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THE NIBBLEâs Gourmet News & Views
Trends, Products & Items Of Note In The World Of Specialty Foods
This is the blog section of THE NIBBLE. Read all of our content on TheNibble.com,
the online magazine about gourmet and specialty food.
Archive for Kid Foods
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September 27, 2009 at 7:00 am
· Filed under Kid Foods, Organic
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Parents who insist on the best for their children have two new choices in the popular all-natural Mac & Cheese from Annieâs Homegrown.
Lower-Sodium Mac & Cheese presents the classic kidsâ favorite with 25% less sodium than the leading brands.
5-Grain Elbows & White Cheddar blends durham wheat with four ancient whole grains: amaranth, kamut, quinoa and spelt. It contains 8g or more of whole grains per serving, an itâs also USDA-certified organic.
Our investigative adult palates preferred the slightly more sophisticated taste of the 5-Grain variety, but weâre betting the nuances will be lost on kids. Theyâll only note that the 5-Grain is white, not orange. Try the tip from Annieâs Homegrown to substitute yogurt for the milk for a tangier taste.
Annieâs Homegrown has also launched new Organic Cheddar Snack Mix Bunnies: crunchy Cheddar bunny crackers, buttery bunny crackers and pretzels, with a light seasoning of Organic Valley Cheddar cheese. Visit Annies.com to learn more.
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Save some for the kids! A favorite snack mix, USDA-certified organic. Photo by Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE. |
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See more of our favorite kidsâ foods.
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September 11, 2009 at 7:44 am
· Filed under Cheese/Yogurt/Dairy, Kid Foods, Tip Of The Day
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Even if your fledgling gourmets shrink from trying stronger cheeses, you can begin âcheese appreciationâ at an early age by teaching them quality in the cheeses they do like. Buy different brands of Cheddar, Swiss and cream cheese, for example, and let the kids evaluate the differences between regular supermarket brands, organic brands and artisan brands. After they taste them, lead a discussion on how the flavors and textures differ and let them express opinions and preferences. Then share the prices and discuss price/value. If they prefer a more expensive cheese, do they prefer it enough to pay 20% or 30% more? You can do this with other foods they likeâfrankfurters, peanut butter and cookies. Itâs never too early to develop an analytical palate.
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September 8, 2009 at 7:57 am
· Filed under Kid Foods
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Milton the Moose with a juice box of Froose. |
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A year ago we tried an alternative childrenâs juice product called Froose, and never posted our comments about it. Now, with the kids back in school (although Froose is targeted to the pre-school set), it seems time to right our wrong.
Named for fruit + juice or fruit + moose (its mascot is an engaging relative of Bullwinkle, named Milton the Moose), Froose was developed by a mom who was concerned about the sugar levels in the juice that was her sonâs beverage of preference. She developed an alternative with half the sugar plus whole grain nutrition. Itâs a product parents should take note of.
Working with nutritionists, the company created a patented process that uses fruit juice concentrate (peach, cherry or pear, the current flavors), organic apple juice concentrate and organic brown rice flour. Combined with inulin, the flour adds 3 grams of fiber in each 4.23-ounce juice box, 12% of the USDAâs recommended daily requirement).
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Low-glycemic brown rice syrup is used as a sweetener, which limits the sugar from 5 to 7 grams per serving, compared to 14 grams in an all-juice product. Froose provides 25% of a dayâs requirement of vitamin C. It is kosher-certified, gluten-free and dairy-free. Currently the product is 85% organic; the company aims for 100% organic down the road.
While Froose was made to appeal to very young palates, the three adults who tasted it at THE NIBBLE found it to be wholesome and appealing. If you canât find it locally, you can purchase it at Froose.com, in Playful Peach, Cheerful Cherry and Perfect Pear.
See more of our favorite Kidsâ Foods.
