check this out. 

Baby Freebies Haul

MOMMYLICIOUS

Freebies. What's there not to love about it?

Through my blog I think I have already established my love for freebies. I had some luck previously with free stuffs but it was all sporadic. I would register and sometimes the products would not come. A few websites and brands are genuine while they others just want your personal details so they can spam you.

The month of March has brought in a fair share of luck for me and I have managed to get hold of great baby products and coupons for free. I will be giving out all the details below.

The first place that I found a lot of free samples and coupons was Babies R Us. They have a lot of in-store events and classes which any mom (and/or dad) can attend. These events are basically to promote certains brands or products. So, attending these events at Babies R Us is a great idea if you have the time. Some of the events take place during the week, making it a little hard to attend, while the others are on Saturday mornings. The events and timings vary according to the location. You can check your nearest Babies R Us for the list of monthly events. You can also check it online here.

I had attended a Babyganics promotional event earlier this month. A representative was there to talk about all their products. She was also handing out a bag of samples and coupons. I am already a huge fan of Babyganics and have been using it, so the coupons were really handy. The samples are actually great for traveling, so I have just put all of them in my diaper bag.

Here is a list of things I received:
1. A tote bag
3 diapers
A soothing protective oitment
An eczema care skin protectant cream
A moisturing daily lotion with suncreen
An alcohol-free hand sanitizing wipe
A bubble bath
A pack of 10 face wipes

The second Babies R Us event that I attended was Megalicious Mealtime. In this event the store was promoting products related to breastfeeding, bottle-feeding and spoon-feeding. This was not about any particular brand, so the goody bag had an assortment of products and coupons. I really enjoyed this event as there was a quiz, a giveaway and lots of good feeding tips and tricks.

These are the things I got:
A Kiinde breastmilk storage kit
Dr Smith's Diaper Rash Cream
A MAM bottle
Some Stage 2 baby food samples

The last place I got lots of baby freebies from is Amazon. I created a baby registry with Amazon and in turn I received a Baby Welcome box. This box has stuffs for both mommy and baby, to sail through the first few days of life with a newborn. Most of the products are sample sizes and are only meant for you to test and decided if you want to purchase the full-size. This Aamazon Welcome Baby Box is pretty complete in that it has a wide range of products like:

Seventh Generation Diapers

Avent bottle

Avent Breast Pads

Babyganics Face wipes

Babyganics lotion

Burt's Bees Renewal Serum

Burt's Bees baby body wash

Mam pacifier

New Chapter Prenatal Vitamin

Johnson and Johnson bubble bath

Although Amazon claims that the value of this Welcome Box is $35, I disagree. But, it is free. So, who cares about the precise value? The items in the box are actually going to very useful for both me and my baby. I love a lot of the products and can't wait to try the others. 

The Amazon box will get delivered to your doorstep in a couple of days after you create your registry. It is a kind gesture by Amazon and I loved the box.

Recently, I created a registry at Target and when I went to the store to manage my registry, I got a free Welcome Bag. It took me by surprise when the guys at Target handed me the bag of goodies. I came to know that if you create your baby registry at Target, you are elegible for a Target Wecome Bag worth $60, full of samples and coupons for your newborn. Just collect it from Guest Service at your local Target.

The things I received in my Welcome Bag are:

1. Munchkin Latch Bottle
2. A sample of Boogie Wipes
3. Johnson's Baby Bathtime Body Wash
4. A MAM pacifier
5. A sample pack of Honest Co. diapers and wipes
6. A sample pack of Pampers diapers and Sensitive Wipes in a little pouch
7. A sample of Babyganics Laundry Detergent
8. A sample of Aquaphor Oitment
9. Sample of Lansinoh Nursing Pads and Storage Bags
10. A whole bunch of coupons from Kinsa, Devine Color, Enfamil, Pampers and Target

The Target Welcome Bag is actually a great assortment of baby products. All of the products are from great brands and are very handy. The Pampers pouch is my favorite. you can just keep a few dispers in there and carry it around with you. It looks so cool. I love it. Thank you Target. 

All these samples are actually not just great travel size products, but are also great for you to decide whether you like a product or not. You do not end up buying the full size and then realize that your baby hates it. It happened with me with a very popular brand of nightime calming body wash. I had to use it myself because my son would get hysterical when I used it on him. Picky baby, huh! 

You have to be constantly alert of offers and events where you can get free stuffs and that are legit. While registering, be careful of scams. And once you start hunting for freebies you have to be patient. A lot of the products will not make it to your mailbox. While others will take as long as 8 weeks to arrive. Patience is the name of the game here. 

As and when I lay my hands on more baby freebies, I will keep you guys posted. 

