Crunchy Fruit

Here are some very engaging snacks. Fruitzio dried fruit snacks are made Made with only the finest fruit and freeze dried with just a hint of natural sugar, FruitziO is a delicious way to add more nutritious fruit to your diet and makes a very tasty snack.

Try them on their own in handy 100-calorie packs Spoon some in yogurt for a nice taste and texture contrast. Keep a bag or two tucked into you bag or purse so you don't succumb to snacks that might sabotage your eating goals. Flavors include: Apple, Peach, Kiwi, Strawberry and Apricot plus a combination pack of Strawberries and Apples.

http://www.fruitzio.com/

Very Appealing and Now Even More So

Peeled Snacks offer healthy, organic dried fruit snacks in convenient packs. The different varieties include Apple, Apricot, Mango, Banana, and Pineapple. They really are good—even those who are unimpressed with the usual dried fruit suspects absolutely love Peeled Dried Fruit Snacks. Peeled Snacks are available nationwide in airports, gyms, resorts, hotels, and other convenience locations including Starbucks and Hudson News. Now, Peeled Snacks has created a special-edition snack pack, “The American Farms Sampler,” that includes the company’s delicious and popular dried apples and cherries, both grown on farms in North America. Peeled Snacks will
donate 10 percent of the sales of this sampler to support the work of American Farmland Trust (AFT).

As a special promotion for the month of February 2010, Peeled Snacks is offering free shipping on purchases of “The American Farms Sampler.” To obtain the shipping code go to http://www.farmland.org/snacks

American Farmland Trust is the leading national organization dedicated to saving America’s farm and ranch land, promoting healthy farming practices and supporting farms and farmers. As the vital link among farmers, conservationists and policy-makers, we’re focused on ensuring the availability of fresh food, a healthy environment and strong local economies across the nation. www.farmland.org

www.peeledsnacks.com

Back to Nature, Forward to Health

Another company offering more natural and good-tasting foods in a variety of forms is Back to Nature Foods. Started in 1960, in Pasadena, California this company has the philosophy that “the best way to move forward…[is] to go back”

Keeping with that thinking, their products have no cholesterol and no trans fat. No artificial preservatives or colors, either.

Here is a look at a few snack offerings:

Bar Harbor Blend (Cranberries, Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds & Vanilla
Almonds)
This is a snack packed with flavors and textures that will keep you reaching for more. The crackling crunch of the Vanilla Almonds and the muted crunch of the Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds contrast beautifully with the Cranberries. What a great combination.

Pacific Heights Blend (Salt Roasted Almonds, Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds, and dried Bing Cherries. Again, a sumptuous combination of textures, flavors and sweet and (just ever-so-slightly) salty.

Another Snack is the Sonoma Berry Blend—All fruit -- Dried Cranberries, Raisins, Bing Cherries and Strawberries. This is a nice surprise--putting those fruits together was an inspiration.

Consider putting these out as snacks for guests and friends instead of the usual chips. Not only are they healthier, the delightful surprising blends will be a hit with anyone who tries them.

Fruit Stretch

If you would like to a have sweet snack on hand, perhaps a kind of steam-rolled fruit, but not the kinds that are overly sweet and maybe not that good for you, try Stretch Island Fruit Co’s FruitaBÜ fruit roll-ups and flats—“organic smooshed fruit” . The "Flats" flavors include Country Cranberry Rasberry, Smooshed Apple, Smooshed Grape, Smooshed Raspberry, to name a few.

It is, of course easier to reach for the fruit snacks on sale at the supermarket—you know, the ones in the shapes of every cartoon character you, or your offspring, can think of-- but FruitaBu (they’ve been making this healthy and sweet confection for more than 30 years) travels well and if you open the compact pack at the corner where it says “tear here”, you can almost eat it without getting the sweet, sticky goodness on your fingers.

The other version is a roll of dried but chewy pressed fruit, which, when unraveled, might be a little messy—just a little—but it is worth it. (Just have some of those moist hand-wipes available).

Both versions are thoroughly enjoyable, portable pick-me ups that can keep you going just a little longer, with no regrets.