We eat some stuff in our home that I wouldn’t say are strange foods; you’ve probably heard of all of them even. But I’m guessing the average American family rarely if ever has these things in their diet.
Hummus: made mostly from mashed chickpeas. Its a great dip/spread. Tastes great on pita bread. Its very nutritious and often made with olive oil which is a good fat. My little boy absolutely loves this stuff. Which makes me happy since he is small for his age and sensitive to dairy. Its nice to have a healthy food that has some good fat in it that I can give him.
Smoothies: not your average smoothie either. We have a super-powered blender (vitamixer) that easily blends up chunks of frozen fruit into a smooth creamy treat. This is such an easy way to increase the amount of fruit and fiber in your diet. Chris’s favorite is frozen strawberries with a little OJ. The kids will drink “green” smoothies which at our house are usually made with frozen fruit, OJ, and some fresh kale. Kale is a very mild tasting but super healthy green veggie that blends into their smoothies wonderfully.
Cashew Macadamia Nut Butter: Mmmmm. This is a lot like peanut butter. I get it from Trader Joe’s when we’re visiting St. Louis. It’s made like the natural peanut butters, so no oil or sugar added. It is a great high protein, good fats, creamy treat. Makes a great dip for apples.
Freeze Dried Fruit and Veggies: Gerber recently started selling this as a toddler food. It makes a great toddler food because its not too messy and the fruit easily melts in your mouth. It also contains no added sugar or preservatives just plain fruit that has been freeze dried. Regular dried fruit is shriveled and chewy and hard for little toddlers to chew. Freeze dried is light, crunchy, and airy. Our favorites are freeze dried corn, strawberries, and peaches. Unfortunately, it is a little bit expensive when compared to buying fresh fruits and veggies. But if you buy it in large bulk tins online it is way way way cheaper than anything Gerber sells. Our favorite company to order from is Honeyville Grain. We have also ordered from Emergency Essentials as well. If you live in Louisville or St. Louis and are curious to try some freeze dried fruit or veggies just leave me a comment and I will try and get a sample of whatever it is we have a can of open at the time. (right now I have peas, corn, and bananas open). The only downside to this food is that we have to purchase it in big coffee can size amounts to get it at the best cost.
What kinds of unusual foods do you like to eat?