Olay Body Wash Saves the Day (And Gives You a Chance to Win a $50 Gift Card!

If you need to know what season it is, you don't have to look at a calendar or even out your window. You can just look at Alexis' hands. She of short stature perpetually battles dry skin in the winter. While she gets it everywhere, the back of her right hand is the most reliable means of figuring out the season. If there is a rough patch of very dry skin there, welcome to winter! Now please dip my kid in a vat of lotion!

Except that lotion hasn't really been cutting it. She's six years old now and that patch of dry skin has appeared every single winter. And yet with all that time to figure out how to make it go away, we hadn't. It just magically disappears on its own in April or May as the temperatures rise and humidity sets in.

We tried reducing the number of baths we gave her. We tried every lotion under the sun. We went through several prescriptions from the dermatologist. Nothing. No improvement.

Then, in what I would have thought would be an unrelated turn of events, I recieved a bottle of Olay Ultra Moisture Body Wash to review. I originally planned to stick the bottle in my shower, but then I looked at Alexis. And I looked at the bottle. And I looked back to Alexis. And then a tiny little lightbulb went on over my head and I thought, "What if we use a SERIOUS body wash for her baths?"

We have been using "kid-friendly" body washes for her. You know, the ones with the cute packages that make no claims of doing anything other than making your kid smell like a bowl of strawberries. The Olay body wash contains more than a jar of moisturizer and says that it will make skin feel clean and smooth.

And now I feel like an idiot for not thinking of the idea sooner. While the dry patch on Alexis' hand hasn't been completely cured after two weeks of using Olay Ultra Moisture Body Wash, it is better. For serious. And the rest of her? SO MUCH BETTER. Her legs aren't ashy anymore and she doesn't complain about her belly being itchy. The jar of moisturizer in the Olay Ultra Moisture Body Wash seems to be doing more for alleviating her dry skin than any lotion has, and BONUS! It's far more convenient to combine those steps.

Have you ever tried dipping a cold, wet kid in a vat of lotion? It doesn't go so well. The whining about being cold is why we often just skipped lotion. Now we don't have to. HUZZAH!

I like having five minutes added into my day, especially when it means my kid gets to be happier and more comfortable.

What about you? Are there any little shortcuts you've found to help make your or your kid's bathtime routine simpler? Leave a comment below about your shortcut for a chance to win a $50 Visa gift card.

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a commone on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

The official rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 3/20 - 4/17.

Be sure to visit the Olay Body Wash page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers' reviews and find more chances to win! While we're on the subject of looking good, you might want to check out the "Looking Your Best" posts in the Life Well Lived section of BlogHer.com. There are some great tips and expert posts!

A Little Note for Target

It's not a new thing for retailers to track data about customers. This I know because waaaaay back in the stone ages when I worked retail, some customer data and purchase information was already being collected and used to adjust marketing efforts. It's hard to imagine, but there were even computers way back then!

What has changed is that companies have figured out how to use that data at an individual level, instead of just aggregating it all. That's to say, back in the stone ages TV ads were purchased on HGTV because their viewers had the same demographics as the customers at the store where I worked. Now companies skip right over aggregating the data and market directly to you.

Don't believe me? It's been written about elsewhere. (Target isn't the only company doing this, by the way. They just managed to be the first to make headlines with it.)

Every time you use a debit card or credit card or write a check, your purchases can be cross-referenced with your demographic information and blah, blah, blah. Big companies are now able to act like little mom-and-pop stores. They know what you've bought in the past and are able to greet you with a, "Hey! So do you need more soft tofu today?" Not all do it, but they can.

I'll be honest--the practice of using past behavior to attempt to change my future shopping sprees doesn't bother me at all. Want to send me coupons for products I buy? OK! I really like the ones for Morningstar and Boca, by the way.

Do you hear me, Target? I LIKE MORNINGSTAR AND BOCA COUPONS.

