Kashi and Annie’s Home Grown

This year I joined a group of friends making an effort to cut preservatives and artificial additives from our families’ diets. Initially I did not publicly sign on to this. I rely on quick dinners, and a lot of convenience foods like frozen waffles and from what I have seen in the stores, organic foods and preservative free items are not inexpensive and I am very married to my grocery budget. But I did start looking around and what I found was that I could make some changes that were budget friendly and time conscious.

I discovered that cooking from scratch isn’t as hard or as expensive as I had thought. It does take planning ahead, and I had to make some time but I am actually saving money, which you know I love and it makes it a double bonus for me! I also discovered there are affordable convenience food options!

Kashi is a great brand of natural products that are affordable. They offer cereal bars I often score for less than $1 a box with coupons. Currently they have an offer for a free frozen entre you can sign up for here. I got my coupon in the mail Saturday after I had gone shopping, but I can not wait to pick one up and try it!

Annie’s is my new go to brand for macaroni and cheese which is a big staple in our house. It is something I can grab for a side when I don’t have the energy to make a big meal or something my teenager can handle on his own and the kids love “the bunny mac and cheese”. If your family has a restricted diet they offer a gluten free macaroni and cheese too. While I have taken to making our own “spaghetti-o” with Trader Joe’s O pasta and regular spaghetti sauce, Annie’s also offers a “spaghetti-o” type product that my teenager was a fan of and they have a great line of fruit snacks and crackers too.

What I love second to the fast and fabulous products is the price and availability! You can find Annie’s at Target or Wal-Mart and it often goes on sale/rollback presenting stock up opportunities! I inquired with the company about coupons, and while they don’t currently offer coupons in newspaper inserts, they do have a newsletter that you can sign up for here and they mentioned they utilize this to offer coupons/promotions when they can.

If fast and family friendly products that are not full of preservatives is on your wish list, I highly recommend you give Annie’s a try!

Amazon is currently run a fab deal on their products! Grab some….

All products – All Annie’s Homegrown Products
Shells & White Cheddar Mac & Cheese – Annie’s Homegrown Shells, 6-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 12)
Total Natural Shells and Aged Cheese – Annie’s Homegrown Totally Natural Shells & Real Aged Cheddar Mac & Cheese, 6-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 12)
Family pack Shell & White Cheddar Mac & CheeseAnnie’s Homegrown Family-Size Shells & White Cheddar Mac & Cheese, 10.5-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 6)
Oganic whole Wheat – Annie’s Homegrown Organic Whole Wheat Shells & Cheddar, 6-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 12)