My kids are of the rare type who have never tried ranch dressing, as dip or otherwise. I’ve not yet attempted to make my own, and I don’t feed my family chemicals in a bottle so they’ve just never had it. We use hummus and a variety of other bean dips when we feel the need for dip. Honestly, I could eat a good hummus with a spoon so I wasn’t hard to convince when I was contacted to do a review for Tribe Hummus.

Tribe Hummus has no artificial preservatives, is free of saturated fats, free of trans fats, free of hydrogenated oils & free of cholesterol, is non-dairy, vegan friendly, and certified kosher.

But does it taste good?

Heck yes!

The classic and the garlic roasted are pretty plain, which is great for some but not to my personal taste, but the roasted red pepper is fabulously sweet and my daughter’s favourite and the 40 spices is mildly spicy & flavourful & absolutely delicious.

The Tribe Hummus rep sent along three recipe ideas for cooking with kids that I’d love to share with you.

Hummus and Veggie Pizza: Give each child a tortilla on a plate. Place Tribe Garlic Roasted Hummus, low fat mozzarella cheese and precut vegetables in bowls in the middle of the table. Let the kids spread the hummus on the tortilla with the back of a spoon and top with cheese and arrange vegetables into faces or fun shapes. Adults can place hummus pizza in a 350 degree oven until cheese is melted and edges are golden brown. After pizza cools kids can enjoy their personal pizzas!

Kangaroo Pouches: Whole wheat pita bread halves pose as empty kangaroo pouches that need filling. Set out a variety of ingredients and ask the kids to fill their kangaroo’s pouch for a tasty snack or lunch. Try Roasted Red Pepper Tribe Hummus, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and cheese, or cream cheese, peanut butter and sliced bananas. Let the kids help prepare the ingredients too. (As a non-hummus aside, my children LOVE natural peanut butter and sliced fresh strawberries in a pouch.)

Foods From Many Lands: Find out what country or region is your child studying in school and browse through cookbooks, websites, and magazines with your child to find recipes from that area to make for the family. Create a theme night around a specific country such as Israel to learn more about their rich history with hummus. It’s a tasty and fun way to reinforce what’s being learned at school!

No matter how you use hummus in your household, it’s a super healthy addition to your diet and an awesome and fast snack/spread/dip for your whole family.

Tribe has just released four flavours of certified organic hummus that I can’t wait to try!

Win it! One randomly selected winner will receive two VIP coupons for free Tribe Hummus. Comment on this post before noon mst on March 5 to enter.

We’re asked to review food items on the reg, and most of those requests are denied due to the presence of ingredients that we won’t feed our family. We were overjoyed, however, to accept a request from the folks at Veggie Patch. A large box recently arrived on my doorstep. It was lined with styrofoam in the form of a makeshift cooler and at least twenty solid ice packs surrounded our samples of veggie and cheese bites. I was impressed by the effort they took to get them to us in the great white North safely. We were sent the spinach, broccoli, corn and portabella bites.

We had a selection of the Veggie Patch “nuggets” for lunch immediately after they arrived. (Patience is not my strong suit.) Having only tried the spinach ones in the past, I was excited to sample the other flavours. The spinach ones are good, but in my opinion Costco chose the wrong one to stock. The other three are GREAT! My children will eat a few spinach nuggets, but they each ate at least ten when we offered the whole variety. My personal fave was the broccoli, but they’re all delicious. Veggie Patch veggie & cheese bites are all natural (not organic) and are good sources of fiber, protein, and vitamins (which vitamins depends on which one you’re eating, but mainly vitamins A, C & calcium). They contain no MSG, no trans-fats and are 100% vegetarian. My own children have never seen a chicken nugget and eat a boat load of vegetables so these are just a special treat for us, but if you’re in the habit of letting your children eat processed foods then these products would be particularly beneficial toward getting vegetables into their little bodies.

We’ve had the Spinach Nuggets in the past from our local Costco and they’re good but not as good as the spinach veggie & cheese bites – I think it’s the fact that there’s more cheese and less spinach in these ones since they’re geared toward children. We’ve also had the Veggie Patch falafel balls from Costco, and they’re absolutely awesome – particularly dipped in hummus!

Win it! Two winners will each receive their choice of two packages of veggie & cheese bites from Veggie Patch. Which two would you like? Comment with your choices before noon mst on January 11, 2009 to be entered to win.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNERS EMAILED

I’m a bonafide latte addict and I can’t live without espresso. However, the third one in a day gives me a nasty case of the jitters. I’ve recently discovered that I can replace every hot drink after the first with the new to North America red espresso®, a premium Rooibos tea espresso product. It originated in Cape Town, South Africa (created by Western Cape farmer and former coffee addict, Carl Pretorius when he was seeking a healthy alternative to caffeine) and is made from 100% premium Rooibos tea refined under a patented process to an espresso grind similar to coffee.

It’s extra cool in it’s fusion of two fast-growing global trends: café culture and good health – and so it’s being embraced by tea and coffee lovers alike. It offers a sophisticated, delicious way to drink tea and a naturally caffeine-free alternative to coffee by allowing people to enjoy a rich-flavoured cappuccino or latte – with health benefits. Naturally caffeine-free, a shot of red espresso® has five times more antioxidants than a cup of green tea (per ORAC measurements) and ten times more than regular Rooibos tea and is known to be a potent immune system booster.

