I was a strange child when it came to food. I hated chips. Disliked crisps. Would only eat one particular chocolate bar and nothing else. For months my poor mother had to feed me a diet of cold mushroom soup and baked beans as I refused to eat anything else. I remember going for playdates at school friends' houses and getting upset as I didn't like the snacks that their mums offered us. I did say I was a strange one.
When it comes to my kids I'm keen that they eat a varied diet. Yet fruit and veg is important and I'm keen that it's a balanced diet, but I also want them to be children and to enjoy snack food and not to feel awkward when offered things away from home either. Little Miss C is hesitant to try many new things, but I keep trying in the hope that we'll have a break through.
One thing that I don't have to work hard at all to convince her to eat is crisps. She loves them and a packet of them has become part of our routine at certain points in the week. She's a girl of routine though and presenting her with a new brand of crisps to try at one of these points was initially greeted with some suspicion. However, the crisp with the smiley face on the packet of Walkers Mighty Lights won her over quickly, even if she did then expect the whole packet to be full of crisps with faces!
Walkers Mighty Lights are ridged crisps that are full of flavour, but they have 30% less fat than is found in an average packet of crisps. They contain no artificial colours or flavours and no MSG. They come in three different flavours: lightly salted, cheese and onion and roast chicken.
So, what did LMC make of Walkers Might Lights? The most telling thing is probably the fact that she wolfed her first packet incredibly quickly and refused to let me try a single one! Packet number two I fared better and was allowed a whole total of two crisps. I had to hide in the kitchen with my own packet to make a proper assessment for myself.
When questioned LMC did say that she thought they tasted different to her usual crisps (normal Walkers crisps) but that she really liked them. She described the texture as being "bumpy in my mouth when I crunch them" which I think is a pretty accurate description from a three year old who has not had ridged crisps before. The main thing that I noticed as that they didn't seem as greasy to the touch as full fat crisps – my fingers certainly didn't end up as greasy due to the reduced fat in them. And as a parent another big benefit I found over normal crisps is that they didn't cause as many crumbs on my sofa due to the ridged design. The ridges also gave them a bit more structural integrity when I tried to dip them in humous which is something I often do as a lunchtime treat. Mr C wasn't as keen as us though, thinking they tasted a bit blander than the full fat ones. Then again you can't please everyone all the time, and taste can be a very personal thing.
The fact that these crisps are 30% less fat makes me more likely to buy them for the children, especially seeing as LMC likes them so much. And I've now grown up and out of my crisp aversion I'm rather partial to them myself.
Disclaimer: I was provided with multi-packs of Walkers Might Lights to review and was also compensated for this review. This has not influenced mine of my family's views or the writing of this review.
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