Oh, and Target, while we're chatting, there is a little something I want to tell you. I know that you know that I bought pre-natal vitamins in January. I know you know because I keep getting coupons for diapers and maternity clothes texted to me with my other weekly mobile coupons. The list of coupons usually goes: thing I buy, thing I buy, thing the kid tries to convince me to buy, thing I buy, thing I buy, thing Target thinks I need to buy.

But Target, I don't need to buy maternity clothes or diapers. Not now, anyway. SO KNOCK IT OFF. Or, at least tell me how to screw up your data so that you don't know what to think. I'd go buy a few cases of booze if alcohol were available at Targets in Pennsylvania, but whatever. Maybe feminine hygiene products would do the trick? Perhaps I shall try that before I drive to West Virginia and have fun with their slightly more sane liquor control laws.

Anybody want to trade a few diaper coupons for some Morningstar coupons?

P.S. Target, we have a new puppy! I'm telling you so you can start sending treat and toy coupons. KTHXBAI!

Four Cheese Crockpot Lasagna

There was method to my madness when I began posting recipes regularly here. Someday, I hope this entire site is a gift full of memories of Alexis' childhood, and somewhere in there should be the recipes for the foods of her childhood. Some of the recipes she won't need because she will have seen the meals prepared so many times that she will know them without reference (Vegetable Paella comes to mind--I make it nearly weekly). Others are special treats that are only made on rare occasion.

This one I fully expect will turn into one that grown-up Alexis makes constantly. She'll probably hold it over her kids' heads, too. "When I was a kid, grandma almost never made this for me. It was SO unfair."

To which I say, kid, I grew up on Banquet Chicken and TV Dinners. You can quit your whining.

It's not that I don't like making this Four Cheese Crockpot Lasagna, by the way. It's that Alexis could eat pasta with Ricotta cheese every single day for the rest of her life and she'd be perfectly happy. Anything less than every day is child abuse, in her opinion.

I can't really say that she's wrong.

This recipe includes soft tofu. I know a lot of people are afraid of tofu, but I promise you won't know it's in there. It does nothing to alter the flavor of the other ingredients. So why is it in there if it doesn't add flavor? Well, because it adds a crap-ton (totally a technical term) of protein without adding a lot of calories. The soft tofu that I used in the most recent batch of Four Cheese Crockpot Lasagna had 150 calories in the entire package, but a whopping 20 grams of protein. It's power food.

Sometimes you need a little power food to compensate for your love of chocolate. Not that I have a problem or anything. Ahem.

Four Cheese Crockpot Lasagna

1 pound soft tofu, drained
1 container (24 oz.) ricotta cheese, drained
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano (If you don't have fresh herbs, you can use dried. Just use 1 teaspoon of each instead of 1 tablespoon.)
1 teaspoon salt
1 bag pre-washed spinach
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Gouda cheese
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
4 cups marinara sauce
1 package (8 oz) lasagna noodles

1. Place the tofu, ricotta, milk, garlic, lemon juice, basil, oregano, and salt in a blender or food processor. Process until smooth.

2. Place the shredded mozzarella, gouda, and parmesan in a small bowl and mix them up.

3. Now it's time to layer all the good stuff in your crockpot. You'll need a crockpot that can hold at least 5-quarts, by the way.

Here's the order of the layers:

- 1 cup of marinara sauce
- 1/3 of the lasagna noodles (break them up as needed so that you can cover all of the marinara)
- 1/3 of the spinach
- 1/3 of the ricotta/tofu mixture
- 1/3 of the shredded cheeses
- Repeat, ending with sauce on top

(If you are a cheese freak like I am, throw some more shredded cheese on the very top. You're totally allowed.)

4. Cover the crockpot and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours, or until the noodles are soft.

This recipe is enough to serve probably 6 people. It's also a fantastic banquet-type food because it holds really well (as do most crockpot recipes).

And, if I'm being honest, it's REALLY REALLY GOOD.

Of course, it's hard to go wrong when pasta and ricotta cheese are involved.