Disclosure: Banquet is a client of Mom Central.

As Moms, we often remind our kids to remember their water bottles, but water does not replace the electrolytes and sodium lost in sweat, so it isn’t enough to protect kids against the summer heat and humidity. The right sports nutrition and hydration, including Gatorade, can play a vital role in helping young athletes get the hydration and fuel they need to stay safe and perform their best. For every unique download of the Heat Safety Kit, Gatorade will donate $1, up to $20,000, to Beat the Heat charities.

Disclosure: Gatorade is a client of Mom Central.

Pasta has always played an important role in my family’s pantry; it appeased the picky eater going through the “I just want it plain” phase and now provides a versatile base for quick meals incorporating meats and vegetables that give my kids the additional nutrients they need.

But given the fact that less than 60 percent of children age three to five get enough calcium and three out of four pre-school age children do not get enough fiber, I turned to whole grain pasta in an attempt to include more nutrients into my family’s diet. I didn’t mind the nuttier taste and brown look of the pasta, however the rest of my family disapproved. 

Since it looks and tastes like traditional pasta, Ronzoni Smart Taste proves a great solution, combining the nutritional benefits you want as a Mom with the great taste your kids love—plain or not. And with three times the fiber of regular white pasta and the same amount of calcium as an eight-ounce glass of milk, Ronzoni Smart Taste provides the Vitamin D and fiber my family needs. Which means we can keep eating the foods we love, and I don’t have to feel guilty about dishing out noodles a few times a week.

Ronzoni Smart Taste offers some great recipes on their website, demonstrating all the ways you can get creative with pasta. Take a look at this dish that my family and I loved, ideal for the more adventurous eaters in your family!

Rotini with Eggplant, Tomatoes and Ricotta 

Ingredients:

1 pkg. Rotini
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 baby eggplant, diced
1/3 cup prepared vegetable or chicken stock
1 1/2 cups canned diced tomatoes
3 Tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Crumbled ricotta or feta cheese 

Cook pasta according to package directions. In large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add eggplant and sauté 2 to 3 minutes longer. Stir in stock and cook until eggplant is tender. Stir in tomatoes and simmer until heated through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Toss cooked pasta with eggplant mixture and basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve topped with cheese. 

Mom Central wrote this post in conjunction with a blog tour campaign on behalf of Ronzoni

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If you’re still looking for a last-minute get-away this summer that the whole family will enjoy, check out Epic Summer. It’s an all-inclusive, guided 7-day program in Keystone, Colorado run by Vail Resorts that ranked in the Forbes Top 10 Family Vacations last year. My family embarked on the Epic Summer program last summer, and we’ve all been talking about it since! My two teens, ages 16 and 17, who have extremely high vacation standards, keep raving about it – even a year later.

An Epic Summer guide leads the small group of families (we had two other families in our group) on a new adventure each day of the program. Our guide, Marty, was vivacious, friendly, fun, and extremely knowledgeable about the area. She made the trip run so smoothly, took care of all of our needs, and was flexible. This vacation packs in tons of activities and yet leaves stress behind; the guide takes care of the plans for the day, including where you’ll go, and what you’ll eat, see, and do. All you have to do is be ready for adventure!

On our trip, we stayed in a beautiful room at the base of the Keystone Resort. We enjoyed Western horse-back riding on trails that wind through the mountains, plenty of hikes through tundra and even to the top of Vail, white-water rafting down the Colorado River, mountain biking, a cowboy dinner under the stars, gondola riding, Frisbee golf, a gold mine tour, panning for gold in a creek bed, shopping, and exploring. We also ate picnic lunches on the mountainside and delicious dinners.

Our whole family enjoyed this scenic, adventure-packed Colorado vacation last summer, and this summer the offer still stands for families to book and embark on the Epic Summer experience.

To read the full saga of my family’s Epic Summer vacation, step into our adventure here!

A true Washington murder mystery, Finding Chandra follows Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters, Sari Horwitz and Scott Higham, as they try to uncover the truth about the 2001 murder of twenty-four year old California native, Chandra Levy. Five years after Chandra’s remains were found, Higham and Horwitz reexamine the case and question whether the homicide investigation had been mishandled years ago, leading to an unsolved murder mystery. 

In their riveting book, the two Washington Post reporters uncover how the police, FBI, and the media focused all of their attention on the wrong suspect based on rumors and scandal alone and ignored all other vital clues and leads. Horwitz and Higham uncover critical mistakes throughout the original investigation, which finally lead police to a new suspect, in hopes that justice is finally served for Chandra Levy six years later.

A magnificently compelling, wonderfully written real-life who-dun-it?

Disclosure: Mom Central received a copy of Finding Chandra in order to facilitate this review.

As I treasure the numbered summer days that lead up to my daughter’s college departure, I am searching to discover innovative products and methods that will make her transition to college a breeze. Though some college-bound kids don’t like to admit it, homesickness ranks as one of the top issues teens face while adjusting to college life. One tip to steer clear of homesickness: help decorate your college kid’s dorm room to feel more like home.

Decorating projects open up an opportunity for your teen to express her personality and independence within the walls of her new dorm. Pictures, jewelry, posters, and sports memorabilia will find their way onto walls of previously bare and boring dorm rooms. Damaging the school’s  walls or property, however, tends to pop up as a difficult problem to avoid when decorating a dorm. Losing the room deposit due to such circumstances can cause a noticeable dent in your wallet.

Luckily, 3M’s line of Command products supplies students everywhere with hooks made to hold, hang, and clip using non-surface-damaging, sturdy strips. Instead of nails to hang frames, Command offers new saw tooth and sticky nail hangers to mimic hammered-in nails without drilling any holes in the wall. Their plastic and metal hooks come in multiple strengths that can hold through both semesters. All products come with double-sided sticky foam strips that go on and come off easily, so at the end of the year, while others struggle removing tape and putty, your child can effortlessly pull off the strip for immediate, clean removal.

Command products make embellishing a new room so simple, fun, and quick; now I can spend less time worrying about my daughter’s dorm walls and (sadly) more time coping with the farewell before she enters the new world of college life.

Disclosure: Mom Central received 3M Products in order to facilitate this candid review.

We found all that and more in the new Evenflo Momentum 65 Convertible Car Seat.  Get this - you can install it in less than 60 seconds – I timed myself!  The seat has these seatbelt-like claws that click into the embedded hooks that are standard in most cars these days.  It’s brilliant! The hooks click in on each side and then you push in the car seat towards the back.  Click, click, push.  The satisfying clicking noises assure you that the seat is secure.

Jamba Juice has come out with a line of smoothies you can make yourself at home, so that you can enjoy your favorite smoothie drinks whenever you want, all summer long. They call their new line “Jamba At-Home Smoothies” and gave it a catchy motto: “All’s Well That Blends Well.”

The all-natural smoothies come in three flavors: Strawberries Wild, a blend of strawberries and banana, Razzmatazz, a swirl of strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, and Mango-a-go-go, a mango and pineapple mix. All three flavors contain non-fat yogurt, real fruit, and an antioxidant boost. The smoothies also have no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives, and no high fructose corn syrup, either. Each eight-ounce serving contains no trans fats or other fats and are 120 calories or less.

Each package contains two smoothies (eight ounces each) and must be refrigerated. Every smoothie provides 100% of the daily recommended value of Vitamin C and a full serving of fruit. Each smoothie mix must be blended with eight ounces of apple juice for 60 seconds, so your kitchen must be stocked with apple juice (and a blender).So much for heading to the mall for a cool, delicious summer treat. Jamba At-Home Smoothies can be found in grocer’s frozen food aisles.