Tonight I drove 10 minutes out of my way to check out the Kent Co-op. It’s in downtown Kent, Ohio and I had SUPER high hopes for it to be my new grocery store. Keep in mind, I lived in Washington State for roughly 6 some years where Co-ops were more common (and big!) and the regular grocery stores had a GIANT bulk and organic section. Now that I’m trying to go zero waste, I never realized what I had until it was gone (isn’t that just the way?).
Don’t get me wrong – it’s a great little shop and if I lived in Kent, I think I would frequent it. But since it’s small and it’s out of the way and many items were still wrapped in plastic…I’m exploring other options that will work for me.
However…if they would have had fruit snacks in bulk, I would go all the time.
My kids love fruit snacks so much. I don’t get it. I’ve never really been a fan of fruit snacks. If I’m going to have a snack, I want some carbs! Something filling. Fruit snacks to me, are like…fruity chewy air. I’m still hungry after I eat them, so why even eat them? (Side note…I do really like gummy bears. Weird.)
But fruit snacks have become a staple in our house – particularly when we’re getting home and trying to get dinner made and the kids are staggering around the house doing that fake-kid-pout-cry-thing that hits at that certain decibel and makes your eye twitch and your head rattle. Know what I mean? Fruit snacks tend to make that stop. There are days I will do anything to make it stop.
I have seriously reduced the amount of fruit snacks given out freely in this house since going zero waste. As in, they got them when we had a picnic lunch at the zoo for New Year’s and my 3 year old has gotten them in his lunch on his preschool days. I’m trying to stick to my vow of NO MORE FRUIT SNACKS TO STOP WHINING.
That’s me reducing 🙂 We’ll see if it lasts…
As far as I know, although they come in a cardboard box (which is recyclable), the wrappers are not. So I decided to do what all crazy moms decide to do…make my own. Juuuuust to see what it’s like.
I found the recipe from A Side of Sweet. Once again, like making butter – it was kind of one of those fun things just to try out once. I’ll try many a thing once. And it was really super, even if it took A LOT more gelatin than I was prepared for (I had to cut the recipe in half). I let my 3 year old pick out the fruit juice we used while at the grocery store and of course, he chose Peach Mango. What 3 year old picks Peach Mango? The recipe is essentially fruit juice, gelatin, and honey. You mix it all together on the stove top, and pour it into molds, and refrigerate. We only had Christmas molds.
I thought they were gross. So naturally, I took them to my family Christmas celebration that we had the next day to pawn them off on my unsuspecting family and nephews. In order to sell them, I did the adult over-exaggeration and over-emphasis of how cool they are, “Hey nephew…wanna try a homemade fruit snack in the shape of a Santa Claus??? They’re Peach Mango flavored.” They ate one and even came back for more later. And I think everyone else tried at least one. Score!
But I still have some in the fridge. And I don’t know if I’ll make them continually. Perhaps if I find some really good fruit juice flavors or acquire some cuter molds, I’ll try making them again. But I don’t think this is a long term solution. And I did have the thought that maybe I should just get my kids to eat nature’s fruit snacks, which would be dried fruit. That may be my future solution, but I’m imagining it will be a long transition to get there.
I still hope to find them in bulk. Close by.
Updates: My toothpaste no longer tingles. I don’t know why now. Was I detoxing before? Am I used to it now? I flossed today (it’s Wednesday) and I used a longer string of Dental Lace and it didn’t break. Easy switch. I’ve also worn zero waste mascara for the past 5 days. Not bad, but not great either. My zero waste deodorant and lip balm arrived today, but I’ll wait to try the deodorant until the weekend (you’re welcome, coworkers).
The Beck Trek 