Review: Funky Monkey Snacks

We are all for healthy snacks in my household. Even my three-year-old gets into it. He’s quite the little taster. So when Funky Monkey Snacks offered up a few bags for a taste, I said an enthusiastic yes.

These are freeze dried bits of fruit — something that we like — with different flavorings. They come in four varieties (JiveALime: pineapple with lime, Carnival Mix: mixed fruit, Bananamon: banana with cinnamon, and Purple Funk: banana with acai) and each bag is one ounce.

The GOOD: Each one ounce bag equals three portions of fruit, which is great for getting in those 5-A-Day fruits and vegetables. JiveALime and Bananamon are really tasty too.

The BAD: Purple Funk was . . . funky. I just wasn’t a fan. And the Carnival Mix had raisins, which just didn’t jive with the rest of the mix. Freeze dried fruit is generally crunchy and the raisins weren’t. They were somewhere between freeze-dried and normal. Also, the portion size is just too big. I would love these bags to either be larger (so you could split the portions up for more people) or smaller so that they were indeed single serve.

BANG FOR YA BUCK: At $2-$3 a bag, these are a little pricey, but if you split it up into smaller portions, it’s not as bad.

The MOM VERDICT: I liked the Bananamon and JiveALime for us to snack on as an occational treat. They could be good for packing into the preschool lunchbox this fall too — a bag would probably last me all week for that. But the price is a little more than I would like to spend on something like that, considering the bag size.

Review: Everyday Food Magazine

I have dozens of subscriptions to magazines. What can I say? I’m a junkie. I particularly love a good cooking magazine because I love to cook. What’s important to me in that recipe are accessible, easy and fast recipes . . . usually.

Everyday Food Magazine is a Martha Stewart creation. It’s a small-format book with just recipes.

The GOOD: The magazine has dozens of recipes every month. And it’s always a diverse mix of apps, main courses, and desserts. Plus, they are good recipes (of course, that is key).

The BAD: Although the small format is nice, it’s hard to get the magazine to lay flat while cooking.

BANG FOR YA BUCK: Subscriptions to Everyday Food range from $12-$18 on average for 10 issues. Considering that each issue contains all recipes, it’s like getting five season-specific cookbooks over the course of the year. Definitely a good value

The MOM VERDICT: Ultimately, this has great recipes that are kid-friendly. Plus it’s easy, accessible food. Not what you might expect from the queen diva of homemaking . . .