#flowertherapy might be right up there with #water #flowertherapy might be right up there with #watertherapy.  Love passing the time in secret wildflower patches. As you do. 🌸
I remarked how pretty that tiny sliver of the moon I remarked how pretty that tiny sliver of the moon was on the way home tonight, and my friend pulled over right away so I could grab a photo. That’s when someone really knows you! It was just too beautiful to resist. 🌙
Weekend photos in review, old school style. ✨ C Weekend photos in review, old school style. ✨ 
Context: 1/ picture perfect weekend, 2/ threw together a quick meal w udon noodles, steak and broccoli, so good, 3/ the sun reflections on this painting struck me today, looked like a cross 4/ it takes all afternoon but nothing like Sunday Gravy, 5/ six months old, 6/ when he wants some serious zzzz’s, he covers his eye with his ears, the cutest, 7/ breakfast pastries at @coniglios
I have plenty of reusable shopping bags since New I have plenty of reusable shopping bags since New Jersey banned the plastic ones last year. But when I spied this beauty for a buck, how could I resist? It just is so darn happy, which makes me happy. The little things aren’t so little. 💛
Cheers to the weekend! This may look like a staged Cheers to the weekend! This may look like a staged photo, but Lola just has ZERO boundaries and Clifford is exceptionally patient. 😂
I’ve been on a smoked salmon kick lately (it’s I’ve been on a smoked salmon kick lately (it’s so good for you), so when I saw that a local patisserie has a smoked salmon croissant available (weekends only), I added it to my list of things to seek out. I popped into @chocolatinenj early on Mother’s Day and was rewarded with this deliciousness. Layers of soft flaky croissant dough, tender smoked salmon, light whipped cream, thinly sliced red and green onion slivers and dotted with capers… it was every bit as amazing as you’d imagine it would be. If you’re local, don’t sleep on this one. 😋
Weekend photos in review, the belated edition. 1/ Weekend photos in review, the belated edition.

1/ hit up a few yard sales and snagged this beautiful pasta dish from Italy with my favorite color for a buck, 2/ and one of these printer trays came home with me too, 3/ pre Mother’s Day celebrations with 30 local moms, 4/ finished the weekend supervising furniture assembly
Today would have been my friend Cathy’s 53rd bir Today would have been my friend Cathy’s 53rd birthday. Unfortunately she’s not here to celebrate because she died suddenly at age 49. I think of her often … every Mother’s Day because we spent most of them together since her husband worked weekends … when I discover a new food adventure (we once did a day long donut crawl) … when I’m sharing a special time with my kids knowing that her then-11 year old is growing up without her. Before she passed, I always appreciated every day, but since then, even more so. You never know what the next day can bring, so relish in the sunshine, surprise rainstorms, making wishes over railroad tracks and all the wonderful randomness life can throw your way. Don’t waste a single second, say yes, live on the outskirts of your comfort zone, laugh often, tell people you love them, give eight second hugs, and squeeze every ounce of joy you can out of life. Do it for the people who can’t. ✨
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Press
  • Writing
  • Contact

Sweetnicks

Food and Life

Reviews: Back-to-School Lunch Box Helpers

September 5, 2013 · Narrative

One of the fun perks of blogging is that we frequently get surprise boxes on our doorstep of new items to review. And most of the time, it’s items we might not have ever discovered on our own. And in an effort to clear off my desk top, and since many are perfect for back-to-school lunch boxes, we’re going to review a bunch in one fell swoop. Get ready.

Untitled

First up is this line of Harvest Snaps from Calbee. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and although they have been around for over 60 years, they originally didn’t start manufacturing shrimp chips and saya in North America until the early 70s. Then, in the late 90s, still with a concentrated effort on healthy living, they started this line of crisps. And oh man, these crisps. Go get yourself some. Gluten-free, less fat and sodium than its counterparts (and, likewise, more fiber, protein, and Vitamin B), they are a light, healthy snack that is perfect to tuck into little lunch boxes. Ok, and big lunch boxes too. Six different subtly flavored varieties, they are light, crispy, and addicting enough that I found myself coming back for more and more. Although I haven’t seen them yet in retail locations, I also haven’t been looking, because they are definitely readily available in a variety of places. The snapea crisps were my favorite – go get ’em.

