Yoplait Kids-Affordable, Delicious Snack for Kids of All Ages! Coupon, Review + Giveaway

I have a crazy sensitivity to artificial sweeteners, most give me a migraine that could kill a cow. Seriously. My thoughts on the subject is basically if that's what happens to me, what are they doing to my kids??

So, I'm the crazy lady that stands at the grocers counter to read every single ingredient, until I found Yoplait Kids. With an excellent source of both calcium and vitamin D, a good source of protein and the delicious taste kids demand, Yoplait Kids is perfect for our family. It also contains 25% less sugar than the leading kids’ yogurt, and has no high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, flavors or sweeteners whatsoever.
What I love even more than the great health benefits, is that Yoplait Kids is a great value at just $2.00 for a pack of four, and it comes in three delicious flavors, including Strawberry, Strawberry Banana and Vanilla. Kids will love finding their favorite friends, like Dora the Explorer, (Abbie's favorite!!), Lightning McQueen from the hit movie “Cars” and the Disney Princesses, on every cup.

I've yet to see the princesses on any of the packages in my area, but I'm willing to bet that you all will hear my little lady shreik when she finds them! I typically don't buy food items with characters on them for my kids (yes, 'mean mom', I know..) but honestly, most of "those" products are filled with zero nutritional value, and usually make my kids hyper. They know that if they do get something with characters on it, it's typically a treat. With the Yoplait Kids, they not only getting something fun, but they're getting something nutritious. No matter which way you look at it, it's a win-win. Plus, right now you can print out a $0.50 coupon here, and save when you buy a four pack.

Our friends at MyBlogSpark and Yoplait have put together a great prize pack to help encourage choosing healthy snack options for children, and offered one lucky reader  their chance to WIN!

GIVEAWAY:

One winner will receive a coupon for any variety of the Yoplait Kids yogurt products, along with a Yoplait Kids prize pack. Perfect for accompanying this fun everyday snack, the Yoplait Kids prize pack includes a coupon for Yoplait Kids yogurt, a foldable travel cooler (to take your yogurt on-the-go), a cool four-piece spoon set, a power magnet picture frame, trendy alphabet-shaped “Kiddie Bands”, a great big bounce ball and a “My First Scavenger Hunt” card game for some after-snack fun.

Here's How:

Share with us a great way that you help encourage healthy snacking. What kind of fun food creations do you make and serve your child? Can your child smell a veggie a mile away? Tell us!

Extra Entry Opportunities:

Please leave a separate comment for each entry & include your email address in your comment.

• LIKE the 4BabyAndMom Facebook Fan Page
• Visit Yoplait on Facebook and LIKE their page
• Grab our button and post it to your website or blog. **If you already have our button, please double check the code to make sure it directs to www.4BabyAndMom.com ** 5 EXTRA!!
• Write a post on your blog and link it back to our review. Leave the link so we can check it out and share some comment love! **5 EXTRA!!
• Create your own tweet or R/T the message below, or use the Share button at the bottom of this post to Tweet on Twitter (two per day, spaced out, please)

@YoplaitYogurt gives Kids Healthy Snack Options *Review*Giveaway*Coupon* http://bit.ly/gcMzNd Ends 4/8 #myblogspark

• Follow 4BabyAndMom publicly through Google Friends/Blogger, new friends only, please.
• Bookmark this giveaway on any social media bookmarking site and leave a link back.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNER!!

This giveaway is open to residents of the US. One winner will be chosen using Random.org. Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on the date specified. A Yoplait prize pack (including coupon) was provided to us by MyBlogSpark and Yoplait in order to facilitate our review, and will be supplying the winner an identical prize pack.

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Back to School With Funky Monkey Fruit Snacks

I asked our followers on Facebook and Twitter what types of foods they associate with 'Back to School', or what kinds of foods they tend to stock up on this time of the year, and the answers I got were very interesting.