Easy to prepare at home or in a café, red espresso® is best prepared using an espresso machine and stovetop espresso maker but can also be prepared using a French Press and coffee maker. My own espresso maker didn’t love red espresso – I only got a few drops (but even that had a nice crema) and it became rather gummy inside, but I tried it in my french press and my regular coffee maker and both of those worked great. Red espresso is delicious – it takes uniquely like Rooibos and a red latte makes a nice change to my usual vice and doesn’t give me the jitters at all.

Win it! We’ve got a couple of packages to hand out to our dedicated T.O.P. fans – just comment here telling us why you want one before noon mst on December 29, 2009.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNERS EMAILED

Over the last few years, I’ve invested in a cupboard full of glass containers for freezing & storing food and ditched 90% of the plastic that we used to use. It’s costly, but totally worth it for the health of my family. I consider it an investment. They’re endlessly reusable which means I save money, the earth, and the bodies of the people I love most.

My husband and I often take leftovers for lunch in glass, but I’m not about to send glass with my three year old. Even if he didn’t smash it on purpose, he’d surely do it accidentally by the end of the first week. Since he mostly eats dry snackies, fresh produce & cheese all day long, I was thrilled to discover LunchBots. Made from the highest quality 18/8 stainless steel, LunchBots won’t leach chemicals into foods like plastic does.

The LunchBots uno (blue lid) is perfect for sandwiches or a larger quantity of the same snack. My kids love it for trail mix or cookies. The LunchBots duo (orange lid) is the same container but with a divider welded in to hold two portions of snacks. The divider is not water tight so LunchBots are not intended for wet foods, but if you pack fresh like we do then you’ll be very happy with these. For extras like dips & yogurts, you’ll need to supplement with another type of container. We love the duo for cheese & crackers, raisins & cucumbers, fresh fruit salad & veggies sticks and so much more. Both measure 6.5″x4.5″ and fit easily in lunch bags, diaper bags & most purses. I recommend buying both because no matter which one you choose, you’ll wish you had the other one as soon as you start packing lunches! They’re both great, and used daily in our home.

US readers can purchase directly from LunchBots ($14.99). Canadian readers can purchase from Parenting by Nature ($22.98).

Win it! We’ve got a LunchBots uno AND a LunchBots duo to give away to one lucky reader. To enter, leave a comment on this post before noon mst on May 12, 2009. Feel free to share your great “dry lunch” ideas!

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED

We love to eat out and I am totally one of “those moms” who brings a high chair liner and cleans everything in sight with Cleanwell before my kids touch it. Because, ew. Did you know that the numbers of bacteria on tabletops are 214 times greater than numbers of bacteria on placemats? And the number of pathogenic bacterial colonies is 100 times greater on tabletops than placemats. When I see people putting their kids’ food on tables in restaurants without cleaning them, it makes me want to puke. Or hand them a bottle of Cleanwell.

Elizabeth Kavanaugh, C.E.O of www.BebeChacha.com is the same way and when her daughter took up the sport of dinner plate Frisbee at a restaurant she invented a placemat that would keep her meal space clean and couldn’t be tossed to the floor. It’s got a full adhesive backing that holds it securely to the table, but peels off easily when the meal is over. A pack of twelve is only nine bucks so now if I don’t want to give up my Cleanwell I’ll just toss the mama a placemat.

Win it! We’ve gota twelve pack of Bebe Cha Cha Sticker Placemats to give away. To enter, leave a comment on this post before noon mst on January 28, 2009.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED

Most kids, at some point or another, have issues at the table. Whether it be manners, the picky disease, an inability to sit or a diet of one or two items for weeks on end. When you need a little extra something to make meal time appealing, check out the Trebimbi Puppet Club Table Set available from Goores for ~$45. (More product selection available from Amazon – lucky Americans!)

Each Puppet Club Table Set includes a child-sized spoon, fork and knife, eggcup, bowl and mug that are incredible visually appealing to little eaters. Made in Italy, each cutlery piece has a stainless steel body and a colored polypropylene handle. Each piece has a cute smiling face and the pieces can be locked together like a string of paper dolls for easy storage or mealtime fun! All items are dishwasher safe & recommended for kids aged two to six.

The Party Set sells for the same price at Goores and includes a funky plate, cup, knife, fork and spoon. In this set all items are also dishwasher safe & recommended for kids aged two to six.

Save 10% on any Trebimbi order from Goores with the code top10tre.

Win it! We’ve got a Trebimbi Puppet Club Table Set valued at $44.99 in orange with blue to give away. To enter, leave a comment on this post before noon mst on January 15, 2009.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED

My kids love applesauce. Don’t they all, really? From first foods through the childhood years, applesauce is a great food. We buy huge glass jars of organic sauce to avoid plastic and other nasties (and to avoid having to make it myself too often – ugh) and then we deal with the consequences of messy shirts and flinging spoons. At least, we used to. Smashies are Smashies are the first organic squeezy apple sauce pouches for kids with no added sugar or HFCS. They’re certified USDA organic, kosher, gluten free and contain no animal bi-products. I actually wasn’t able to taste the samples that we received because my son wouldn’t let me. I’d say that’s a good sign. He loves the taste. I love the convenience, the lack of plastic, sugar, HFCS & pesticides. We all love Smashies!

Sadly, they’re not in stores yet but if you pay shipping & handling they’ll send you some for free! I sure hope they end up in Canadian grocery stores sooner than later because my two year old asks for them regularly.

