Dad Loves V-Moda! Vibe II Earbud Headset with Microphone Review [ giveaway]

Hello All! Dave here! The Dad behind the Mom, behind Mom Loves Today! Since Erin is still taking time out for her I wanted to take this time to share something Dad Loves!

This past Father's day I received an awesome gift thanks to 'The Mom' Erin and Kat at Formula PR, the V-Moda II Vibe Earbud Headset with Microphone!

From V-Moda:

Vibe II Earbud Headset is Forged of premium stainless steel alloy and fabric cables, Vibe II with Microphone, noise-isolating headphone/headset features V-MODA’s world-renowned hi-definition sound, ergonomic detachable sport earhooks, a discrete microphone, and convenient call/music control functions for use with the iPhone/iPod and other music enabled phones featuring a 3.5 mm jack, including the Blackberry® Bold, Curve, and Storm.

V-MODA’s Vibe II with Microphone is a distinct sensory experience of design and acoustic excellence. The pinnacle in quality construction, the revolutionary stainless steel alloy headphones/headset feature compatibility with the iPhone and iPod. One of the first in consumer electronics to use its unique metal manufacturing process, Vibe II with Microphone has a solid and substantial tactual sensation comparable to fine jewelry. The jewelry-like design incorporates a discrete microphone that blends seamlessly with a Kevlar reinforced woven fabric cable and a convenient call/music control feature that allows you to effortlessly switch between carrying on phone conversations and enjoying your music library. The newly fabricated plug features a 45-degree flexible design to allow an optimal range of motion while maintaining a sleek, sturdy metallic core and 24-carat gold-plated plug.

Featuring V-MODA’s world renowned organic signature sound, Vibe II with Microphone houses an all new V-MASQUE dynamic driver which boasts an unparalleled high-definition, 3D soundstage, invoking the sense of a live music experience through its vibrant bass, vivid mid-range, and vivacious highs.

Ergonomically designed for the most active lifestyle, the Vibe II with Microphone is accompanied by four sizes of medical-grade silicone fittings that enable the BLISS noise-isolating technology, and detachable sport earhooks featuring ACTIVE FLEX technology for a comfortable and secure fit

These are the best earbuds I've ever used. Hands Down! From the moment I first held the packaging of the Vibe II, I was impressed!

The inner packaging is so nice I didn't even want to open it!

The Vibe II with microphone headphones/headset came with great accessories! Detachable sport earhooks, eight pairs (XS,S,M,L) of silicone ear fittings in clear and black, and a designer carrying case.

Normally I cannot wear earbuds. I actually had given up even trying. They are all too big and odd shaped for my ears. So I have to admit I was skeptical trying these. I started off with the medium silicone fittings and thought they were just as uncomfortable as every other one I've ever tried. I figured there was no way my big ears needed smaller. It just had to be I wasn't compatible. But Erin urged me to try the small size anyway. WOW! That was the problem! My ear canals are just too small for normal earbuds, but I put this in and it was almost like it was made for my ear!

Each earbud is marked for which ear is which, but I had trouble seeing it at first. I didn't think it would matter, but it turns out it does.

Once I got the small silicone fittings on each one and situated them properly in my ears I could not believe the sound quality. I have owned expensive headphones and these are amazing. Try your white ipod earbuds, then try these. The difference is amazing! I watch movies on my ipod in bed at night and they are clear enough I can hear them without being so loud they wake Erin. I also found they work really well while mowing the lawn. It takes me about 4 hours on our riding mower to do our entire yard and every other pair of headphones I tried I would have to turn all the way up to hear over the mower and would have to turn them off half way through because my ears would be ringing. Not with these! I was able to listen to them the entire time, could hear them fine over the mower, and didn't even have to have them all the way up, or turn them off!

Pros: Too many to list

Cons: None so far

I give the Vibe II Earbuds a 9 out of 10 because they are by far the most comfortable earbuds I've tried, have amazing clarity, and awesome style!