Some suggested healthier snacks like fruit, cheese, veggies, fruit leather and trail mix, and others suggested more convenient, individually packaged products like gummy snacks, bagged chips, cookies, and "Little Debbie" type snacks.

I would love to say that my kids would love to snack on nothing more than carrot sticks and ranch dip, but unfortunately, that's not the case. Sure, they love fruit and other healthy stuff- but they really think that the sweet stuff is more fun. Back to school snacks are completely and utterly frustrating for me, because deep down I do want to give them healthier snack options. Last year I fell in love with a couple of companies that provided healthier options for the kids, (like LesserEvil and POPchips), but when it comes for something sweet or fruity, we look for Funky Monkey Fruit Snacks.

There are three servings of fruit in every ounce of Funky Monkey fruit snacks, and they satisfy the crunchy and sweet cravings all at the same time. The fruit is uniquely freeze dried to maintain and preserve almost all of it's natural nutrients and flavor. Other fruit "snacks" on the market are usually concocted with high-fructose corn syrup, additives or preservatives, as well as other chemicals and sugars- whether they're dried fruit, leathered fruit, fruit cups, or gummy-fruit products.

 

Funky Monkey fruit snacks come in seven different assortments- Bananamon, Carnival Mix, Jivealime, Purple Funk, MangOJ, Pink Pineapple and Applemon. Funky Monkey snacks are 100% natural, vegan, raw and certified Kosher; they do not contain gluten, wheat, dairy, peanut and tree nut, meaning they are an excellent option for people with food allergies or celiac disease. Recently, Kids with Food Allergies, Inc. named Funky Monkey Snacks in its 2010 list of Allergy Friendly Foods for Kids. (Even their manufacturing facility is free of the top 8 allergens!)

As a mom, I love the fact that I can pull up the nutrition info on ANY flavor snack pack right on the Funky Monkey website. I also love that I can put a handful of these in the kids' lunch box and they eat every bit. The kid in me loves the sweet and crunchy flavor combinations in each and every bag! My favorite to date is the Purple Funk, but the kids really loved the Bananamon and Applemon flavors.

Funky Monkey snacks are starting to pop up on the shelves of many popular retailers, including Target, Whole Foods and Kroger, but are always available online directly through Amazon. Because of the fact that Funky Monkey is much easier to find than it was last year, we have officially named Funky Monkey Fruit Snacks one of our 4BabyAndMom MUST HAVES!

Our friends at Funky Monkey want to offer one lucky family their chance to go Back to School with Funky Monkey snacks in their packs! One lucky winner will receive a total of 7 bags (one of each flavor) of Funky Monkey Fruit Snacks!

This giveaway is open to residents of the US. This giveaway will end on August 31, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. The winner will be chosen using Random.org, and all winner information will be posted on our WINNERS PAGE and on this post. Please include a valid email address in your comment. If I cannot find a way to contact you I will not. I do try to email all winners, but due to the volume of giveaways offered on our site, delays can be expected. If you catch your name before I email you, please feel free to contact us first. :) Any unclaimed prizes will be redrawn accordingly and at the discretion of 4BabyAndMom. This product was provided to me at no cost by Funky Monkey to facilitate a candid review. As always, what you have read is strictly the opinion of 4BabyAndMom. Your opinions may differ.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNER!

Please refer to our WINNERS PAGE for more information on how to claim your prize.

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Funky Monkey Fruit Snacks Review and Giveaway!

"All natural, 100% real fruit, organic, no sugar added, 3 servings of fruit in every ounce of Funky Monkey Snacks" are all of the key phrases that caught my attention while searching for healthier snack options for my children.

I found it hard to believe that there really was a snack on the market that was made of *just* fruit that satisfied the urge to crunch. I was truly expecting more of a chewy fruit, like that in trail mix. When we received our samples of Funky Monkey Snacks, I was excited to tote them with us to VBS and to the beach. They never made it to either, because the kids raided the bags completely!

