Natural Foods - Parenting Healthy

Walden Farms Announces Salad Dressings with Improved Natural Ingredients

I love that brands are finally putting our health over their convenience and profits. Many brands still have some work to do to put consumers health at the top, but Walden Farms® has made the turn. They just announced their new re-branding of salad dressings now made with natural ingredients and no dyes or artificial flavors. They will soon follow up with better ingredients in their other products, but the dressings are available now.

Just tonight I made salads so I can use up some veggies and chicken I had and we used Walden Farms Ranch Dressing. The dressings are a blend of herbs and spices and natural sweeteners. They are labeled as keto-friendly with 0g net carbs, sugar free and calorie free. Also, the Walden Farms dressings are gluten-free, kosher, and have no high fructose corn syrup, and most are vegan, dairy-free, and cholesterol-free.

Walden Farms did not just change to better ingredients in their dressings, but changed their website to a cleaner and recipe-filled site you can go for videos and delicious meal ideas. Visit Walden Farms to learn more.

Nirvana natural spring water for life-enhancing benefits of HMB

July 14, 2021July 15, 2021 Erin Sluka

Life-enhancing water with HMB? What could that possibly mean? In my personal trend of eating cleaner, finding better hydration (per my Dr) and exercising, I am a huge believer that water is not all the same and an infused water or an electrolyte water is truly a better hydration from a cellular level. Cellular hydration is exactly what your body truly craves and a .25 cent bottle of plain water won’t include the benefits to make your cells happy (alone). So, I drink plenty of filtered water but include at least 1 bottle of infused water with electrolytes or additives to help properly hydrate me through fitness. And, it always tastes better!

Recently, I was sent a case of Nirvana muscle wellness waters with HMB. I immediately googled this water to learn more and I really did not understand what the benefits of HMB was. Let me share what I learned!

HMB is (β-hydroxy β-methylbutyrate), a naturally-produced substance in your body that supports muscle health. Our bodies are always producing, then breaking down muscle protein. As we age, we produce less and breakdown more, creating an imbalance and a slow muscle loss or slow muscle healing. When we are younger our HMB keeps the breaking down of muscle at a slower pace so the older we get, the more need for HMB and scientific research has found that just 2 to 3 grams of HMB a day can reverse muscle loss and improve muscle wellness. Nirvana water gives you that!

If you exercise at any pace, having faster muscle recovery is important for best results. Replacing just one standard water bottle with a bottle of Nirvana HMB water is the hydration your muscles want!

Nirvana also makes a Select water (electrolytes). Shop Nirvana today!

Natural Foods

Little GF Chefs gluten free, allergy friendly baking kits – Confetti Cake Pops

May 3, 2021July 13, 2021 Erin Sluka

One of the best gift to give Mom are one’s that involve more quality family time. When Mom struggles to get the kids into the kitchen to lear her recipes or teach cooking skills, Little GF Chefs has a solution. These gluten-free and allergy friendly baking kits come with the basics you’ll need plus a little extra and now the kids will want to help.

I was able to make the Confetti Cake Pop and it was so easy and fun. I made these with my nephew and even though he is only 18 months old, I was able to pre-make the cake and have him help pour in measured ingredients and he was able to add sprinkles on the iced pops.

Little GF Chefs baking kits that are gluten free, contain no artificial dyes and are free of the the most common food allergens like nuts, soy, eggs and dairy. You get an easy-to-follow recipe and your kids gain kitchen confidence.

Little GF Chefs has a few kits to choose from – Confetti Cake Pops, Unicorn Donuts, Monkey Bread, Rainbow Pop Tarts, Soft Pretzel, Watercolor Cookies, Cookie Dough Hearts, Pumpkin Spice Donuts, Pizza Party, Rainbow Donuts and Under the Sea Cookies.

If you like subscriptions, you can order one box or enroll in subscription plans so that a new box arrives as often as you choose! If you have a child with dietary restrictions, these baking kits are just what they need to feel in control with their foods and create a fun recipe without the worry of ingredients they may not be able to have.

Order yourself a kit today and get the kids into the kitchen! Visit Little GF Chefs.

Natural Foods

Moonshot crackers are made with regeneratively grown ingredients

April 27, 2021July 10, 2023 Erin Sluka

It is hard to deny that what consumers want is healthy, cleaner ingredients in their food and Moonshot Crackers acknowledges this. We learn more as time goes by about the effects – good and bad – of the foods we eat. We used to be told fats are bad, so we replaced fats with sugar and was told that this is better. We were told that carbohydrates should be the foundation of our daily diet and now we find out how harmful having so many carbs in our day are and even contributing to deadly diseases and epidemics.

As consumers we really have to take it upon ourselves to dissect food labels and know when we are being ‘tricked’ into believing a food item is healthy. Moonshot is a cracker that I can assure you is safe in every ingredient they add!

If you look at most crackers on the market today (even so-called better crackers), you will find highly inflammatory oils, high gluten flours and many still contain BHT (a preservative banned in hundreds of countries, but not ours)! There are typically around 8-10 servings per box and many people can easily snack on much more than that at a time, causing you to have double or triple servings of these highly processed and inflammatory ingredients called a cracker.

Now, do you want to know how to find a better cracker? Don’t worry, these actually taste fantastic! My absolute favorite dip is the Everything But the Bagel Greek Yogurt Dip I get at Trader Joe’s with these Moonshot crackers. It is my dessert after dinner!

Moonshot Climate-Friendly Crackers are made with regeneratively grown ingredients that help store carbon and restore our soil. The crackers are made with stone-milled Edison wheat (with no bleach or bromates) and heart-healthy organic sunflower oil. The plant-based crackers have no added sugar and no preservatives and are USDA Organic and Non-GMO. Find the flavors – Sourdough Sea Salt, Rosemary Garlic, and Tomato Basil.

Julia Collins is the founder and is a Mom who wanted to create better products for her son and make sure the snack she creates will not leave a negative impact on our environment as many food products do! Her platform, Planet FWD builds technology to help food brands rethink the cycle of food production as an opportunity for regeneration. Farmers and brands work together to create products that source regeneratively grown ingredients that are less greenhouse gas intensive! That is what a better cracker with better ingredients looks like!

To find Moonshot Crackers, visit Moonshot Snacks to shop or find retailers near you. They are also available in some Northern California markets (hopefully in Seattle soon). Their carbon neutral shipping is free after $30 so ordering online is easy and affordable.