droolicious : whole foods

Whole Foods Market Exclusive: Peter Rabbit Organics

Lisa Estall — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Peter Rabbit Organics have come out with some baby-friendly products. Their Carrot and Pumpkin Baby Shampoo and Wash ($14.99) sounds yummy doesn’t it? It’s free of harsh chemicals, artificial fragrances and colors.

For chafed, sensitive skin, try Peter Rabbit Organics Intense Therapy Cream for Baby ($12.99). This cream has Manuka beeswax in it.

Both products are only sold at Whole Foods Market.

For the month of March, the store is celebrating everything "Whole Baby" so check them out if you live near one.

Snikiddy Snacks a Healthy (and Surprisingly Tasty) Halloween Treat

Aaron Burgess — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:04:00 GMT

In my neighborhood, we would always pass over the houses that offered apples and other healthy treats for Halloween, but obviously there've been quite a few advancements in healthy snacking since the Dark Ages. Snikiddy Snacks Organic Cookies are among the tastier natural treats that've landed on our doorstep this season -- so much so that my usually health-food-averse sons actually asked for more when our taste-testing samples ran out. Luckily, since they're on the shelves at our local Super Target, we had no problem restocking the pantry.

USDA-certified organic, Snikiddy Snacks' cookies are free of hydrogenated oils, trans fats, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, preservatives and GMOs. Mom and I preferred the Cherry Oaties (since the boys couldn't get past the word "cherry"), which aren't overly sweet and have a nice, mellow cherry taste with a hint of cinnamon. Our littlest one regularly eats cut-up bananas sprinkled with cinnamon, so the Banana Nibbles, which pack those flavors into cookie form without the normally overpowering taste of so many banana-derived foods, were all his. And the Chocolate Chippers, which come off like miniature Chips Ahoy without the disgusting processed flavor, were a hit with everyone.

For the full scoop on just what we were consuming, along with what each five-serving pack of cookies will provide your trick-or-treaters, here's the nutritional info from the back of each package. Unfortunately, the good taste means it's hard to consume Snikiddy Snacks in moderation, so if calories and spoiled mealtimes are concerns, you might want to dole out a serving at a time throughout the day:

Snikkidy also has a line of salty treats that work well for lunchboxes and general snacking, and even though they all taste like some yummy variation on the standard-issue cheese puff, the naming choices of Pizza Pie Puffs, Mac n' Cheese Puffs, Rockin' Ranch Puffs and Grilled Cheese Puffs do have an extra level of kid appeal.

Available at Whole Foods, Super Target, Toys"R"Us and grocers nationwide -- see Snikiddy's store locator to find a location near you.

Taste Test as Parenting-Failure Barometer: Funky Monkey Fruit Snacks

Aaron Burgess — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:04:00 GMT

Few purchases do more to remind you of your own questionable parenting skills than a delicious, all-natural snack your children won't touch. For me, the latest slap of reality would come via Funky Monkey Snacks, a new line of freeze-dried fruit that comes without added sugar, preservatives, flavors or colors, and as a result tastes like a crunchy, munchy version of the same fruit plucked fresh off the vine. Yum, right? Well, after visiting the company's site and being sold on its basic messages -- Gluten-, wheat- and dairy-free! Delicious in ice cream and yogurt! Three full servings of fruit per ounce! -- I was hooked, and so I asked the nice folks at Funky Monkey for a few bags of their all-natural wares to sample.

When the samples arrived, the kids and I opened them with wide eyes -- they because they thought we were getting another video game to review; I because I was eager to dive into the Bananamon (banana and cinnamon, already a favorite when not freeze-dried) and Purple Funk (bananas tempered with a dose of super-healthy açaí berries) before hitting the Jivealime (pineapple and real lime juice -- awesome) and Carnaval Mix (banana, pineapple, apple, papaya and rasins).

As expected, once past the unfamiliar sensation of crunching into fruit they normally understand as soft and ripe, my kids alternated from flat-out ambivalence (my oldest) to spitting out what little I could bribe them into letting pass their lips (my 5- and 2-year-olds). But theirs were mostly textural, not taste, concerns: As for me, despite my own initial surprise at the crunchy texture (we're talking a good, solid CRUNCH!, not the sort of rubbery nibble you get from most freeze-dried fruit), I found everything to taste like an astronaut-food version of its fresh-picked equivalent, with the Jivealime and Purple Funk in particular having a nice sour edge to complement their natural, not-too-sugary sweetness.

Here's hoping your kids' palates aren't tainted enough by gummi textures or artificial sweeteners to enjoy Funky Monkey's natural alternatives. The snacks retail for $1.99-2.49 and are available at Whole Foods, Kroger, Winn Dixie and a slew of other retailers, and when I'm not writing about them, you can find me munching the things around the house while the kids stick out their tongues and go, "Eeeeewwww!"

Jerks.

Jessica Alba Gives Tastybaby

Chris Ford — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:58:00 GMT

Mom-to-be Jessica Alba had a baby shower last weekend, and as a party favor to the guests she gave out goodie bags from Tastybaby. I'm not sure exactly why most shower guests would want or need a blue "eco-tote" bag full of organic baby food and recipes, but I'm guessing it didn't cost Jessica Alba much anyway. [UPDATE: According to a rep from Tastybaby, the bags contained a bottle of champagne and the "Life's A Peach" baby food - the makings for the Bellini's that were served at the shower. Baby food and booze? Now you're speaking my language. -mdd]

Tastybaby is an organic baby food company, and if stuff like that matters to you (organic, that is) it looks like they have some good products. Most of the items come frozen and have cute names like "Life's A Peach" and "Peas On Earth". You're going to have to be ready to pay for it though - most items cost $5.99 for three 3.5 oz servings (or $0.57 an ounce).

Tastybaby is available at select Whole Foods, Bristol Farms and online here.

Also, check out Aaron's comprehensive break down of organic baby food on Droolicious: Baby Food Porn: 10 Sources of Natural Num-Nums