I hear grumblings a lot from families who just cannot seem to get anything good into their kid’s diets without getting the proverbial EWWWW it’s green! Or whatever color it may be is usually the turn off. Unfortunately our society has programmed our precious children into thinking that cherries should look like maraschinos and cheese should be neon orange and yogurt is bright blue. So when I find companies on the market making an effort to help us sneak some things into our kid’s diets without all the fuss…I say bring it on. Of course if you’ve ever worked with me as a client you know that I truly believe in teaching your children how to make better choices with food first and foremost; however, sometimes we’ve just got to have a break and use some easy dishes that are already loaded up with goodness. Some of my favorites are Dr. Praegers which has yummy spinach cakes. They also come in sweet potato and plain too. A dollop of sour cream on top masks the color and they are crispy, light and yum. Happy Bites has amazing mac n cheese bites plus salmon sticks are fab too. So, the newest on the market is a company called Kidfresh. I was lucky enough to have them send me some samples and coupons. So after you read this blog if you DM or email me, I’ll give you one of their FREE & $1 off coupons.

Matt Cohen, Kidfresh founder, wanted more delicious and healthy meal options for his own children as well as meals that were quick and easy for parents. He enlisted a top chef and a pediatric nutritionist to find just the right recipes for kids. They launched their first store in New York City which offered natural and organic children’s meals prepared daily in their kitchen. They had so much local and international interest that they wanted to offer the meals to grocery stores nationwide. Hence, the new Kidfresh frozen meals were born. The meals are variations of children’s favorites while packed with vegetables. They contain nothing artificial made without BPA or phthalates as well as use environmentally-friendly packaging. We say thumbs up to a delicious and conscientious combination! My 8 year old son loves the macaroni and cheese wagon wheels dish! And even better than the taste, the packaging is super kitschy and cute to look at & doesn’t scream ‘I’M HEALTHY’. So, date night out for you and your spouse doesn’t always have to be junk—throw one of these in too for a cleaner choice. Don’t forget to email me about the freebies I have from Kidfresh so you can try it for yourself.

As many of you know, my Mom, Dad and brother own and operate the largest family owned health foods stores in South Florida called Nutrition Cottage Health Foods. I’ve been blessed to get to know so many products first hand because they either carry it in their store or know about it from all the national conferences they attend. One such company they put me in touch with is Nana’s cookies which so graciously sent me some of their fabulous line of snacks for my family to try. Without a doubt the fudgy wudgy cookie bars and lemon bites are our favorites but we loved all of them honestly. For all you ‘Little Debbie’ fans, these are the best alternative out there that my kids love to take in their lunchboxes because they look cool and taste great. Wholesome is a huge fan of any company that starts off on the right foot and stays true to their mission of healthy, fun products. I love their story so let me fill you in a little on them: In 1992, Miriam “Nana” Diamond began making delicious, healthy cookies for her friends and family. These all natural cookies use no refined sugars, are non GMO, no cholesterol, no casein, no eggs, no soy, trans fat free and are only sweetened with natural fruit juice. Everyone loved her cookies so much that she decided to start her own cookie company. She spent months working on her four signature cookie flavors including Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, and Peanut Butter. She began selling her cookies to stores locally and now 20 years later her variety of cookies, cookie bites and cookie bars can be found around the country. Plus, for all my allergy families ~ Nana’s Cookie Company also now makes a line of Gluten Free cookies in a variety of flavors that are free of corn, soy, dairy, eggs, casein and wheat. And, if you are Curious George fan they are running a special on all their packaging right now for you to get free DVDs or games with your purchase.

After my morning run or work out I am usually ravenous. Grabbing a Greek yogurt and filling it up with sesame seeds and flax meal is a staple of mine. There are so many on the market now a days to choose from that it all comes down to taste with us! So when Chobani so thoughtfully sent me a selection of all their choices—the whole family weighed in! Peach, blueberry & strawberry are the little one’s fav and then for my hubby it’s the vanilla and for me it’s the pineapple. Honestly they are all so sweet and creamy but we had to choose somehow. Chobani is a delicious Greek yogurt made in the rolling hills of Upstate New York & has been around since 2007. Hamdi, the owner and Greek native, decided upon this name because Chobani, spelled Chopani, is the Greek word for shepherd which represents safety and goodness & wow it is so obvious they are dedicated to making true, high-quality dairy products.

So what makes them different?? Mustafa Dogan is Chobani’s Master Yogurt Maker and he has a passion for making yogurt..they specially blend cultures to add to the milk the company gets from local farms. The yogurt is strained to make it extra creamy and is extremely high in protein. It is also all natural, has no preservatives or artificial flavors. There are no synthetic growth hormones (hallelujah!) and only real fruit is added. Plus, it is gluten-free, kosher-certified, and is safe for people with corn, nut and soy allergies. For recipes or where to buy Chobani, please see their website: www.chobani.com or you can follow them on Facebook or Twitter @chobani as well.

There are many fabulosity moments in running your own biz…but one of the big perks of running Wholesome… besides the obvious fact which is helping all the precious families around me…are the neat things we get sent to test out with our special panel of very picky judges :-)  Below is just the beginning of what we will be highlighting on our blog… If you have anything else you’d like us to see—please email me directly allie@wholesomebyallie.com

Kids Konserve

Wholesome props to the 2 savy business women of Kids Konserve who saw a huge need for environmentally-friendly reusable lunch kits. They wanted to show their children how they could conserve the environment and be proactive in changing the future. Bravo to them for taking the bull by the horns and making it happen! They saw a need in the school lunch system by how much trash was being produced each day from lunch time alone. So the women used their business talents to develop reusable products that would impact the ever-growing amount of trash being sent to landfills and would help preserve the environment. And voila…a fabulous line of products is now available for you and me. I’m always looking for ‘teachable moments’ with my family and they’ve made it not only easy to do but cute as a button to boot. I personally adore the Kozy that acts like a Ziploc bag for anything and is easily wipeable to clean. The money I’m saving on not having to buy thousands of bags for 5 lunches a week times two is awesome plus I love keeping our carbon footprint lower whenever I can. Stainless containers are hard to find so I love them as well as the BPA-free water bottles—my son and daughter take them to school every day so we love the cute design on it! These pictures are from a picnic with the kids at the zoo & they love all their products b/c they are new and fun & mama likes too because there isn’t any YUCK leaching onto thier food. Ok, so check out all the other super usable stuff they have online: www.kidskonserve.com  where you will see a variety of re-usable products from lunch saks, to stainless steel containers, stainless steel thermoses, to reusable napkins. Their products are so cute and are all BPA, Phthalate, Lead and PVC free. What more could you ask for? Please see their website for more information and you can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter @kidskonserve