Finally the snow, ice and freezing temperature have gone and summer is upon us. Unfortunately so is my summer figure. My flip flops are about the only thing that still fit after our long winter hibernation. I decided it was time to dust off that jog stroller, stretch my limbs and shrink my butt with some serious power walking and maybe even a jog. So after contemplating this for a few days, I finally loaded the stroller with kids and armed myself with snacks and juice. Bye bye big butt, hello swim suit!
I spent the first mile handing juice, cheerios and other such snacks back and forth over the stroller to small hands and tiny voices. To my surprise, most things came flying back at double the speed. I thought they loved these snacks, what was going on? As tiny voices turned into deafening squeals, I realized it was time to concede. Sadly, I turned the stroller around and walked home pulling sticky snacks out of my hair. Was it going to be Hello big butt, instead of Hello swim suit on the beach this summer?
I spent most of nap time thinking about the mornings disastrous events. It occurred to me that every day I gave the kids the same old snacks, maybe this was their way of telling me, we’re bored with this stuff, give us something new and much more delicious. Not ready to become Hello big butt just yet, I decided an afternoon expedition to Trader Joes might just save the day (and my butt!) Here’s what I found.
Snacks
Trader Joe’s Old Fashioned Cinnamon Grahams make a great on the go snack. They are made of whole wheat graham flour sweetened with honey and cane juice with a taste reminiscent of ginger bread. Unlike some brands I’ve had, they are not dry and crumble less, which I think you will agree is key for on the go snacks.
Kashi Mighty Bites are another fabulous stroller snack; you can also eat them for breakfast. Mighty Bites are actually cute little people shaped whole grain cereal. There’s nothing artificial in them and they are a reasonable source of fiber and vitamins.
Kashi Cheese TLS (“tasty little crackers”) in country cheddar make a great stroller snack, they are relatively mess free and have no hydrogenated oils or trans fat. These tasty little crackers are made from Kashi Seven Whole Grain and Sesame flour and real cheddar cheese.
Robert’s American Gourmet Pirate’s Booty is what I call a healthy, no choke snack. The puffed rice and corn morsels melt in your mouth, which makes them great for little guys. They come in two flavors, Aged White Cheddar and Veggie (Kale). Amazingly my kids prefer the veggie flavor, although I’m more of cheddar fan myself. Again, they are all natural with no artificial colors or flavors. They’re also not too filling, so a great pre-dinner or lunch snack. Trader Joe’s also makes their own version of this snack.
Trader Joe’s Cinnamon Schoolbook Cookies are just too cute. They’re small cookies shaped like letters of the alphabet. My little guys are just starting to learn their letters, so this is certainly a fun, delicious and educational snack. Of course they have no artificial color, flavors or preservatives. At $2.29 for a one pound box, this is amazing value.
Trader Joe’s Organic Applesauce is super for warm weather picnics and take a long lunches. This product comes in a four cup pack in three flavors: regular, cinnamon and wild berry. Naturally they are fat free and have no sugar, preservatives or artificial colors or flavors.
My stroller snack mix- Put the following in a small zip lock bag (with the zipper) or a Snack Trap cup:
- Trader Joe’s Old Fashioned Cinnamon Grahams
- Trader Joe’s Cinnamon Schoolbook Cookies
- Kashi Mighty Bites
- Trader Joe’s Freeze Dried Pineapple
- Trader Joe’s Dried Cranberries
- Trader Joe’s Dried Apricots.
Shake to mix the snacks. My kids enjoy selecting what they would like to eat, and I feel good knowing that they’re not going to go crazy running around hyped up on food color and sugar. My little guys also like the variety of the mix, I think they sometimes get bored when I give them a whole packet of one snack, presenting the snack this way tends to keep them occupied for longer and the kids enjoy zipping and unzipping the bag. They also like the control they have over what and how much they eat.
My late afternoon snack pack – Trader Joe’s sells a pretty good range of fresh and inexpensive fruit, although I do find you need to eat it fairly quickly, as it wont last beyond a week at the most. I buy whatever looks good that week and cut the fruit up into shapes easy for tiny hands to pick up. I then put a mix of the fruit (e.g.: kiwi, berries, apple or banana and cut up fresh dates) into a small container and refrigerate until needed (a little lemon juice on the apple will stop it browning). Often I serve the fruit with string cheese or drinkable yoghurt.
Best wishes to you and yours (and your summer figure!)