Eating Healthy on the Road with a Picky Eater

My son Noah is the pickiest eater in the world. He is very specific about what he wants to eat, he has a really hard time trying new things. He is stubborn like his mama. He won’t eat meat. He won’t eat chicken nuggets. He won’t eat hot dogs, or fish sticks. When we travel it can be a total pain to feed him. He doesn’t really have any options at McDonald’s or Wendy’s. He used to just get apples and milk or sometimes ice cream and milk. I have learned that while I would be fine with McDonald’s, Noah isn’t good with it, unless I let him get ice cream. That is a great treat every so often but not for a meal. I have started packing him foods and stopping at places with healthier options. I used to be able to eat McDonald’s and other fast food a lot, now it is an occasional treat. I am getting older and I feel that it makes me feel sick and greasy if I eat too much.

We don’t have allergies but it would be harder to eat on the road if your family did. Noah is pretty good about eating the stuff I pack him like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Honestly, the only “fast food” Noah eats is Steak N Shake and Panera. I don’t consider either fast food. He will occasionally eat Subway because they have good cheese sandwiches and lettuce. That’s what he told me a week ago. I don’t really mind though, because he’s not obsessed with fast food like I was when I was a kid. I only got it once a week but I loved it so much. It was my favorite thing about Thursdays or spending time with my dad because I knew I could have fast food. Of course I love my dad but fast food was just a huge bonus. I think it’s important to start good eating habits young and when you are traveling it’s difficult to remain consistent. 

Here are my tips about Eating Healthy on the Road.

Ward Off Vampires This Halloween with Garlic Turbana Plantain Chips

I love Cuban food. I am sure some of you remember my recipe for Cuban Sandwiches on my blog. I am a pretty picky eater and I was unsure about trying plantains for the first time. I think I probably had to be coerced to try them.  I ended up loving them.  My favorite kinds of plantains are the chips. When I lived in South Florida, I happened to live pretty much across the street from my favorite Cuban restaurant that I ended up going to a few years earlier on vacation a couple times.  The smashed plantains are good too, but not as good as the chips. That was my favorite thing to order from the Cuban restaurant with my Cubano.  When I first fell in love with Plantain chips, I was living in Indiana. I remember going on a plantain chip hunt with my ex husband.  We probably when to four Latino grocery stores before we found plantain chips back in 2004.  So, when I had the opportunity to review some Turbana Plantain chips you knew I jumped on that opportunity.  Turbana is a company that is based in South Florida, close to where I used to live.  They make flavored plantain chips. They are a much healthier choice than the normal potato chips. They would be a better afterschool snack or even with Halloween coming up as a better alternative for Trick or Treaters.  You know that your kids are going to end up with tons of candy, it would be nice if some people gave out some Turbana Plantain Chips, hopefully the garlic flavor for two reasons. The first reason is to ward off those vampires.  #2 so I can eat them all. 

 When I received the Turbana plantain chips to try out, they seriously lasted a hour. I salivated at the thought of garlic plantain chips. I think that the company must have done their research on me and knew that garlic is one of my most favorite things to eat. Yeah, they were shoveled in my mouth by the handful.  I was so sad when they were all gone. I had Noah, who gets his picky eater syndrome from me, try one.  He thought the garlic ones were hot.  I wasn’t too sad, I said to him, more for me then.  I asked him if he wanted to try the regular plantain chips, I told him they weren’t hot, and he loved him. He said and I quote. Plantain chips are my most  favoritest food.  Noah doesn’t really eat any chips though so I am glad he loves plantains as much as I do.   I felt good about giving Noah them because they have 30% less fat than potato chips and twice the flavor. I am sure someone out there is unaware of what a plantain is. I didn’t know for most of my life. It looks similar to a banana, but it doesn’t taste like one.  It’s a tropical food, it is used a lot in Latino cuisine.  It sounds different but we love them.  So, from my picky eaters to yours, check out Turbana Plantain chips.  

For more information please check out the Turbana Plantainchips website.

I received some samples of Turbana Plantain chips for my family to try out. All thoughts and opinions are our own.

Engreener Review

Noah loves fresh fruit and I love fresh fruit and vegetables. Noah loves to eat apples with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on it. When I am giving him fresh fruit, I am always concerned about washing the fruit carefully to get off any pesticide or dirt. I had the opportunity to try out a product called Engreener. The Engreener is a fruit and vegetable cleaner. Engreenger uses ultrasonic waves and ozone functions in one device, eliminates bacteria that can be missed with traditional rinsing. The Engreener Kills 94.9% of bacteria on fruits, vegetables, and other objects. It does not use detergents.

Here is some information from the website about the ozone and sonic waves process:

How is the ozone applied?

No bacteria can mutate from ozone.

It directly splits and kills the cells on contact.
Ozonated water is approved by the FDA as an effective sanitizer against microorganisms.
Kills Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli and Shgella dysenteriae which exist in air and water.
Keeps fruit and vegetable fresh.
Decomposes residue of agri-chemicals on fruits and vegetables.
Decomposes chloride found in tab water.
Cleans polluted waste water.

Researches by American scientists have also found that the cancer cell activities become slower after being in contact with the ozone, justifying the wide application of the ozone in our day to day life.

How is ultrasonic waves applied?

They have been used for earning purpose in many different industries. The ultrasonic waves in the water cause a phenomenon known as cativattion and it is the rapid formation and violent collapse of micron-sized bubbles in a liquid medium. These tiny implosions provide excellent cleaning power, as well as killing germs.
The Ultrasonic waves eliminate most of pesticides used on apples, such as Parathion and EPN & Captan and a fungicide, used on grapes and/or cabbage.

They have been used for earning purpose in many different industries. The ultrasonic waves in the water cause a phenomenon known as cativattion and it is the rapid formation and violent collapse of micron-sized bubbles in a liquid medium. These tiny implosions provide excellent cleaning power, as well as killing germs.
The Ultrasonic waves eliminate most of pesticides used on apples, such as Parathion and EPN & Captan and a fungicide, used on grapes and/or cabbage.
Ultrasonic waves are used to remove agricultural chemicals from fruits and vegetables easily and efficiently.

What you do is you put your fruit or vegetables in a bowl of water and you turn it on. Each fruit and vegetable has a specific numbers of cycles. It is really east to use. You just stick it in the water and hold it. You occasionally move it around, If you can use a large spoon you can use Engreener.

This is such a cool product. I have used it quite a few times. I washed apples, asparagus and potatoes. I found it really fun to use too. I am always afraid that I didn’t wash the food properly and now with Engreener, I know that it is clean and healthier for my family. The cycles are pretty short, so it is not a long process to clean them. You can also use Engreener on your children’s toys. I think that everyone who enjoys fresh food should have Engreener. I will use this product in everyday life without second guessing if my fresh fruit and vegetables are clean.


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For more information please visit Engreener.

Thank you to Dyne Electronics for sending me a complimentary Engreener to try out. All thoughts and opinions are my own.