Category: Stonyfield

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Green Kids Meal Time Stonyfield Summer

Simple summer salads with Taylor Farms and Stonyfield

**This post is sponsored by Stonyfield Organic Yogurt and in partnership with Taylor Farms**

 

It’s finally here! Summer! 

With five kids, Summer is busy and exhausting. It’s also HOT. I can’t tell you how often we start thinking about what to fix for dinner and just so do not want to cook. The idea of turning on the stove to make a healthy meal for the family just seems so daunting – not to mention counter productive to running the air conditioner.

So what do you do? Salad!! A great Summer staple. However, getting most kids to eat a salad may take a little finesse. Enter in our kid friendly Simply Sweet Summer Salad.

We love to keep things simple while also keeping things as wholesome, healthy, and nutritious as we can. Organics are a key part of this. We love the opportunities we have working with Stonyfield and other organic collaborators for this very reason. You will find that this salad stays true to a fast, convenient, simple and super healthy meal.. while tasting almost dessert like!

All you need is:

  • Taylor Farms Power Greens (We loved the Wellness Blend!)
  • Stonyfield Organic Smoothe and Creamy Whole Milk Yogurt – Vanilla (no, really! Vanilla!!)
  • Organic Honey Mustard
  • Diced, cooked chicken
  • Diced cheese of your choice (optional; Mild Cheddar or Gouda work well)
  • Fresh, sliced organic strawberries
  • Fresh, whole, organic seedless red grapes

Start by prepping your ingredients. You can prep as much or as little as you need, depending on what you’re using it for. That’s the nice thing about these particular ingredients. None of them have to be prepped in huge batches. From a small lunch portion to a hearty potluck salad.. you pick how much of what you need and wash and prep accordingly. (You can even dice your chicken and cheese early and just keep them in the fridge, grabbing portions as you need!)

Once your greens, cheese, chicken and fruit is washed, sliced and diced.. it’s time to prep the dressing. Simple is an understatement. Two ingredients. Nothing more. Honey mustard and Vanilla Stonyfield organic whole milk yogurt, blended well with a fork. SO EASY!

  • 3 tablespoons organic honey mustard
  • 1/4 cup Stonyfield Vanilla Whole Milk Yogurt

(Note: for a sweeter dressing, add more honey mustard.. for a tangier, creamier dressing — add more yogurt! Play with it to find the balance you like most!)

Assemble your salad, then drizzle the desired amount of dressing over the top. If packing for a lunch or potluck, I recommend transporting the dressing in a separate container and waiting to drizzle it until just before serving.

Its a bright, fun, incredibly healthy salad that  even your kids will crave, and you won’t break a sweat making. Even on those hot summer days.  BONUS: the dressing makes an excellent dip! If you have a child who isn’t keen on salad, give them the ingredients seperately and let them dip away! (Sometimes being able to play with their food makes it taste better!)

 

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Kids Stonyfield Uncategorized

Do you think a cow can save a Penguin?

Note: This post is Sponsored.

Happy World Penguin Day!! We love those tuxedo clad flightless birds in our house!

It is with great honor, on a day like today, that I get to share with you that a company I already love for their dedication to the environment, food, and the well being of humans — is sponsoring the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction) program.

Stonyfield has begun a year long mission to bring awareness to this program. Through the Stonyfield YoKids’ sponsorship of the SAFE program, they will support conservation efforts of TEN (!!) endangered species — Including the African Penguin! What better day to kick this all off than World Penguin Day?! They even hosted a fun interactive FB Live broadcast on the Stonyfield Facebook Page, Live from Mystic Aquarium’s Penguin Encounter.

As part of their efforts to bring awareness to the cause and educate not only parents, but the future generation on the importance of saving our endangered species, Stonyfield YoKids’s packaging will feature most of the AZA SAFE species, as well as an on-package offer to bring families to AZA accredited Zoos and Aquariums. From now through September 2017, families that purchase TWO (2) specially marked YoKids multipacks will receive a FREE kids admission to their local AZA accredited Zoo or Aquarium! (There are 131!! Click here to find one near you!)

Even better news for parents! You arent just helping endangered species when you purchase YoKids yogurt! You’re giving your kids a USDA certified Organic, non-GMO yogurt that now has 40% less sugar than the leading low-fat kids yogurt brand!! Available in cups, squeezers and smoothies, you’re bound to find one (or many) your kids will love.

