Tofu Tahini & carrot spread from Michele's

My daughter does not like Tahini. Until now. This tofu tahini & carrot spread from Michele's actually made her say 'yum, yum.' It is the first time she said that to something other than dessert.

This tahini does not have that slight bitter after taste and the carrots in it are finely chopped. I thought the texture might throw them off but they were fine when I mixed it into their lunch cereal. Also, it has a really fresh smell and taste.

Kefir

In my quest for adding protein to their breakfast, my nutritionist (sis-in-law) told me about kefir. It has slightly more protein than milk, and is more tart than yogurt. Also, Lifeway advertises that their Kefir has 7 to 10 billion CFU's of 10 different live and active cultures per serving.

The twins refused to drink it straight. Added to milk and handed to him as 'juuiichh' made my son drink it, but not my daughter. Now, I mix their breakfast cereal with it and they are both OK with that.

Mango chunks from Trader Joe's

After being very impressed with frozen mango halves from Trader's Joe's, I picked up these mango chunks because they were cheaper. Well, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. These were tart. The texture and consistency was good but the taste was really tart.

The twins puckered up and spat out the very first spoonful. Now I add one mango cube to a whole mashed banana or a cup of pear sauce to get them to eat. Once these food cubes are done, I will switch back to frozen mango halves.

Berry quartet from Nature's Peak

Another frozen berry mix, berry quartet from Nature's Peak, that I food cube and add to the twins breakfast. I will switch to individual berries from now on - I started with individual berries but just coasted to berry blends. I want the twins to experience the various tastes and textures.

17 bean & barley mix from Trader Joe's

I found this 17 bean & barley mix at Trader Joe's and brought it home and food cubed it. The twins have had a 13 bean mix and a 16 bean mix, so this was nothing new to them. But now I am curious about how high the bean count can go…….

Buckwheat wildberry waffles from Nature's Path

If store bought waffles can smell and taste this good I have to buy a waffle maker. I am a pancake person and come to think of it I can't even remember the last time I had a waffle. I picked up these buckwheat wildberry waffles from Nature's Path for the twins for the buckwheat. Even though it says wildberry (and my quest for the elusive wildberry continues), it has blueberries and elderberry.

When I toasted a single waffle the whole house was filled with this amazing smell and the waffle came out perfectly toasted too - slightly crispy on the outside, warm and soft inside. Each waffle has only 4 grams of sugar and yet the twins ate it up like it was dipped in syrup.

Protein with pizazz from Trader Joe's

This protein with pizazz from Trader Joe's has 20 grams protein, 250 calories per serving and more fat/sat fat and cholesterol than Odwalla and Naked Juice protein drinks.

This is the chalkiest tasting drink I ever had. The twins refused (28 grams of sugar too!) to drink it straight, and also rejected it mixed with milk. I add a few spoonfuls to their breakfast cereal or mashed banana and they will eat it but look at me very suspiciously.

Protein smoothie from Naked Juice

Another protein juice that I picked up (for the tropical flavors) is this protein juice smoothie from Naked juice. With 16 grams of protein and 220 calories per serving it has slightly more fat/sat fat & cholesterol than Odwalla protein juice. It also has 28 grams of sugar and I was not too happy about it - but the twins totally were.

Protein monster from Odwalla

Recently, I started wondering about the twins protein intake before lunch. They drink milk with their snack mid-morning and their breakfast cereal/muesli contains some protein. So I decided to add a few spoons of a protein drink to their breakfast to boost the protein content.

All bolthouse farms protein drinks have only 10 grams of protein per serving (and they have caffeine too) so I started with Odwalla protein monster. It has 16 grams protein, and 200 calories per 8 oz serving. It also has 23 grams of sugar so of course the twins loved it.

Chocolate toaster tarts from Health Valley

I picked up these chocolate toaster tarts from Health Valley for myself and decided to see how the twins react. My daughter was neutral but my son really liked them. I think he is turning out to be a chocolate snob! In a way that is good though, because then there won't be temptation everywhere.

