Product Review: EnviroKidz Organic Leapin' Lemurs Cereal

It's been a while since I've done a product review. I don't write them often; a product really has to impress me to get me to blog about it. 

Like most kids, Lily loves her cereal. At least once a day, whether it's breakfast time or not, she's looks at me and says, "Cereal, Mommy". She gets it from her daddy, I think- Paul likes to have it for a snack, too.

It's hard to find a good cereal that is healthy and fun that's not covered in sugar. Not that Lily needs to eat a sweet cereal; in fact, she is happy with shredded wheat and bran flakes. Yet, when I saw this adorable cereal box in the "Natural Foods" aisle at Stop & Shop, we just had to give it a try.

How cute are those lemurs? The cereal is peanut butter & chocolate flavored, and made from organic ingredients such as corn meal, molasses, soy oil, and of course peanut butter and cocoa. It's gluten-free and low in sodium, and also boasts packaging made from 100% recycled paperboard. On one of the side panels, it gives examples of why it's good to eat eat organic, which can be helpful for older kids who are already reading when they're sitting at the table like this:

The box also has information about lemurs on the back. Kids can learn about where lemurs live, how they are becoming endangered, and a non-profit group that helps to protect them. This is definitely better reading than the hyped-up cartoons and games they put on most kids' cereal boxes. 

Now, I'm sure you've heard enough about the packaging- how's the cereal??? Well, Lily always asks for seconds, and then even thirds! It does taste pretty good, sort of like a Reese's Cup without being too sweet. A very nice balance with the almond milk. The cereal is little balls with a nice crispy, crunch texture. I say it's a hit!

EnviroKidz® also makes these other flavors:

• Gorilla Munch
• Koala Crisp
• Peanut Butter Panda Puffs
• Amazon Frosted Flakes

Look for them at your local supermarket if you want to try a fun kid's cereal that's organic and good for the environment and its inhabitants.


Note: I was not paid or asked to write this review, I did it by my own accord. Do you know a great product I should review, or a product you’re curious about but afraid to try? Let me know in the comments! Just please suggest a natural, organic, eco-friendly, or health or food-related product so it will at least coincide with my blog’s theme, thanks! OR you can send me a product you'd like me to review for you, by contacting me at healthymommyhealthybaby@gmail.com for more details.

Sweet Saturday #25: Nutty Peanut Butter-Banana Cookies

It's officially baking season in my house now! Our oven hadn't been working since we moved in to the new house, and Paul finally got around to tinkering with it, and somehow got it to work. Hooray! So, I got started on making some cookies, and here's a new one I came up with. It's so tasty, moist, and healthy you could even have them for breakfast!

Nutty Peanut Butter-Banana Cookies

(makes about 30 cookies)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup honey + a little extra for topping

3/4 cup coconut oil, softened (you can also use shortening or butter)

1 egg

1 ripe banana, mashed

1/2 cup peanut butter

3/4 cup cut oats

1/4 cup hemp seed

1/4 cup flax seed

1 cup walnut pieces

1/4 cup brown sugar or honey

Preheat oven to 375. Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together in a bowl until combined. In a separate bowl combine the honey, coconut oil, and egg together; then mix in the banana and peanut butter. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the wet ingredients with an electric beater until well-mixed. Last, add the oats, hemp seeds, and flax seeds. 

On ungreased baking sheets, place small spoonfulls of the batter onto the sheet, at about an inch apart. Place into center rack in oven. While they're baking, heat the walnuts and brown sugar in a small pot over medium heat. When the brown sugar starts to melt, start mixing together with the walnuts, being careful not to burn. Continue until sugar is all melted and coating the walnuts, should take about 5 minutes. 

Spread candied walnuts over a sheet of parchment paper and allow to cool for a moment. At the 10 minute mark on baking the cookies, remove them from oven without turning off the heat, and carefully press the tops with the back of a spoon in order to make a shallow indent. Dab a little extra honey onto each indent, the place a few of the candied walnuts on top of each cookie. Bake for another 5 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned. Allow to cool before serving.

This is a recipe I came up with on my own. I had an overly ripe banana I needed to do something with, and peanut butter goes pretty awesomely with banana, so I got creative. The added benefits of all the omegas, protein, fiber, and minerals from the nuts make these cookies especially healthy. Walnuts are especially beneficial for brain development and function, and those candied walnuts really make them yummy, so don't leave that out unless you want them to be completely sugar-free. Of course, you could probably make them candied with honey instead. Let me know how that goes if you try that!

I was happy to see that Lily really enjoyed these cookies. She loves treats, but- like most parents -I don't want her eating a lot of sugar. These cookies are the perfect fix for your little sweet tooth- whether it be your child, or yourself! We even had them for breakfast without feeling guilty about it ;) The only thing I would change next time is either add more banana or ease up on the nuts, because the banana flavor was a bit subtle. Other than that, this recipe is a keeper!

