I was born in 1975. Go ahead and count the years. I can't hide that I am getting older by the minute. But it was a time just past the hippies, and more geared toward baby boomers, convenience, and the thought that the world could be a better place.
As I grew up I remember things like Twinkies, Long and endless summer days, Little Debbie Snacks, Sun-In hair bleach stuff, Jelly shoes, Macaroni and Cheese, Madonna (Like a Virgin), Sunny D, Tab, Seventeen and Sassy Magazine, Shake 'n Bake Chicken, Hair Metal Bands,
Koolaid, Miss Universe Pageants and a whole slew of Popsicles and bike rides.
It was fun, innocent and a whole lot of laughs. I had a good time. I ate what I want, when I wanted and life was good. Well as good as it can be when wearing leggings and teased hair were considered high fashion. But my point lies in the food. It was a time of processed goodness that I am not ashamed to admit I loved. LOVED. I still feel myself
jonesing for a
Twinkie every now and again. Only now, I can only stuff half the starch in my mouth at a time and toss the rest for another day.
But now there is this healthy eating movement. And it is a movement (just like introducing infant
formula to the world) has taken over. In order to be healthy, the experts say, stay green. Eat less processed food, less sugar, less carbohydrates. One egg not two. Water is good but make sure it crosses State lines... oh it's all confusing. And agreeable. Until you hear another claim or news report and then you wonder if the Pepsi you have been guzzling at work each afternoon is really eating away at your insides.
Along comes some samples of
Peeled Snacks from
PoshMama. I was a bit perplexed. Because, um, I'm not really a health food nut. My son
eats chicken
nuggets for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Who was I to eat and review these snacks?
Regardless, I spent some time on their website and learned about their beginnings :
"In New York City in 2004, Noha Waibsnaider founded Peeled Snacks when she noticed something missing from the world of snack foods. Store shelves were full of processed potato chips, corn syrup-filled candy, and energy bars made with too many mysterious ingredients. But you couldn't get anything healthy and tasty that made you feel good about snacking. So she set about to fix that problem." Okay. Good reasons. I mean, she's right. How long does an apple or grapes LAST in the
refrigerator? And the potato chips that are constantly being eaten in my pantry,
could be replaced with something else in the daily packed lunches right? So, I gave them a shot. My son, intrigued by the packages on the counter, gave them a taste too.
There were three varieties of fruit & nut mixes. Packaging was definitely modern, unique and see through. You could see what you were buying... and that alone, makes their claim of "ingredients that you recognize" more real (it's hard to miss dried pieces of sliced Pineapple!). Will I say there were excellent? I can't say just yet, I've only tried a few. Four stars to the pine-4-Pineapple and the Apple-2-the-core, though. The others? Give or take depending on my day and I haven't dug into every bag yet.
My son? The apples. And that is pretty much it. And my son likes fruit--apples,
cantaloupe, honeydew, grapes, strawberries. But he just didn't quite get the DRIED part. Yet. Because, I must say, every time I open a new package, he does want to "take a taste." So, there's hope yet. Because to me, the BEST part of these, are the fact that they can sit on my pantry shelf for a while without "spoiling."
Eating fresh is good. We all agree right? But to me, Miss I Grew Up Eating Processed Food, we all need TREATS... no one would have those white chocolate
mochas if they weren't good for something. What about chocolate cake? Processed
smoshest, I need to indulge on
occasion.
My point? It's all about moderation. Eating what you like but not gorging (tell that to my head and not my stomach). And, really, processed foods are what they are. I grew up on them and they didn't kill me (even with my extra chunky thighs). But having a nice juicy apple or ripe orange can't be beat on a summer day. How about that fruit salad at the neighborhood BBQ? A fresh pineapple (have you ever had a
really fresh one from Hawaii? They are to die for!).
These
fruit snacks? A great alternative to changing it up. And they have a longer shelf life. Not to knock the fact that I can grab them while walking out the door for work, because, well, that makes them an even better snack than buying one at the local fast food joint. And if I ever get back on Weight Watchers... well, I am sure I'll be stocking up for those late afternoon sweet cravings I inevitably get.
Labels: Food, life, me, reviews