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Cherry chocolate pop tarts

I want to introduce the twins to chocolate slowly (no point fighting it - they are going to see it a lot in the house anyway.) I started with some brownies and chocolate cheerios, now for a little bit more concentrated form, I choose these cherry chocolate pop tarts from Nature's Path.

My daughter liked them, but my son did not - this is the second chocolate thing (2 out of 3) that he really did not warm up to.

Archer Farms flavored yogurts

Archer Farms has some great products. I buy a lot of breakfast cereals for the adults in the house from Target and when the twins were younger they loved the pineapple apple sauce from Archer Farms till my nutritionist (sis-in-law) pointed out that it has no vitamin C and I stopped buying it.

Even with 29 grams of sugar the strawberry cheesecake yogurt was inedible. I mean I could not complete it. The key lime has 36 grams of sugar for a 6 oz serving! That is about 8 teaspoons of sugar!! Also, corn starch, gelatin, potassium sorbate, citric acid, natural flavor (always wonder about that)…… Iam not even going to let the kids try it.

Wegmans flavored yogurts

Organic, pre & pro biotic, omega 3, lowfat ………. I had to try these super yogurts from Wegmans. Then I noticed the sugars (over 20 grams) and that it has added fish oil for the omega 3s, gelatin derived from beef and tilapia, corn starch, pectin………..

You can't really taste any of the stuff listed in the ingredients. But there are so many flavored yogurts out there that don't make you squirm at the ingredient list. I added a huge dollop of full fat greek yogurt and the twins liked them but I am on the fence with these.

Bolthouse Farms 50/50 blends

So as soon as I saw this new line of juices from Bolthouse Farms, I had to buy one. This juice stains everything - every little drop and dribble - I had to mop, scrub and oxy-clean to get the stains out of everything. And that is going to stop me from buying it again.

My son did not like it and my daughter was neutral to it. I was surfing for more combinations of their 50/50 line and came across this prickly pear cactus lemonade that I really want to try.

Bossa Nova goji berry with tart cherry

As another attempt at non-bolthouse farm juice, I bought this goji berry juice by Bossa nova. After I came home I saw the 'with tart cherry' on it and wondered how tart it would be. Even though it has only 11 grams of sugar for an 8 oz serving (and aronia berry juice as an ingredient) it was still pretty sweet.

I mixed it with milk and gave it to them and my son loved his 'jooch.' My daughter not so much - she just drank it quietly without a word or expression.

Whipped pudding from So Yummi

The twins loved these whipped puddings from So Yummi. With a 110 calories per serving they do use 3 different types of gum (to achieve that light airy texture probably) but they use all natural ingredients, so it's somewhat OK, right?

Multigrain cereal with apples and yogurt

Since the kids are not getting enough of apples and yogurt (applesauce everyday, yogurt twice a day) I decided to buy this whole grain multigrain cereal with apples and yogurt from Beech Nut. Actually I bought it for the DHA. Another textureless baby cereal - I mix it with familia for their breakfast.

Beech Nut also makes muesli with apples which I have not found in any store. I don't want to buy a 4 pack on amazon if it is going to be yet another textureless baby cereal. Anybody tried it?

Blackberry applesauce

Organic, no added sugar and fortified with vitamin C. I used to buy a lot of Santa Cruz applesauces till the local organic store raised the prices. The kids liked it fine - I think they have tried too many flavors of applesauce and yogurt already!

Cranberry raspberry applesauce

With cranberry and raspberry, I thought this applesauce from Mott's would be really tart. It has no added sugar, some added fiber and 25% vitamin C. The kids were fine - no dramatic displays.

Chocolate cheerios

After eating honey sunshine from Kashi, the kids do not eat regular cheerios anymore. I bought these chocolate cheerios for myself actually and gave them to the kids to try. My daughter took to them immediately, my son not so much.

