Giveaway: Costco Sunny Snacks

With summer here, and my hope for a return to normal schedule from my DH (more on that in a later post), I want to have more shelf stable snacks in my pantry so I can just grab our backpacks and GO! I don't want to leave the house without something, so we don't fall into the trap of being out and about and suddenly hungry - and oops, there's a trip to a fast food joint and we're $10-15 poorer, not to mention every calorie we just burned off is back with a few friends. ;) If you're on the go with a lot of summer activities with your family, I'm sure you are in the same boat too. It's hard to find good shelf stable treats that kids (and husbands!) like that doesn't break the bank - especially if you have a bigger family!

MyBlogSpark recently sent me over a care package with some HUGE boxes of Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix Bars and Simply Fruit Roll-Ups, plus a gift card to Costco - you see, they are now available at big box stores like Costco! This makes me happy, because with our doing less grocery shopping trips, I can stock up easier - and I secretly did a little dance, because the Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix bars just happened to be Fruit and Nut - my absolute favorite flavor from them. I hereby admit that I hid the box in my pantry behind the Hamburger Helper stash so my DH wouldn't eat them all. LOL


The Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix bars have no artificial flavors or colors and are only 140 calories with 8g of whole grain per serving, making it a good choice for us to have on hand. It's actually a snack we buy on a regular basis around here already - the small boxes don't seem to last long, and I stock up when they are on sale and I can score some good coupons. (I really try to keep my snack bars at about a cost of $1 per small box, or 5-6 bars) They don't make a mess when we are busy doing things, and the wrappers are easy to dispose of - something else I look for. I don't want a shopping bag full of trash when we're out!


I don't usually buy the Simply Fruit Roll-Ups, mostly because I never really find good deals here. Honestly, I was also concerned that roll ups were full of unnecessary ingredients - so I was happy to see them come out with the Simply Fruit version. (I can't be the only ones who doesn't want who doesn't want their kiddo to have any more sugar than necessary!) The big pack that you can find at places like Costco comes in a Strawberry and Wildberry flavor multipack, so your kids can have a variety without you being stuck buying multiple big boxes - since most of probably aren't blessed with huge walk in pantries, this is always a good thing. ;) Simply Fruit Roll-Ups are gluten-free and contain 50 calories per serving - and each one of those servings contain a serving worth of fruit. Methinks that's a sneaky way to make sure your kids are getting their fruit in, and they have no clue - it's just a fun snack to them! ;)

By the way, if you are worried that maybe these snacks might go bad because big boxes are just for big families - think again! Each snack is individually wrapped just like they are in smaller boxes, and the dates are usually just as far off, if not even further. I find it a LOT easier to just buy some things once a month instead of once a week - I have a little less waste on many things as well. Plus, let's be honest, when the kids are home during the summer, snacks disappear faster than lightning. I have a friend with two teens and I know last Summer she would go grocery shopping and BAM! - two days later everything was gone! If anyone needed a club membership, it was her! lol (I keep suggesting she hides things throughout her home, but she says she'll forget where they are too! LOL)

Win it! Thanks to MyBlogSpark, I have a prize pack just like mine to giveaway - you'll get a box of each kind of snacks, plus a $25 gift card to Costco! (If you don't have a Costco membership, and you have a friend who does - see if you can tag along one day on their shopping trip. If you use self checkout, you just have to scan the membership card, and you can then use the gift card. You can also use your own debit card to pay any difference with no problem. Or just use the gift card as a gift for someone who does!) To enter, tell me what snack flies out of your cupboards during the summer months!

As always, you can receive extra entries for:

-Subscribing to my feed or following my blog
-Blogging about this giveaway with a link back
-Tweeting about this giveaway (leave the link or @psychotichouse)

That's four (4) possible entries! Giveaway ends June 26th at 11:59 PM PST, and please leave your email address in your entry or have it available in your profile. US only, sorry :( Good luck everyone!! :)

I received a prize pack as mentioned above thanks to General Mills through MyBlogSpark. Nutrition information comes from the packaging and information provided by these companies (General Mills and MyBlogSpark). One reader will win a prize pack, as fulfilled by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.