Fresh Baby MyPlate Review + Giveaway

One of the most important things about being a parent and/or a caregiver is providing the correct nutritional needs for the children and loved ones that you care for. Fresh Baby and MyPlate are here to help you do just that! I just love some of the articles that you can find on their websites including How to Eat Healthy on a Budget, Eat Right When Money’s Tight, and Ten Tips for Building a Healthy Meal.

Just in case you don’t already know…

For more than 10 years, Fresh Baby has helped parents foster their children’s healthy eating habits and proactively respond to the childhood obesity epidemic that plagues our nation.

A National Strategic Partner with the USDA, Fresh Baby’s nutrition education products and publications offer solutions to support many stages of family life including: pregnancy, breastfeeding, introducing solid foods, and feeding toddlers, preschoolers & school-aged children. The products provide people with support in critical areas where food choices are being made – including food shopping, meal preparation and meal time.

For more ideas on creating and enhancing healthy frugal fabulous meals, be sure to check out this link. Eating healthy doesn’t have to cost more.

So, how do you build a healthier plate? Well, for some it takes a visual like the Adult My Plate (on the left above) or Kids My Plate (on the right above). Here are some tips to get you started:

• Make half your plate Fruits & Vegetables – as you can see above, that is exactly what they do!
• Switch to Fat-Free or Low-Fat (1%) Milk – great for cooking, baking, and of course with your morning cereal.
• Make at least half your Grains Whole – that means bread, rice, tortillas, etc.
• Compare sodium, sugars, and saturated fats in the food you eat AND choose the ones with LOWER numbers!

The plates shown above are designed so that portions are visual and you are reminded to keep half of your plate with fruits and vegetables. Made of melamine, the dishes are dishwasher safe, but never be microwaved. Lead, BP-A & Phthalate – FREE.

Another great product that Fresh Baby sent my way was the Kid’s Portion Tip Card. This 2-sided, plastic kitchen counter card offers support to help you serve appropriately-sized portions for your children (ages 2-8). Topics covered:

• Visual guide to portion sizes
• Recommended servings per day by food group for children 2-3 and 4-8 years old
• Serving size by food group
• Serving sizes for common children’s foods

I cannot tell you how many times I use this during the day! As a stay at home mom, I typically make my girls 3 meals/day and having this tip card is such a great way to SEE that I am providing them everything they need.

The next product that I want to tell you about is the My Plate Grocery Bag. This roomy, water-resistant and very colorful bag is also a great reminder to choose healthy foods while at the market. The bottom of the bag even provides a price chart for calculating the cost of produce by the pound, trips for reading nutrition labels and a kid’s corner to making shopping fun!

And finally, the last product that I aboslutely love is the My Plate Grocery List. Creating a grocery list can save time and money at the market.  It can also be a reminder to purchase healthy items from all five of the food groups. Fresh Baby’s grocery list uses the USDA MyPlate icon and food group categories help your grocery shopping be more productive.

On a personal note, my family and I try to do the best when it comes to eating healthy on a budget by doing the following…

• Always make a breakfast/lunch/dinner menu for each week ~ this helps tremendously with our grocery list
• Plan ahead ~ don’t go to the store hungry, and price match in the ads with coupons at least once a week

• Check the local newspaper, online,

  and at the store for sales and coupons. Ask about

  a loyalty card for extra savings at stores where you shop. We always get whats on sale and sometimes stock up for later on.

• Buying fruits and vegetables in season can lower the 

  cost and add to the freshness! If you are not going

  to use them all right away, buy some that still need time to

  ripen. For example, strawberries are on sale right now, so we bought a 2 lb package!

• Leftovers are the best! I always try to make a meal or two each week that will last more than a couple days ~ whether we have the same thing, or we change it into something else…it still saves money and time each week.

To sum up, having healthy eaters is so important! Not only will it prepare your family for their work/school day, but it will also help them be a more happier person. I don’t have all the statistics, but I know that a hungry tummy makes a sad person…and having fruits, vegetables and some ready to eat snacks are the way to go!

For more healthy eating advice, recipes and fresh ideas you can visit the Fresh Baby’s website, like them on Facebook, and/or follow them on Twitter.

Now for the Giveaway…Fresh Baby would like to giveaway a MyPlate Gift Set (which includes the Adult Portion Plate, Kid’s Portion Plate, Kid’s Portion Tip Card, My Plate Grocery Bag, and My Plate Grocery List) to ONE Frugal Fabulous Finds reader!  Please note: This giveaway is open to U. S. residents only!

This giveaway will end Thursday, May 30th. The winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter.com and will be notified Friday, May 31!! Good luck!

Post published by Melissa Roach, our Product Review & Giveaway Specialist.
Melissa is a Full Time Mom & Blogger HERE (please check out her blog)