Win it! A ten pack could be landing on your doorstep. To enter, leave a comment on this post telling us your favourite easy, healthy kid snack or meal. Contest closes at noon mst on November 3/08.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED

As Halloween approaches, I am thinking more and more about the crap that we feed our children in the name of obesity cancer heart disease diabetes bad habits fun. In great moderation, of course, candy is perfectly fine but there’s also interesting debate about the ethics of the major candy producers. So much so that I don’t feel I can purchase mainstream candy and feel good about where I’m putting my money. However, I also don’t want to be the family who hands out raisins (thought in my heart that’s who I am) because eggs just don’t look good on my house. This year, in addition to some chips for the big kids and playdough for the little ones, I’m going to hand out snack packs of Snikiddy Snacks. Remember them?

They’re delicious, organic, totally-almost-guilt-free cookies and snackies that are available in individual packages perfect for trick-or-treating ghouls & goblins. And Spidermen. And princesses. My personal fave are definitely the Chocolate Chippers but my son & daughter love the Banana Nibblers too.

The only problem? Keep them under lock and key or there won’t be any left on October 31.

Win it! Snikiddy is going to send an assortment of sample snacks to one lucky commenter – just leave a comment on this post before noon mst on October 27/08.

Additional entries available – up to four per person. See contest entry information and rules.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED.

How many of you have already incorporated healthy flax into your diet? It starts as a beautiful blue flower and ends as a tiny brown seed that’s chock full off mono unsaturated fatty acids and fiber. Canada is the largest producer and exporter of flax in the world, and it’s a bandwagon you’re going to want to get on as soon as possible.

As a functional & delicious food ingredient, flax can be added to just about any dish or snack to deliver an extra health boost because of the omega-3 fats, lignans, and fiber found in the seed. These combine to offer heart health benefits including lowering cholesterol levels, assistance in cancer prevention, improvement of digestive health, and much more.

I’m from farm stock and we all love flax – not just because our family members grow it. I put it in almost everything. Recently I tried this recipe for Farmland Flax Cookies (but used whole wheat flour and only 1 1/2 cups organic sugar total) and it was fantastic. I put flax in muffins & bread, in cookies & crisp toppings, in spice rubs & breadings for meat, on warm & cold cereal and in smoothies. If you haven’t started using flax, you should!

The Healthy Flax Site from the Flax Council of Canada shares ten tips for healthy flax habits that I’d like to pass on to you:

1. Replace fat: Keep good fats in your recipes by substituting three tablespoons of ground flaxseed for one tablespoon of margarine, butter, or cooking oil.
2. Keep it handy: In your refrigerator, keep a handy stash of ground flax accessible in an opaque airtight container for up to 45 days. Whole flaxseeds can be stored for up to a year! Just use a coffee or spice grinder when you need them milled. (I keep ground flax handy in my fridge-freezer and they last forever!)
3. Simple on cereal: Sprinkle one to two tablespoons of milled or whole flaxseed onto your morning cereal or over salads for a nutty taste.
4. Dress-up: Shake or stir your daily dose of flax into your salad dressing.
5. Shake things up: Mix milled flax into yogurt or smoothie shakes for an extra energy boost.
6. Top that: Top your fruit and cottage cheese with flax for a crunchy flax punch.
7. A final touch: Stir it into thicker soups, such as lentil or bean varieties, or into pasta sauces just before serving.
8. In the mix: You can always mix whole or milled seeds into your favorite bread dough, but how about mixing it into burgers, meatloaf, fish, or vegetable patties as a tasty change.
9. Flaximum benefits: Add whole flaxseeds to cookie dough or muffin mix or sprinkle some on your favorite bread for artisan appeal.
10. Getting started: When using ground flax, because of its high fiber content, add it slowly starting with about one tablespoon per day and working up to two or more per day.

A tip from the fitness pro in me: Your body can’t absorb the good fats in whole flax so if you don’t grind it before you consume it you’re only getting the fiber. Fiber’s good, but fiber and mufas are better!

Win it! Ten randomly selected T.O.P. readers will receive a few 5 oz. packages of ground flax so you can try it out with your whole family. To enter, just leave a comment on this post before 11:59 pm on August 22/08.

Additional entries available – up to four per person. See contest entry information and rules.

CONTEST CLOSED & winners will be emailed asap.

We’re back from our Heritage Day long weekend. Our apologies to our American and overseas friends who were looking for us yesterday. It was a long weekend here and we didn’t think to check if everyone else had one too.

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The Opinionated Parents have been trying out Pop’rs, the newest way to get your kids to eat…anything!

Pop’rs come in one ounce shaker jars and are available in eight flavours and are incredibly versatile in their uses. Imagine the Pop Rocks of your youth with a variety of flavours and vitamins added. Some need to be added to food to taste good. Others, like the red Color Burst, taste exactly like Pop Rocks and if you’re anything like me your kids won’t get any and your tongue will be blue for a few hours. (Yes blue. I was confused too…)

Check out their blog for more information, and read on for our writers’ opinions and a reader
giveaway.

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With seven children I have faced more picky eaters than I would have ever liked to have seen. Normally, if you can just get them to TASTE the food you know they will like it, but getting that bite into their little clamped-shut mouths is nearly impossible. Until now!

