Please share some healthy, kid-friendly snackin' ideas!!!

[~Meeshi~]

We always have a plate set up from grazing, at our house. On it, is any combination of the following:

~Sliced apples, sliced pears, carrot sticks, raw broccoli and cauliflour, raisins, trail mix with sunflower seeds (high in Essential Fatty Acids, which kids really need), sliced avocados, orange wedges, wedges of veggies pizza (easy recipe down below), dry cereal and more... I also mix peanut butter with a bit of honey for dipping the apples and carrots.

The girls are always welcome to snack off of the plate whenever they feel hungry, except for right before dinner, I try to keep the snacking down.

For the veggie pizzas, I use wheat pitas as the crust. Mix a dash of onion powder into softened cream cheese and spread over pitas. Then add shredded carrots, diced green peppers, diced cucumbers, chopped broccoli, chopped avocados or any other veggies you have on hand.

The girls also like Banana Rollups. Spread some peanut butter on a wheat tortilla. Place a peeled banana to one side and roll it up in the tortilla.

I also have some faily healthy muffin recipes, which are good for snacking... I'll have to add them to this thread a bit later, as I need to hop offline for a bit.

Please share your ideas for healthy snacks for the kids!!!

[CarterNOwensMom]

Here are a couple of current crowd pleasers here (well, for Owen anyway )

Yogurt with fresh fruits (especially strawberries and/or blueberries)
Frozen blueberries
Cottage cheese with sliced pears or pineapple chunks
Sliced apples (sometimes sprinkled with cinnamon for variety)
Homeade applesauce
Strawberry shakes (strawberries, yogurt or icecream and milk)

I'm interested in more ideas!

[mommy2maya]

Maya's favorite right now is cherry tomatoes- she will eat half a pint at a time!

[pmjmomma]

I've recently started a "snack bin" in the fridge for each girl, because they've gotten pretty independant with getting themselves food, but I was afraid they'd grab something that was old, yk? so, here's what we put in it: (I seperate everything into portion sizes in baggies or tupperware b/c my 3 yold would eat a whole bag of carrots in on sitting. . . )

-Whatever veggies looked good at the market, cut into sticks
-ditto with fruits, but I leave them whole wherever possible
-I add one "junky" snack per day - usually a cookie made with wheat flour - this way they know they're getting it and don't nag
-leftover steamed veggies from dinner - faves are cold brocolli and peas
-a nut mix
a dried fruit mix
whole wheat raisin bread with cream cheese
cheese and crackers
"Just Veggies" for my 3 yo, 5 yo won't touch them
pretzles
granola bars
Black Olives
Chick Peas
Cold cereal mixes

What I like about this is that they now know that when I'm getting the water bottles ready to leave the house, they choose a snack to grab too. and my older one knows which need refrigeration, so she'll grab the cooler bag if necessary. . .

I'm looking forward to getting more ideas for variety!

[harvestgirl]

my lil ones love rice cakes {the salt free ones} w/ pb & banana on them.. or some polaner all fruit as well ~ sugar free

graham crackers w/ pumpkin butter is a pleaser as well

love the ideas... keep em comin' mamas!~

[mamabear]

cinnamon graham crackers (without the hydrogenated oils)

peanut butter and jelly mixed together (again the healthy PB and polaner all fruit for the jelly) - not the healthiest but katie has taken to eating it straight

homemade whole milk yogurt with maple syrup and a dash of vanilla

homemade stove-popped popcorn with nutritional yeast

peas & green beans w/nutritional yeast on top

cream cheese mixed with jarred sundried tomatoes and spread on bread or crackers or pita or tortilla, or along a celery stick

i am wanting to try a muffin recipe from More With Less cookbook

banana bread

fresh veggies (carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes) with a sesame tahini/garlic dressing similar to annie's goddess dressing, as a dip

fresh whole apples, bananas

fresh strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries

smoothie made with homemade yogurt and frozen berry/fruit mix (we get a nice one w/grapes, berries & peaches & pineapple cheaply at Costco) and a little maple syrup and Ceres tropical fruit juice -- YUM!

(nak) that's all i can think of at the moment

[Mama2littleman]

Wow, some of my best ideas have already been mentioned.

Here's one I haven't seen yet:

Ants on a Log: Take a rib of celery, smear peanut butter in the middle, top with raisins.

CHeese sticks
Homemade muffins
CHeese tortillas
home made chicken fingers


I'll think of some more later

Nikki

[pinkmommy]

In the summer, we like to freeze juice or puree fruit to make popsicles.

