Every so often, I like to show you all some of the most interesting new food products we have been trying out lately. It’s been a while since I’ve posted any of these, so I have plenty to share!
First up: Plum – Mighty 4
These are squeezable snack pouches for toddlers, containing 4 food groups (fruit, vegetables, dairy and ancient grains) rather than simply fruit or vegetable puree. I was really interested in the sound of these straight away. Mr T is not a good eater at all, maybe due partly to his ASD, so I do give him the fruit pouches quite often as a way to get him to eat different types of fruit that he wouldn’t eat if they were whole. Anything that makes it easier for him to try new tastes and flavours is a good thing for me, as I am really trying to expand his diet a bit more.
At first when I offered him these, he would not try it at all as he recognised the packaging was something new and different and he was a bit sceptical about it, but after a while I did manage to get him to try one. Once he saw the other two children eating it, he was happier to try and in the end he liked it. I tried a bit of one myself just to see what it was like before giving to the children, and they are less sweet than the fruit puree pouches but quite nice. I would buy more of these as they are handy to have as a snack or something extra for Mr T’s lunch box. The Plum Mighty4 pouches are 100% organic, contain no added sugar or salt and are free from all additives, artificial flavourings, colours and preservatives.
Nothing But Snacks and Fru Snax
These are both low calorie snacks which are pretty healthy. I enjoyed the Fru snax, which are a blend of yoghurt and fruit. They were really tasty and only 45 calories for a bag of snacks is pretty good.
The Nothing But Snacks are dried vegetables, with nothing added. They are such a healthy alternative to eating fried or even baked potato crisps, and count as 1 of your 5 a day. I love the idea of them and I wish that I did like the taste more as it would be better for me to eat those as a snack! Unfortunately I didn’t like the taste so much, as I found the vegetable taste quite strong so I wasn’t able to finish a whole packet of them (Mr R happily ate them though!). Although I really liked the idea of them I don’t know if I would buy these, but I would buy the Fru Snax.
Special K Granola
I’ve always been a fan of Special K so I was keen to try out the new granola. The two flavours available are Raisins and Red Apples and Cranberry, Pumpkin Seeds and Almonds. These are 30 per cent less fat than most other granolas which is great to know, especially as granola seems quite healthy anyway so these are even healthier. The recipe contains fives grains: oats, Barley, Wheat, Spelt, and Rye and is also fortified with iron and 6B vitamins.
I really enjoyed the taste of these, and it’s a really filling breakfast. I am very much a breakfast person, it’s my favourite meal of the day and I have to have something I enjoy eating at breakfast otherwise I get quite grumpy in the morning! These did the job very well and I would buy these in future. I would say my favourite is the Raisins and Red Apples and Cranberry but I like both of them.
There will be a competition coming up on the blog to win 2 cases of these Special K granolas, so keep a look out for that and come and enter!
Pidy Pastries
I have also been trying out some of the innovative new products from the Pidy pastry range*. These are all made with the award winning pastry recipe that the Pidy family initially created in their little patisserie shop in Ypres, Belgium back in 1952. The products are very convenient to use and handy, as they are ready prepared so you can quickly fill them with the filling of your choice. These are the bouchees shown above, which come in a pack of 4. I filled them with a mixture of roast vegetables to make a savory snack.
The bouchees are not so deep, so you won’t need too much filling to prepare these snacks.
Pidy also offer edible spoonettes in the range, which can be eaten with either sweet or savory fillings, and a range of veggie cups.
Cherizena Coffee
I have really been enjoying the Cherizena coffee varieties I’ve tried. Most recently we tried the Banoffee Pie variety. The sound of this appealed to me before I even tried, as I love banoffee! We make our Cherizena coffee in a filter coffee machine and use the medium ground beans. We also tried their Ethiopian Yirocheffe coffee, which has quite a strong flavour and is really nice. It’s the first time I’ve tried an Ethiopian coffee blend, and I really enjoyed it. I love drinking Cherizena coffee on weekend mornings. In the week I’m often rushing around and make do with instant coffee, but these are so much nicer really. I should use my coffee machine every day!
Barny Cake Bars
The boys have been enjoying these Barny** cake bars in strawberry and apple flavour. They are a perfect snack for them, with the friendly teddy bear shape and fruit filling. They are sweet enough that the boys see them as a real treat to have.
We were given our Barny cake bars to take on a special winter #littleadventure so the boys eagerly collected their things ready for a fun picnic outing in the park. Mr Z had brought along some gold coins to make a treasure hunt in the park, and Mr T had brought his magnifying glass, along with some Barny snacks each of course!