Do let me know of any way you got freebies for your baby or yourself and how happy it made you feel. I would love to get chatty. 

Frozen Aisle Haul from Trader Joe's

MOMMYLICIOUS

Menu planning can be overwhelming in the beginning. I see all these people who do it like a pro and I think to myself I will never be able to reach that stage. Planning is not my cup of tea. And neither is organizing. Nor is scheduling. But I am trying really hard to establish routines and make schedules and plans. So much for my new year's resolutions.

After a lot of brainstorming, the only thing I could come up with was to have Chinese week. But I will not take the credit for zeroing in on Chinese for next week's menu planning. It so happened that I was watching a documentary on the origin of the name of the very popular Chinese dish General Tso's Chicken. And there were some delicious Chinese dishes staring at me from the television screen. And the proverbial bulb lit!

Today I went to my favorite grocery store, Trader Joe's, with the intention of purchasing frozen items. I had already picked up my fresh produce from Trader Joe's earlier. 

Here are a few things I picked up from the frozen aisles and let me tell you how much I love them. 

Boneless Skinkess Chiken Breasts

Honestly, I was just tired of the hormonally enlarged chicken breasts available at the regular grocery stores. I find them too thick to deal with. There is just so much fat you have to trim and the chicken breasts actually look like the size of turkey to me. Consequently, I decided to turn to a healthier option of organic chicken. 

I loved these individually frozen chicken breasts. Makes life so much easier. These chicken breasts from Trader Joe's are not outrageously big or full of fat. In fact, they were prefect for my Chinese recipes.

Maple Chicken Breakfast Sausage 

I have always loved sausages and I love them all the more for breakfast. This sausage has a nice sweetness in it without making it too overbearing. They are a great size for breakfast. I could easily have two! 

Chicken Cilantro Mini Wantons

These wantons have been the best frozen wantons I have tasted. The chicken and cilantro filling is so perfect and authentic, that it just leaves you craving for more. These mini wantons are little bite sized pieces that are oh-so-yummy. Great for a snack attack. Very easy to prepare and it takes about a few minutes to have hot wantons ready to serve. 

Cheese Tortellini 

I got the frozen Tortellinis just to see what they are like. All you have to do is boil them in hot water for about 10 minutes. It went well with both red and white sauces. Personally, I love the spinach ricotta tortellini from Trader Joe's a lot more than the cheese ones because of the intense flavor. But if you are bored of plain pasta, do give these a try.

Cookie Butter Ice cream

If you have exhaustively tried all the ice cream flavors in the other grocery stores like me and are looking for something different, get the Trader Joe's Cookie Butter Ice cream. It's one of its kind. Everyone knows how good Trader Joe's Cookie Butter is. But Cookie Butter in the form of ice cream just brings it up a few notches on the yumminess meter. I am an  ice cream junkie and I just felll in love with this ice cream at first taste. It has a nutty and creamy flavor to it. It is different and of course in a good way. 

Trader Joe's weekly haul

MOMMYLICIOUS

One of my resolutions of 2016 is clean and healthy eating. Consequently, I decided to start grocery shopping at Trader Joe's. Having read reports of how Wholefoods Market unnecessarily increases their price, I decided to opt for Trader Joe's. 

I have been hearing a lot of good stuff about Trader Joe's but have never gotten around to going there. Call me lazy, but I always end up going to the Neighborhood Walmart for my weekly grocery. And I have Ralph's as my back-up. 

My local Trader Joe's is actually pretty close, a mere 2 mile drive from my house. So, I finally managed to do some menu planning for the week and had my shopping list ready. (That is one hell of a job if you are a beginner like me.)

I categorized the basics I would need to get me through the week: 

Grains

Proteins 

Fresh produce

Dairy

Spices/herbs

Snacks

For the grains I picked up white quinoa. I have been dying to try quinoa as it is packed with goodness. It is actually a seed but consumed as a grain. It has the good carbohydrates and is a great source of protein. It is filling and easy on the system, making it a favorite with all the health-conscious folks. 

For protein I picked up some Spicy Italian Chicken sausage and Bacon. 

For fresh produce I got sweet potatoes, which are my favorite, sugar plum tomatoes and Persian cucumbers

Feta cheese came in as dairy. 

I got garlic salt as my spice of choice. 

As for things to snack on during the week I got Potato Chips, Pita chips, cookies and Hummus. 

My pantry is already well-stocked with the other stuffs I will be needing this week like milk, eggs, chicken breasts, brown rice, parsley, lots of greens for salads, a ear of corn and avocados.  

I also decided to start budgeting my grocery. My Trader Joe's haul costed me $34. I aim to be on a $50 per week grocery budget for a family of 2. 

I might be on the way to success here. 


Trader Joe's has not sponsered this post. 

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