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August 21, 2009 at 6:59 am
· Filed under Kid Foods, Tip Of The Day
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Involve the kids in meal planning. Let them pick out dishes that appeal to them, and develop their interest in cooking and entertaining. Younger children can be offered simple choicesâshould we have A or B, and which side dishes. Older children can browse through cookbooksâcheck out Rachel Rayâs 30-Minute Meals For Kids. Discuss dishes with kids at the table: how they like this sauce or spice or food pairing compared or cooking technique compared to others, what foods they might be interested in trying. The next step is to identify regular dishes they may enjoy taking charge ofâsalads, perhaps, and prepping other ingredients. Check to see if there is a kidsâ cooking class in your town. Involving kids in food preparation and teaching basic cooking skills teaches the joy of cooking, lets the kids help out the family in an important way, impresses their friends and ensures that when your children leave home, they know how to do more than order take-out.
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July 21, 2009 at 6:59 am
· Filed under Kid Foods, Tip Of The Day
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Make cheese and fruit kabobs for the kids by using thin pretzel sticks instead of toothpicks or skewers. Use an ice pick to pierce a hole in cheese cubes and fruit (melon balls, grapes, berries) and alternate cheese and fruit on the pretzel stick. Show older kids how to assemble them: It makes a fun project as well as a tempting alternative to less nutritious snacks. Serve the kabobs plain or with with a fat-free yogurt dip. Greek yogurt is less tangy and more like sour cream. You can mix chopped pretzels into it along with healthy sesame and flax seed; the dip goes with both the cheese and the sweet fruit. Of course, grown-ups can enjoy these kabobs, too.
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July 9, 2009 at 8:00 am
· Filed under Cookies/Cake/Pastry, Gifts, Kid Foods, Nut-Free
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Have some watermelon…cookie. Photo by Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE. |
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Today is National Sugar Cookie Day. Thatâs O.K. for a start, but sugar cookies arenât the most flavorable cookie around. Most of the large, fancifully decorated cookies are sugar cookies. Theyâre pretty, but they could be tastier. Sugar cookies tend not to have vanilla or other flavorings. Theyâre just sugaryâand baked with a higher proportion of flour to be a sturdy platform thatâs good for decorating, but not necessarily the tastiest for eating.
Thatâs where Fancypants steps in. Their decorated cookies are as beautiful and varied as any bakeryâs, but theyâve improved upon the bland sugar cookie by baking rich, buttery shortbread. We hoarded the entire box!
Because the Fancypants co-founders are former educators (a middle school teacher and an education researcher, both with mastersâ degrees), they know about kids and nut allergies. So their bakery is 100% nut-free. But these are welcome gifts for nut-eating grownups too. There are cookie themes for everyone, from sports to animals to baby, wedding, holiday and custom-decorated cookies for corporate logos.
Read the full review of Fancypants shortbread cookies.
Find more of our favorite cookies.
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July 7, 2009 at 4:39 pm
· Filed under Gifts, Gluten-Free, Kid Foods, Kosher Nibbles, Snacks
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Another great popcorn flavor from DaleandThomasPopcorn.com. |
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If youâre looking for an inspired gift to send to your favorite camper, hostess or celebrant, we can recommend the new Dark Fudge Caramel Nâ Almonds flavor from Dale & Thomas. Weâre still equally fond of the other chocolate-drizzled flavors, including Chocolate Chunk Nâ Caramel, Chocolate & Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter & White Chocolate, Toffee Crunch and Twice-As-Nice Chocolate (dark and white chocolate). A gift box filled with six large bags is $39.95, in your choice of a single flavor or one bag of each of the six flavors (highly recommended!). Dale & Thomas sweet popcorn is not overly sweet (that is to say, itâs welcomed by the sophisticated palate), and is elegant enough that it can become a light dessert, by itself or sprinkled atop vanilla or chocolate ice cream.
All Dale & Thomas popcorn flavors are certified kosher OU-D and are gluten free. |
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And now, some editorializing from our editor:
Dark Fudge Caramel Nâ Almonds. The colloquial ânâ is the written version of a verbal convention of dropped consonants in the word âandâ: peaches ânâ cream, sugar ânâ spice, rock ânâ roll. Apostrophes take the place of the dropped letters; when only one letter is dropped, only one apostrophe is needed (e.g., smokinâ). Over time, people have erroneously chosen to drop one or the other apostrophe; now, heaven knows, anything goes. Itâs amazing to us that none of the rulebooks on grammarâwhich tend to be so rigid on the most minute pointsâaddress the varied uses of ân versus nâ versus the technically correct ânâ. The American Heritage Dictionary, a great arbiter, accepts ânâ and ân but not nââtake note, Dale & Thomas. Oh well…while it can be confusing to the eye, itâs not as egregious as the rather sudden eradication of the personal pronoun âwho,â on the part of many American speakers (we hesitate to say English speakers). Have you noticed that weâre now all objects: the woman that came here yesterday, the people that voted for Al Franken? Whatâs up with that?