While you wait for your kids to finish their yogurts and planning your trip to your local zoo or aquarium, spend a few minutes checking out these other resources about Stonyfield’s sponsorship of the AZA SAFE program and also watch these super cute videos!

 

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Babies Stonyfield

When a good thing gets better! Stonyfield YoBaby yogurt, now with Probiotics!

As parents, we try very hard to give our kids the best we can. We want them to grow and thrive and be happy. What we put into their bodies is an important factor in that.

We try to give our kids the healthiest variety and options – which is why Stonyfield Organic YoBaby Yogurt has always been a staple in our first foods journey.

Not only is it organic, it’s made from whole milk, low in sugar, a variety of flavors, and now — they’ve added the probiotic BB-12! This means baby’s already healthy yogurt will promote good gut health as well.

YoBaby yogurt is the number 1 pediatrician recommended refrigerated yogurt for babies between 6 months and 2 years. I know that it’s the yogurt our pediatrician has been recommending to us for the last 11 years, for all of our kids. We know it, we trust it, and now it’s even better.

With five kids, someone is always coming down with something.. a snotty nose, a stomach bug, an ear infection. If any of those instances require an antibiotic, or just leave them with an unhappy stomach, the added benefits of probiotics in yogurt they already love to eat makes my life much easier. I can rest assured they’re getting what their bodies need when it needs it most.

Available in several flavors, you are sure to find one your baby will love! (Vanilla,  Banana/Mango, Blueberry/Apple, andPeach/Pear) You can even buy a non-sweetened Plain yogurt version. What better to add to other foods for bab – or even to make dips out of without losing any of those benefits that make YoBaby so wonderful. (A ranch dip made from plain YoBaby is the perfect exploration dip! A little bit of that, some chicken nuggets and a few fries. Baby is in artistic self-feeding heaven!)

For more information on Stonyfields commitment to healthy food for babies, or to find YoBaby near you, click here!

 

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Stonyfield

The *new* Stonyfield Whole Milk Smoothies!

Please note: I am a Stonyfield Ambassador and the product mentioned below was provided to me. All opinions are my own.

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When you have five kids, life gets busy. When you homeschool 3 of those kids, life can be downright chaotic.

When it comes to meals, especially snacks, I constantly struggle between easy, convenient, and healthy. Did I mention my kids are all boys? This means they are hungry all the time. (No, really! ALL the time!)

For a while, I would keep crackers, granola bars, string cheese, and fruit where they could readily get it on their own without a hassle.. but these weren’t always the healthiest or most filling options.

Enter my new favorite household staple! The Stonyfield Whole Milk Smoothies! Let me tell you, these have saved me on more than one occasion. Be it a kid who slept in too late and was about to miss their online homeroom, but still needed breakfast, or the picky toddler who flat out refused to eat his dinner.

I know when my kids grab one of these smoothies, they are getting healthy protein, they aren’t full of added sugars and other junk, they’re organic and they are satisfying! My kids aren’t instantly looking for another snack less than 5 minutes after drinking one.

They also help with me feel better about those after dinner random hunger pains.. a healthier option to stomp out those cravings.

The Stonyfield Whole Milk Smoothies currently come in two flavors, peach and strawberry. Lucky for me, my household is evenly split on who likes which flavor most — but everyone loves them both.

I plan on keeping these smoothies well stocked in our fridge.. they will definitely be our school week go-to!

You can find out more about th Stonyfield Whole Milk Smoothies here.

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Babies Baby Gear Baby Registry Gifts Meal Time OXO Tot Parenting Review Stonyfield

Adventures in self feeding with OXO and Stonyfield

Our little boy has his variety of developmental delays and one of them has been his ability to self feed. He longs for independence. He wants to do things on his own. It’s something we are working on, but it’s been a process. A slow process.

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Recently our friends at Stonyfield and OXO Tot sent us some amazing goodies. Age appropriate products that I was thrilled to put to use to assist him in his self-feeding development. We received a wide variety of products, but I’m going to feature our favorites here. The divided plate with removeable ring, the fork and spoon set, and the roll up bib and spoon set. We also can’t forget our little boy’s favorite meal accessory.. the Stonyfield Kids YoKids Squeeze pouch. Seriously, he would eat one at every meal if I let him!

