Matisse & Jack's

Have you ever heard of this brand? I hadn't before I was asked to try it out. I usually steer away from doing reviews on food products, but since Matisse & Jack's makes healthy, all natural products, I jumped at the chance. For new readers who don't know, I try to stick to an all natural diet for my family. I do it mainly to help Jackson with his ADHD. I've found that artificial colors, flavors and preservatives tend to send him into orbit and/or make him very argumentative and nasty. I think everyone can benefit from a healthful diet without all the artificial additives though.

So Matisse & Jack's makes boxed snack mixes. All you have to do is add a couple ingredients (some butter, water, applesauce, etc.), mix, and pop it in the oven. In a few minutes you have warm, homemade, fresh-from-the-oven goodies that are not only delicious, but they're good for you too!

The first mix I tried with my family was the Cocoa Squares. All you add is applesauce and oil. Jackson, Austin, and the little kids loved these. Savannah and I thought they were a bit too "appley" and didn't care for them that much. We decided they'd be better with less applesauce and some peanut butter instead. That's another cool thing about these mixes - the box offers variations on the original recipe. You can add ingredients to spice them up, or you can try a lower fat variation.

Next I tried the Granola Bites and the Chocolate Chip Power Snacks. Everyone loved these and gobbled up the whole pan in minutes! Well, they didn't eat the actual pan, but you know what I mean. They were really yummy and they were healthy! They're made with organic, whole, natural ingredients like All Purpose Wheat Flour Unbleached, Organic Whole Grain Rolled Oats, Brown Sugar, Seedless Raisins, Unsweetened Dried Coconut, Baking Soda, and Cinnamon. Matisse and Jack's tagline is, "Wholesome and Yum Become One." It's true! They're delicious! And I love that you bake them yourself. Then again, I love baking and do a lot of it. There's just something about taking a nice warm tray of freshly baked cookies, or muffins, or cakes out of the oven. Mmmmm!

You can find Matisse & Jack's yummy mixes at Whole Foods and Super Targets or you can order online. When you order 6 boxes, shipping is free. And for my readers, Matisse & Jack's is offering a 10% discount when you order online now through January, 2009. Just use the code "freshisbest".

And leave me a comment here for a chance to win some Matisse & Jack's products. On Wednesday, December 17, I'll choose 2 names who will receive 2 boxes each of Matisse & Jack's yummy natural snack mixes!