Happy Friday! Our family has had an action-packed week – last Saturday our youngest, Baby P, turned 1, and then our oldest, Big P, turned 5 on the 4th of July! I am planning to blog about all the birthday festivities once we recover, but today I am sharing 5 of the things I’m loving right now. And in the spirit of our new series on feeding our families, I’m focusing my list today on food-related items.
1/ Peter Rabbit Organic Strawberry Banana Pouches – My kids always beg for these strawberry banana pouches when we’re at Starbucks, and they’re one of the only healthy-ish, portable snacks that all 3 of my kids will happily eat anytime day or night. I recently added this 10-pack of pouches to my Amazon Subscribe & Save order, which brings the price down close to $1/pouch. Still not the most economical of snack choices, but I so appreciate having an easy snack ready to go in my pantry (or in the Starbucks line!)
2/ Starbucks Protein Boxes – Speaking of Starbucks, I really appreciate the variety of snacks and protein boxes available at Starbucks these days. We are in the midst of an incredibly busy season of life with 3 little boys, 2 full-time jobs, and our house on the market (plus an impending move if/ when it sells). As a result, we’ve found ourselves eating out way more than we’d like. In addition to grocery store meals (which I’m working on a post about), Starbucks is often our go-to for relatively healthy, kid-friendly food options – my kids usually share an egg & cheese or PB&J protein box and then we add on a strawberry banana pouch for each of them, but there are usually other healthy-ish snack options available as well (like string cheese, whole fruit, yogurt parfaits, chickpea puffs, etc).
3/ Mel’s Kitchen Cafe food blog – I read a lot of food blogs, but unfortunately I don’t actually make many recipes from them. There is one notable exception, however, and that is Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. Mel’s blog is THE most approachable, helpful food blog. Her recipes are truly no-fail, and she’s a mom of 5 kids, so her blog is jam packed with resources on how to feed your family. Some of her recipes take a little more time but she’s always transparent about that and offers suggestions for shortcuts where appropriate. Some of my favorites of her recipes include: Creamy White Chicken Chili (and her cornbread to go with it!); Honey Lime Fruit Salad; Oatmeal Pancake Mix; and Crispy Chicken Wraps. But honestly I have made a TON of her recipes and loved all of them.
5/ Oxo Barista Brain 9 Cup Coffee Maker – The Peas house basically runs on coffee, and I am very thankful that we purchased this Oxo Barista Brain coffee maker a few years ago. It makes a consistently delicious pot of coffee that allegedly replicates the pour-over process with a lot less fuss. It’s not as quick and easy as a Keurig or other pod type machine, but it’s less wasteful and also (in my opinion) tastes a lot better. Many people have come to our house and been impressed with the quality of the coffee we serve (and we don’t buy expensive beans – usually just a big bag from Costco). I highly recommend this coffee maker if you’re in the market for one.
That’s my list of food-related favorites for this Friday. Now I want to hear what you’re loving right now …. bonus points if it’s food-related :).
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
I’ll add freeze dried fruit to my recent favorites! They’re not really cheap (I buy the Target brand), but they are relatively non-messy, both my kids like them and most of all a healthy(-er) option than other things!
blogger / apricot / 275 posts
@snowjewelz: That is a really good one! My kids LOVE freeze-dried fruit. We usually stock up at Trader Joe’s but it’s also a great grocery store (or Starbucks!) snack to grab when you find yourself out and about and in need of something to feed the kiddos. Which fruits do your kiddos like?
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
@Mrs. Peas: I go to TJ almost everyday, why do I not know they have freeze dried fruit too?! They rejected apples and pineapple; favorite is peach and mango! I avoid strawberries and blueberries b/c they stain so easily!
guest
Tkank you so much for your list of food-related favorites
The coffee machine is really impressive haha
apricot / 279 posts
@Mrs. Peas:We got some of those strawberry banana pouches from Amazon too when I saw a coupon and with the S&S, it came to about 75 cents a pouch. Just fyi if you do not already know- that you could apply these coupons again if you cancel your subscription and re-subscribe again…so I always keep an eye out when I am about to purchase again, especially on laundry tide pods =) There’s always a $3 coupon off! That said…the kids are just okay with the pouches, neither of my kids like things too sweet and i think they must use really ripe bananas for these pouches.
I was really looking forward to trying one of the Starbucks protein lunch boxes- and did couple months ago, the BLT. It wasn’t good. The picture on their app looked SO good, it was mouthwatering and I was drooling for it….but what I huge disappointment. The bacon was soggy, tomatoes were not fresh and I don’t remember tasting lettuce lol. I wanted to toss it out but I don’t like wasting food.