Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Some of our Favorite Foods

I would like to share some of our favorite foods and snacks. They have been taste-approved by my picky 2 year old and Dale and I even find ourselves snagging some of Everett's kid-friendly snacks.

Gorilla Munch by EnviroKidz was one of the first cereals I bought Everett when he turned one. It's organic and gluten free. Ingredients include: organic corn meal, organic evaporated cane juice, and sea salt. That's it. I believe the less ingredients, the better. Look at a box of Kix and you'll see about 30, including phosphates (a chemical) and tocopherols (which acts as a preservative).


In Gorilla Munch, there are no synthetic pesticides, no synthetic herbicides, no artificial preservatives or additives, and no irradiation. Not only is EnviroKidz cereal good to our body, it's also good to our environment. They donate 1% of their sales to species and habitat conservations and environmental education.

Everett eats it for both breakfast and snacks.

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Another cereal we all enjoy are Fruitful O's and Cinnamon Crunch by Cascadian Farm Organic.



I'd prefer Everett to have plain cereals but the taste buds of a 2 year old are in favor of a little bit of flavor. I compromise and give him limited amounts of the "taste good" cereals like these. Again, like most organic foods, there are no synthetic pesticides, chemical fertilizers or genetically engineered ingredients. Also, no artificial flavors or artificial preservatives.

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When Everett eats well and asks for a cookie, I treat him every once in awhile with sweets. These include Country Choice Organic Vanilla Wafers and Newman-O's Chocolate Cookies by Newman's Own Organics.




The Vanilla Wafers taste just like Nilla Wafers and I even have a few every once in awhile to fulfill my sweet tooth. Again, all organic ingredients and no artificial flavors or preservatives.

His favorite are the Chocolate Cookies by Newmans Own Organics. Of course a cookie is a cookie and it's probably not the best thing for you but if you must have one, try one of these. Unlike Oreos that contain artificial vanilla flavoring and high fructose corn syrup, Newman-O's uses real vanilla and do not contain trans fats or partially hydrogenated oils.

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I bought Van's Natural Foods Wheat/Gluten Free Waffles for Everett but I have found myself eating them more for breakfast than him. He went through a waffle phase but I think he's out of it now. Regardless, I eat them with a bit of peanut butter and I must say that they are more delicious than any Eggo waffle. They have an organic version of these waffles but I chose to go wheat/gluten free. For many people, wheat and gluten are difficult for the body to digest. Your body works a little bit harder to process these through your body. Through research and through my own experiment in cutting out wheat and gluten from my diet for a period of time, I found myself with more energy and my skin was more clear. My local grocery store has a section of gluten free foods that I love.

My only concern at first with Van's food products was the calcium phosphate in their list of ingredients. Phosphates in general are chemicals but calcium phosphate is a mineral and is commonly used as a rising agent in baked goods, i.e., baking soda. So, it's not harmful. In looking up ingredients, I've learned a lot of what I am consuming. I admit I was a bit naive and disappointed that a natural/organic food company would put a chemical ingredient in their products. I was aware of what phosphates were but little did I know what calcium phosphate was. It's pretty much baking soda. Ha!

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These are just a few of our favorite foods that we enjoy and wanted to share with you; especially you moms with 2 year olds who are looking for some alternatives to the conventional, kid-minded foods. If you try any of them, let me know how your toddler (or you!) like them.

Happy, healthy eating!

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for this! I feel pretty good about the food choices I make for Jack, but there's always room for improvement especially when it comes to my own diet. I love Cascadian Farms and Jack's cereal of choice is their multigrain squares. I recently gave him Kix, which he liked and I like the low sugar content, but I will definitely check out the EnviroKids version. I don't mind giving him sweet treats, but in general I like his meals and snacks to be as sugar free as possible. I probably look more at the sugar and sodium content in foods than anything else. I need to start looking at the ingredients list as well. The less chemicals, the better! I just wish it wasn't so darn expensive to eat this healthy. :P

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