We roll out bread so that it is flat (or can just use flat bread), spread pb&j on it and then roll it up...then slice into bite size pieces.

Popcorn.

Banana or apple chips.

Toast w/ Marmite

And our favorite....hot dogs w/ mac and cheese with a big cup of Kool Aid.

[Sarahd]

Most of our snacks ideas are already mentioned...but I make homemade baked fries...yummy snack!! I just take 1 or 2 potatoes and cut them into thin slices. I then soak it in a mixture of water to cover with a little salt and a little sugar/sweetner. This helps get some of the moisture out so they crisp better. After soaking for 15 minutes to several hours(the longer, the crispier) then dry on a towel and toss in a large bowl with 1 tsp oil for each potato and some paprika and a dash of salt. then place on baking pan and bake at 450 until crisp...turn over when bottom is browned. These are really good and the kids love them!

Also banana bread/muffins, corn bread, bean burritos, and baked tortilla chips with homemade salse are great snacks here...but I have older kids.

[Soggy Granola]

Thanks to JennyC we have a new staple. It's the Carrot Cashew fondue found here http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recip...sp?recipe=8567 .

Even dh likes it. I made it easier on myself and bought the freshly ground cashew butter at whole foods instead of processing the cashews myself. I didn't dip the tofu or tempeh in it, maybe next time. I cut up bright veggies into bite sized pieces. The favorite here is jicama to dip. This dip is fabulous warm, and just as yummy cold. It would make a nifty celery spread, or a sandwich spread too. I doubled the recipe, it was gone in 2 days, no kidding.

We also do frest fruit, pb&j, popsicles, sliced cheese, dry cereal.

I wish there was an organic, no sugar added, version of juice boxes. I'd pay big bucks for them, lol.

Our big problemo here is that Finn and Winnie are at different stages in eating. Frequently Finn will end up with Winnie's snack so I'm trying to get Winnie to sit and eat rather than wander. I'm also tired of finding half eaten sandwiches in the couch cushions, lol.

The potato fries sound yummy. I bet you could use sweet potato too. And, what the heck is Marmite?

[Thmom]

frozen peas, my kids eat them like candy
fozen grapes are great in the summer time also
and baked tortilla with a bit of cinnamon sprinked on and cut into chips

[bfapmamma]

Most of the the things we have for snacks have already been mentioned! Two things I don't think I saw listed that my children enjoy are soy nuts and already shelled sunflower seeds. I do have an excellent book recomondation though. I just got the book Sugar-Free Toddlers which is filled with tons of great kid friendly recipes. All the recipes do not use sugar (although many use fruit juice as a sweetner). Many of the recipes also use whole wheat, wheat germ, and other healthy ingredients.

Laurie

[AsariSunlight]

Originally posted by mommy2maya
Maya's favorite right now is cherry tomatoes- she will eat half a pint at a time!

wow...my ds is also obsessed with these! he loves the grape tomatoes cut in halves with mozzerella cheese and balsamic vinager

he also loves:
raisins
fresh fruits and veggies(he is big on berries, pears and apricots)
mini whole wheat bagels with scallion cream cheese
dry organic cereals(loves chex type one and puffin cereal)
amarenth graham crackers(they also come in oat... at your local healthfood store)
mini blueberry waffles
homemade biscutts and apricot jam(we use cookie cutters to make different shapes)
organic animal cookies(on occasion )

he is also addicted to a juice we get at our local healthfood store called "VFruit". he loves the orange veggie flavor(and so do i! )

thanks for all the ideas!

[dawnadelle]

Ooooo - great ideas!

I always keep rice cakes around. Pretzals are good for the salty cravings. Fruit is always available, kiwis are the big kick lately (I hate peelin' those things!), sunflower seeds and soy nuts for the crunchy cravings, DS likes cucumbers a lot, oh - and he is always asking for another bowl of cereal all day - so a small bit of cereal and the lite soy milk.

I wish there was an organic, no sugar added, version of juice boxes

I put juice or water into small glass bottles and keep them handy. Keeps us away from off-gassing rubbermaid stuff and its handy in little kid-sized portions. The best bottles I have found currently are the green Pellegrino (spelling?) serving size mineral water ones. They are a great size, easy for little hands to hold, the cap is sturdy so can be re-used over and over... and green is my DS's favorite color... so they are appealing to him!

[AsariSunlight]

they do make organic, unsweetened juice boxes...i can't think of the brand right now...hmm. i will try to figure it out

ds also drinks juice boxes..can't quite get the hang of a sippy cup...but loves straws! he likes those apple and eve ones with sesame street guys on them. they are 100 percent juice and no sugar.