We ended up opening the Bananamon and Purple Funk bags first. The Bananamon is a curious combination of freeze dried bananas and cinnamon. The Purple Funk snacks are organic bananas with acai berries. Although both packages were primarily bananas, they were two totally different experiences!

The next day we opened the Carnaval Mix and the Jivealime bags. The Carnaval Mix contains organic bananas, pineapple, raisins, papaya and apple. It was very sweet and refreshing, and the kids loved the variety of flavors, shapes and colors. The Jivealime snacks are freeze dried organic pineapple slices and pieces, with lime juice. Definitley an interesting combination that I liked a little bit more than the kids did. The kids chose the Bananamon and Carnaval Mix as their favorites, while I preferred the Purple Funk and Jivealime flavors instead.

Funky Monkey Fruit Snacks are packed full of health benefits and flavor, and will definitely be a part of our Back to School & after school snack menu!

Want it?
Head over to FunkyMonkeySnacks.com and find out more about their products and purchase them online from Amazon.com.

WIN IT!
Our friends at Funky Monkey have offered one lucky winner their chance to score a CASE of Funky Monkey Fruit Snacks. That's a variety of 12 of their super yummy, crunchy flavors!

Here's How:
Head over to Funky Monkey, and create your own Funky creation in the Looney Lab. Let me know what you've created, and which flavor mentioned above you look forward to trying the most!

Extra Entries:

• Become a FAN of 4BabyAndMom and Funky Monkey on Facebook. Leave a message/comment on both walls, and then tell me here!
• Find a store near you that sells Funky Monkey Fruit Snacks. Include the details from the Funky Monkey Site.
  
• Grab a Back to School Bash Button and add it to your sidebar (3 Extra Entries!)
  
• Subscribe via e-mail. Your email must validate or it will not count, & your comment will be deleted. Please include email in your comment.
  
• Follow 4BabyAndMom and Funky Monkey on Twitter and tweet about this review & giveaway. You may tweet something on your own or R/T: "Win a Case of FUNKY MONKEY fruit snacks for Back to School! Organic, Fruit that Crunches! @4BabyAndMom http://bit.ly/NKIut #B2SBash Ends8/29" Leave the link to EACH tweet in your comment, please. (Up to 3x/day, please!)
• Post about this giveaway on your blog, website, or Facebook page! Please include a link to both 4BabyAndMom and Funky Monkey. Please leave the link to your post in your comment.
• Follow 4BabyAndMom on Blogger publicly
  
• Subscribe to our RSS feed
• Email at least 3 of your friends and CC 4BabyAndMom [at] gmail [dot] com
• Fave this post on Technorati and leave comment with your ID/link.

This giveaway is open to residents of US & Canada and will end on August 29th, at 11:59pm EST. One winner will be chosen at random using Random.org. Special thanks to Funky Monkey for sponsoring this giveaway and for joining the Back to School Bash!

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LesserEvil Snacks Review and Giveaway! Perfect Snack for School!

I'm a snacker.. and unfortunately my waistline shows it! You may or may not know, but a goal of mine this summer was to weed out our processed foods, and introduce healthier snack options for the whole family. I hated the options for "snacks" at Alex's school, and needed something better for him. While on my quest, I happened to find LESSER EVIL SNACKS. Our family was given the opportunity to try some of their snacks, and tell you all about it!

No matter what you crave, LesserEvil has something to satisfy every taste bud with none of the "bad" stuff you'd find in traditional snacking options.

LesserEvil Snacks are all natural, cholesterol free, contain no trans-fat, no saturated fat, with no artificial flavors or preservatives. They use real ingredients that you can read, pronounce, and recognize! The Krinkles are all baked-not fried, the veggie sticks are made with real vegetables, and the kettle corn selections are not popped in oil, but instead are air popped, gluten free & naturally sweetened. Yes, you read that right, they contain no high fructose corn syrup!

