Smuckers Uncrustables

I know, this belongs in my food blog that I haven't touched in forever. But, I thought it was also appropriate in the life blog, too since it has some relation to parenting and day to day stuff.

Anyway, I am involved in a thing called Bzz Agents. From time to time, I get invited to join campaigns to try out new things and tell people about them. The most recent one has been the Smuckers Uncrustables. Now, I had seen these before, and thought it seemed really handy, but wasn't sure it it was convenient enough for the price tag and the amount per box. Well, when the invite for this campaign came along, I thought it would be a great time to try it out.

So Bzz Agents sent me a coupon for one free box, plus some coupons for .75 cents off. I also got a uncrustables shaped container for using in a lunch box or for other travel purposes. Awesome! So on my next shopping trip, I got a couple boxes. I picked the Grape and Peanut Butter variety for the kids, and the whole wheat PB and Honey for myself, and maybe the kids too, if they will eat it.

First impressions before tasting: the regular size comes with 4 to a box, which seems almost useless. With two kids, I will go through that in two days if I am using them daily. But, I see they also offer a larger box now, so that could be a little more useful. The Uncrustables come in frozen, and need to be left out at room temperature for about a half hour to thaw before eating. I found that they seem to need a tad bit more time than that to be fully thawed in the middle. However, this means they would be great for packing in school lunches since it would stay nice and fresh, and could also help keep other lunch items cool at the same time.

For the first taste taste, I took out one and once thawed cut it in half for my kids to eat as a snack. It was great that I was able to instantly produce a snack for my daughter after picking her up from kindergarten and that I had ZERO mess to clean up. Both my k-gartner and her (almost) 2 year old sister gobbled it up - no complaints. This worked out well for me since I need to try and give her a snack asap on our arrival home to ensure she is still somewhat hungry for dinner later, but without making her starve until then. I used the other 3 sandwiches within the next few days.

I also did a taste test myself and was pleasantly surprised. The bread was soft and smooth, but not at all soggy. The peanut butter was creamy, the jelly still jelly-like; neither were watered down as a result of having been previously frozen. It was as delicious as a fresh made PB and J would be.

Now, here's the nutrition and ingredients for the Grape PB and J:

Calories 210 Calories from Fat 80 Amount/Serving %DV * Total Fat 9g Saturated Fat 2g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 260mg Total Carbohydrate 25g Dietary Fiber 2g Sugars 10g Protein 7g Vitamin A Vitamin C Calcium Iron 14 % 9 % 0 % 11 % 8 % 7 % 0 % 0 % 2 % 6 % *Percent Daily Values (DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Calories: 2,000 2,500 Total Fat Less than 65g 80g Sat Fat Less than 20g 25g Cholesterol Less than 300mg 300mg Sodium Less than 2,400mg 2,400mg Total Carbohydrate 300g 375g Dietary Fiber 25g 30g Calories per gram: Fat 9 . Carbohydrate 4 . Protein 4 Ingredients BREAD: ENRICHED UNBLEACHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), WATER, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, YEAST, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL AND/OR SOYBEAN OIL, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: WHEAT GLUTEN, SALT, DOUGH CONDITIONERS (MAY CONTAIN ONE OR MORE OF: DIACETYL TARTARIC ACID ESTERS OF MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES (DATEM), MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, ETHOXYLATED MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, CALCIUM PEROXIDE, ASCORBIC ACID, AZODICARBONAMIDE, L-CYSTEINE), YEAST NUTRIENTS (MAY CONTAIN ONE OR MORE OF: MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, CALCIUM SULFATE, AMMONIUM SULFATE), CALCIUM PROPIONATE (MAINTAIN FRESHNESS), CORNSTARCH, ENZYMES (WITH WHEAT). PEANUT BUTTER: SELECT ROASTED PEANUTS, DEXTROSE, VEGETABLE MONOGLYCERIDES (FROM PALM OIL), SALT. GRAPE JELLY: GRAPE JUICE, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CORN SYRUP, PECTIN, CITRIC ACID, POTASSIUM SORBATE ADDED AS A PRESERVATIVE.

I am impressed that the calorie count and fat is relatively low considering how fatty Peanut Butter can be. I was also impressed with the amount of fiber - something that is tough to get into picky eater kids. It would be nice if they had enriched their bread with a little more calcium and vitamins. But, serve it with a glass of milk and maybe a fruit of some kind, and you've got a well balanced meal.

Since the response for the Grape PB and J was so good, I was anxious to try out the grilled cheese ones they have, which were also pretty darn good. They come with a microwave toasting sleeve, so no thawing required here. The bread is 'pre-toasted' and the sleeve just crisps it back up. It was a little soggier than a regular grilled cheese, but still had the toasty flavor. The cheese was that processed imitation-y tasting stuff you'd expect from any american cheese slice product, but, the kids ate it up.