imageI was so pleased with these OXO for products. Our little guy was actually able to maneuver the utensils and get food from plate to mouth. The deep grooves and the high curved lip of the divided bowl helped him succeed in getting food from plate to fork. The bib? I think I will be stocking up on these bibs. They caught everything his mouth didn’t, and it was sturdy enough that he could assert his independence and stick the fork straight into the pocked and continue eating everything he dropped. (He wastes nothing! I’m pretty sure he’s going to cost me a fortune in food bills when he reaches that teenage stage.) He was eating a deconstructed turkey taco and mandarin oranges, so the fact that he was able to feed himself any of it, let alone the majority of it, made me quite pleased with the products. imageThe OXO Tot products are easy to clean and easy for toddlers to use. Exactly what we needed for a little boy who wants so badly to be independent but is struggling to do so. We will be added many, many more OXO Tot products to our cupboards. The mere fact that, since adding these products to the line up, our little one has grown even more determined to figure out how to use them? Win in my book.

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Note: This post was sponsored by Stonyfield and OXO Tot. Products were provided to me for this post. All opinions expressed are my own.

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Stonyfield

School lunch for the preschool crowd..

This is it. I am about to send THREE kids off to school this year. One in 4th grade, one in 1st grade.. and then my little Pre-K munchkin. The older kids have done this school gig numerous times.. they know what they’re getting themselves into and have their routines down pretty well. Same school. Same friends.
My 4 year old, though. This is all new to him. The anxiety is creeping in already and school hasn’t even started yet! He is our Sensory Processing munchkin. Severe Hyper Sensory Avoider. So with all the chaos and newness that is about to consume his life, I knew I needed to find something he can control.. FOOD.

While he is only going to school 1/2 days, his schedule lands him there during prime lunch time hours. They only get a snack time, so I need to insure that he is going to have a quality snack that gives him all the nutrition of a lunch.. but portioned to be consumed during a snack time versus a full lunch period. I also need them to be familiar to him, healthy but fun, and lets face it… easy for me to pack, as I am now packing lunches for 3 kids!

Enter Stonyfield Kids. A fabulous staple for lunches. It’s organic. It’s not full of food coloring and artificial flavors. It comes in fun forms (squeezers, pouches and cups.. each of my kids has a favorite!) and they love the flavor. It gives me a good place to start the lunch packing. Then I can build around it. Obviously the older boys have larger lunches for their growing appetites.. but for my little guy, I know I don’t have to build too much..

1/2 a bagel with cream cheese is his favorite “sandwich” – He doesn’t like sandwiches.. and everything has to be open-faced. One of his little quirks.. so this works wonderfully. The bagels also don’t crumb up as much as bread does, so his sensory issues aren’t in overdrive over crumbs.

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Fruit is always an addition. His favorites are grapes, blueberries and strawberries.. so it is bound to be one of those.

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Next, we give a special “treat” — an organic fruit snack of some sort. And perhaps some Annie’s animal cookies or bunny crackers to round it all out.

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The meal is nothing big. It doesn’t take a whole lot of extra effort or time in our busy life, and its healthy and in line with his sensory demands (or pickiness.. pick your terminology! HAHA) We will switch things around frequently. I like to keep things balanced, and the multiple options from Stonyfield help allow that to be possible while still maintaining a familiar staple in his lunch box.

What did your child’s lunch box look like? Do you have picky kids are any special dietary needs that you must follow for your kids?

 

Note: I am a compensated StonyfieldFarm YoGetter Ambassador. This post was sponsored by Stonyfield. All opinions expressed are my own.

Categories
Stonyfield Toys

FroYo Fun with Stonyfield and Yay Labs

It is very rare for me to come across a product that is both entertaining and highly useful for my children. When I was presented by Stonyfield to review the Yay Labs Soft Shell Ice Cream Ball to combine fun with a healthy frozen snack, I was immediately intrigued. Could it really be as fun and simple as it sounded? Is this something my older boys would enjoy? Could they even manage to do it all themselves? After an evening of fun with our Stonyfield YoKids yogurt and our Yay Labs Soft Shell Ice Cream Ball… the answer to all of those questions is an astounding YES!

**I am a Stonyfield Ambassador. This Post is sponsored by Stonyfield, and the products herein were provided to us by Stonyfield and Yay Labs for the purpose of review. All Opinions expressed are my own.**

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We started by gathering our ingredients. We wanted to keep it healthy, and keep it simple. The Yay Labs Ice Cream Ball, itself, doesn’t require much to use it.. and the frozen yogurt can be as simple as just using, well, yogurt. We opted to add organic frozen sliced strawberries to our frozen yogurt for a little extra flavor and texture. Plus: Why not? One more thing for the kids to help with, and one more fruit to add to their diet for the day.

