Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Put Some Yum in Your Tum: Quaker Soft Baked Bars

· by · Leave a Comment

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Quaker Oats for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

As a nursing mama, I am HUNGRY quite frequently throughout the day. I need to keep some fuel in my tank throughout the day to make sure I don't get so hungry that I go eat half a bag of peanut m&m's (not that I've ever done that, especially not just last week, ahem). 

Quaker has just come out with a new product that perfectly meets my need for something yummy and sweet, but also nutritious. They are calledQuaker Soft Baked Bar. Each bar has 140 calories (so not too bad), 5g of fiber (always important to get your daily fiber intake, ladies!), and 6g of protein (something I definitely need more of in my diet). QSBB Yum Image high res.jpg

Not only are these bars a wholesome food, they also are delicious! With flavors like cinnamon pecan bread and banana nut bread, how can you resist? I know I personally make an excellent banana bread, but I've never heard of cinnamon pecan bread, so that would be the flavor I'd be the very most eager to try. It sounds yummy (I'm a big cinnamon fan!). It has even been suggested that you heat up your soft baked bar in the microwave for a warm and satisfying treat. I love that idea! 

Another way to eat these bars is as a breakfast snack. Maybe you are typically so busy in the morning that you skip breakfast altogether. I personally NEVER skip breakfast, but I have definitely experienced that extreme time crunch in the mornings that make finding something nutritious and balanced to eat a bit difficult. It would be great to have these bars in my pantry for those hairy days. 

I also wouldn't mind offering these to Darah as an afternoon snack. I could see the two of us splitting a bar! 

Visit Sponsor's Site

A New Way to Provide Calcium to Your Kids: Kraft Milk Bite Bars

· by · 1 Comment

Does your little one not like to drink milk? We don’t have the problem with Darah, as long as we add a few drops of chocolate syrup to it! Desperate times call for desperate measures, but I’d prefer that she drink it without the added sugar. We have mixed results when we leave it out, though, and I often find myself throwing milk down the drain. With the price of milk as high as it is (and we buy organic for Darah), this is maddening!

Kraft has just released a brand new product that can help you get more calcium to your kids, and even to you if you struggle with your calcium intake. The product is called Kraft Milk Bite Bars. They are similar to granola bars, but have a creamier taste. Each bar also contains enough calcium to equal one 8 ounce glass of milk!

Darah LOVES these and asks to eat them all the time. I think they are a terrific snack option for the middle of the day, but I wouldn’t choose it as a breakfast alternative for my kids because one bar does have 10g of sugar (that’s about 2 1/2 teaspoons…could be worse, but could be better).

I have sampled the strawberry and chocolate flavors, as well, and I agree with Darah that they are quite scrumptious, and this is coming from someone who doesn’t really like granola bars.

Look for Kraft Milk Bites in the refrigerated section of your grocery store (they are kept there because of all the milk in the bars!). Other flavors include peanut butter, oatmeal raisin and mixed berry. A box of 5 bars retails for $3.50.

Disclosure: I received complimentary samples for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

Zac Omega Bars Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

· by · 190 Comments

I never skip breakfast.

NEVER.

In fact, when I was younger, if I didn’t eat breakfast in the first 15 minutes after waking up, I would actually be physically sick. Thankfully I outgrew that quirk, but I can’t really go more than an hour without needing to fuel up.

And I’m a busy lady in the morning. It’s when I get the majority of my blog post writing done, and it’s also when I grade papers for the college class I teach. There’s not much time for putting together anything fancy (and by fancy, all I really mean is hot, or not from a box).

Isn’t in unfortunate, therefore, that I don’t like breakfast bars? You guys, I have tried them so many times. If it is on the shelf at the supermarket, the odds are good that I have purchased it at least once in the hopes that I might like that particular brand or flavor.

I never have. Mostly because I find them to be much too dry.

But today I’m featuring Zac Omega bars. I’m not going to tell you that they are the best food on earth and that I’m trading in my beloved cereal for them. But I am here to tell you that of all the breakfast bars I’ve ever tried, they are my favorites. That’s the truth!

Zac Omega bars have all natural ingredients, and cut out the high-fructose corn syrup and preservatives (but that means you should refrigerate them and not hold on to them forever!). What you’ll find in their ingredient lists are things you recognize…you might even have them in your own kitchen!

These bars make the very top of the list for me because they taste fresh and moist. I’d still prefer something even more moist, but I’m starting to realize that if it is much more moist than these, then it should probably be called cake, and that’s not exactly breakfast.

Zac Omega bars also have something unique that makes them ideal for children who are exercising their minds at school: each bar has 1400 mg of ALA Omega 3 Fatty Acids, which are essential for brain development!

Zac Omega bars come in a great variety of flavors (Marionberry Cobbler being my personal favorite). Each bar is 2.5 oz. They also carry Zac Attack bars, which are 1.5 oz, making them a perfect snack for kids! They can be purchased online in various quantities for right around $1.75 each.  Larger boxes do offer significant price breaks, so consider going in with a friend and getting excellent breakfast or school lunch snacks for a great price!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a case of 30 Zac Omega bars. Yum! The contest will run until August 12th at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected via Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry:

Tell me which flavorZac Omega bar would be eaten first in your house!

Additional entries:

1. Sponsor love: Like Zac Bars on Facebook

2. Blogger love: Like Stuff Parents Need on Facebook

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my blog.

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.