I find this to be a very informative book. It has a lot of very interesting and shocking facts, some (like me) might say scary. But with that said don't be scared by this book, be empowered. Use this book to understand and make better, healthier choices for your kids. The only downside is that it's geared toward the U.S market with a lot of the restaurants and products not being in Canada. It does however have some of the big names like Burger King, McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Wendy's. It also offers great tips/ideas for packing school lunches, snacks drinks etc. Give this book a try if not for you...for your kids.

I decided to venture out of my comfort zone and bought baked gluten free crackers. To my surprise they are actually good. They are not so bad on their own but add some low fat strawberry cream cheese and you're laughing. Adyn and Diaz tried it and requested it for school snack the next day. Not only are they gluten free, they are wheat, dairy and NUT free as well!

CINNAMON
Organic Cassava (Yucca) Pulp (96%) & Natural Cinnamon flavor (4%) (cinnamon, brown cane sugar, sea salt)

CASABI ORGANICS™

I'm always looking for Peanut/Nut free products and I found a great one, Treasure Mills School Safe cookies. They are located in the Bakery section of your Supermarket but you can store them in your freezer for a longer shelf life. We have tried the Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin cookies and the Brownie bars and they are a big hit, even my husband takes them to work for a snack. They are individually wrapped so straight from the freezer to the lunch bag and they are thawed in time for snack. Now how convenient is that!

I like these for a few reasons. They are 100% juice, no sugar added and they are Peanut/Nut Free. It comes with 3 different flavours...Berry Delight, Country Apple and Summer Strawberry. If you are looking for a healthy and nut free snack with only 40 calories per pop, 0% fat, 0% saturated fat + Trans fat. I think this is a good product to try.

- Water is best. Try using a refillable water bottle. Keep it safe - wash it daily with soap and water

- Offer milk for lunch. Help your kids meet their calcium needs

- Give your children vegetables and fruit more often than juice

- Skip the pop, sweetened beverages, sports drinks and energy drinks

What we do...

- Milk every morning. Cup of milk and milk in cereal

- Water at school. Sugars from other drinks stay on their teeth

- Usually a cup of milk or water with after school snack

- One cup of juice with dinner, if it's finished they are allowed milk or water

- We do allow soft drinks (pop) etc. on occasion but it's very limited

* info collected from the Benefit Newsletter by the Region of Peel.