Untitled

Next up is this line of tortilla chips and dippers from RW Garcia. When it comes to snacking, Nick is a sucker for tortilla chips, so he was all over these. We had a little taste testing of the four different varieties we received. His favorite was the sweet and spicy Mixt bag, followed closely by the blue and corn tortilla chips and the cheddar dippers. A family owned business that has been around for over thirty years, it was born from a passion of making a healthy crispy snack that has all natural ingredients. The chips are sturdier than the competitors, and easily stand up to salsa dipping, and more substantial dips like a con queso. Nick asked me to put them away because he couldn’t stay away from them.

Untitled

I received this sample of Stretch Island Fruit Chews in my swag bag during my Food Blogger Forum trip to Orlando in June. I have purchased the fruit strips (or more commonly referred to as fruit leather) for the kids before, so I am very familiar with the brand. The kids love the fruit strips, but they didn’t love these chews. They described it as a texture issue, and said that the fruit snacks we usually have contain a better chew, and these pieces felt “flakier” to them. Their chew and strip products are 100% natural, contain no added sugar, no additives, and I happen to love the company and how socially conscious they are. We’ll just stick to the strips, as the kids love them more.

Untitled

When I was pregnant with Nick, for the first few months, I subsisted on two things. Sweet potatoes from Boston Market, and a buttered cracker with a thin slice of Cheddar on it. All the days. Which may or may not explain Nick’s penchant for crackers. If I leave the kids alone with Wheat Thins, Cheez-Its, Ritz, or even Saltine crackers, I can come back to an empty box. And that’s without them putting butter or cheese on it. They just love crackers. So you can probably guess that the O’Malley clan as a whole was stoked to receive this box full of crackers on our doorstep. Blue Diamond, and their delicious smokehouse almonds, is very familiar to us, but this Nut-Thins line is new to us (and gluten-free). Thin, crispy, and downright awesome (eight flavors!), these are going to be perfect in the kids’ lunch boxes with a few slices of Cabot cheddar. Yes, please.

Untitled

I’ve got to say, when I see the “c is for cereal,” I immediately think of Cookie Monster’s “c is for cookie” jingle and expect to see a picture of him on the box. But, of course, this is not that. Close, but not quite. And, now that I’ve looked up more brand information, Cookie Monster is actually pictured on the banana version of this cereal. All is instantly right with the world. Madeline is my cereal kid. Although she vacillates between cereal, mini waffles, or a bagel, more often than not, it’s cereal, cereal, cereal, for days. Repeat. I love that this is whole grain cereal and very low, comparably speaking, in sugar. It is packed with vitamins, and is a simple, not over-the-top cereal. Although it took Madeline a bit to warm up to the cereal (she was in a rut), she does love it now. Although perfect for a quick and easy breakfast, it’s also great as a snack when put in little sealable containers. They can munch on it on the way to school or at snack time.

Untitled

And lastly, this water bottle. Years and years ago, I used to use disposable cups. For everything. And then I got smart. And got pretty focused on waste. And nixed mostly everything disposable (no more disposable plates, cups, or paper napkins) in our home. I don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner. Although it sometimes takes me forever to come around to a new idea, once I convert, I am completely committed thereafter. I consider this a good thing. So because we don’t use disposable cups (or plastic water bottles), it means we use a lot of reusable water bottles. In fact, we recently relocated our stash into this new amazing dresser I bought for a song, and we counted. Nine. Ten, with this new addition. While that might seem like a lot, with three of us using them, and with the kids’ bottles not always coming home the same day they take them, well, sometimes it’s not enough. And with our water bottle usage, I am very picky about which ones we use. They have to be BPA-free, for starters. And completely leak- and spill-proof. Durable. No wide-mouth or large openings to drink from. They have to be dishwasher safe. Easy for little fingers to open and close. And this one from Camelbak? Is all that. And as soon as it arrived, Nick claimed it as his own. I don’t blame him.

I would like to say this cleared off everything on my desk. It didn’t. But it made a serious dent. So many awesome new products, do keep an eye out for them. And with only one item that we weren’t head over heels for, I’d say that’s some pretty good statistics.

*Although this is NOT a sponsored post, we were generously given the above items. Two of the links above are affiliate links to Amazon, which just means that should you happen to purchase something, I make a few pennies. Disclosure? Yep, covered.

Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPRINT

Posted In: Narrative · Tagged: back-to-school shopping, Blue Diamond, Camelbak, Post cereal, RW Garcia, Stretch Island

Comments

  1. Joanne says

    September 6, 2013 at 6:27 am

    I love those snapea crisps! Pretty cool to see that they have flavors now!