Pop’rs are just the trick to get those mouths pried open and show those little ones that food DOES taste good. Pop’rs are like the candy Pop Rocks, they explode on your tongue. With 8 choices to choose from, any food can become a tasty, fun treat for your child. I was so happy to see great flavors for the adult child, too, such as Buffalo flavoring, which is amazing on pork.
Butter flavoring on veggies and potatoes may not seem exciting, but when the kids start hearing the crackling they just have to give it a taste, and their mouths a treat.
Across the board, my entire family enjoyed Pop’rs on nearly everything. Potatoes, meat, oatmeal, ice cream, vegetables; you name it, we sprinkled it! – Lisa

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Want a better way to jazz up vegetables than smothering them with cheese sauce? Would you like your kids to devour yogurt without it having to be in a squeezable tube or frozen on a stick? Would it be nice to make less-sugary and more-economical tub oatmeal just as jazzy as the individual packs? Enter: Pop’rs. Pop’rs is like nothing you’ve ever seen or heard of before — I guarantee it. It’s probably something you’ve never even dreamed about.

What are Pop’rs? Imagine Pop Rocks as a food topping. They’re not candy, though….they’re better than candy. They even have vitamins in them! Imagine carbonated, fizzy vitamin granules in a variety of flavors that your kids will love sprinkling on everything.

They currently manufacture eight flavors: Strawberry, Color Burst, Butter, Cocoa, Taco, Cinnamon, Buffalo, and Raspberry. We tried the Buffalo Pop’rs on our broccoli and chicken. Very authentic buffalo flavor, and an amazing, fizzy kick, for sure! Kids will delight in the fact that sizzling noises erupt from their plates before them, as well as within their mouths as they gobble up their meal!

There are a wealth of other ideas for Pop’rs: Butter Pop’rs over popcorn, Strawberry Pop’rs over cereal, even Cinnamon Pop’rs over stewed apples. The possibilities are endless!

-Meg

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I confess, when I was first asked to review Pop’rs®, I was confused. What is it exactly? Flavored sprinkles? How can sprinkles help encourage healthy eating? After trying all eight flavors, though, I’m a believer. Pop’rs sounded like Rice Krispies when added to milk and every flavor tastes like the old pop candy you remember from years ago.

Rachael Ray is also a fan. In her May 2008 magazine, she said Pop’rs “…add pop to anything! We like the cinnamon on buttered toast. FIZZ FACTOR: full fireworks …”

Pop’rs are available in EIGHT FLAVORS: strawberry, raspberry, color burst, cinnamon, cocoa, taco, buffalo and butter.

–Sprinkle Color Burst on any flavor of yogurt (and sprinkled on vanilla ice cream, it turns plain vanilla into something a lot like cotton candy)

–Chocolate’s a super flavor on top of pudding (my husband tried it on milk and we both laughed at how much it sounded like “Snap, Crackle and Pop!”)

–Introduce Strawberry to your kiddos’ cereal in the morning.

–Raspberry is a treat with yogurt & ice cream.

–Corn & other veggies take well to Butter (so does popcorn! Yum!)

–Taco can’t be beat on mashed potatoes.

–Buffalo (as in the seasoning used on wings) goes hand-in-hand with broccoli & its kindred spirits.

Like what you hear? Go here to purchase Pop’rs at some VERY reasonable prices and get to popping! -CPA Mom

Win it! We’re giving away a a complete box of Pop’rs – all eight flavors valued at $14.99 – to one lucky TOP reader! To enter, simply leave a comment on this post before 11:59 mst on August 12, 2008.

Additional entries available – up to four per person. See contest entry information and rules.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED

Do you get enough fiber? Do your kids? (A quick way to find out…look in the toilet. If your poop doesn’t float, you need more fiber.) How about calcium? Do you know for sure you’re not contributing to your own and possibly your children’s future osteoporosis?

The (US) National Fiber Council reports that 95 percent of people do not get the recommended daily amount of fiber. The same can be said for calcium, as the Journal of the American College of Nutrition states that 80 percent of Americans do not meet the recommended calcium intake either.

To help address the nutritional needs of adults and children, Snacktrition, a new line of great-tasting nut and dried fruit snacks with added calcium and fiber, are now available to provide you with a simple, nutrient-rich cure for the common snack.

Snacktrition offers a tasty way to get you on the right nutritional track for daily fiber and calcium intake. Depending on the Snacktrition item, you will get 12 percent of your recommended daily fiber needs and approximately 10 percent of your daily calcium needs. Compare that to the stash in your cupboard right now and you will find that they provide approximately two times more calcium and three times more fiber per serving. Snacktrition dried fruit and nut snacks are “Health Baked” through a proprietary oven roasting process that adds valuable nutrients such as fiber and calcium, and they come in five delicious varieties – Sea Salt Cashews with Fiber, Sea Salt Almonds with Calcium, Salt & Pepper Cashews with Fiber (Oh my God AMAZING), Smoked Almonds with Calcium, and Fruit & Nut Mix with Fiber and Calcium (which my 2 year old and my husband barely let me taste because it was so delicious.) Snacktrition snacks are available in 3oz Bags ($2.99 each) or 8.5oz Tubs ($6.99 each). I recommend the tubs because the bags, though a better option for a low calorie and portion controlled snack for parents, will be gone in seconds. Spring for the tubs, which are reusable and dishwasher/microwave safe.

I love finding healthy kid snacks that all of us can eat. I’ll be seeking out Snacktrition snackies regularly from now on. Obviously, if you have nut allergies in your family you’ll want to take a pass on this one.

Win it! We’re giving away an 8.5oz tub of Snacktrition smoked almonds with calcium. To enter, just leave a comment on this post before noon MST on Saturday, July 5, 2008.