For the salty, crunchy, potato lover, you'll get the most satisfaction out of LesserEvil Krinkle Sticks. Krinkle Sticks are available in different flavors, including Sour Cream and Onion. They are baked, lightly salted, crunchy, and fabulous for the chip lover in you! The Baked Veggie Sticks are just as yummy and I promise, you have NO idea there's real veggies packed into every bite! The first thing I noticed about both the potato Krinkle Sticks and the Veggie Sticks is that they are not as greasy as a traditional chip or even other brand veggie sticks I've purchased before. The serving size for the krinkles are about 40 sticks, and it doesn't feel like you're being jipped out of a full snacking experience if you're an adult, and 40 sticks is PERFECT for a healthy snack solution for your child's lunch box or for after school brain power!

The sweet, salty, crunchy, buttery, (but definitely still sweet) snackers out there will enjoy the Kettle Corn Snacks at LesserEvil. The "Classic" Kettle Corn tastes like a light carmelized popped corn, is super yummy, and just melts in your mouth. The Black and White Kettle Corn is a mixture of the "Classic" kettle corn and dark cocoa kettle corn. The two flavors together is so amazing! The Kettle Corn Snacks are perfect for a reward for a great day at school, a good score on a spelling test, or a "Congratulations you survived your first day of school" snack!

Want it?
Head over to LESSER EVIL SNACKS and check out their large selection of healthier snacking options. Find a store near you that carries LesserEvil Snacks, or purchase a sampler pack (pictured above) now, for only $17.99 online!

WIN IT!
In honor of our Back to School Bash, and choosing to give your family healthier snack options- our friends at LesserEvil have offered TWO lucky readers their chance to score a LesserEvil Sampler Pack! The Sampler pack contains: Two 5oz Bags of Veggie Krinkle Sticks, One 5oz Bag of SeaSalt Krinkle Sticks, One 5oz Bag of SourCream & Onion Krinkle Sticks, One 6.5oz Bag of ClassicKettle Kettle Corn, and One 6.5oz Bag of Black & White Kettle Corn! It's a snacker's dream come true.. or if you choose to share with the kids, it'll be just in time for making individual baggies for Back to School Snacks!

Here's How:
Take a look around LesserEvil.com. Sign up for their newsletter, then come back here and tell me that you signed up for their newsletter, AND which product you are most excited to try if you win!

Extra Entries:

• Become a FAN of 4BabyAndMom and LesserEvil on Facebook. Leave a message/comment on both walls, and then tell me here!
• ***If you become a FAN of 4BabyAndMom on Facebook BEFORE August 13th, you'll earn 5 extra entries in all of our Back to School Giveaways!*** Leave the comment of "I became a FAN of 4BabyAndMom!" plus your name, so I can validate your entries.
  
• Grab a Back to School Bash Button and add it to your sidebar (3 Extra Entries!)
  
• Subscribe via e-mail. Your email must validate or it will not count, & your comment will be deleted. Please include email in your comment.
  
• Follow 4BabyAndMom and LesserEvil on Twitter and tweet about this review & giveaway. You may tweet something on your own or R/T: "Kick nasty, artificial after-school snacks to the curb with LesserEvil Snacks! Win a Sampler Pack @4BabyAndMom http://bit.ly/Xcdu5 #B2SBash" Leave the link to EACH tweet in your comment, please. (Up to 3x/day, please!)
• Post about this giveaway on your blog, website, or Facebook page! Please include a link to both 4BabyAndMom and Lesser Evil. Please leave the link to your post in your comment.
• Follow 4BabyAndMom on Blogger publicly
  
• Subscribe to our RSS feed
• Email at least 3 of your friends and CC 4BabyAndMom [at] gmail [dot] com
• Fave this post on Technorati and leave comment with your ID/link.

This giveaway is open to residents of US & Canada and will end on August 21st, at 11:59pm EST. TWO winners will be chosen at random using Random.org. Special thanks to LesserEvil Snacks for sponsoring this review & giveaway, and for listening to what snackers want- and for creating these wonderful snacks!

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