These past two years, many school classrooms and afterschool organizations have had to adjust their normal routine because of the coronavirus pandemic.
And maybe some big achievements weren’t celebrated in a way that they should’ve been.
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We want your class or organization which supports school-aged children to have that celebration now. It can be just about anything from youth sports teams, after school clubs and programs. Tell us an accomplishment you’d like to share for a chance to win.
Rule Breaker Snacks will donate a large snack package to the winning submission. The snack package will include a variety of brownies and cookies, all vegan and allergen-free.
Using the form below, nominate someone you know who has something to celebrate in relation to an achievement surrounding school or afterschool activities. Nominations will close on April 15.
Then it’ll be up to you Insiders to vote for your favorite story submission to win the Rule Breakers Snacks prize pack. Learn more about the snacks in the video at the top of the page.
When it comes to snacks and deserts, it may be difficult to find something on store shelves that’s healthy and tastes good. One business owner and mom has made it her mission to create healthier options, but she uses some unconventional ingredients.
“I always liked to bake and create stuff in the kitchen,” Rule Breaker Snacks CEO Nancy Kalish said.
For more than 20 years, Kalish was a health journalist but admits she didn’t always make the healthiest of choices when it came to deserts.
“I interviewed hundreds of doctors and nutritionists and knew what I needed to eat to be healthy, however I have a gigantic sweet tooth that got in the way,” Kalish said.
Kalish became a certified health coach, taking to the kitchen to try to whip up something healthier that can satisfy her sweet cravings.
“I had read about brownies made from beans on the internet, so I worked to recreate them. The first few tries, they were terrible. They tasted and smelled like beans but had a great brownie texture,” Kalish said. “My poor husband and daughter were victims.”
The bean brownies didn’t work out but after hundreds of batches, Kalish came up with a unique recipe for brownies and cookies featuring chickpeas as the main ingredient. She also trades cane sugar for dates. In 2014, she launched Rule Breaker Snacks sharing her sweet creations nationwide.
“We do actually break a lot of rules... No eggs, no butter, no regular flower. We use chickpeas and dates and the snacks are vegan and allergen-free. That’s pretty much breaking the rules,” Kalish said.
Through her baking experiments, Kalish was able to pull off not only a healthier options for snacks, but products that are vegan and top-8 allergen-free.
Rule Breaker Snacks can now be found in over 3,500 stores across the country. Kalish is encouraging others to try something new when it comes to creating a healthier lifestyle.
“My first piece of advice... don’t use those black beans, go with the chickpeas. Think outside the box. The cooking liquid from chickpeas, the juice you typically drain from the can of chickpeas, is called Aquafaba. It makes the most fabulous whipped cream. That is just one example. Give it a try, you may be surprised what you and your family finds and the recipes you try that you’ll really like,” Kalish said.
Kalish said she is excited to partner with News 6 for a contest celebrating students’ accomplishments.
“It’s so thrilling to me to be able to do it for children, especially in schools where kids are celebrating birthdays and some of the kids can’t eat what everyone else is eating because of allergies,” Kalish said. “These kids have had a rough time over the last couple of years, so I literally want to do anything to bring a little sweetness back into their lives.”