This Mama Cooks! On a Diet

Crofter’s Organic Superfruit Spreads – try it in yogurt, toast or in a Low Fat Trifle

Crofter’s Organic recently released a new line of Organic Superfruit Spreads made from exotic fruits that are high in anti-oxidants like pomegranate, black currants and yumberries. According to their website, Crofters Super Fruit Spread contains as much antioxidant activity as 1L of red wine. They’ve determined this via in-house laboratory tests using ORAC analysis.

All Superfruit Spreads are made with Fair Trade sugar, contain no artificial flavors or preservatives, and are certified organic. The spreads are available in 11oz. jars at an SRP of $4.99.

The fruit in each Crofter Superfruit Flavor is sourced from around the globe:

• North American blend: cranberry and blueberry
• South American blend: maqui berry and passionfruit
• European blend: pomegranate and black currant
• Asian blend: yumberry and raspberry

Using Crofter’s Super Fruit Spreads

Jams, jellies, fruit spreads – I like them all. But what I loved about Crofter’s Superfruit Spreads were their unusual and delicious flavors. So far my favorite is the European blend, since I love pomegranate. But the South American one is delicious, too. My least favorite is the North American one, since I don’t care for blueberry all that much. Haven’t tried the Asian blend yet.

I’ve been experimenting a little bit with the spreads, trying them on toast and pancakes. So far my favorite is adding 2 tablespoons (only 1 Weight Watchers POINT) to a cup of no fat plain yogurt. It tastes just as good as a premixed flavored yogurt because a little of these spreads go a long way. Making a parfait with a layer of yogurt, a thin layer of spread, then some berries and a few nuts, ground flax seed, or granola would be a yummy and healthy way to start your day, too.

You can also use Crofter’s Organic Super Fruit spread a glaze for a grilled meat, like pork, chicken or shrimp. Just add a little water and maybe some hot sauce to spice it up a bit. Or add a little bit to a ham sandwich.

The Crofter’s site features all kinds of decadent recipes, but one way I like using fruit spread is in a berry trifle. Here’s a fairly healthy version from eatbetteramerica.com.

Nasoya Silken Creations: review and popsicle recipe

Silken Creations is a new non-dairy, tofu dessert starter from Nasoya®. It’s made from whole soybeans and sweetened with natural cane juice. It’s low in calories (only 110-120 per half cup serving), low in fat (only 1-1.5 grams per serving) and a good source of protein (3 grams per serving), too. Each 1/2 cup serving is 2 Weight Watchers POINTS.

Silken Creations is also lactose free, vegan, gluten free, kosher, cholesterol free, and all natural. Perfect to serve when your vegan friends or gluten free friends come over.

It’s available in three flavors - dark chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. You can eat it plain like pudding, bake it into a pie, make smoothies out of it, or my kids’ favorite, turn it into frozen treats.

Healthy snacking with Special K Crackers

Special K is coming out with all sorts of healthy snacks, from protein water drinks to snack and cereal bars.

One of their newest products helps you combat those afternoon munchies - Special K® Crackers, read my review here.

A healthier way to make life sweeter: Truvia

Confused about all the alternative sweeteners out there?

Then check out my review of Truvia™, a zero-calorie sweetener made with stevia.

Piccolo Foods pestos, spreads and tapenades: indulgences you can feel good about

This year I’ve been working at eating healthier while trying to lose weight. In the past I’ve relied on highly processed foods to do so, but now I’m trying to eat a more “natural” diet and include heart healthy foods like berries, nuts, oats, and so on. I’m also trying to be more earth-friendly by buying locally made, grown and raised food products.

A fantastic (People’s Republic of) Boulder, Colorado product I must recommend comes from Piccolo Foods, a new brand of artisanal, preservative-free dips, pestos, spreads and tapenades, recently introduced in specialty foods markets and grocery stores throughout New York City, New Jersey, Colorado and New Mexico. The dips would be great to serve at a New Year’s or Super Bowl party.

Many to choose from

I was sent the Spinach Feta Dip, Artichoke Pesto, Sun Dried Tomato Pesto, Green Olive and Almond Pesto, Santa Fe Pimento Cheese, and Green Chili Smoked Gouda Spread to try. One word: delicious! Even the kids loved the spreads on crackers, while we grownups kept the pestos to ourselves for pasta.

