Del Monte® Fruit Burst® Squeezers and Fruit Cup® Snacks Review and Giveaway

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Snack time in the Weaver house is practically all the time.  Particularly when we aren't on a regular schedule or we have a lot of extracurricular activities, we will graze a lot throughout the day.  But I don't like feeding my kids a bunch of junk.  I prefer convenient and healthy.  During the peak seasons when fresh fruits and vegetables are readily available for low prices we make sure to stock up on apples, strawberries, green beans and anything else we can get our hands on.  Sometimes I go the homemade route and make granola bars.  But when I'm not feeling $5 for a pint of fresh strawberries or like Suzy Homemaker, I check the snack food aisles for deals.  

Lately I've been struggling with energy and fresh produce is at a premium so I'm very grateful that Del Monte sent me a few samples of their product to try.  They are a healthy snack food giant!  I was able to try Del Monte Fruit Burst Squeezers and Del Monte Fruit Cup Snacks, or rather, I should say that my kids got to try it.  I sneaked in a bite here and a taste there but they were a bit stingy with their snacks!  The Fruit Burst Squeezers have even been affectionately named "fruity snacks" by my 3 (I should just call him 4- he'll be 4 next month) year old, Henry.

Some facts about the products we tried:

Fruit Burst™ Squeezers are made in the USA, contain 1.5 servings of fruit or fruit and vegetables and are an excellent source of vitamins A and C.  In addition (and my personal favorite part)- there are no artificial flavors or high fructose corn syrup! 

There are 2 varieties of Fruit Burst® Fruit + Veggie Squeezers:  
-The Peach-Mango contains pear puree concentrate, water, pumpkin juice concentrate, peach puree concentrate, pear juice concentrate, carrot juice concentrate, carrot puree, mango puree concentrate, natural flavors, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and citric acid. 
-The Blueberry contains pear puree concentrate, water, pumpkin juice concentrate, pear juice concentrate, natural flavors, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and citric acid.  

There are 3 varieties of Fruit Burst® Simply Fruit Squeezers:
-The Apple Cinnamon contains pear puree concentrate, water, apple puree concentrate, pear juice concentrate, natural flavors, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), cinnamon and malic acid.
-The Mixed Berry contains pear puree concentrate, water, pear juice concentrate, natural flavors, strawberry puree, red raspberry puree concentrate, blueberry puree concentrate, fruit and vegetable extracts for color, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and malic acid.

-The Strawberry contains pear puree concentrate, water, pear juice concentrate, strawberry puree concentrate, natural flavors, carmine, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and malic acid.

Mango Fruit Cup® Snacks are a fat and cholesterol-free snack high in vitamin C.

Mango Pineapple Fruit Cup® Snacks combine mango and pineapple- two of the world's most popular fruits.  They contain no high fructose corn syrup and are a good source of vitamin C.

I don't know about all of them, but the Mixed Berry Squeezer, Peach-Mango Squeezer, Mango Fruit Cup and Mango Pineapple Fruit Cup are under 100 calories per serving. 

The Squeezers come in a convenient foil package that is easy for little hands to hold, and there wasn't even an accidental squeeze from my accident-prone kids.  They are great on the go or when you need a healthy and simple snack in a pinch.
We tried the Peach-Mango Fruit + Veggie Squeezer and the Mixed Berry Simply Fruit Squeezer.  They were about the consistency of baby food- smooth and easy to swallow.  "There are zero chunks", as my kids would say.  The Peach-Mango was a brownish-orange color and the Mixed Berry was a purplish-red.  They tasted primarily of their description, though I could detect hints of other flavors in the Peach-Mango.  My two younger boys were my main taste-testers for the Squeezers.  My 6 year old- Jonas- was able to eat about half of one Mixed Berry Squeezer (he has a low sweet tolerance).  Henry ate all of his and the rest of his brother's.  I wasn't too sure about the Peach-Mango because of the odd mix of flavors.  Mango just isn't a common flavor for young kids so I just told him that if his belly was too full for all of it that I would eat the rest.  But Henry devoured that one on a car ride, and demanded another!  Jonas wouldn't try a second one.  My 8 year daughter- Amara- didn't try any of these because her little brother ate them all.  My 12 year old- Zach- refused them all, which is typical of him.  
These are definitely going on future shopping lists because Henry couldn't have enough of them.  They will be great when we are out for hours or camping.  

We also tried both varieties of fruit cups- the Mango and the Mango Pineapple.  Except for my husband- who doesn't like mangoes, and Zach- who doesn't like anything, we all tried these.  Henry devoured both kinds.  And again, he demanded more.  I am pretty sure he is going to grow in the next few weeks because he's eating like his belly is a bottomless pit.  Jonas really liked his Mango cup.  Amara enjoyed her Mango Pineapple.  While I am not a fan of sweetened fruit (in light syrup, aka sugar), I do believe that it played a role in them liking the fruit more.  For me, I would have been happier if they had been in plain juice rather than syrup. 
I had actually never had anything mango before this so I didn't really know what to expect.  They taste and feel a lot like peaches.  The pineapple in the Mango Pineapple variety was the same quality as Del Monte's other pineapple products.  I liked both varieties a lot but would definitely search for non-sweetened products.  If I can find that, I'll be a repeat customer!  

These products, and other Del Monte products are available at your local Walmart, or you can pick up Del Monte Fruit Burst Squeezers on Walmart.com.   

I never would have thought to look up Del Monte for recipes, ideas for parties, tips in the kitchen or ways to upcycle your used cans, but they are there and they have an amazing social media presence!  
Follow Del Monte on Pinterest for fabulous Pinspiration, including plenty of mouth-watering recipes.   
Like Del Monte on  Facebook for recipes, ideas and more.  
Follow Del Monte on Twitter for even more fantastic ideas. 
 

And now drumroll please..........
The moment you've all been waiting for: the giveaway!  You can earn a few entries to win a $25 Walmart gift card, plus 2 coupons for your choice of 1 FREE Del Monte Fruit Cups Snack Pack.  Try all of the varieties when you win!  US entries, only.  Giveaway ends at midnight, March 2, 2014, EST. 

Walmart Gift Card and two coupons for FREE products!

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

 Disclosure:  The Del Monte products, information, gift pack and gift card have been provided by Del Monte to help facilitate this review and giveaway.  No other compensation was received.  All opinions are expressly my own.