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.

Uncle Eddie’s Vegan Cookies is the latest victim of the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak, recalling its über-delicious Uncle Eddies Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate-Chip Cookies because they contain peanut butter supplied by Peanut Corporation of America.

The recent Salmonella outbreak initially seemed to be confined to the mainstream food system, but with the recall of Clif and Luna bars, people are starting to realize that just because you buy natural foods, you aren’t any safer from some inherent weaknesses in our supply chain.

When a product from one factory can infect hundreds, possibly thousands, of people all over the country, our reach is too big. We can’t possibly be ensured of the safety of our food with a system like ours.

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.

My family has long been a fan of Nature’s Path Flax Plus Granola Cereal with Pumpkin Seeds, so we were excited to try the new Flax Plus flavor Red Berry Crunch. Flax is not only a great source of fiber, but it provides Omega-3 fatty acids to your diet.

MC wrote about how Omega-3s are important for healthy winter skin, but they have also been found to decrease the risk of heart disease, discourage the growth of prostate and breast cancer, and support the immune function. Flax Plus Red Berry Crunch contains 800 mg of Omega-3s, the highest in the Flax Plus line. Flax seeds are an important source of Omega-3s in a vegetarian diet.

Flax Plus Red Berry Crunch ingredients:

Organic whole wheat meal, organic wheat bran, organic rolled oats, organic evaporated cane juice, organic flax, organic soy oil, organic brown rice flour, organic freeze dried raspberries, organic oat bran, organic barley malt extract, organic freeze dried strawberries, sea salt, natural strawberry flavor, organic oat syrup solids, tocopherols (natural vitamin E), organic molasses, organic rice bran extract, organic cinnamon.