Besides taste, other pluses were that Piccolo’s gluten free products were marked as such. Also, the dips and pestos are made from sustainably produced ingredients and come in biodegradable plastic containers. Piccolo Foods also has a company-wide recycling program. I love products that taste good and also make me feel good about that buying them.

R.W. Knudsen's Organic Sensible Sippers: wholesome juice boxes for toddlers and preschoolers

More and more parents are looking for organic prepackaged snacks and juice boxes. And companies like R.W. Knudsen are listening. They now offer parents a great alternative to traditional juice boxes, R.W. Knudsen Family's Sensible Sippers .

And this is not just organic juice in a box featuring a cartoon character – in this case the Berenstain Bears. Instead, these juices contain 40% fewer calories than regular juice boxes, because each four ounce box contains 50% certified organic juice, and 50% water. If you’re a parent who’s concerned about sugar and calorie consumption, you don’t have to cut them with water. It's already done for you.

The small boxes provide the perfect amount of juice for toddlers and preschoolers, and are easy for them to hold, too. Also, Sensible Sippers contain no added sugar, artificial flavors or preservatives, and are certified organic in accordance with the USDA's National Organic Program.

Celebrate National Diabetes Month with Blue Bunny's Lighter Options frozen treats

November is American Diabetes Month, a time to bring even greater awareness and attention to the seriousness of diabetes, its deadly complications, and the importance of proper diabetes control. As I learned at the Quaker Oats Living Proof event, having diabetes can lead to heart disease as well as stroke, kidney disease, blindness and amputations.

Blue Bunny ice cream is aware of how difficult it is to eat mindfully as a Type 1 and Type 2 diabetic and still indulge with some favorite sweet treats. So, they developed some ice cream products that have no sugar added, reduced fat and fat free versions. These include Black Raspberry Bars and Health Smart® Fudge & Vanilla Fudge Bars. There are also FrozFruit® bars, which were chosen as one of the best bars by Women’s Health and Fitness magazines. 

The Blue Bunny website has a section devoted to diabetes awareness. It features diabetic recipes using their sugar free ice cream products. You can get a coupon for a dollar off a Blue Bunny No Sugar Added frozen treat. The site also has links to diabetes websites, diabetes recipe sites, and some diabetes blogs. Check out Blue Bunny’s Lighter Options to see their full line of light, diet, no fat, and no sugar frozen treats.

Eating in Denver at the Democratic National Convention

I’ll be blogging at MOTHERS Book Bag for MOTHERS and the National Association of Mothers’ Centers (NAMC) this week at The Big Tent in Denver during the Democratic National Convention. So, I will be too busy to blog here unless there are some amazing food happenings I feel you need to know about. (You can also follow me on my Twitter feed.)

The Alliance for Sustainable Colorado is one of The Big Tent’s hosts. (Actually it’s in their parking lot.) Their greening mission for the Big Tent is to leave a long-lasting sustainability legacy that will be practiced by our tenants, visitors, vendors, and the community. Guests are encouraged to embrace sustainable
practices on a micro level, which means whenever possible to bring your own re-usable water bottles, beer mugs, coffee cups and utensils. (I’ll have my travel mug, which I can use for water, coffee or beer.)

Eat Locally and Be Green at The Big Tent
The Big Tent is partnering with local restaurants to provide healthy options for our guests. Where possible, meals and drinks are from locally owned and/or organic sources such as Chipotle, Papa John’s, Udi’s Bakery, Wahoo’s Fish Taco, R.W. Knudsen, Heidi's Brooklyn Deli, and 8 Rivers. New Belgium Brewing Company, the greenest brewery in Colorado, will supply beer. (Yay! Their beer is wonderful and one of the best microbrews in Colorado.) Eldorado Natural Spring Water (a local water company) will be available in 5-gallon dispensers throughout the Big Tent. Looks like Illegal Pete’s and Green Mountain Coffee will be supplying the coffee, too.

Biodegradable Tableware
Plates, cups, cutlery and napkins made of corn starch and plant-based materials are being provided by EcoProducts. They will be used for all meals served
in the Big Tent. Food waste and tableware will be composted by Rocky Mountain Recycling, and taken to A-1 organics to be turned into rich topsoil.