Nutrition-wise, Grilled Cheese Uncrustables, the calcium level goes up, but the fiber content goes down. If you want the full nutrition of those visit Smuckers website: http://www.smuckers.com/fg/otg/uncrustables/prod-cheese.asp?groupid=3&catid=46&prodid=455

I have to admit, that I have yet to try the honey and PB on whole wheat. Its on my list. But, after trying the other two, I have gotten an overall opinion. If I have something that applies specifically to those to mention after I try it, I will update this :) Or do a new post.

Pros and Cons in conclusion:

Pros
-Taste
-Convenience
-Kids love the shape and flavor
-I thought they were pretty tasty, too!
-Good source of fiber (for PB& Grape)
-Good source of calcium (for grilled cheese)
-Great for quick lunches
-Good protein value in both Cheese and PB & J varieties

Cons
-Few to a box
-Lots of High Fructose corn syrup in the PB & J version; also part of the bread ingredients for grilled cheese version
-Cost is a bit high per sandwich
-PB and J, you have to plan at least a half hour in advance for thaw time

For me, I will probably buy a box maybe once every couple weeks or so to have on hand for those days where convenience is a higher than usual priority: running late, sick, needing to study, or just feeling plain old lazy! Since the cost for a box of 4 was around 2.99-3.50+, if memory serves, and that is almost a dollar a sandwich, which obviously can be done for much cheaper at home, so I can't see making this a weekly regular item. Plus, there really isn't a whole lot of time or mess involved in making a homemade PB and J, especially if you have one of those sandwich cutters that remove the crust for you. Still, I know I have some days when even that feels too time consuming, so having this option is great. However, it may be possible that one could make some PB and J's, wrap them well, freeze them and have their own version of a pre-made Uncrustable. I know I don't have time to do that, so I will stick to the Uncrustables for my moments when I can't be bothered with hand making a PB and J instead.

Though when I have to start packing lunches regularly for my daughter in school next year, I might just change my mind!

As of recently I have noticed that the I seem to have a shorter and shorter fuse in regards to my children. I think a lot of it has to do with the change of attitude and behavior of my 5 year old to one of defiance and serious 'attitude'. One example of this would be that when I told her to sit in her chair and be ready for lunch, she banged her fists on the table because her food was not instantly before her the moment her hind end touched the seat! The result is that I almost daily have a headache, and I dread any days that she does not have school because the entire day is about conflict conflict conflict! I am not sure how to deal with this - so far time-outs have not worked, yelling has not worked, taking things away has not worked, trying to compromise no longer works. She wants what she want when she wants it. Yesterday. Anything besides that results in screaming or tantrums.

Now, I know how my mother dealt with it in me, she would have slapped the lips off me if I talked to her the way my oldest is talking to me. But of course, she now frowns upon that, and tells me that I should ignore my own upbringing and find a new way. Well, how exactly am I supposed to find this new way, and find the right way?! There are dozens of books out there, and its hard to know which one is the best or right. I know one book I read, had lots of good advice, but it didn't have the advice I needed for a few particular issues I was having.

I also find that I have no idea what to do with my kids when its not time to eat, time to get dressed, busy, busy, busy. I can only play the same games so many times. I think that maybe I am more selfish that other moms. I seem to need a lot of 'me' time to not feel like I am going to go completely nuts, and lately there isn't a whole lot of me time. I feel like I am always doing something for someone else. Except for the time I waste aimlessly surfing the web, which I guess just doesn't fulfill the way other things would.

I just feel like I am always feeding someone else first, making what someone else likes, not making what I like because no one else likes it, watching what someone else likes and not watching what I want to because it bores someone else, I feel like I am always serving every one else's needs first, and then maybe if there is time, I give time for myself. I can't even sit the way I want. Right now as I type this, my youngest is insisting I move my leg because she doesn't like the way I have it crossed! I have to schedule in my needs around every one else's need. I have to wait until Ella is in school and Annalise is napping in order to get an uninterrupted work-out in. I have to plan everything around someone else.

Just for once, it would be nice if something was all about me. Which sounds so very selfish and makes me feel guilty. Why can't I be like those other mom's who give much more than I do and who it doesn't seem to bother that its never about them? The mom's who hardly ever yell and certainly never resort to spanking. Maybe my short temper is related to my frustration with all those feelings: guilt, inadequacy, and resentment of having no time for just me. Maybe its a combination of all of them together. I know it pisses me off to no end that my daughter has all these wonderful things and that she is not grateful for them. Things that I didn't have when I was her age. However I try to explain it to her, a five year old seem incapable of understanding what it means to be grateful and why she should be so.

In the end I worry that I was just not cut out for this parent gig. That I just don't have what it takes and that I am going to screw my kids up. If I haven't already.
I know I am not the worst mother in the world, but I am certainly far from the best. I guess I can just chalk it up to another one of the things that I completely suck at. I keep trying to change, but keep finding myself back in the same place. But on that note, its time to feed the kids. Either I decide on hot dogs and french fries, or I get to hear a lot of screaming. Gee, decisions, decisions.