To find out more or buy your own pair visit: http://www.v-moda.com

OR

Enter to win your own pair right now!

To Enter:

• Visit V-Moda. Come back here and leave a comment with another place you can buy the Vibe II.

For Extra Entries:

• Follow us on twitter @MomLovesToday and tweet about this giveaway, leaving one extra comment with your twitter name and the url of the tweet. (you do can this once a day)
• Follow Erin on twitter @ErinJeany, and Ashley @linkismyhero, leaving one extra comment with your twitter name.
• Leave a comment telling us your favorite song in your i-tunes or playlist.
• Follow this blog through google friend connect on the right sidebar. Leave us a comment with your google name.
• Subscribe to this blog through RSS or Email, leave a comment telling us how you did it.
• Blog about this giveaway linking here and to http://www.v-moda.com, come back here and leave 3 separate comments with the url of the post.

This giveaway is open to US residents only, 18+. Only one main entry per household. You must do the first entry for any additional to count and follow all rules to be eligible.

This contest will run until Monday, September 7th at midnight.

Winner to be announced Tuesday, September 8th by Noon.

Good Luck and Thanks for Entering!

Mama Loves Cooking - Homemade Chinese Take-out: Spicy Peanut Noodles

I enjoy Asian food VERY MUCH. I could eat Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Indian, Filipino, etc. all day everyday. I love Chinese take-out any chance I get. One of the appetizers I get from my local take-out place is called Cold Spicy Peanut Noodles. Fast, cheap, and easy to make, this dish is spicy, peanuty, and sweet at the same time.

Spicy Peanut Noodles

• 1 half box of Linguine
• 1 can of peas or half of a bag of frozen peas (Can be snow peas, but they are almost $3 a bag.)
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 3 to 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup of peanut butter
• 1 cup of water
• 1 tablespoon of Soy sauce
• Sriracha sauce (A spicy, smooth (no seeds or flakes) red chili sauce. It has a green squirt nozzle.)
• Maple Syrup (Yes, maple syrup. I used maple pancake syrup. It worked just as well.)

This recipe serves two since well, most kids don't like spicy, unless you were me growing up, heh. You can double the recipe to serve 4 to 6 if you would like.

1. Boil the noodles and about 2 to 3 minutes before the pasta is done, add the peas to cook the peas instead of wasting another dish/pan. (You can break the noodles in half if you don't want really long noodles.)

2. Drain the peas and pasta and let set in the colander. (Remember, to keep the noodles from sticking, you can use a little bit of oil and toss the pasta with it.

3. Heat the oil in a sauce pan using medium-high heat. Once it's hot, add the garlic.
Sauteé the garlic. Make sure it doesn't burn.

4. Add the peanut butter. The peanut butter will melt down. You'll want to watch the heat with this also. Turn it down some if it starts to bubble too much.

5. Add the water and stir well. Bring to a slow boil. This will allow the peanut butter and the water to come together.

6. This is where you can experiment. I highly recommend adding all of last three ingredients, but to your liking. I used about a tablespoon of Sriracha, a tablespoon and a few dashes of soy sauce, and almost 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. You can make it sweeter, saltier, spicier, or all balanced out. Have fun with it!!!

7. Add the pasta and peas mixture and the peanut sauce together. Mix well. To add a little more to the dish, (I thought about it afterwards.) you can add shredded carrot and sesame seeds to the mix.

8. Serve warm or you can chill the noodles for 1 hour.

Enjoy!!!

Mama Loves Cooking - Baking French Toast : French Toast Soufflé

Out of everything I can make, magically, I can't make good regular French Toast. I wanted to figure out a way to make French Toast without making it too eggy. Then I thought about soufflé. What is a soufflé you ask? I picked up Wikipedia's (one of my favorite resources) definition to help define what a soufflé really is:

A soufflé is a light, fluffy, baked cake made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites combined with various other ingredients and served as a savory main dish or sweetened as a dessert. The word soufflé is the past participle of the French verb souffler which means "to blow up" or more loosely "puff up" — an apt description of what happens to this combination of custard and egg whites.