At BlogHer08 all I did was eat

Not only was BlogHer 08 about great sessions, amazing speakers, and awesome swag, it was also about food. The food at the conference was so-so (Pastries and fruit just don't cut it for breakfast. We need eggs, cereal, and yogurt in the morning, too, please!). But the food activities around the blogging conference were impressive. Sponsors included Boca Burgers and the Milk Board and of course there was all the incredible food and drink at the parties.

View a Slide show of the food I ate at the Blogher08 Conference.

Thursday

The first day I got to San Francisco, I checked myself into the Westin St. Francis’s workout facility and spa. After I did my 45 minutes on the stationary bike and had my massage, I checked in, unpacked and tried to take a nap. I had been up since 2 a.m. San Francisco time, and was exhausted. Yet, I couldn’t sleep because I was starving. Realizing I hadn’t eaten anything since 10 p.m. the evening before, I got dressed and looked for a place to eat.

I found hana Zen and had a satisfying lunch of hot green tea, cold soba noodles, and some vegetarian tempura. Then the real eating and drinking began – the BlogHer speaker/presenter party with chicken satay on bamboo skewers and lots of other teeny delectables passed around on trays by waiters in white coats. Then I headed downstairs to hang out with the Mom Central team and the real eating began.

Stacy DeBroff of Mom Central took out her staff, which includes me since I now heading up their social media project. I forget where we went the first night, but we had a lot of Asian fusion type of appetizers and hot tea. And I had a plate of steamed rice, which I got teased a bit about. (I was overwhelmed by food and booze and needed something plain and grounding.)

Getting your kids to eat healthier with Kellogg's Snacktivate

Kellogg’s latest health initiative, Snacktivate, helps moms incorporate kids into meal planning and preparation by providing healthy recipes and snack options that are as much fun to make as they are to eat.

You know how hard it is to lose weight if everyone around you is snacking on chips and eating ice cream for dinner. That’s why getting healthy should be a family effort – starting at the breakfast table. According to the Mini-Wheats website, “* Based upon independent clinical research, kids who ate Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal for breakfast had up to 18% better attentiveness three hours after breakfast than kids who ate no breakfast.”

That stat cracks me up, because you could probably say the same thing about eating shrimp cocktail and crackers for breakfast, too. Anyway you look at it breakfast is important! (Click here to download a brochure with tips on making breakfast easier.)

Frosted Mini-Wheats: healthy but addictive

I like Frosted Mini-Wheats, because the cereal is tasty and full of fiber and whole grains – 1 serving has 200 calories, 1g fat, 6g fiber, but 12g sugar. Eeek! Definitely not a part of my weight loss plan.

However, the kids love it. If it wasn’t for the sugar, I doubt they would eat them. I’m not so sure I would either, to tell you the truth. I do like my cereal sweet. You should see what I do to make puffed Kashi edible – I smother it in yogurt and add a dollop of jam. (By the way, Kashi is owned by Kellogg’s as is Morningstar Farms. And you thought Kellogg’s only made sugary cereals. Not!)

To promote their campaign, Kellogg’s was nice enough to send me a couple of boxes of their Frosted Mini-Wheats, a cool reusable cereal-on-the-go cup (great for back-to-school!), and a recipe for Sassy Sunpops. I love the idea of turning Frosted Mini-Wheats into a healthy snack. Unfortunately for us, the recipe contains peanut butter, eggs and almonds – three things my daughter is allergic to. Still there are more Snacktivate recipes that she can indulge in. Well, we would if the kids hadn’t eaten most of the box of cereal already. (And decorated the house with it, too. Nothing like finding mini-wheats under the couch and between the cushions. Did I mention I was having one of those summers?)

The Snacktivate website: a source of good information

There’s a ton of information for educators and healthcare professionals as well as moms on the Snacktivate website. However, it’s a little on the propaganda-ish side (See Kellogg’s page on sugar, for example, which cracked me up.) So, view it with a cynical eye and a sense of humor.

Kellogg’s Snacktivate site lists registered dietitian Rachel Brandeis as one of their experts. She believes that, “Planning and preparing nutritious snacks teaches kids the importance of vitamins and minerals, proper portion sizes and how to establish a balanced diet.” It’s all about modeling good behavior, eating together as a family, and replacing junk with healthier alternatives. If Snacktivate can help you do that, go for it!

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