    Also that water bottle is my ultimate favorite. The.Best.
    Joanne recently posted..Banana Bread Brownies {the leftovers club}

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

Storytelling…
Through photos.
Words. And recipes.

Archives

Categories

Instagram

#flowertherapy might be right up there with #water #flowertherapy might be right up there with #watertherapy.  Love passing the time in secret wildflower patches. As you do. 🌸
I remarked how pretty that tiny sliver of the moon I remarked how pretty that tiny sliver of the moon was on the way home tonight, and my friend pulled over right away so I could grab a photo. That’s when someone really knows you! It was just too beautiful to resist. 🌙
Weekend photos in review, old school style. ✨ C Weekend photos in review, old school style. ✨ 
Context: 1/ picture perfect weekend, 2/ threw together a quick meal w udon noodles, steak and broccoli, so good, 3/ the sun reflections on this painting struck me today, looked like a cross 4/ it takes all afternoon but nothing like Sunday Gravy, 5/ six months old, 6/ when he wants some serious zzzz’s, he covers his eye with his ears, the cutest, 7/ breakfast pastries at @coniglios
I have plenty of reusable shopping bags since New I have plenty of reusable shopping bags since New Jersey banned the plastic ones last year. But when I spied this beauty for a buck, how could I resist? It just is so darn happy, which makes me happy. The little things aren’t so little. 💛

Pinterest

#flowertherapy might be right up there with #water #flowertherapy might be right up there with #watertherapy.  Love passing the time in secret wildflower patches. As you do. 🌸
I remarked how pretty that tiny sliver of the moon I remarked how pretty that tiny sliver of the moon was on the way home tonight, and my friend pulled over right away so I could grab a photo. That’s when someone really knows you! It was just too beautiful to resist. 🌙
Weekend photos in review, old school style. ✨ C Weekend photos in review, old school style. ✨ 
Context: 1/ picture perfect weekend, 2/ threw together a quick meal w udon noodles, steak and broccoli, so good, 3/ the sun reflections on this painting struck me today, looked like a cross 4/ it takes all afternoon but nothing like Sunday Gravy, 5/ six months old, 6/ when he wants some serious zzzz’s, he covers his eye with his ears, the cutest, 7/ breakfast pastries at @coniglios
I have plenty of reusable shopping bags since New I have plenty of reusable shopping bags since New Jersey banned the plastic ones last year. But when I spied this beauty for a buck, how could I resist? It just is so darn happy, which makes me happy. The little things aren’t so little. 💛
Cheers to the weekend! This may look like a staged Cheers to the weekend! This may look like a staged photo, but Lola just has ZERO boundaries and Clifford is exceptionally patient. 😂
I’ve been on a smoked salmon kick lately (it’s I’ve been on a smoked salmon kick lately (it’s so good for you), so when I saw that a local patisserie has a smoked salmon croissant available (weekends only), I added it to my list of things to seek out. I popped into @chocolatinenj early on Mother’s Day and was rewarded with this deliciousness. Layers of soft flaky croissant dough, tender smoked salmon, light whipped cream, thinly sliced red and green onion slivers and dotted with capers… it was every bit as amazing as you’d imagine it would be. If you’re local, don’t sleep on this one. 😋
Weekend photos in review, the belated edition. 1/ Weekend photos in review, the belated edition.

1/ hit up a few yard sales and snagged this beautiful pasta dish from Italy with my favorite color for a buck, 2/ and one of these printer trays came home with me too, 3/ pre Mother’s Day celebrations with 30 local moms, 4/ finished the weekend supervising furniture assembly
Today would have been my friend Cathy’s 53rd bir Today would have been my friend Cathy’s 53rd birthday. Unfortunately she’s not here to celebrate because she died suddenly at age 49. I think of her often … every Mother’s Day because we spent most of them together since her husband worked weekends … when I discover a new food adventure (we once did a day long donut crawl) … when I’m sharing a special time with my kids knowing that her then-11 year old is growing up without her. Before she passed, I always appreciated every day, but since then, even more so. You never know what the next day can bring, so relish in the sunshine, surprise rainstorms, making wishes over railroad tracks and all the wonderful randomness life can throw your way. Don’t waste a single second, say yes, live on the outskirts of your comfort zone, laugh often, tell people you love them, give eight second hugs, and squeeze every ounce of joy you can out of life. Do it for the people who can’t. ✨

Copyright © 2023 Sweetnicks · Theme by Vicki Harrison Design