One of the biggest daily dietary challenges I face is sending my kids off to school with a nutritious lunch and several snacks. I’ve slowly replaced the junk I used to give them with items like frozen Horizon Organic Tuberz (yogurt in a tube), snack bars from Kashi and Cascadian Farms, YoKids yogurt, and my daughter Lucie’s favorite, Organic Cheddar Bunnies.
But what about pudding? My kids have always loved having a cup of chocolate pudding in their lunch bags or as a snack at home. And I liked having them on hand because they’re shelf stable and you don’t have to worry about refrigeration. But there’s a trade off to that convenience – partially hydrogenated oils, oodles of sugar and fat.
So when ZenSoy, the makers of ZenSoy Organic Soy Pudding and Soy On the Go, asked me to review their product, I was hoping to find a healthy alternative to traditional pudding packs.
ZenSoy Organic Soy Pudding and Soy On the Go are USDA certified organic and lactose free. (All ZenSoy products are vegan friendly, gluten free and lactose free, too.) Yummy ZenSoy Organic Soy Pudding comes in chocolate, vanilla, banana or chocolate-vanilla swirl and Soy On the Go comes in chocolate, vanilla or cappuccino flavors. Both are excellent sources of Omega-3 DHA, low-fat protein, and heart-healthy isoflavones from the soy protein.
Lunch bag pudding fail
I took my free sample coupons I received from ZenSoy’s PR person and got a 4-pack of chocolate pudding and another of chocolate/vanilla swirl pudding from the organic dairy case at King Soopers (Krogers). It was nice to get an “alternative” food product at my local grocery store instead of having to drive 45 minutes to Whole Foods for once. It’s good to see that ZenSoy has good store distribution.
The kids were excited about the pudding, liked the cute panda on the packaging, and couldn’t wait for me to send them off to school with some in their lunch bags. However, when they came home, a different story emerged. It seems that if the pudding isn’t kept refrigerator cool, it liquefies and begins to separate. (Both kids have an insulated lunch sack in which I place a freezer pack.) They brought home the offending pudding to show me. It did look gross, so I threw it away.
I had my son Nathan taste test a ZenSoy pudding straight from the refrigerator. He said it was too chocolaty (!) and gave me the remainder to try. I personally liked both types of the chocolate puddings. They had a dark chocolate taste and creamy mouth feel. Still it’s probably more of a grownup deep chocolate flavor than the sweet, milk chocolate the kids are used to.
ZenSoy’s products would be terrific for kids who are lactose intolerant and can enjoy them at home since they are not something you can pack in a school lunch, unfortunately. However, the ZenSoy puddings are as high in sugar content (15-20g from Certified Organic Granulated Cane Juice) as conventional puddings.
