I was recently contacted by a representative General Mills to review their new Cheerios Snack Mix. Since I am always looking for healthy ways to fill my kid’s seemingly bottomless tummies, was happy to give it a try.

I promptly received in the mail one bag of the cheddar flavor of Cheerios Snack Mix. Upon tearing open the bag of Cheerios Snack Mix our family’s unanimous vote was - Yum!

Now that the important stuff was out of the way, I took a closer look at the facts.

It seems that I am not the only parent in search of healthy, convenient and tasty snacks for my kids. To provide parents a solution to this problem General Mills created Cheerios Snack Mix. The first step in the right direction is that Cheerios Snack Mix is baked, not fried. It contains MultiGrain Cheerios cereal, Chex cereal, pretzels, crackers, and seasoning. It is similar to Chex Mix (also by General Mills) but in my opinion Cheerios Snack Mix Cheddar flavor is more tasty.

Taking a closer look at the nutrition information, I see that one serving of Cheerios Snack Mix is about 2/3 cup and there are approximately 7 servings in each 8 oz. bag. For our family, that serving size was a little small - 1 cup was more satisfying. Each 2/3 cup serving contains 120 calories, 30 of which are from fat. However, Cheerios Snack Mix contains NO trans fats or cholestorol.

The “make mom happy” factors are that each serving of Cheerios Snack Mix contains 1g of fiber, 3g of protein, 4% of daily value for calcium and a whopping 30% daily value of iron.

Cheerios Snack Mix comes in two flavors - Original and Cheddar. Cheerios Snack Mix retails for about $2.59 per 8 oz. bag. For more information visit cheerios.com.

Cheerios Snack Mix is an excellent alternative to other empty calorie snacks that children like to eat (like potato chips, pretzels, and cheese curls). I, for one, will be adding Cheerios Snack Mix to my weekly shopping list.

No, I am not vegetarian. Yes, there are those of you who say I should be. But that argument aside, I found this wonderful cookbook called Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson. I have made a few of the vegetarian slow cooker recipes out of this book and have been very impressed.

I happen to be a big slow cooker fan. In my house, if dinner isn’t prepared by 2:00 pm then it’s a cereal night. Once the kids get home from school my time disappears. With a slow cooker I can prepare dinner in the morning and a hot meal is ready at dinner time.

However, many slow cooker recipes are not that healthy. And I want more flavor than food cooked in a can of cream of something soup provides.

Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker offers many healthy and delicious recipes using beans and vegetables - something that many of us don’t eat enough of .

The two recipes that I made last week were Black Bean Soup and Tuscan White Bean and Escarole Soup. Both soups were delicious. And the white bean soup used escarole, I have never made anything with that before. I wasn’t sure the kids would try it but they liked it too.

I will definitely be making more recipes from this book.

One other benefit of these recipes is that many of them are dairy free. My son is allergic to dairy products and there are a lot of recipes here that he can eat as well.

You can read more about my experiences withvegetarian soup recipes here.

Aren’t meal times a hassle?

Wisdom has it that the family meal is extremely important. It is a time to come together and share the days happenings. No one speaks out of turn, respectfulness abounds, and everyone enjoys the food. Once the meal is done, the entire family pitches in to wash and dry the dishes and retires to the family room for a jovial game of Scrabble and a quick snatch of TV. The kids head upstairs with smiles on their faces for a bath and a night of restful sleep.

Oh, sorry, I must have been dreaming. Life is not like that in my house.

The first problem is getting the meal on the table. If dinner isn’t prepared before school lets out, then it is going to be a late night. Activities rule after school (hey, that rhymes!). I become official family chauffeur and the chef’s hat gets left at home. Usually I can nab one of the kids to set the table, which is a big help.

The second problem is shooing the kids away from snacks because dinner will be ready “in just a few minutes”. If I am diverting them then I am not cooking. Yes, they know the rules but that doesn’t stop them from trying. “Mommmmmm, an apple is HEALTHY!”

The third problem is the menu. I can please one, maybe two - but all six of us? Not always possible. So after making the effort to get dinner on the table, it is painful to watch them push broccoli from one side of the plate to the other. Don’t get me wrong - they really do try to like it. “This broccoli,” grimace, grimace, “is delicious, mom.” grimace, grimace. “Do I have to finish both pieces or is one ok? Do I have to finish the whole piece, or will one bite do?”

And all this, of course, is followed by the standard request, “May I have some dessert?” Thankfully, fresh fruit qualifies as dessert so they do get some vitamins somewhere.

Somewhere, in this process, we are able to converse about the day but my crew is loud and rambunctious. On a good day this is entertaining - and I love it. Other days the conversation can become quarrelsome - and I dread it.

Regardless, I am usually exhausted when the day is done.

Genesis has provided an excellent list of Tips for Keeping the Family Fed. These tips are golden and may just make mealtimes a bit easier in our house!

Also, you may want to read about a healthier twist on snacking at Cheerios Snack Mix and Fizzix Fizzy Yogurt

Fruit Loops Cereal Straws - what were they thinking?

Judy at GoodyBlog has brought a new product to my attention that makes no sense at all. A straw made out of cereal. Do you drink your milk with it and then eat the straw - won’t it be disgustingly soggy?

Judy also links to a post at Consumerist.com that is equally incredulous.

Alas, one more thing to say “No” to when our kids ask.

How old are those leftovers sitting in the back of your refrigerator? How about that jar of pasta sauce? And all of those little containers of opened baby food?

Sometimes it is impossible to remember - and since my motto is “If in doubt throw it out” - I probably waste a lot of perfectly good food. Given the recent outbreaks of food borne illnesses it is easy to be paranoid.

So, when I was recently contacted about a product called DaysAgo - a gadget that keeps track of the number of days food is sitting in your refrigerator - I was intrigued.

The DaysAgo is a reusable digital counter that you stick right on your the top of your jar lid or on your food container. (It has a magnet or suction cup backing - depending on the style that you choose.) When you open your jar of sauce, you set the DaysAgo timer to zero, stick it on the jar lid, and put it in the fridge. Then you can forget about it. The next time you need sauce you will be able to see how many days and hours have passed since you last set the timer (read: opened that jar of sauce.)

This unique gadget has many other uses as well. You can use it to figure out how long it has been since you last watered a plant, changed a filter, opened a pair of contact lens’, and more.

DaysAgo was invented by two moms, Debbie Stephens Stauffer and Kathleen Whitehurst, who wanted to find a way to keep track of the freshness of baby food. They were featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show’s February 2, 2007 “Millionaire Moms” episode and are quite an inspiration to all creative moms with vision.

The DaysAgo sells for $10.00 for a pack of 2 units and can be purchased at their website of their company (double u products, inc.) - www.howmanydaysago.com
or at specialty stores for gourmet housewares and baby products.