We were sent some Kashi Pocket Bread to try out for Dorm week and I’m here to tell you that it is the perfect dorm food. The individual serving box is compact in size. There is one Kashi Pocket Bread in one box, so you don’t fill up your little freezer. It is microwaveable - 2 minutes on high, so it’s fast. Kashi Pocket Bread is delicious, absolutely, totally delicious. The bread itself is soft, but not chewy and not thick, just the right thickness, and made from whole grain.
It’s packed with meat (unless it’s vegetarian), and vegetables with just the right amount of sauce. Our favorite was Turkey Fiesta, which was like a burrito packed into a roll. We loved the flavor. It had a little bit of a kick, but not overwhelmingly spicy. My daughter had the Veggie Medley, and said it was very flavorful with lots of veggies. I brought the Chicken Rustico to work for lunch and had it along with a side salad. It was easy to handle and eat at my desk. My daughter agreed that it would be great to take to school and said she would eat them especially the Turkey Fiesta.
I’ve tried Kashi before and trust for their whole grain products to be healthy and delicious. Kashi Pocket Bread comes through once again. A couple of these stashed in their dorm freezer and you will feel comfortable knowing you are leaving them with something good for them that they will actually eat.
Hola Fruta sherberts aren’t your usual icy, fruity fare. It’s a creamy decadant treat - the kind you want to hide in the back of the freezer so the rest of your family can’t find it. I was all set to cut and paste from the press release - about how the product is all natural and contains nothing but good -for -you stuff without chemicals and ingrediants you can’t pronounce. Instead I just want to tell you Hola Fruta is good. No it’s wonderful, even for people like me who never really cared for sherberts. Man oh man, am I digging this.
One thing that bugs me about product reviews is that often times I’m sent a wonderful product but I can’t buy it again because it’s not available in my area. Hola Fruta is available in many nationwide chains including Shop Rite, Walgreens, Krogers and more. You can buy it by the bar, quart or by the pint- and you will most certainly be happy you did. My family tried both the mango and pina colada flavors and though the pina colada was very good, we loved the mango.
Do yourself a favor and try Hola Fruta’s sherberts. It’s low calorie, low fat and big on the good stuff.
Like many people, I’m always on the lookout for food with health benefits. And, like many more people, I absolutely love love love garlic and put it in practically everything I make. So I was delighted to find out that not only does it ward off vampires, but it is good for you too.
My kids are very active sports, band, friends, chores, life, school, etc. Sometimes in between activities, they are hungry, but it’s not mealtime yet, so they make do.
Here are some things they make or have to tide them over:
Pizza muffin - Sauce, cheese and into the toaster oven.
Peanut butter and honey sandwich.
Powerbars and Gatorade(or Powerade) during track season on the bus to the meet.
Crackers and cheese .
Fruit and carrot sticks.
Bowls of cereal ( my son ate 5 this morning, I’m going to start charging).
Bottles of water (refillable) - no calorie drink mix sometimes added for flavor.
Breaded shrimp in the toaster oven or microwave.
Leftovers - my daughter’s friend’s parents (got that?) invite my daughter over when they have too much left over. She says their leftovers are more interesting than ours most of the time.
Salsa - on chips or soft tortillas.
Bagels with cream cheese and fresh fruit jam.
Nuts - pistachios, walnuts, almonds, mixed nuts, you name it.
Hummus - homemade with pita.
Popcorn - we buy a big batch of low calorie, low fat from boyscout nephews every year.
Yogurt and fruit.
Frozen fruit popsicles.
Granola bars.
I rarely keep cookies, or chips, (although my husband does want chips for salsa when he can get it) or soda in the house, so those aren’t readily available. If you only keep the healthier snacks around, that’s what they will grab.