Additional entries available – up to four per person. See contest entry information and rules.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED

Learning to eat is a messy stage for even the most perfect child. No matter how anal retentive you are about cleanliness, you’re going to have a mess much of the time. When your child is ready to try his or her hand at utensils, you’ll want to check out My Plate-Mate. It helps a toddler learn how to successfully eat with a utensil and plate (or bowl if it’s the right size – 8″-9 1/2″…) while minimizing much of the mess.

My Plate-Mate is super Easy to use and is made of food grade plastic which is lead-free, BPA-free, PVC-free, latex-free and phthalate-free. They’re also dishwasher & microwave safe. It’s essentially a c-shaped piece of plastic that slips onto the edge of your child’s plate and helps your child successfully learn to use a utensil while preventing messy spills on the table.

We’re using a My Plate-Mate with our two year old and I love that he is showing increased confidence and independence with his utensils simply because I’m more relaxed and not chasing him around with a cloth.

They’re only $7.95 each and can be purchased from the My Plate-Mate website.

Save 10% with the code MESSFREE

Win it! We’re giving away a white My Plate-Mate to one lucky reader. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post by noon MST on Jun 9, 2008.

Additional entries available. See contest entry information and rules.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED

Now that my son is solely feeding himself “real” food, we have far less dropped food and a lot more launched food accompanied by the declaration that he’s “Sharing the puppies!” I don’t know that anything but time and patience will solve that issue, but I do know I would have LOVED to have a Wupzey high chair food catcher a year ago. I asked a friend with a newly self-feeding almost-toddler to check one out and let us know what she thought.

Jen says:

Available in ten colours, the Wupzey attaches quickly and easily to my standard high chair. It’s made of 100% Rip-stop Nylon and retails for under $20. I’m here to tell you that’s a small price to pay for the drastic reduction in cheerios that I now clean up! I used to sweep five to eight times a day and that’s been reduced to one good sweep before bed thanks to the Wupzey. This product belongs in the category “things you didn’t know you needed but love” along with many other of my favourite items. Thanks, Johanna, for a great product that reduces my daily workload!

Save 20% on any order from the site with the code TOP

Win it! We’re giving away a Wupzey in your choice of colour. To enter, leave a comment on this post stating which of the ten colours you’d choose if you win. Contest closes at noon MST on June 3, 2008.

Additional entries available. See contest entry information and rules.

CONTEST CLOSED

I fully intended to make my son’s baby food. It was part of my overall plan to raise a green baby. I completely ignored the fact that my husband does 95% of the cooking when I went to great lengths to buy the baby food mill and the Organic Baby & Toddler Cookbook. Seriously, how difficult could a batch of organic peas really be? What started out as a simple project ended up being a broadway production. I will never understand why my gourmet peas didn’t look or apparently taste as good as the fresh and frozen baby food I ended up buying for him at Whole Foods. While my culinary adventures ended before the peas got cold, I’m happy to share that my son can get fresh, homemade meals and I don’t have to turn on the stove.

The first thing I noticed when we visited pomme’s bébé bar was how fresh the food looked. I was immediately struck by the deep, rich color of their apple-blueberry puree, one of my son’s new favorites. Since he is still struggling with textures, we stuck to the basics and blends. We tried the carrots, green peas, pears, sweet potatoes, and apple-blueberry puree. The fruit and vegetable purees surprisingly look and taste like their respective counterparts, only blended. I have yet to find a brand that matches their unique flavors and blends.

Jarred baby food undergoes high-heat processing to attain a shelf life up to 2 years. This process depletes food of it’s color, and more importantly the nutrients that are so vital to your child’s growth and development. pomme’s bébé’s fresh and frozen organic meals are prepared by hand in small batches and simmered slowly to retain the maximum amount of nutrients. Their meals are purely organic which means they are devoid of preservatives, fillers, artificial flavors/sweeteners, chemicals, hormones, or antibiotics. With gourmet variations uniquely formulated for each of your tots stages of development and prepared by five-star chef Laurent Brazier, your baby will probably be eating better than you do.

If you are in the area, stop by their fab bébé bar complete with ultra-chic fresco bloom high chairs and a cool tasting bar. Moms and babes alike can indulge their taste buds in fresh food samples. Check out their local, seasonal, and frequently updated menus. Can’t get there? Visit their online store or or place your order over the phone. They’ll flash freeze your organic meals to lock-in the freshness and ship them directly to your front door in environmentally-friendly insulated containers over dry ice. Note that pomme’s bébé’s organic meals must be consumed withing 3 days if fresh and 2-3 months if frozen. - Caryn (Who I am intensely envious of for living so close to Pomme that she could review it in person.)

Snikiddy is “a new line of organic food products designed to embody and encourage a healthy lifestyle for children. Packaged with fun activities that promote physical and mental wellness, these organic foods are healthy snack alternatives that parents can feel good about giving to their children (or eating themselves!).” The name Snikiddy is a shortened form of the word persnickety, meaning choosy or picky – a trait that embodies childhood eating!

Founded by Janet Owings and Mary Schulman ~ a mother and daughter team ~ Snikiddy snacks are only snacks in that they’re easy and quick to eat. They’re completely contrary to what most of us think of when we thing of pre-packaged snack foods. My son loved them, but he didn’t get very many because I’m a bad mom and I ate them myself. Oops! The cookies were definitely my favourite, but he preferred the cheese puffs. They were good, but too messy for my liking.