 

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Creating the Frozen Yogurt is easy.. Prep the yogurt in a bowl that will be easy to transfer into the ball when you’re ready. We were feeding 3 of our children, so I used 3 of the YoKids cups. (Strawberry Vanilla is a favorite around these parts.. so a natural choice for us!)
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In the bowl of yogurt, we added in the thawed, sliced organic strawberries.
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After you’ve added the desired amount of fruit to the yogurt, mix it together well.
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Add the yogurt and fruit mixture to the metal compartment in the Ice Cream Ball.
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After the lid is well secured to the capsule containing the yogurt mixture, tip it over and add ice to the bottom compartment.
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Fill it with ice as full as you can get it (But leave a little bit of room for the rock salt)
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Measure out your rock salt, approximately 1/2 a cup. Add the rock salt on top of the ice in the compartment and secure the lid well.
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Play with the ball. Your kids can roll it. Shake it. Toss it back and forth (Please not.. this is not the best method. It does specify not to drop it, and with all the ice and other ingredients.. this ball DOES get heavy!!) After about 20 minutes of playing, scraping themixture off the walls once or twice in the process, you have an amazing vat of frozen yogurt.
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Creamy and delicious. Organic strawberry frozen yogurt that my kids made by themselves, at home.. all while playing together.


What a fun and enjoyable activity!! The yogurt was delicious and my kids were begging to do it again not even 5 minutes after they finished their dish of frozen yogurt. This is a fun summer staple, for sure. Thank you, Stonyfield and Yay Labs!!

Categories
Babies Baby Registry Giveaway High Chair Kids Meal Time Stonyfield Tommee Tippee

Toddlers at the table.. with Stonyfield and Tommee Tippee

Image 2Meal time with a toddler is anything but simple. In our house, it typically involves multiple meal options, yogurt in the hair, a bowl tossed on the floor and a missing spoon. (We’re bound to find them eventually.. right?) With that said, we find dinner to be important family time. Conversing and bonding over food. What could be better?

Thanks to Stonyfield and Tommee Tippee, our dinner time bonding was simplified quite a bit. Sure, we still have to have multiple dining options for our toddler and clearly there will still be yogurt in his hair.. but there were no more interrupted conversations due to a tossed spoon. No more bowls full of pasta dumped on the floor. (Much to our cat’s dismay)

Image 3Tommee Tippee’s line of dining products for toddlers is fabulous. My favorite, and meal time simplifier is definitely their Easi-Mat. A simple mat that fits nicely on our high chair tray… and it keeps the bowl stuck to it. Amazing. It’s even small enough to roll up, throw in the diaper bag and take with us. That’s right.. no more tossed food at restaurants, either! (It’s a mother’s dream!) Pair with that the Easy Scoop Feeding Bowls with Lid and spoon and you’re all set. It comes as a set of 2 bowls and the lid works on both with a compartment for the spoon. The bowls stick perfectly to the mat for home use.. and when on the go, the lid fit tightly and kept my diaper bag protected… and the spoon compartment kept the spoon nice and clean. This is especially convenient for us since our toddler is on a special diet, so we are often having to bring his own food and snacks with us. (You can fill these bowls with your favorite Stonyfield YoToddler Yogurt and throw it in your diaper bag to take with you and it will actually stay IN the bowl… not all over your bag! WIN!!)

Image 5I am very impressed with the toddler line of Tommee Tippee products. We love them. Our toddler loves them. Even our 3 year old loves them. (He has claimed the spill proof cups as his own… even though he is capable of using normal cups. One less mess for me to clean up, so I shall not argue!) Do you even find yourself thinking that there must be a simpler way to feed a toddler? Especially while you’re hunting down carrots from under a table? Tommee Tippee definitely makes meals less messy. Except for the yogurt.. that will always end up in the hair, but you know what? That’s okay. There’s something really cute (and yummy smelling..) about a little one with a yogurt mohawk.

image 6Thanks to Stonyfield and Tommee Tippee, you have the opportunity to win an amazing toddler feeding prize pack just like the one we received. A set of Tommee Tippee toddler feeding products, and coupons for delicious, healthy and organic Stonyfield YoToddler yogurt. You, too, could enjoy yogurt mohawks and less meal time bowl tossing.

To enter, fill out the Rafflecopter form below.

Note: This post is sponsored by Stonyfield and Tommee Tippee. I was provided products for review and giveaway. The opinions expressed are my own.

 

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