Green Options

Remember krisp rice treats?  Those ooey, gooey, cubes of crunchy, sweet, deliciousness… (or is that just me?).  Anyway, two of my kids are gluten free which means those bars don’t happen in our household.  However, the other day I was looking in our gluten free cupboard (yep, we have separate cupboards) and trying to come up with a treat for the kids since the weekend and grocery shopping were still a couple days away.

I took note of the Envirokidz Peanut Butter Panda Puffs and Nature’s Path Whole O’s cereals in the cabinet that we had been sent earlier in the week to try out, then I recalled that I still had a stash of homemade marshmallows on hand.  So, I grabbed the recipe book and 20 minutes later, we were munching on a new crispy, sweet treat.  (BTW, the kids ADORE Peanut Butter Panda Puffs with soy milk and strawberries for breakfast or snack as well.)

Here’s the recipe we used.  We often play with our ingredients to find just the right combination of textures and flavors.  Try adding in some dried fruit, granola or coconut.  (Be sure to add an extra marshmallow or two to offset the added dry ingredients.)

I often write about our gluten free food finds since two of my children are on a GFCF diet (one for Celiac, one for ASD).  Recently, a box arrived on my door step containing some new breakfast and snack options to try out.  This morning, my little munchkins enjoyed Nature Path’s Organic Whole O’s and were THRILLED.

In the past, I’ve brought home other O type gluten free cereals which couldn’t pass the kids taste test. So, I was thrilled when this tasty option arrived.

The O’s are crunchy and the texture closely resembles the original O cereal we all know and love.  The ingredients include: organic brown rice flour, organic corn flour, organic evaporated cane juice, organic pomegranate juice concentrate, sea salt.

Whole O’s is certified USDA Organic, Vegetarian, Low Sodium, Trans Fat Free and Gluten Free.  A 2/3 cup serving boasts 110 calories and 1.5 grams of fat.  Our kids enjoy Whole O’s with a light drizzle of Agave and sliced bananas or berries.

The EnviroKidz/Nature’s Path story has already been told on Eco Child’s Play, but we are always thrilled to try new products and flavors.  Nature’s Path is a company devoted to producing high quality, organic foods in a sustainable method.

I usually feed my children oatmeal and hot chocolate for breakfast, but on occasion, organic cold cereal is a quick solution on a rushed morning.  We have tried Envirokidz organic cereal, and my favorite flavor is the gluten-free Gorilla Munch.  Nature’s Path has just introduced two new flavors of Envirokidz: Leapin’ Lemurs and Penguin Puffs.

The Story Behind Nature’s Path

The story behind Nature’s Path is kind of interesting. In 1971, Arran Stephens and a business partner opened LifeStream, Canada’s first large organic supermarket.  This store quickly expanded into a natural food line founded on the principle of “wholesome foods grown and processed in harmony with nature”.  Ten years later, an awkward partnership led to the sale of the company to Kraft/Philip Morris.  In 1985, Arran and his wife Ratana started Nature’s Path, which quickly grew to the point that they built the first third-party certified organic cereal plant in the world in BC.  Arran and Ratana were even able to purchase Lifestream back from Kraft, something you don’t usually hear of happening when giant corporations buy out smaller health food companies.