Snikiddy are currently available in 6 flavours. Read on to see what some of our reviewers thought.

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Snikiddy…what can I say to do them justice? I’ll start by saying that my 9 year old daughter is begging for more. They lasted only 10 minutes from the time they arrived in the mail!

We tried out the Grilled Cheese Cheese Puffs (Gluten Free) and the Chocolate Chippers Cookies. They were both wonderful! My 7 year old is extremely picky and even she loved them! They have already asked that these snacks be added to our grocery list. Too bad we have to go so far to get them though. The nearest store that carries them is over an hour away from us. I’ll be glad when they are more widely known and we can get them in our town. For now, I’ll settle for ordering them online. To get a 100% Organic snack that my kids will actually eat is amazing! I do not currently buy snacks at all but these are worth getting! I can’t wait to try out their other flavors, especially the Pizza Pie Puffs and the Banana Nibbles! Yum!

Thank you Snikiddy for considering the health of our children and making your products taste so great! - Gina

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My 3 ½ year-old son, Jonas, helped me check out Snikiddy Snacks . I was a little worried because I have a great love of health food but my son has never been much of an eater. He has been this way his entire life. Really, he only likes marshmallows and would eat them all day if allowed. [Ed: wouldn't we all?]

I gave him a bag of the Snikiddy Chocolate Chippers while we were riding in the car. His response? “CHOCOLATE! When I get home, I can get another bag!” When I asked if I could taste one, he replied very sweetly, “No, thanks.” These cookies got the picky child seal of approval!

I did sneak a taste out of another bag when he wasn’t looking and they are very good. They don’t taste like something is missing as a lot of healthy prepared snacks do. I can usually pass on a packaged cookie, but I could definitely eat an entire bag of Snikiddy Snacks! And that would be okay, because the entire (.85 oz) bag only contains 5g of fat and 120 calories!

We also tried Snikiddy Grilled Cheese Puffs. You know how many puffed cheese snacks pale in comparison to the original? These are actually BETTER. They are the right density, have a good flavor, and don’t leave a greasy aftertaste. I have seen my child pass on processed cheese snacks after only a few bites, but he steadily munched on the Snikiddy Snacks until they were gone! I was also impressed that one (.06 oz) bag of Grilled Cheese Puffs contains only 3g of fat and 80 calories!
So while you can feel good about giving Snikiddy Snacks to your kids (and being sure that they will definitely eat it), Snikiddy Snacks are also good news to us snackin’ parents out there who need to watch our waist lines! - Candice

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When my daughter started eating table food I vowed she wasn’t going to be one of those kids who ate a lot of sugary snack foods; I was only going to offer her healthy choices. For the most part I’ve been pretty good about that. We don’t have a lot of sugar-loaded snacks in the house and she does like fruit. We have fallen into a “snack rut” with the same old stand-bys. Living in a small town with no health-food store, it’s hard to find snacks that don’t contain a lot of sugar, calories, or high fructose corn syrup.

I was excited to receive the samples from Snikiddy. My family tried the Chocolate Chippers and the Grilled Cheese Puffs. They put all of the good information right on the front of the package “low in sugar,” “no trans fats, no hydrogenated oils, no corn syrup, no preservatives” and “USDA Organic” – wow, these sound like a great, healthy snack!

The Chocolate Chippers are mini-cookies; perfect size for small hands to hold. One bag’s serving size contains only 2 grams of sugar. My husband and I don’t normally care for crunchy cookies, and these are crunchy, but they were very tasty and we both liked them. My daughter had her own bag to sample and she really liked these cookies. “Mmmmm” was all I heard from her!

I’ve never given my daughter Cheese Puffs; they just aren’t something we buy as neither my husband nor I like them…and I don’t like the orange powder that gets all over your hands. These cheese puffs are little round balls (great for practicing the pincer grasp!) and come in a nice size serving bag. The white powder does come off on your hands, but it brushes off easily and doesn’t leave a huge mess on your fingertips (unless your kid is like mine and can make a complete mess out of any food!) My husband still doesn’t like the texture of cheese puffs, but he said the flavor of these were actually pretty good – I agreed and I shared the bag with Kayla who thought they were pretty good too.
You CAN have a great-tasting, healthy snack food without high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, perservatives, and ingredients you can’t pronounce! – Michelle

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As a health-conscious mom, I am always scouring the market for new products that don’t contain nasty, unnatural ingredients. Not only are artificial and chemical additives suspected to cause hyperactivity in children (among other things), who knows what health problems they may be linked to in the future. I was uber-conscious about what went into my mouth during pregnancy, simply because I knew what I ate, baby ate, too. Why stop when baby’s born? Or even when baby’s done with pureed food? And why have to sacrifice flavor and convenient packaging just so be able to serve up natural snacks to your youngsters?

That’s why I was tickled to find out about Snikiddy Snacks. There are so many health foods for kids popping up…but I must say that this company’s approach, packaging, and philosophy really grabbed my attention.

The first thing my 3-year-old son said when I handed him his first packet of their Grilled Cheese Organic Cheese Puffs was, “I really like that cool boy on the bag!” This company knows that kids are visually driven and can be marketed to most easily by attractiveness and likability. First brownie point scored!

