Lunchbox Treats That Aren’t So Bad For Them

September 15, 2015 by Leave a Comment

I do my best, but packing lunches gets boring after a while. Depending on what we have in the cabinets, I toss in granola bars, pudding packs, applesauce, or the rare homemade chocolate chip cookie. I also slice fruit — usually apples — and put the slices in a plastic bag and squeeze in a few drops of lemon or lime juice to prevent browning. Two days out of five those fruit slices come back home with one or the other child, but then that becomes his after-school snack.

In our awesome Scout Box from the Savvy Sassy Moms Product Scouts Program we found a few great new snacks to try. I’m happy to report that among my two boys, all of the snacks were a hit for either or both of them. And two of them are being demanded to make repeat appearances. Both of those products are from Plum Organics, the company that makes nutritious organic food for kids from babies to …well, let’s just say adults have eaten their foods, too.

boy eating plum organics mash ups

Fruit & Veggie Mashups: These are like those apple sauce pouches that you slurp the applesauce out of, eliminating the need for a spoon to be packed in the lunch. Plus the little caps can be recycled. I had tried out these squishy packs from a different brand over a year ago and neither of my kids liked them. I guess my 3rd-grader forgot all about that failed experiment, because he ate two of these “beetbox berry” flavored pouches right after we opened the box. Then he asked me to buy them again. I don’t think he knows there are beets in the recipe…

IMG_2242Plum Organics Mashups: $3.99 for a box of 4

It’s kind of awesome that each of the boys picked a thing they liked because they didn’t have to fight over who got to eat the most of any certain snack. The 10-year-old had to contend with me, though, when it came to the Jammy Sammy box:

IMG_2243Plum Organics Jammy Sammy snacks: $4.19 for a box of 5

Because hello, it’s a peanut butter and jelly sandwich snack! What could be better? Actually, their school recommends peanut-free snacks, so this selection was great for other outings, or an after-school snack. And for Mom. They also come in peanut-free flavors.

Another snack we wouldn’t have normally tried but was a pleasant surprise for all of us was the box of Annie’s Organic Cheddar Bunnies. Better than the alternative (that I usually buy) these bunny snacks contain 100% real cheese, organic wheat, and absolutely no artificial flavors, synthetic colors or synthetic preservatives. This box didn’t even make it to the first day of school.

IMG_2244Annie’s Organic Cheddar Bunnies: $5.09 for 7.65 oz box

Gummies that are good for you: this isn’t exactly a traditional lunchbox item, but it could be added in a fun little container for your child to discover a tasty treat while at school. Smarty Pants gummy vitamins look like gumdrops – they are sprinkled with organic sugar! – but they are not candy. These sweet chewables are multivitamins that are great for kids and grownups too. One out of two of my kids absolutely loves them, and requests them. Who ever heard of a kid requesting to take his vitamins?

boy with smarty pants vitamin gummiesSmartyPants Vitamins: $24.95 for a one-month supply

What snacks do you put into your kids’ lunch boxes or bags? I’d love other suggestions, because even I get bored putting the same old things in their bags every day.

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Let Mabel’s Labels Mark Your Things for Back to School

September 10, 2015 by 52 Comments

I’ve been a big Mabel’s Labels fan for years, and I was delighted that a coupon for an Ultimate Back-to-School Combo kit appeared in my Scout Box from the Savvy Sassy Moms Product Scouts Program. I still have a few labels left from the last order I placed a few years ago, but those adorable designs were starting to be declared “not cool enough” by my oh-so-cool 8- and 10-year-old boys.

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I was happy to see that Mabel has updated her design choices. The tools help you narrow down what you are going to have printed on ALL THE THINGS in the combo pack:

  • 40 Mini Custom Name Stickers: 38mm x 8mm (1-1/2″ x 5/16″)
  • 50 Tag Mates™ Stick On Clothing Labels: 21mm x 10mm (13/16″ x 3/8″)
  • 16 Custom Shoe Stickers: 33mm (1.3″)
  • 2 Personalized Mini Tags: 30mm x 20mm (1-1/4″ x 3/4″)

You definitely want to pick the right colors, design, and text. And since there are only 4 font choices, you will not be paralyzed by indecision…for as long. Here’s what I picked:

mabels labels back to schoolI slapped these labels on backpacks, lunch bags, sweatshirts, bicycles, scooters, helmets, notebooks, scissors, and anything else that went out the door in the first week of school. I keep the very compact folio of many unused labels in the junk drawer near our kitchen, because for us school seems to pick up speed slowly. We are still getting requests for supplies, or the supplies I ordered come in a little bit at a time, so on any given morning there is something I have to slap a label on.

Plus now that I have widened our focus to our last name instead of the kids’ initials, I can use this one pack for both kids, plus Mom and Dad, too. Not that we often have to label our own stuff, but you never know!

Mabel’s Labels Ultimate Back-to-School Pack: $42

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Brushing Teeth With Kids’ Hello Toothpaste

September 8, 2015 by 21 Comments

hello flavors

Since each of my boys sprouted teeth as babies, I’ve only used the toothpaste I could find at my local grocery store, or on occasion, Target. The kids eventually made their preferences known, and they usually choose the watermelon flavor of the major brand’s kids’ toothpaste. Nobody looks forward to brushing his teeth, despite me trying to make it fun and sing-songy, or using those musical toothbrushes, or light up versions, or setting timers, etc. Basically I just say it to them 40 times “Brush your teeth. Brush your teeth. Have you brushed your teeth? Don’t you move a muscle until you brush your teeth.”

But! Then my first Scout Box came – it’s a box of products that I occasionally receive from the Savvy Sassy Moms Product Scouts Program to try, then share on the internets to tell you about them if I really love them:

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Inside, among other products I’ll tell you about later, there were three flavors of a new-to-us toothpaste called Hello.

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…and it had us at “Hello.”

The flavors we received are Bubble Gum, Green Apple, and Blue Raspberry. Bubble Gum and Raspberry emerged as the kid-chosen front runners, and my favorite part about them are that there are no preservatives, artificial sweeteners, triclosan, or dyes. That last one is obvious because the toothpastes are white, not neon green or striped, and when the kids drop some on the bathroom counter, they easily wipe off but in the meantime they are not leaving sticky green glops all over the place. (Somehow white glops aren’t so bad.)

 boy brushing teethReal child using hello on his first day of school. Not staged at all, I promise. (I’m just out of frame in my PJ’s)

The ingredients in the kids’ toothpaste are all listed on the hello website. The company makes an effort to make their products be “earth-friendly” and safe for kids. The price is about the same as the well-known brands, and the product is just better. You can find it in stores or online.

And a bonus – a sample-size of the adult toothpaste came in my ScoutBox so I’ve been using the spearmint flavor and I really love it!

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