Treats for Kids of All Ages

For many of us, September means back-to-school. The stores are filled with sales on clothing, school supplies and books; the supermarkets are filled with sales on snacks and drinks. Here are some great treats for the whole family:

* Snyder’s of Hanover (OU dairy) – the pretzel company has a wonderful new line of pretzels and chips. Apple Cinnamon Rounds are bite-size sourdough pretzels with the taste of apple and cinnamon. In my house they went very quickly – even my picky eight year old enjoyed them. They also come in Caramel but beware, once you open the bag, the smell will draw them from all over. My husband very much enjoyed the Organic Honey Wheat Sticks – thin crunchy sticks with a lite honey taste low in fat and all organic ingredients. By far, however, our favorite was the Tomato and Pesto Veggie Chips under their EastSmart label.
A colorful bag of chips with zesty tomato and pesto flavoring, you can’t eat just one – actually you may find yourself finishing the bag without even realizing how much you have eaten. The whole variety of Snyder products can be found in your local supermarket.

* Happy and Healthy Products (OU parve and dairy) – are truly that, products that will make you happy and are healthy to eat. We tried all the flavors in their “Fruitfull” line – frozen fruit bars with chunks of real fruit. The dairy flavors were rich and creamy and a delight to eat – with choices like Strawberry Cream, Coconut and Mango Cream amongst others, how could they not?! Among the parve flavors, we most enjoyed the Strawberry and Fuzzy Navel. However, hands down the favorite was the Happy Indulgence Decadent Dips. These are whole fruit bars, blended with cream and covered in rich dark chocolate. Imagine – Chocolate Dipped Banana Split, Cappuccino Biscotti, Chocolate Dipped Coconut – rich and creamy, great tasting, but low in fat. Happy and Healthy also has a line of smoothies available for foodservice. To find these products in your area, see their website at www.fruitfull.com.

* Rokeach Foods is distributing a line of Elite Products (Badatz and other Israeli Hechsherim, parve and Cholov Yisroel) that most of us are familiar with. We had an opportunity to try the coffee flavored hard candy under the Elite Mutar label. All the coffee drinkers in our office enjoyed them, as they had a nice rich coffee taste. The Must gum comes in a variety of flavors and in two different formats – tablet and stick. In my house the stick gum, in menthol and banana, were gone within a day – and I took home five packages! In the tablet form the breath freshening, sort of an icy flavor went over the best. We also tried the Pesek Zman red chocolate bars. Those went pretty quickly as well. As a matter of fact, one of
our employees came back for seconds within a couple of minutes. All of the Elite products can be found in your local kosher grocery or the kosher sections of major supermarkets.

* The Long Island Lemonade Company produces a line of kid and adult friendly lemonade under the Citrus Bay label (OU parve). Available in glass or plastic bottles, they are each rich, with a different fruit taste. With flavors like Pink Paradise and Diet Peach Lovers Cove, there is something to please every palate. I took home a number of bottles and had a real old-fashioned taste test. In each plastic cup we poured a sample without telling the kids what it was. While they enjoyed most of what they tasted, the hands-down favorite was the Lemonade Ice Tea. To find out where these great drinks can be purchased in your neighborhood, check out their website at www.citrusbay.com.

Now, this last item is not really a snack, but can be used to make many things a special treat. Kernel Season’s (CRC parve and dairy) is an exciting new product and idea – popcorn seasonings in a container. I know, I know – popcorn seasonings? I thought it was a little strange too, until we started using them. I took home Apple Cinnamon, Chocolate Marshmallow and BBQ, and have used all three. And not just on popcorn. The Chocolate Marshmallow on vanilla ice cream, the apple cinnamon in plain yogurt and the BBQ on chicken – that’s right, chicken. They are all natural, no fat, no MSG and very little sodium. We also tried it on popcorn; for that our favorite is apple cinnamon. However, there are so many
varieties to choose from, you can make everyone happy. Check out their website at
www.kernelseasons.com to find out where to purchase.