My teens eat popcorn quite a bit especially my son. He pops it right in the microwave in a bag. I also have a popper I can stick into the microwave, plus you can make it the old fashioned way with a pot coated with oil on the bottom and in college, I used a hot air popper. Sometimes the fun is in the popping process but the healthiest way to prepare popcorn is the hot air method because it has the least amount of calories and fat. Don’t tell the kids though, that popcorn qualifies as a whole grain product that is good for you (without a lot of butter or salt). Whole grains contain the entire grain kernel — the bran, germ, and endosperm. To read more about how Popcorn satisfies the criterium for a whole grain in your diet, please visit popcorn.org.
For Healthy Snacks week, I’d like to introduce you to Probugs kids drinks and Kefir products. Probugs is a drink for kids, that has the consistency of yogurt drinks, with natural fruit flavoring. Even though my kids are older, they tried the Probugs drinks, enjoyed them, and went back for more. They said the blueberry, had a slightly sour blueberry taste like you had real blueberries in it, not the fake blueberry taste. The drinks came in individual pouches with a no spill spout kids could drink in the car or for a snack. My kids had to try squeezing to see if they could get it to spurt (they’re teenagers, what do you want?) and while they could, it was much easier to control and didn’t cause a big mess like holding a juice box often does. The pro bugs name stands for the probiotics contained in the kefir based drink.
Many mornings, I make a fruit yogurt smoothie and sip that while I have breakfast. My son also enjoys it for a snack. What I like about this smoothie is that it has plenty of calcium and a couple of servings of fruit. Plus you can use any fruit you want - to make it your own. Here’s how I make it:
2 Cups Dannon Light and Fit Yogurt
Splash of pineapple juice
1 to 2 cups of fresh fruit and/or berries
Combine all the ingredients in the blender and let it whirl. In the summer, I like to use fat free frozen yogurt or ice cream as it makes a great, healthy cold treat. I’ll also use a more kid friendly brand of yogurt for my son’s smoothie - though he likes mine too. In mine, I might also add some oat bran for a little fiber - and to keep me full throughout the morning.
Not too many candies can be considered healthy snacks but Yummy Earth Organic Candy comes pretty darn close. These pops and drops are gluten free and filled with lots of good ingredients. And the flavors! Super Sour Pops, Wild Peppermint, Pomegranate Pucker, Citrus Grove Vitamin C Drops, Freshest Fruit, Ginger Zest, Hot Chili Pops and more - and with names like that you know your tastebuds do a happy dance when you place one of these puppies into your mouth.
We received a generous case of candy from the good folks at Yummy Earth and my family has been enjoying trying the different types. It’s not like your usual run of the mill supermarket candy. You can really taste the fruity goodness and the flavors and colors just pop.
Though Yummy Earth is only about 20 months old, their organic candies are found all around the globe now. Find them in the U.S. at Whole Foods, Linens ‘N Things, Party City and more. You won’t be disappointed.
We lucked out. Our son eats his fruits and vegetables and never fights with us about eating healthy. He loves fish, eats whole grain or wheat bread and doesn’t like melted cheese all over everything. I’ll stop there, I know there’s a lot of eye rolling going on. No kid is perfect, right? True - and believe me when I tell you ours has his kidzilla moments. When it comes to eating though, we’re pretty pleased.
Here are a few things we did which we believe helped our son develop good habits early on:
1. Get the kids involved in the meal planning and food cooking process. My son has been helping me cook and bake since he was two. I read that kids who develop an early interest in food and how it works, and who help with the meals, are more likely to eat what’s on their plate. At first “Helping” was mixing or playing with some dough on his high chair or cutting out cookies, but soon he was mixing and rolling. Now, at 6, our son chooses Saturday’s dinner menu. He goes to the store, picks out the ingredients and helps with the cooking. He even goes to camp at the Children’s Chef Academy.
I got this gem of a snack the other day. It came in a container that you could toss in a bag or a pack or sit in a cup holder of the car without worry that it would end up dumped all over. The almonds were toasted and had a baked on chocolate flavor. I thought they would be powdery and stick to your fingers, but they weren’t. My husband who is a nut aficionado, tasted a few and a few more and a few more. He really loved them, as did my daughter. The baked chocolate coating doesn’t add any calories to the almonds like a dipped chocolate coating would.