That was even before the bag was opened. Hands down, we all adore the cheese puffs. They are just as good as…no, better than…the unhealthy fat-laden varieties available for years, and they have no artificial colors. (Read: No fluorescent orange powder staining everything in sight!) Hooray for “fanatically clean moms” everywhere! These snacks are also gluten-free.

Their Organic Chocolate Chippers are also a big favorite around here. Both of my children are chocolate lovers. (Perhaps “chocoloate snobs” is a better title….just like their mother,) I knew these cookies had to be great in order to win them over. I have to admit I was a little skeptical of whole wheat flour being among the ingredients. I’ve had quite a few baking mishaps when I’ve tried to substitute some of this for regular flour. No worries! The cookies were melt-in-your-mouth delicious, smooth, and tasty….they didn’t even taste “healthy.” [Ed: I use 100% whole wheat flour in everything and have never had a problem!]

All of Snikiddy Snacks’ products are certified organic by Oregon Tilth. They have no GMOs, no hydrogenated oils, no high-fructose corn syrup, no artificial colors, no artificial flavors, and no preservatives. They are sweetened with evaporated cane juice (Rapadura), which unlike most sugar, is not separated from the molasses stream during the manufacturing process.

One of the best things about Snikiddy Snacks is their nifty packaging. Their snacks come in individual Snack Pack sizes (enough for one child), Adventure Packs (boxes of five Snack Packs), and Sharing Packs (four to five servings per container). Sharing Packs! How cute is that?

You owe it to your family to pick up some of these snacks next time you go shopping. “Delicious, Mom!” was my 3-year-old’s exuberant response to these tasty treats. I’m sure your kids would agree! - Meg

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We are not 100% organic or 100% healthy at our house but I try to give the kids have a good balance between yummy junk and healthy snacks. I make sure apples and other fruits are washed and ready to grab from a bowl they can reach in the fridge and I usually keep the less healthy temptations up out of sight so I have some control over when they eat them ( I say some control because occasionally I have little monkeys that climb up to the top cabinets). I do like to buy some prepackaged snacks for when we are in a rush to get to school and its hard to find a variety of healthy choices with those. We get pretzels usually because they are one of the better choices but every now and then I buy things I’m sure have some not so great ingredients. I can never pass up a free snack so I was happy to test out Snikiddy Snacks with the kids. I never buy store bought chocolate chip cookies (I make my own) so I wasn’t sure what the kids would think of Snikkidy’s Chocolate Chippers. I thought they tasted good with a nice crunch and so did Ben and Jamie (we downed 2 packs in minutes). Ethan, my pickiest kid, didn’t like them and only ate one cookie, but remember he is only used to homemade cookies. I didn’t think they tasted healthy and thats just what you want in a cookie BUT they are organic and have no hydrogenated oils, no corn syrup and no preservatives. Definitely a good choice for those mornings when I am in a rush to pack the kids snacks, although I’d give Ethan the Snikiddy Grilled Cheese Puffs instead. These were a big hit with all 3 of the kids and me too. They also boast a healthy label while still being yummy and the bonus is that they don’t leave little fingers gross and cheesy like regular cheese puffs. Both of these snacks come in handy single serve packs or bigger 4-5 serving sizes. I will definitely look for these in my store to take the guilt out of purchasing prepackaged treats. - Heather

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Finding nutritional (and yummy) snacks for my little man has been a real struggle since he was old enough to eat them. Every type of snack that is good for him, he hates…And I must admit, I’ve tried some of them and they are pretty bad! However, I think I have finally come up with a solution that pleases us both!

Snikiddy snacks are certified USDA organic, but have the same yummy taste as all those “bad for you” alternatives! They are made from original family recipes and the finest natural and organic ingredients available. Every Snikiddy treat is absolutely free of hydrogenated oils, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives! In my book, it doesn’t get much better than that!

We had the chance to try the Chocolate Chippers and the Grilled Cheese Puffs, and were very pleased with both. The Grilled Cheese Puffs taste very similar to a yummy grilled cheese sandwich, a favorite of my little man. So needless to say, they were gone in just seconds! They are gluten-free and are the only USDA certified organic puffs on the market. These were very yummy to everyone in our house! The Chocolate Chippers were a BIG hit as well for our family! They are the only commercially available cookies made without refined sugar. My little man has a sweet tooth, so I have to say that these were his favorite! I was able to snag one from him before he gobbled them up and I was impressed as well…They taste just as good as those “bad for you” snacks, and leave me feeling much less guilty!

Thanks, Snikiddy Snacks for introducing such an awesome “snack-time solution” for our family! I recommend these snacks to all families, but especially those who have picky toddlers! Snikiddys have really mastered a snack that is nutritional without losing great taste. My little man loves them, and I feel good in offering him a snack that is much better for him! - Sara

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When it comes to food, do you have persnickety kids? Are you looking for Certified Organic and Certified Kosher snacks that are delicious and healthy to feed those persnickety kids? If you are, then Snikiddy Snacks may be for you!

Snikiddy Snacks were started in 2005 by a mother and daughter team. The mom (now a grandmother) formulated the fantastic recipes in her kitchen, using only high quality, organic ingredients. Snikiddy offers sweet and savory varieties of their snacks to please even the most “snikiddy” of kids! My 2 year-old daughter and I tried the Chocolate Chippers and the Grilled Cheese Puffs.

The Chocolate Chippers were the perfect little bite size cookie for us! They are crispy and crunchy, yet their flavor is sweet but delicate. I wasn’t overwhelmed by the sugary sweetness that I find in most “store bought” cookies. By using organic Rapidura sugar in their recipe, Snikiddy is able to provide a rich sweetness with a hint of molasses flavor. I was in love the minute I popped one in my mouth. My toddler felt the same way. She was asking for cookies all night long!