Now, here are the most clicked-on fall features:

These tasty-looking cookies made with apple sauce, walnuts, and raisins are the perfect healthy treat to satisfy your fall sweets craving! Thank you, Angie from God's Growing Garden!

Holli from Full Hands, Full Heart had a wonderfully informative post about choosing allergy-friendly treats to give out to trick-or-treaters this year. I was especially glad she posted this since I often try to choose allergy-free treats myself! Thanks, Holli!

And we also have another adorable and creative costume from Carpe Diem who has lots of fun DIY Halloween costume ideas on her blog, so please check her out! I really liked this costume in particular because it was one of my first Halloween costumes when I was a little girl, and my mom made mine too! I'll have to dig-up a picture to share ;) Thanks, Ana!

And the most clicked-on features over all were:

Cream of Cauliflower Potato Soup from Good Girl Gone Green

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups from Something Sweet

Eat to Beat Cancer (part 2) from Back to the Basics!

Thanks, ladies! I can't wait to see what everyone links up this week!

Now on to the party!!!

Just follow these simple rules:

1. Link up something sweet to really WOW us all- your blog, Etsy store, Pinterest, Facebook, whatever you want! 

2. Link-up as much as you want and please follow me if you are not already. Leave me a comment if you are a new follower so I can follow you back!

3. Don't forget to hop around and say hi!

4. Share my button to get more people to join us (not required, but it would be nice!)

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Meatless Monday: PB&J Sushi

On my Pinterest I have a board that is called "need to try". That is where I found today's Meatless Monday recipe. It's super easy and super cute. Mine may not have come out as cute as they did in the original picture I saw that caught my eye, but they were fun to make and tasty! Your kids will love these...

PB&J Sushi

You will need:

Peanut butter
Jelly flavor of your choice
1-2 slices of bread
Rolling pin

Carefully slice crusts off bread. Flatten bread with a rolling pin. Cut the flattened slice down the middle so it's in 2 halves. Spread peanut butter and jelly onto slice(s) of bread. Gently roll up pb&j bread strips into a tight roll so that it resembles a sushi bite. Serve with chopsticks!

Flattened bread, before being cut into halves

  
Super easy, right? And totally cute and fun. Older kids can even help make this. This is one way that they will not turn down sushi!

I used Sabra Roasted Red Pepper hummus

I also made some with hummus and romaine. Follow the same steps, only spread hummus onto the bread, then lay a strip on lettuce leaf of top of that, followed by a little more hummus to keep it altogether. Stick a strip of romaine lettuce into top for a little flair.

Lily wasn't sure what to make of these little nibbles when she first set eyes on them, but she managed to gobble them up anyway. When she's older she'll appreciate my efforts at being creative, I'm sure...

You can probably come up with some different "sushi"-fillings for this recipe. What do you think would work well?

Now it's your turn to share your Meatless Monday dish below! No rules, other than please only link-up meat-free recipes. No other un-related links or I will remove them. Sorry to sound so harsh, but let's keep it true to what it is, ok? Link up as much as you want, and feel free to spread the word with the button below. Thanks, and have a great week and a happy Labor Day holiday!
 

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Sweet Saturday #14

I have been one busy bee lately, once again. So, I do apologize for not thanking everyone who linked up here recently individually yet, but I will! 


We had lots of great stuff here over the last 2 weeks, and since I have not even had time to do any fun recipes this week, I figured I'd highlight some of the favorites. Everything was awesome though, and I love looking at every single post. 


Here are some tasty recipes and fun crafts, in no particular order...


This cake grabbed my attention as soon as I read "Pina Colada"! Linda at With a Blast always has such fun and creative recipes, this is just one of many :) Thanks, Linda!

PB&J pancakes? Whaaaa??? Oh, yeah, here's the recipe from Holli at Full Hands, Full Heart. Your kids will thank you!

If you've been reading my blog for a while now, you probably know that I am a fan of lemon and lime- especially lemon! And I've had lemon sugar cookies, but this is the first time I've seen lemon and lime combined in a sugar cookie. Genius! Thanks Marly at This and That :)

And now for a fun craft- how darling is this wreath? And so easy to make! Thanks for sharing, Mrs. T Naturally!

I am such a sucker for baby shower favors, and this easy-to-make pacifier corsage is TOO CUTE! I want one just to decorate Lily's room with ;) Thanks, Cluttered Genius! Check out that post for sure, she also has another cute baby shower idea plus a yummy cake recipe!