Decadent. The word âdecadenceâ was used in the Dale & Thomas promotion material to describe Dark Fudge Caramel Nâ Almonds popcorn: â…bathed in waves of the warm toasty sugar and buttery decadence that we call Daleâs golden caramel.â Forgive the copywriter; hopefully (s)he will learn. Far larger companies than D&T blast the word âdecadentâ over the airwaves and in print ads, leading to its use by too many individuals. Ladies and gents, go to Dictionary.com or the word resource of your choice and look it up: âdecadentâ does not in any way refer to food. The word such people are looking for is luxurious, indulgent or something else, but not decadent. Decadent food does not exist, and if it did, you wouldnât want to eat it. Even if it meant what people erroneously think it meansâsumptuous, over-the-top, rich and luxuriousâhow can you refer to Diet Dr. Pepper as âdecadent?â Editors around the world are ROTFL over that one.
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July 5, 2009 at 7:28 am
· Filed under Kid Foods, Vegan
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If youâre a vegan or kosher, you canât have gummy candiesâtheyâre made with gelatin, an animal-derived product. Alas, Annieâs Homegrown products arenât certified kosher, but vegans can certainly experience the joy of gummies. The company makes âgummyâ Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks using tapioca instead of gelatin.
Two new flavors have debuted this summer: Sunny Citrus, a blend of lemon, lime and orange flavors; and Summer Strawberry. They join Tropical Treat and Berry Patch flavors. All are MSRP $4.99 for five .8 ounce pouches.
You can see the entire Annies Homegrown line at www.Annies.com.
See more organic products in our NutriNibbles Section.
Check out our favorite foods for kids.
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Hopping down the bunny trail with vegan-friendly gummy candy from Annieâs Homegrown. Photo by Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE. |
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June 16, 2009 at 3:58 am
· Filed under Beverages, Kid Foods
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It’s time to toast graduation for the elementary through high school set. You can have the Champagne; they can toast it with a glass of grapy bubbly in a Champagne-like bottle. Bottles of Welchâs Sparkling Juice Cocktail (in white or red grape juice) have been all dressed up with a tasseled mortarboard key ring as a memento (for those who havenât graduated recently, a mortarboard is the âcapâ in âcap and gownâ).
Tasting exactly like fizzy versions of the regular juice, these sweet, fruity, non-alcoholic beverages are an alternative to the Shirley Temple, and a soda alternative to adults wistful for that Welchâs grape juice taste. The grown-up, wine-style bottles add to the festivities. The cost: $3.49 per bottle. Be sure to serve in wine glasses! Long past graduation that we are, we enjoyed our trip down memory lane with a glass of each.
Want more party ideas? Take a look at our Entertaining Guide
For more graduate gift suggestions check out our Gift Finder
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Toast to the graduate: plenty of bubbles, no alcohol. |
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August 4, 2008 at 11:43 am
· Filed under Contest, Jam/Peanut Butter, Kid Foods, Recipes
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Last fall, The J.M. Smucker Company, maker of Jif peanut butter, held its sixth annual âMost Creative Peanut Butter Sandwichâ contest for kids, with college scholarship awards. The 2008 contest launches on August 14 and runs through November. Rules can be found on Jif.com. Even though the creators of these sandwiches are all under the age of 13, adults will enjoy them, too. Even better, they make a wonderful adult-child cooking activity. Amaze your family with one of these fun, award-winning recipes:
-Recipe 1: Crunchy Chinese Fortune Cookie Sandwich
-Recipe 2: P-Nutty Chicken Wrap
-Recipe 3: Peanut Butter Butterfly Panwiches
-Recipe 4: Peanut Butter Club Sandwich
-Recipe 5: Peanut Butter Monstwich |
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Wowie zowie: These PB sandwiches have
been reinvented as âfortune cookiesâ
filled with PB, apples and celery, with an
Asian-style peanut dipping sauce. |
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