Social Ineptitude?

My daughter is a bit of social butterfly. She has easily made friends with many of her classmates, as well as kids who visit their grandma near us, and anytime we go to Burger King or McDonald's playlands, she always finds someone to spend her playtime with. She can also start up a conversation with anyone, anywhere. I envy this quality of my daughter. Granted, it may just be one of those things that 5 year-old's just have in spades. But I certainly know she hasn't learned this trait from me, so it must be otherwise ingrained.

I have never been one to easily make friends, or even just start conversation with people I don't really know. Or even with people I know, but haven't spent much time with. I have slowly begun to learn how to do this better. How to start a conversation, how to ask questions about the other person other than just talk about myself or my kids (since when I get nervous I will babble on and on). I always have the fear of the awkward silence, and feel this need to constantly fill it (Its also why I love hanging out with people who love to talk. Less pressure for me)! Its always a wonderful feeling when I find that moment where things can be quiet for a moment between myself and another person and not have it feel weird.

I have also found the more I like someone as a potential friend, the more I feel like I seem to avoid them in face to face -or phone-situations. Its the weirdest thing. Because if I want this person to become a friend, how can I do that without actually talking to them? I wonder if its because the possibility of rejection would hold a much larger injury to my fragile self esteem from someone I have any type of personal interest in. Consequently, this pattern has also happened in the past in affairs of the heart. If I thought a guy was cute, and I was interested, I had no clue how to approach the situation. I also would never have any clue if a guy had any interested in me unless he flat out said so. Guys would probably have no way of knowing I was interested in them either, since I couldn't even look them in the eye. Which brings me to my most recent self-realization. I have trouble making eye contact with people.

I knew I had issues with this in the past, and felt that I had made a concerted effort to try harder to maintain eye contact during conversations. I thought I was doing pretty well with that. When I talk to a doctor, or my child's teacher or my teacher, I do it very well. Yet, I have started to notice that in other situations that I have been staring at anything but the other person. Even with people I have known for awhile, or have met on more than one occasion, I find myself looking down at my fingers, straightening my clothes, messing with my purse, playing with my keys, or focusing closer than I need to on my kids while talking with someone. I thought I was beyond that, but I have noticed myself doing it a lot lately. Which of course makes me paranoid that people will think that I am snobbish by not making eye contact. Because nothing could be further from the truth. Most of the time, I think other people are above me, not below me in cool status :)

I don't know if I had this issue as a child. I can't really recall too far back. I know by around late middle school through high school I had issues making conversations beyond my own group of friends. And I certainly never made my feelings for a guy obvious unless he did so first! My mom seems to do alright in the making friends/ random conversations department, so I am not sure where my behavior comes from. Self-esteem issues I suppose.

In general it seems as we get older, we don't make friends as easily. If you can't meet them through work, school, or other friends, it seems you're out of luck. Even in those situations its hard to make a friendship sometimes. It seems you need to be stuck into the same situations together several times for lengthy periods, on a regular basis, in order to make a bond of friendship as an adult. You also have to have many moments in a small group to have it become more than /classmate relationship. Yet children seem able to do this instantly. Why is that we can't do that as adults? Why can't we meet with someone and chat with them at the park and just become friends like we used to as kids? Or become chummy with the new neighbors? Its seems as a society in general we've become so concerned with privacy, that we don't even bother trying to talk to people outside our immediate circle anymore, out of fear it would violate their privacy somehow.

Although, maybe I am wrong. Maybe that's just my own personal view of it. Maybe other people can easily make friends through work or school, and with neighbors and other parents at their child's school. I guess I just never know how to bring it to the next level. From chit chatting to actually hanging out. I guess I never want to be the one to put myself out there, and have this feeling that if I was cool enough, the other person would have asked me to hang out by now. And if I ask them to hang out, they might say yes, but it would only be out of pity. I know, I know, I over-analyze things.

I also know I find it very hard to truly let myself go so that people get to really know me until I have been in a socializing situation many times. I tend to hold back out of concern I will offend someone or show myself in a poor light. I hate that about myself. I wish I could just be myself and let go. It another one of those things I am working on. I meet people all the time who seem to really be able show who they are, without any shame. They speak their mind, they have fun without worrying that they will screw up or be embarrassed by something. I love those kinds of people. I wish I could be that type of person. Often I just feel like I don't belong. I feel out of place in Ella's school since I seem to be so young compared to other parents, and dress and act a little differently than most. I even find myself feeling out of place with my own friends sometimes. Like I just don't fit in anywhere.

I am not sure I will ever overcome my insecurities and fears. It's almost like I can feel a physical cage inside that just holds my soul back, and keeps me from putting myself out there, to take those risks, and maybe come out with more.

Is making friends as an adult really this complicated or is it just me? I'd be interested to know if other people feel like they have this problem.