Unfortunately our little adventure did not go as planned, when we arrived at the park with our Barny snacks I had not realised now badly that area would be affected by flooding and the whole place was pretty much a giant muddy puddle. We tried our best to wade through it to access the park but it just wasn’t happening – we were sinking in to the mud!! Luckily the Barny snack did cheer them up when we had to abandon our first ideas and go back to the car.
Finally: Beanies Yogart
Look out for more details on this soon, I will be experimenting with yoghurt making and I will of course let you all know how I get on!
The children have also been sent some baking supplies from Unique Home Living so I’m looking forward to doing some baking with them after school one day this week. They love it!
What do you think to these products? Which ones would you like to try? Let me know in the comments!
Disclaimer: All PR Samples provided for inclusion on the blog. *Pidy Pastry: Thanks to food PR agency CLIP Creative and PR for the samples ** This post is an entry for BritMums ‘Winter Little Adventures Challenge’ sponsored by Barny, individually wrapped bear-shaped sponges with a hidden filling. Find out more about Barny here
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
Oh no, that flooding looks awful. Yummy food round up though
Some great foods there, love the look of the children’s cupcake and cookie decoration set!
i’m all for cupcake decorating – they look lovely. Such a shame about your trip to the park though – boo to flooding!
I’m really intrigued by the yoghurt maker, I will look forward to seeing more of that!
Those plum pouches look like a good idea, sadly I also have issues getting my sin to eat anything healthy.
Shame about the floods, hopefully it will start to get better now that spring is on its way. I love the look of the Special K granola so will be back for your giveaway!
Yikes to the flooding! I like the sound of those cake bars for the children; am sure my son would love them! x
I like the look of the Nothing But range and you can’t go wrong with a Barny Bear can you?!
My boys loved Barneys or Pom as they are called in France. I will not buy them in the UK as they are so expensive!
OOh those roasted veg pastries look delicious!
Thanks for including Barny and for taking part in #littleadventures. Commenting for myself and on behalf of BritMums
Great post as always :D! If you don’t mind me asking – how do you get those cute little hearts on your photos? x
Ha, that was actually a bit of an experiment – something which I saw on Pinterest. I just put a heart bokeh background on the laptop in full screen (I searched free to use bokeh images on google) and then put the product infront of the screen to use that as a background while taking the product shot. I don’t know the proper way to make bokeh, I will be eagerly googling it though now that I have a new camera 😀
ooh, i love a bit of granola! love that (what i’m assuming is a) tote behind them!
That certainly is an array of food you’ve been trying out there. Sorry to hear your park visit, accompanied by snacks, was postponed. This weather really does have a lot to answer for!
I’ve never made a yogurt at home… I would love to try it, so looking forward to your experiments 🙂
Thanks, great post. The mighty fours look great. I think we will try some x
Aargh even Barney got hit by the floods! Some of these sound yummy – especially the granola, and the Bouchees.
What a great round up. I’ve been having Graze boxes delivered so I’ve been trying more too. The special K sounds like a good idea for me to try.
Great food round up. I love the sound of the Special K granola, I love granola with a yoghurt in a morning but on WeightWatchers, it’s a hefty price to pay (in points) for a healthy breakfast!
What a great post and such a good idea to share ideas for new foods, particularly for kids as it can be so much easier to stick to the same old thing!
Katie x
http://www.missenchanting.co.uk/
Wow Anna you lot have been busy eating and testing!
We also had some plum pouches and have to admit i have never been a fan of these baby foods. However my daughter has been poorly this week and they are the only things i can get her to eat!
Mmmm…some great products there! Looks like you’ve achieved a great balance between healthy snacks and yummy treats – and I really do think that balance and everything in moderation is what eating right for life is all about 🙂
These all sound great. My favourite is Plum, I think they are a great brand and it’s so nice to feel you can use a packaged baby food which is jam-packed full of good stuff.
Looks like you’ve had some great things to try out. Love the look of that cupcake decorating set.
You’ve tried some lovely things. I love the Barny cake bars and I would love to try the yoghurt – big into having them for my breakfast.
Wow so many fabulous foods to try Anna. Love the idea of the cake making kit, POD would love that – we must try Barny too 🙂
Lots of great food ideas for snacking on adventures. Sorry to hear the park was so muddy.
Mmm, great new things for me to look out for. i love the idea of a yogurt maker.
Yikes to the flooding but great foodie round up – right up my street 🙂
I’m feeling hungry now 😉
Some great looking products here, and I feel a bit peckish now! My girls love Barny 🙂
What a lot of new things you tried!
Thanks for linking up with #TriedTested this week x
What a wonderful round-up and great idea!!
I am desperate to try one of those cake & cookie squeezy decoration kits – looks so much easier than filling piping bags! xx