Thank you to Guiding Stars for sponsoring this post! As always, all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
Today we are going to be talking about a new (to me) company Guiding Stars. However, while I have only just learned about them in the last few months, they have actually been around since 2006. They strive to make nutrition as easy as 1, 2, 3! One star = good nutrition, two stars = better nutrition and three stars = best nutrition. I will be teaming up with Guiding Stars over the next few months so today I want to introduce the program to you all and how awesome it is for all of us busy, working parents.
For those of you not familiar, you can find Guiding Stars in your local Food Lion, Hannaford, Martins, Giant Food Stores, Stop & Shop and Giant Food grocery stories. We have Food Lion stores locally and their store brand items with Guiding Stars actually have the stars printed on the packaging in case you missed them on the tags.
See the Stars there on the tag and on the packaging so it’s hard to miss once you notice them!
Guiding Stars uses a patented algorithm to determine which items in the store get however many stars based on their vitamins, minerals, fiber, whole grains and Omega 3’s. You can even compare items on their website, like the below, to see which item is the better option and why.
Obviously it’s not realistic to think that in 2021 we will never feed our kids chicken nuggets but at least I can make an informed decision about what a good, better or best option is! I for one was 100% the person who before having kids thought I would give them all organic, nutritious food. But let’s be honest, parenting these days it’s highly unlikely that you won’t actually end up giving them some type of processed food. But with Guiding Stars, you can make better decisions all the while your kid(s) still will feel as though they’re getting a treat or one of their favorite foods.
You can even look up recipes on their website to get nutritious meal ideas (and even sweet treats too!) like Arugula Pesto Cavatappi or Pumpkin Sage Muffins.
It’s hard enough getting kids to eat everything on their plate so getting them bought into the meals you’re making means they’re more likely to eat or at least try new nutritious meals. I recently took Liam into the store to shop using the stars. It’s an amazing way to get your kids engaged in nutritious eating by teaching them to look for the stars throughout the store. He thoroughly enjoyed searching for the stars and learning how many stars our standard grocery store items have.
I’m so glad to have this in my mom bag of tricks to get my kids on a path to healthier eating…and us grownups too!
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Have you ever heard of Guiding Stars? Is this something you feel would be helpful to you?