And last, but certainly not least, check out these super sweet Polar Bear Cupcakes from today's guest hostess, Mary at Mary's Kitchen. How adorable and creative! Bookmark this idea for your next kids party :)

For today's Sweet Saturday, I'd love it if you linked up special BBQ-themed recipes like salads and casseroles in favor of my upcoming family BBQ coming up. If I like your recipe, I'll make it and blog about it later next month! Read here for details: Family BBQ Planning.


OK, now it's your turn! Follow these simple rules:

1. Link up something sweet to really WOW us all- your blog, Etsy store, Pinterest, Facebook, whatever you want! 

2. Link-up as much as you want and please follow me and Mary at Mary's Kitchen. Leave us a comment if you are a new follower so we can follow you back!

3. Hop around and say hi. 

4. Share my button to get more people to join us (not required, but it would be nice!)

Thanks so much for linking up, I really do love Fridays even more because of this :)

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Sweet Saturday #7: Sweet Product Review!

It’s been a busy week, and it looks like things will just be getting busier and busier for me. My new job is starting to really pick up, and by mid summer I expect us to be in full swing! I will keep you posted on this exciting new venture of mine as details develop. For now, we are in such “baby steps” mode that I feel I should keep mum on the word.

SO, finding time for trying fun new recipes has been hard. But, finding time to try fun new things hasn’t!

The Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream is on sale at Shop Rite by us this week, so I picked up a couple of flavors since our ice cream maker broke (that was the main way we’d been enjoying ice cream for the past 2 years). I got Irish Mudslide which was good, but I also got a flavor of their new Greek Frozen Yogurt line- Banana Peanut Butter. And that was really good!  I didn’t really know what to expect, but you know Ben & Jerry’s rarely disappoints. It’s banana flavored Greek style frozen yogurt with swirls of rich peanut butter. Yummmmmyyyy. Add some hot fudge and fresh strawberries and you might think you’re eating a banana split!

It also has less fat than most B&J’s flavors (8 g per ¼ cup serving), but still has a lot of sugar per serving, at 26 g. One of the things I like most about B&J’s ice cream is that they have a dedicated pledge to not use milk from cows treated with rBGH. That makes me happy. It would make me even happier if thy also pledged to use organic and no corn syrup, but it’s still a step in the right direction. They are also very socially active regarding the green movement, Fair Trade, and even Occupy Wall Street.

You may not know this, but Greek style yogurt is considered to be even better for you than regular yogurt. It contains twice as much protein, has less sodium, is lower in carbs, and easier on the stomach digestion-wise. Greek yogurt is thicker and creamier than regular yogurt because the extra whey and water is removed, thus also making you feel fuller after eating it. Read more about the amazing benefits of Greek yogurt here at Livestrong.com.

Next time you see Ben & Jerry’s Greek Frozen Yogurt at the supermarket, don’t be afraid to give it a try! There are a lot of good flavors out!

Note: I was not paid or asked to write this review, I did it by my own accord. Do you know a great product I should review, or a product you’re curious about but afraid to try? Let me know in the comments! Just please suggest a natural, organic, eco-friendly, or health or food-related product so it will at least coincide with my blog’s theme, thanks! OR you can send me a product you'd like me to review for you, contact me at healthymommyhealthybaby@gmail.com for more details regarding that.

Now it’s your turn to share! This week’s guest hostess is Julie from Naptime Review. Please follow me if you have not done so already, and Naptime Review. Then link-up something sweet to share- a blog, an Etsy store, an FB page, Twitter page, Pinterest, whatever! Hop around and say hi. Grab a button to spread the word! Have a great weekend!

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We hope to go the beach this weekend, what are your plans?

At the Jersey Shore last summer. Waters aren't so blue there...

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

Sweet Saturday Blog Hop #3 THIS CHICK IS BANANAS!

Today I'll keep this short and sweet (see what I did there??). Right now I'm watching Lily build with her foamy blocks in a tub full of bubbles, and once she's done and dressed for bed, I'll be getting ready for GIRLS NIGHT OUT! Whoo-hoo! So, I figured I'd better post this early since I made need time to re-cooperate tomorrow and not worry about blogging. Let's consider this hop "Sweet Weekend Blog Hop" :)


Today I'm sharing some cute pics of Lily eating a banana, and our favorite smoothie recipe :D

It was her first time eating a banana with the rind on it

Strawberry-Banana-Peanut Butter Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 banana

1/2 cup strawberries

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup milk, almond milk, soy milk, or coconut milk

1 big spoonful of peanut butter

Throw it all in your blender and blend away! This makes 2 large servings or 4 small servings, so add ingredients accordingly. Enjoy!

Now it's your turn to share! Link whatever you like as long as it's something sweet. It can be a blog post, an Etsy shop, your lovely website, your FB page, whatever! Link as many as you like, just don't link the same thing more than once, thanks! And please just follow me, your hostess, preferably by Linky Followers since GFC is ending very soon. Or better yet, subscribe! Have a great weekend!

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