The kids still want treats and to be honest they are handy for rewards but MOM has had enough of Sugar slump tantrums! On the hunt again for healthy organic snack foods that double up as treats. As usual a complication is that my kids are allergic to Dairy and Soy and as normal we are always looking for products free from artificial additives, flavorings and colorings (why do we have to put Blue #1 in almost everything even though the product doesn't even remotely resemble the color blue and just for the record I am not colorblind!).

So we had a look online and found a product range by "Bluemountain Organics" - important to state not colored by Blue #1! The boys awaited their postal delivery with excitement. When the parcel arrived inside was a lovely little bar product called "Coco Joy" that looked rather like a Swiss roll and the kids were instantly attracted. My 5 year-old has aspergers and he can be picky about foods but he was very enthusiastic and the 20 month-old was grabbing at it like he was never fed!

I have to say both kids loved it and it was "wolfed" down in seconds with a request for more. Looking at the ingredients I was very impressed -- everything in it was raw and organic (retaining all the nutrients nothing denatured by cooking or processing). It contained Coconut, cashews, dates, almonds, agave, cacao and vanilla (Yum!). I liked the fact that it was sweetened by Agave syrup and I have to say I think we didn't have a sugar slump grumpy 5 year-old on our hands that afternoon so a big plus on that one.

The nuts, as well as being organic and super healthy nutrient rich foods, are put through a "better than roasted" process that Blue Mountain use. This means that the cashews have been soaked, sprouted and dehydrated. Sprouted seeds are easier to digest as the process removes phylates which have been found to inhibit digestion, they also retain more enzymes, vitamins and minerals. I found the phylate theory interesting as my 20 month old has to take digestive enzymes with his food otherwise his digestive system goes array, I wonder if more raw foods would be the answer for him.

All in all I have to say the whole family like Coco Joy both in taste and texture and I as a Mom was particularly impressed with the ingredients. The bars are available to buy online but we are off to do our grocery shopping tonight and I think we will be looking around the store for some of these bars!

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