Stomach Flu Equals Finding Clean Convenience Foods Fast!

Of course, the week I'm ready to give my food intake a clean makeover would be the very same week I come down with the stomach flu! Let me just tell you, it has not been a fun past few days! My goal this week was to make from scratch some convenience foods that our family tends to eat throughout the week, especially snacks.

Trail mix, granola bars, and any finger foods for Livi are staples for us. I had previously been buying packaged snacks.  But one look at the ingredients list of my favorite trail mix...

...and you can see why I wanted to make it from scratch with whole food ingredients! Can we say salt, salt, and more salt, sprinkled with a little MSG? Scary!!

But then I ran smack dab into a stomach flu and got knocked on my bottom and my lofty goals went out the window.  For the most part I have been able to stick to clean foods (well, quite honestly, I haven't stuck to much food), but I was desperate to find some snacks that were clean that I wasn't going to have to cook up for this week.  I was so happy to find several and wanted to share! 

My top priority was something that Livi could snack on, besides fresh fruits and veggies.  I had to run into Walmart to pick up some diapers and ran across these in the baby food section. 

They are the "nibbly fingers" by Ella's Kitchen. They are awesome!! Livi has tried both kinds (apples + strawberries, mangoes + carrots), and she loved both! I tried a bite of both as well and they were really good! It tasted similar to a Nutri-grain bar, though they are a little more dry.  But they taste great, and they don't fall apart easily so she was able to munch on her snack bar and keep right on playing! And check out the ingredient list for both of these flavors:

They are certified USDA organic, which always makes me feel a little better about packaged products.  I'll call these a win and I'm pretty sure they will become a staple item in our pantry! A couple of things to keep in mind: 1) these are about $4 for a box of 5 bars...so pretty pricey and definitely gives me some motivation to come up with a homemade version; 2) the nutritional information is for 1/3 a bar, so the grams of sugar will need to be multiplied by 3 if your little one (or you) consumes an entire bar.

Here's my munchkin enjoying her afternoon snack (she says excuse the post-nap hair!)

For Mommy and Daddy, I have discovered the Larabar!

I have heard about these babies for some time now, but never tried one. I had the Chocolate Coconut Chew one today...ohmygaw! Yummy! It was really good and actually quite a hearty snack! And check out the ingredients list:

5 ingredients, pretty impressive! These again, are about $1 per bar, so I will be on a mission to find a way to make them homemade...when I am well of course!

I wanted something a little sweet to nibble on and found a recipe for an easy granola bar.  I will share that recipe in a later post, but one of the ingredients called for chocolate chips.  After spending forever in the baking aisle at HEB and reading all the ingredients list for every brand of chocolate chips I was completely frustrated (and there were no carob chips available at this HEB) until my eyes moved down to the next to last shelf and I spotted these! They are mini chocolate chips by Enjoy Life and I think I am in love.

These taste amazing (either by themselves or in the granola bar recipe!) They will now be my go-to chocolate chip!

Well that's it for now! Here's hoping the rest of the week is filled with a clean bill of health and clean food!

*I am not paid by any of the products mentioned in this post.