Favorite Kid and Family Friendly Food Finds at FNCE
Easy Buffalo Chicken Pizza
November 5, 2018
Butternut Squash Cranberry Apple Bake
November 12, 2018
Sharing some of my favorite kid and family friendly food finds at FNCE!
It you follow me on social media you may have seen that I recently attended a FNCE, a Food and Nutrition conference in Washington, DC. The conference, best known by dietitians as “FNCE” stands for Food and Nutrition Conference and Exposition. It is a three day event where over 10,000 dietitians from all over the world come together to learn from fellow RDs about the most up-to-date research on hot nutrition topics, connect with like-minded dietitians and meet with companies in the food industry to learn about (and try!) their products.
This was my first year going as an actual dietitian. I attended back in 2009 during my senior year in college with some of my classmates. Let’s just say a lot has changed. Nutrition topics are different and food trends have changed! Given my interest in feeding kids and families I focused most of my time at the EXPO connecting with food companies focused on feeding kids and families to learn about their company and how their products could benefit my clients.
One big take away from the EXPO was that many products are focused not only on providing healthier alternatives for families, but providing convenient alternatives! One session I went to on Family Meals noted that the top barriers for families to get dinner on the table is not having enough time and energy to prepare meals. Food companies have picked up on this and are creating more products that are quick to prepare. Another non-profit organization I talked with Family Meals Month is providing families with resources including recipes and meal planning tips to assist families in getting meals on the table.
Convenience, Convenience, Convenience. Consumers struggle with having enough time and energy to prepare meals and are in need of products and resources that make getting a dinner on the table for the family easy! I get it, planning, preparing and cooking meals can be overwhelming but luckily there are more products out there that are helping families with this. Here is a list of a few of the food companies that I met with and enjoyed their products!
Best know for their canned tuna, Starkist is now creating other lean protein products in convenient tear-and-go pouches. Their newest line of Chicken Creations are pouches of cooked chicken mixed with different seasonings and are ready to eat on their own, used as a dip or added to dishes. If you missed, earlier this week I shared more about Chicken Creations and a recipe for Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Naan using their Bold Buffalo pouches.
This is a brand I have loved for over a year now. Kodiak cakes makes a variety of healthy whole grain pancake, waffle and bread mixes. This product is great for families who want to get their kid involved in baking but don’t want to make a huge mess. Just add water or milk to their pancake mix and you have breakfast ready in no time! My son helps me quit regularly to make pancakes and other baked goods using their mixes.
Stonyfield is a dairy company that provides a great line of kid friendly dairy products. I love their squeeze pouches for my son and love that they have a whole milk option now! I also sampled their chocolate yogurt and graham cracker snack packs. Think healthy dunkaroos! Great for adding to kids lunch boxes or as an on-the-go snack.
Another trend that I noticed was that many companies are working to add vegetables to their foods or have created a fun, tasty way to prepare vegetables. Many of the families I work with struggle to get their kids to eat vegetables and luckily food companies are getting creative to solve the problem. You may know my thoughts behind “hiding” vegeteables in food, but many of these products I have listed below are definitely serving a three-fold benefit. They are healthy, quick and easy to prepare, and contain vegetables!
Dr. Praeger’s values getting families together to share nutritious meals. Most of their foods can be found in the freezer section and are made with simple ingredients. The product line I use most with my son is their Littles line where they have created fun shaped finger foods made with different vegetables like broccoli, spinach, kale and sweet potato.
Rhythm Superfoods is a company that I knew about before FNCE and use their products regularly with my son. They make dried vegetables sticks/chips made from beets, carrots and kale. My son loves their beet chips and I love that they are a great product to help introduce your child to vegetables. Since they are crunchy like crackers or chips they have a “preferable” texture that kids will enjoy and can serve as a transition food to regular vegetables.
This company makes a cauliflower pizza crust and pre-baked sweet potato for making sweet potato toast. Their products are a fun way to introduce kids who might not typically like cauliflower or sweet potatoes to these foods.
Farmwise Foods take iconic kid-friendly foods and bump up the nutrition by making them with vegetables. Their product line includes Veggie Tots, Veggie Fries, Veggie Onions and soon Chicken Veggie Tenders. I have made the Broccoli Sweet Potato Tots for my son and really enjoyed the flavor and texture. I got to same their Veggie Onions and Chicken Veggie Tenders at FNCE and was equally impressed!
Think muffins with added vegetables ( like carrots and zucchini). I sampled the blueberry muffin and was definitely impressed. I couldn’t taste or see the vegetables. They also make a line of veggies bites, veggie cakes and frittatas. All of which make preparing a veggie packed family meal easy!