The Grilled Cheese Puffs are yummy too! While they don’t appear to be overloaded with cheese, you can tell very quickly that they are addictive. My daughter and I ate the snack sized bag very quickly, eventually licking our fingers because we wanted more! She liked them because they were easy to chew and tasted very cheesy. I liked them because they were delicious and made with wholesome ingredients. I can’t wait to try the other flavors!

Check out the freebies that you can get by collecting UPCs to send in. You can get T-Shirts and Art Supplies for your little “Snikiddy Snacker”. - Christy

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As an experienced mother of two, I am fully aware of the extreme importance of bribes. When shopping or attempting finish any task having healthy snacks at my disposal is of the utmost importance. We put Snikiddy Snacks to rigorous testing and this is how our family graded them.

Taste – A-
Ingredients – A+
Packaging – C
Mess Factor – D+

Becca was very excited to try a new snack. As a preschooler she is forever hungry and loves “snack” food. The Organic Cookies disappeared very quickly (I helped!). We both agreed that they were really yummy! We tried the Organic Cheese Puffs and decided they were great but not as good as the cookies. Becca even chose to save some for her Dad, something she would not been able to do if they were more than good.

I really like the fact that the ingredients are organic, free of artificial colors and flavors. As a family we are trying to do our part in supporting organic foods and farmers, so knowing we can do that with these snacks makes me happy.

I am not a huge fan of individual packages. I like to control how much snack food the kids get. Plus if I buy one package then package it myself there is less waste as an end result. The individual packages are not recyclable.

These snacks were very messy. Not only was my preschooler coated with crumbs and chocolate, so was my coffee table and carpet! We both had to wash up once we finished our snack. This is not my ideal for an on-the-go snack. I would not allow either the Organic Cheese Puffs the Organic Cookies, in the car for example.

Overall, Snikiddy Snacks are a great concept, with a lot of potential. They taste great and my preschooler gobbled them up. They could create less waste and mess for this mom. I am not sure about availability, but I will be watching for them at my grocery store! - Chelle

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Snikiddy Snacks aren’t yet available in Canada (let’s get working on that Snikiddy!) so we hope our American readers enjoy them! And if anyone feels like sending me some cookies in a care package, I wouldn’t object.

Guest review by T.O.P. reader Heather. Pay her a visit, won’t you?

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For no particular reason my aunt sent us a gift of a Cuisinart Ice 45 Mix It In Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker and it was a great surprise. Unfortunately, it may have been a little too great since I have been making it 2-3 times a week and I’m trying to lose weight. We already had a more basic ice cream maker that rarely got used but this one is a soft serve one that lets you mix in candy toppings and even has a cone holder. The kids think its a ton of fun and every time we have their friends over we make it.

The kids can even do it themselves (with a hovering adult ready to prevent an overflow). The kids and I win out about 90% of the time and I make chocolate but my husband loves vanilla. I’m selfish and have gotten the kids to prefer chocolate so I get my favorite flavor!

If you get one of these you have to add some time onto the recommended cooling time, I think it tells you it takes 12-15 minutes to be ready but we let it run at least 20 minutes or it is too runny. Thats its only flaw, otherwise its the tastiest, most fun thing in our kitchen!

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Buy it from Amazon. It’s on sale now for $100 (from $235) and ships free!

We’re primarily organic folks here at TOP. We spend a lot of time preparing food for our son so that we can be assured he’s eating high quality, pesticide free food that not only tastes good but won’t give him cancer in 40 years. After several late night steaming sessions trying to get enough food prepared for the next day, we knew it was time to have a convenient backup plan but highly processed jars of food don’t quite meet our standards. Luckily, my local grocer carries BOBOBABY products.

Burnaby, BC mom Kalpna Solanki has a public health and environmental background which led her, like us, to strictly evaluate everything that entered her daughter’s mouth. She quickly realized how much work it is to feed our children this way and decided to offer her high quality foods in age-appropriate and convenient portions to other parents. BOBOBABY is a proud supporter of ‘Success by Six’, an agency that is devoted to provide all children with a good start in life.

Frozen in recyclable cube-like trays and sealed tightly, BOBOBABY foods are all certified organic with no salt, preservatives or colour added. Every dish is free of the top nine allergens (eggs, nuts, soy, dairy, wheat, fish, shellfish, meat and poultry) and they’re all certified kosher. Feeding BOBOBABY is completely worry free.

There are twelve available products, separated into 6+, 7+ and 9+ months. We love that the ingredients are fully disclosed and are all organic, fresh and easily pronounced – just like we’d make if we always had time. We tried two from each category and, I’m embarrassed to say, some of them actually looked and tasted even better than my homemade foods because of the creative combinations. The lentils and mixed vegetables is so good I copied the ingredients and made a similar dish for my husband and I. It wasn’t quite as good, but he knew better than to say it!

The only problem? They’re so good that you may want to thaw an extra cube or two. You know you’ll be sampling.

Win a high quality, snap closure BOBOBABY 100% cotton embroidered bib. We have ten to give away! Email theopinionatedparent[at]gmail[dot]com with BOBOBABY in the subject heading and the answer to the question How did BOBOBABY get it’s name? Contest closes at midnight MST on Friday, March 9, 2007.

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