Oat cookies from nairn's

After my not-so-successful bout with oatcakes, I found these oat cookies from Nairn's. With 58% whole oats, 10% currants and demerara sugar (known as turbinado sugar our side of the ocean) one serving has 6% of the daily recommended sugar.

Both of them liked these. They are really starting to do well with texture - I should start incorporating raisins and dried fruit bits into their oatmeal and bread.

Mango puree from Trader Joe's

I finally found it! I did not believe it existed but kept looking for it anyway. Pure, 100% one-ingredient mango puree. No preservatives, no added sugar, citric acid, vitamin C etc. Thank you Trader Joe's!

The twins love it straight, stirred in yogurt, shaken with milk and just about anyway I offer it to them.

Mushroom lover's burger from Morning Star Farms

I love mushrooms - all kinds while DH hates them all. I am hoping the kids will like them so I can actually start incorporating them into the family meals.

My son ate half his burger, took out the mushroom patty and finished his bread. My daughter refused to touch hers till I took out the patty. Oh well…..I read somewhere that you have to try 10 times before some toddlers will eat some things.

Salba

A too-good-to-believe grain. If you have heard of Chia, then the way I understand it, Salba is it's first born much cared for big brother.

Salba seeds really have no taste. I sprinkle half a teaspoon into their yogurt and also sprinkle some on their 10 grain muffins before baking. No reaction from them…….

Organic fig bars from Oskri

These organic fig bars from Oskri are one of my favorite kind of products, just one ingredient. I found them to have a very slight bitter after taste - very slight though. The twins didn't really like them either.

So now, I soak them overnight in milk, fork mash and add them to my 10 grain breakfast recipe.

Walkers mini oatcakes

Just 1 gram of sugar per serving and 86% oatmeal! I had to get the twins to try them and if Iam real lucky it will become one of their favorite snacks. Well, one can wish and daydream…….

My son happily ate the mini oatcakes, but my daughter……she took a bite, made a face and then offered it to her brother. She never ate another one. Sigh!

Liberte goat cheese

Another great product from one of my favorite companies. This goat cheese with active cultures is smooth and creamy (could not believe it is low fat) and not as firm as regular yogurt.

The twins loved it. They eat yogurt every single day but still noticed that this was no ordinary 'yogurt.' My son declared that he liked it 'veyyy much.'

Immaculate's chocobillys chocolate chunk cookies

When offered a huge basket of goodies to choose from, my son rooted around and very emphatically picked this packet - chocobillys chocolate chunk cookies from Immaculate baking company.

Let me count the ways he got it right - all natural and no artificial ingredients, no trans fats, organic flour, artsy, socially conscious …. and now how much he got it wrong - chocolate chunk cookie. Enough said.

Multigrain mix from Trader Joe's

The multigrains in this multigrain baking and pancake mix from Trader Joe's are wheat, whole wheat, rolled oats, yellow cornmeal, wheat bran, oat bran and brown rice flour. What I don't like about it is that the first ingredient is unbleached enriched flour. What I truely hate is the sodium - 500 mg for 1/3 cup of mix, 21% for an adult. Which is why I won't be buying it again.

The kids love any kind of pancakes as long as they come with a good amout of 'syllllup.'

Glenny's cashew and almond bars

The twins are doing great with texture now. That means I have to totally watch what we are eating. Because they have taken to asking for bites every once in a while.

These cashew and almond bars from Glenny's are made with whole nuts (almonds can be quite a mouthful for 2 year olds) and raisins, dates and crisp brown rice. The sweetness also comes from honey and brown rice syrup. Flax powder and sunflower oil round up the ingredients.

My daughter took to them immediately but my son not so much - he would chew and chew and spit out the almond skins. Then he would demand another bite.

Jamun fruit drink from Deep Foods

When I saw this I was so excited since I had not seen, heard about or had a Jamun in more than 25 years. I remember gorging on them as a kid during summer climbing into the branches of the tree. They are tart and turn your tongue a very cool purple.

Not only did this Jamun drink from Deep taste nothing like the real thing (has artificial blueberry flavor - why? oh why??) but has 21 grams of sugar per serving and only 10% Jamun pulp. It tasted vaguely of blueberry incense - not that I ever inhaled blueberry incense, but that is what came to mind.

I did not even introduce it to the kids. It was that depressing.

Crunchy peas from Bhuja

There it is - snow accumulation higher than the kids. And that is after I knocked it off a couple of times so that they could see beyond.

They were bored and would whine and whine and ask for cookies. So I gave them crunchy peas from Bhuja. They were not that spicy and they would eat and eat and still be ready for proper food. Well, I sat with them for half an hour the first time and taught them to eat one at a time. And chew, swallow and finish it before picking up another one.

Nana's cookies and cookie bars

After my posts about the twins not doing well with Nana's products, I heard from their team. They pointed out that those were their gluten-free products that tend to be more smooth textured. They also offered to send some of their other products for the twins to try and so they did.

Nana's cookies are a meal in themselves. They are huge, thick (but not heavy/dense), moist, and chewy with just the right amount of sweetness. I have a rule about feeding cookies to the twins - no more than the size of their palm. So I had to break each cookie into four pieces - less than 100 calories and ~5 grams of all natural sugar per serving!

The peanut butter cookie they both loved. The coconut chocolate chip my son stuffed into his little mouth right away. My daughter examined the chocolate chips closely, took them out carefully and set them aside. First she ate half her cookie, then all the chips and then finished her cookie. A first-of-it's-kind behaviour - Iam still trying to figure out what it means.

The fudgy wudgy bars have actual chocolate chips in them and the twins declared they liked the 'chokalat cookie veyy much.'

I like the fact that Nana's only sweetens with fruit juice and have no hydrogenated oils or GMOs. Also they use non-aluminum baking powder (another new thing learned, and I will switch too for better taste especially since I tend to go a little overboard with it.)

Fruit and veggie bars from Tasty brand

A 'cookie' that combines fruits and veggies, AND made with organic whole grains, no GMOs or hydrogenated oils? Also, sweet potatoes and dates baked into the dough and sprinkled with oats and wheat bran? Iam so in and so are the twins.