4 new ready-to-eat "food crushes"

You guys know that I swoon just a little bit when I come across a product that is (relatively) healthy, that both of my kids-- and we adults-- like, and that I can feel good about offering up as a snack or simple meal. Here are my four latest crushes:

First up: Trader Joe's Sesame Almonds. A word of caution: these totally addicting. So, I recommend doing like my mom (who turned me onto these blissful nuggets) and combining them with mostly plain almonds + a few tamari almonds + a few of these sweet ones to make a salty-sweet, energy-packed trail mix/treat. These are dessert as far as we're concerned-- like, on par with candy. 1/4 cup serving has 9g of sugar (it's the second ingredient after almonds, followed by sesame seeds, butter, salt, cocoa and honey). So, enjoy, but mindfully.

An impulse purchase that surprised us and turned us into instant fans: Trader Joe's Freeze-Dried Red Seedless Grapes. They are super sweet, and also a little heartier than some of the other freeze-dried fruits, so they travel well. I made the kids a to-go "fruit salad" of blueberries, strawberries and these grapes and they loved it.

A second impulse purchase that turned out to be a fun veggie offering: organic pea shoots. Think heartier than a sprout, with a watery, sweet pea crunch. For little boys, in particular, this was a crowd pleasing snack as they pretended to be cows, popping big bunches of this "grass".

And last but not least, this small veggie tray was recently spotted at our local Trader Joe's. Perfect for 2-4 people As many of you know, I've been offering up various vegetable platters in that 4:30-6:00 window, to tide the kids over until family dinner. Usually it's a matter of just popping whatever I have already cut up in my fridge onto a platter (with or without a dip of hummus, yogurt, etc.) but some nights I run short on time or I'm still shleping to an activity during that window. So, I'm making it a happy habit to keep one of these on hand for those kind of nights.