B monster from Odwalla

In my attempt to buy non-Bolthouse Farm products, I picked up this B monster smoothie from Odwalla. It is pretty impressive by itself but nothing compared to the swamp juice.

A bit medicinal tasting for me but the kids loved it.

9 grain bread mix from Hodgson Mills

When I bought the bread machine and started baking, I used to buy individual flours of different grains till I decided one day to figure out a better (read easier) way. So, I started looking into multigrain bread flours and found this 9 grain bread mix from Hodgson Mill.

When I used 100% of the 9 grain mix the twins could not handle the texture. Once I mixed it with 50% whole wheat they were fine.

Avocado hummus from Yucatan

One of those products when you find for the the first time and think 'what a great idea!' This avo-hummus from Yucatan is handy since dealing with avocados is a deal for me.

The kids are used to really flavorful hummus so this bland one did not go down well with them. Also, with 50% avocado the texture threw them off too. They have had avocado before as well as plain hummus but something about the two of them together. Once I mixed it in with their hot cereal and added a dash of ground pepper and garlic salt they finished it without anymore fuss.

Very cherry berry blend from Trader Joe's

Of the many frozen berry blends out there this is the only one I came across that has cherries in it. The bag warned that there may be cherry pits which I ignored and started to food cube. Sure enough I heard it (Iam guessing only one but I don't know) and tried to fish it out. Now every time I thaw the very cherry berry blend cubes I am looking for a cherry pit.

The puree is not too sweet or tart. It is very grainy and the twins eat it either with their mashed banana or applesauce or baby cereal. Since they haven't had it straight yet I don't know if they like it or not.

Frozen mango halves from Trader Joe's

After the success with frozen avocado halves from Trader Joe's, I had to try these frozen mango halves. Score one more for Trader Joe's! I food cubed these and the puree came out creamy, smooth and thick. AND held that consistency when I later thawed them for the twins breakfast.

The mango puree did have a little tartness to it, which the twins seemed to actually like. My son ate it straight but my daughter did better with a few spoons of mashed banana mixed in.

Berry banana sauce

Even though this berry banana from our local Giant supermarket has apples in it, it's not 'applesauce with added flavor' kind of sauce. The twins love bananas and get half a fresh banana each everyday. For the rare days when the bananas are not ripe I use this berry banana for their breakfast.

Applesauce from Trader Joe's

My nutritionist (sis-in-law) is very particular about the vitamin C content in processed fruits and vegetables. So she was impressed that this unsweetened applesauce from Trader Joe's has vitamin C added to make up for the loss in processing. My twins don't like milk, so the added calcium is perfect.

I add the applesauce to their breakfast cereal, greek yogurt (dessert) and sometimes to their milk to trick my son into drinking what he thinks is 'juuuchhh.'

Instant oatmeal with whole wheat and flaxseed

This instant oatmeal from Uncle Sam is hands down the best tasting instant oatmeal I ever had. The texture is not chewy like the real thing which actually works out great for the twins. With no molars yet they still struggle sometimes with all the oatmeals I have tried so far. And it has wheat and flaxseed (omega-3) too.

My son especially liked it. He giggled with glee at the first few spoonfuls.

Mixed whole grain cereal from Gerber with VitaBlocks

I mix whole grain cereal from Gerber with VitaBlocks with familia to round out their breakfast. I like that it is fortified with all those vitamins and minerals and once I add some swamp juice they can pretty much cruise the rest of the day - nutritionally that is.

Multigrain baby cereal from Earth's Best

Made with oats, spelt and barley, this multigrain baby cereal from Earth's Best caught my eye with the spelt. The twins have not had spelt yet (or so I thought at the time) and with no time to read the ingredients (it's from Earth's Best after all) into my cart it went. Spelt is basically wheat and the cereal has no texture. I mix it with familia for their breakfast.