It's funny to me how hand in hand this soufflé goes with the French Toast. French Toast, when cooked properly, is light and fluffy, yet moist and spongy, like a cake. I was really pleased with how this turned out. I really want to share this with you all this week because I know you will like it FOR SURE!!! ^_^

French Toast Soufflé

• 1 8oz. pack of cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons of butter, softened
• 1 cup of pancake syrup (can be maple, butter, whatever flavor you would like)
• 10-12 slices of bread (You can use Texas toast if you want, but I used Nature's Own Butterbread for softness and it was WONDERFUL!)
• 1 dozen eggs (yeah, that many)
• 2 cup of half & half
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
• Cinnamon (preferably the container with the multiple sprinkle holes)

Optional toppings:

• Strawberries, blueberries, bananas, any kind of fruit you want!
• Powdered sugar
• Syrup

1. Take one piece of bread at a time and cut into 1 1/2 pieces. Leave the crust on.

TIP: Use a pizza roller to cut the bread instead of a knife since it's made to cut fast!

2. Grease (I used shortening) and flour the bottom of your pan. I did not do this and well, luckily I had a good metal spatula to get my French Toast out of the dish. So yes, learn from my mistake: grease and flour the pan.

3. Place the pieces of bread on the bottom of the pan/dish in one even layer.
Now, depending on the size of your casserole dish/baking pan (I used a 9x13.) will determine how many pieces of bread you use. I wound up using roughly 12 pieces of bread.

4. Cover the bread by sprinkling cinnamon on. Don't be afraid to cover it, but don't go crazy either.

5. Line up some more bread pieces on top of the first layer, creating another layer of bread pieces. Cover this layer with cinnamon as well.

6. Take cream cheese and butter and microwave in a safe dish for about 15 seconds. You may need more time depending on the wattage of your microwave. Make sure the butter does not melt.

7. Combine cream cheese, butter, and syrup together using a hand mixer until you get a smooth spread. Mine was a tiny bit lumpy, but that didn't bother me.

8. Spread mixture over the cinnamon bread pieces.

9. Mix eggs, half & half, and vanilla together until the egg mixture is frothy.

10. SLOWLY pour the egg mixture over the bread. Make sure to evenly cover the bread so the mixture can soak in really well.

11. Bake for one hour at 350°. It will be nice a bubbly when it comes out. I let mine cool for about 10 minutes. It also deflated, but before the picture, it was nice a puffy. This is normal for a soufflé.

12. Serve warm with syrup and any other topping you'd like! This was TRULY delicious!!!

ENJOY!

Mama Loves Cooking - Pizza Bagels: A Quick and Easy Snack

Who doesn't love bagels? They are universal from putting the usual cream cheese, jelly, and butter on them to spreading Nutella or peanut butter on them for an afternoon snack.
Here is a recipe for a quick breakfast or snack.

Pizza Bagels

Any 1 flavored bagel (except the strawberry or cinnamon raisin)
Regular cream cheese
Pizza sauce
Shredded cheese (I used the pizza blend.)
Pepperoni, ground beef, garlic, or any of your favorite pizza toppings (Remember, this is just a small pizza. Don't go too crazy.)

1. Preheat over at 375°.

2. Slice open bagel and set in the pan you will bake it. (My pan is old, but I love it. No sense in wasting dishes!)

3. Spread desired amount of cream cheese on your bagel. Both sliced of course!

4. Spread pizza sauce carefully around your bagel.

5. Sprinkle desired amount of cheese and toppings you would like onto your bagel.

6. Bake for 10 minutes. Broil for about a minute if you'd like until the top is nice and brown.

7. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Enjoy!