One small benefit of the Coronavirus pandemic is how everyone is cleaning everything — not just their hands, but the carts in the stores, the doors, their cars and phones, the rides in the amusement parks — everything!

Hopefully that will continue even after the pandemic has gotten better. At the onset of the pandemic, many people started wondering, “Is the food that I buy from the grocery store safe? Will I unknowingly bring the virus into my house just by grocery shopping?”

Of course, no one definitively knows anything — as we can see from all the varied opinions on websites and news briefings, but according to the John Hopkins Medicine website, it says,

The coronavirus is a respiratory virus, not a food-borne pathogen and at the time of this article, there is no known evidence that COVID-19 is transmitted through food or our food supply.

Melanie Newkirk, M.S., R.D.N., C.S.P., L.D.N., John Hopkins Medicine

But we all know that Coronavirus is not the only thing that causes illness, right? We can get sick because of pesticides on our foods or other germs. This is what the CDC says about our fresh veggies and fruit:

But sometimes raw fruits and vegetables contain harmful germs that can make you and your family sick, such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria. CDC estimates that germs on fresh produce cause a large percentage of U.S. foodborne illnesses.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

If you clicked on those links above, you would find a lot more information about those food-borne illnesses including some of the following:

• “CDC estimates Salmonella bacteria cause about 1.35 million infections, 26,500 hospitalizations, and 420 deaths in the United States every year.”
• “An estimated 73,480 illnesses due to E. coli O157 infection occur each year in the United States, leading to an estimated 2,168 hospitalizations and 61 deaths annually (5), and it is an important cause of acute renal failure in children (6,7).”
• “Listeriosis is a serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. An estimated 1,600 people get listeriosis each year, and about 260 die. The infection is most likely to sicken pregnant women and their newborns, adults aged 65 or older, and people with weakened immune systems.”

So even if we don’t need to “worry” about getting COVID from our vegetables and fruits, we still need to properly wash our fruits and veggies to make sure we don’t get other illnesses.

The CDC has a nice infographic that has all the information you need on caring for for fruits and vegetables. You can print it off and attach it to your refrigerator or someplace in your kitchen to remind your husband or your kids or whoever needs reminding about safe practices for caring for fruits and vegetables.

I am part of a 2020 Brand Ambassador Program for a couple of Arm & Hammer products as well as an OxiClean product, all of which are distributed by CR Brands. I received free product as well as compensation for writing this post, but all opinions are strictly my own. This is my honest review of their product.

Sometimes just a little bottle of Fruit & Vegetable Wash on your counter might help you to remember to wash your fruits and veggies — and make it fun for your kids to get involved in the process. It’s simple!

Nothing can promise to keep you from diseases. Definitely this bottle can’t. But it can remind you to wash your fruit and veggies, and washing your fruits and veggies has been proven to prevent many illnesses most of the time.

The back of this bottle does say the following:

• Eliminates over 90% of pesticide residue (If you want to read a helpful article on pesticides, you can read this one by Healthline.)
• Cleans 4x better than water alone
• Removes wax and soil
• Free from harsh chemicals
• Leaves no taste or odor
• Gluten-free and vegan

Even with this wash, it does recommend that you let it stand for 15 minutes before rinsing for thorough removal of surface pesticides. You can go to their website for more information about the product or for some picture that shows the difference it can make.

Here are some pictures of what my fruit looked like when I used the Arm & Hammer Fruit & Vegetable Wash.

Go ahead and try it! It’s easy enough your kids can clean their own fruit and veggies with it, and it’s safe for them to use!!

Twice a year, I like to participate with other bloggers for a Christmas and a Mother’s Day Giveaway. It doesn’t seem like Mother’s Day is almost here. I know for me, the Coronavirus pandemic has made everything seem strange. Giveaways like this become even more special in these unusual times.

Moms right now all deserve special recognition. Many of you are working from home while entertaining and schooling your kids. I hope that at least on Mother’s Day, you can have a relaxing day.

Maybe your kids are old enough to cook for you! Previously, I shared a couple of desserts your kids could make for you.

Raddish also has a cooking club where normally you would pay and they would send 3 laminated recipe cards and a quality kitchen tool — and a few other small items. It encourages your children of any age to cook, and there is also an educational element to the kits.

This month, Raddish is offering some free recipes that kids can make for moms on their website. There are 3 breakfast recipes (I want my kids to make me some Cinnamon Donut Holes!), 3 dinner recipes, and activities to make Mother’s Day more special such as a Love Latte and a door tag that goes along with these recipes.

This is a great way to let your kids start cooking and feel like they can actually do something special for mom when everything is closed. The pictures and step-by-step directions are easy for kids to follow.

Now on to the giveaway!

We are so excited to be giving away $350 in gift cards for Mother’s Day to four lucky readers. The giveaway will run from April 23rd – May 8th.

The prizes are:

• 1 – $125 gift card
• 1 – $125 gift card
• 1 – $50 gift card
• 1 – $50 gift card

Each winner will choose the gift card you want. Please choose a gift card which comes from an online store and can be paid by US dollars. EX: Amazon, Target, Walmart, Macy’s, Kohls, etc. You may ask for more than one gift card but must add up to your prize amount.

Now its time to meet our co-hosts who have made this giveaway possible.

