I am a firm believer that the healthiest foods are
whole foods - one-ingredient, found in nature, unadulterated foods. When the people from
Crunchies offered to send me some of their
freeze-dried snacks I was excited to try them, as they contain absolutely nothing other than freeze dried fruit/ veggies.
Nature's candy! It's obvious by the taste that the fruits and veggies were picked and
dried when
perfectly ripe.
Crunchies are not like dry-heated dehydrated fruits and vegetables; they are
freeze-dried, which allows them to retain most of their nutritional value, and increases their shelf life. They are super crunchy, hence the name, and have a
wonderful texture that would be a great addition to yogurt parfaits, cereal, ice-cream, oatmeal, etc., or straight-up as a complete snack.
Crunchies' product line includes freeze-dried mango, beets, strawberries, grapes, raspberries, mixed fruit, strawberry/banana mixture, pineapple, blueberries, and cinnamon apple. They give you the satisfying crunch of junk food, without the added sugar, fat, artificial flavours, or colours. These snacks are non-GMO, kosher and halal certified, as well as obviously gluten free, and vegan. They are available in
single-serve bags, or larger
resealable pouches.
At only
40 calories per serving, they make a nice, light snack, packed full of nutrients. They would be perfect for
hungry little ones, or to throw in a
picnic basket, or
back-to-school lunch (although we're not ready to think of
that quite yet).
My very hungry,
almost-one-year-old niece, would love to get her
little paws on these!
This morning I used some of the banana
Crunchies to make
banana French toast. I put them in a zipped baggy, and then used a rolling pin to roll them into a powder.
After dipping the French bread in an egg/vanilla/cinnamon mixture, I gave the bread a sprinkle of the crushed banana
Crunchies on both sides, and then fried them up on medium heat.
Topped with fresh slices of banana, and with bacon on the side, breakfast was complete.
Now that it's
mid-day, the
sun is really shining, and it is
rippin' hot outside, so I whipped up some
strawberry lemonade using the strawberry
Crunchies.
I rolled 1/4 cup of the
freeze-dried strawberries with a rolling pin, until I had a
fine powder.
I then mixed in the
juice of two lemons, 1/2 cup of ice, 3/4 cup of water, and 1 tsp of lemon honey that was made locally by a friend of mine (you could also use regular honey, stevia, agave, sugar etc.).
So refreshing and tart!
The powder of the
Crunchies blended well into the drink as I sipped it, and it did not have a powdery taste at all.
I'm excited to come up with other ideas for using these delicious
Crunchies, and am really looking forward to trying them in a
yogurt parfait, which is a perfect summer breakfast.
Until then, I'll be sipping this ...
Have you ever had Crunchies? What flavour would you reach for? What are you sippin' on during these hot summer days?
American readers,
if these sound like something you'd like, keep an eye out for
Crunchies in your local grocery stores, or buy them online
here.
* Crunchies were provided to me free of charge. All opinions are my own.