Tammy – My Life Abundant | Ahna – Hammers n Hugs | Heather – Super Mom Life | Denise – This is My Everybody | Carrie – Curly Crafty Mom | Debi – Life Currents | Audrey – That Recipe and Munofore | Dana – Create to Donate | Falak – This Mama Reviews | Emily – Domestic Deadline | Kathleen – Our Hopeful Home | Tammy – Creative K Kids | Meredith – The Mom of the Year | Lisa – Blogghetti | Michelle – Our Crafty Mom | Leslie – Once Upon A Time & Happily Ever After | Linda – A Labour of Life | Marcy – Backyard Patch Herbal Blog | Kristen – White Arrows Home | Trish – Trish Sutton | Zan – At Home with Zan | McKenzie – The Enser Establishment | Sinea – Ducks ‘n a Row | Jamie – As For Me and My Homestead & Coffee With Us 3 | Donna – Blog by Donna

Please stop by and say hi to these wonderful co-hosts and their blogs.

The giveaway will end midnight on Friday, May 8th, a few days before Mother’s Day. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the email claiming their prize. If we don’t hear in 48 hours, we will choose another winner. The giveaway is open to anyone over 18 years of age and able to receive e-gift cards from the U.S.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here are also some Mother’s Day crafts you can have your kids make for Grandma or someone else!

I was given a copy of this book for my honest review. I received no monetary compensation.

Here are a couple other books that were given to me for me to review and offer as a giveaway to my readers. With how busy I have been, I have not been able to get up these review posts like I should. This giveaway will also only run for a week so that I can pick a winner on Christmas Eve and notify them before Christmas. You can go enter the Instant Pot Recipe Book giveaway HERE.

When I first got married, my mom and I made a beautiful quilt for my queen bed. It no longer is on my bed, but it is one that I will never get rid of as I think of the love that was put into that quilt. For my three oldest girls, I have made strip quilts; and I have material to do the same for my youngest two children. Eventually, I plan to make another quilt for my bed as well.

There’s something about quilting that shows someone how much you care. All of that time and thought has love sewn into it. Since I knew I wanted to do another quilt for my husband and my bed, I was very glad to get the 24-How Quilting Projects book.

The 24-How Quilting Projects book has pictures of how each of these 24 quilts will look when they are completed plus instructions on how to make each one of the quilts. In the back of the book, there is a section of general quilt-making directions. If you have never made a quilt, but you know how to use a sewing machine, you would be able to make a quilt using this book. Here are some pictures of what the inside of the book is like:

There is also a fun coloring book called Patchwork Quilt Designs Coloring Book. If you like to color, then you will like this book. It is a relaxing activity, and if you like to quilt and color, then this is the book for you. You can relax while you can color, and maybe it will help you even decide what colors of material you should put in your next quilt! Here are a couple of pictures that tell you more about this book:

You can enter the giveaway below to win a copy of both of these books!

This giveaway will end on December 23rd, so don’t wait to enter! You can also enter this giveaway which also ends on December 23rd.

Winner must reside in the United States. Creative K Kids is not responsible for the fulfillment of this prize. Winner will be contacted by email and will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner will be chosen.

I have participated in this giveaway ever since it started. I shared yesterday and in other recent posts how that blogging has taken more of a back seat in the recent years as I have had to go back to work. This is not necessarily for financial reasons, but because I am needed to teach our children in our little church school.

I almost did not participate in this giveaway, but since I haven’t given up totally on blogging — and I need to make at least enough money on ads and sponsored posts to cover the expenses of blogging — I decided to participate again. So I signed up at the last minute. That is why I am the last picture on this giveaway form instead of being one of the first ones like I have always been before.

I don’t have new Christmas recipes or posts to share, but you can go look at many of these delicious goodies I have made in past years. I will come back later (today is my oldest daughter’s 17th birthday celebration), and share some of my other fun Christmas posts.

Go >>HERE<< to see some of my favorite Christmas desserts.

It’s time for a Christmas giveaway!

Are you getting geared up for the shopping season? Do you need extra cash for Christmas?? Don’t we all!

We are so excited to be giving away $430 in cash prizes for you to use starting this Thanksgiving weekend.

Here are the prizes:

1 – $150 Amazon Gift Card
1 – $100 Target Gift Card
2 – $50 Walmart Gift Card
1 – $50 Kohls Gift Card
2 – $15 Starbucks Gift Cards

There will be 7 winners in this giveaway. Each winner will receive a gift card code to use either in the online store or in the actual store.

Now its time to meet our wonderful co-hosts who have made this giveaway possible.

Starting at the top row we have:

Tammy – My Life Abundant | Heather –The Super Mom Life | Carrie – Curly Crafty Mom | Audry – That Recipe & Munofore | Jodie – Jodie’s Touch of Style | Linda – A Labour of Life | Leslie – Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After | Trish – By Trish Sutton | Susan – Crafting A Family | Debi – Life Currents | Sinea – Ducks ‘n a Row | Gladys – Mom to Grandma | Meredith – The Mom of the Year | Kellyann Rohr – This Blonde’s Shopping Bag | Andrea – Living On Cloud Nine | Michelle – Our Crafty Mom | Kristin – White Arrows Home | Emily – Domestic Deadline | Kathleen – Our Hopeful Home | Jamie – As For Me and My Homestead & Coffee With Us 3 |Ahna – Ahna @ Hammers N Hugs | Lois – Walking on Sunshine Recipes | Christy – Ice Cream N Sticky Fingers | Donna – Blog by Donna | Beverly – Eclectic Red Barn | Lisa – Blogghetti | Erlene – My Pinterventures | Janelle – Num’s the Word |Tammy – Creative K Kids

Please stop by and say hi to these wonderful ladies and their blogs.

The giveaway will end at 11:59pm on November 27th on the day before Thanksgiving. You will have 48 hours to respond to the email claiming the prize. If you respond right away, we will get you the gift card code promptly so that you can shop with it on Black Friday! If we don’t hear in 48 hours, we will have to choose another winner.

Open to anyone who can receive gift cards from Amazon, Target, Walmart, Kohls, and Starbucks

a Rafflecopter giveaway