Healthy snacks for young kids

shaycat
shaycat Posts: 980
in Recipes
I need some snack ideas now that I am trying to have the whole family eat better.
Mostly we do a bunch of fruit, carrots and celery and I have been baking a bit more.
What else is good?

Replies

  • UrbanRunner81
    UrbanRunner81 Posts: 1,207 Member
    i make homemade granola bars.
    I have been making my own frozen popsicles too with fresh fruit. I just blend combo of fruits in the blender, put them in popsicle mold and freeze.
    Also banana soft serve... freeze banana chunks in the freezer, blend them when they are frozen with a splash of milk, add cocoa powder or peanut butter. My kids love it. I don't even have to add any sugar to these.
  • Kenhabes
    Kenhabes Posts: 187 Member
    My two year old refuses almost all fruits and vegetables except for some in the squeeze pouches. He's a very picky/light eater in general and thus is underweight. HELP!
  • Sherriediva1
    Sherriediva1 Posts: 345 Member
    i make homemade granola bars.
    I have been making my own frozen popsicles too with fresh fruit. I just blend combo of fruits in the blender, put them in popsicle mold and freeze.
    Also banana soft serve... freeze banana chunks in the freezer, blend them when they are frozen with a splash of milk, add cocoa powder or peanut butter. My kids love it. I don't even have to add any sugar to these.

    ooohhhh nice soft serve!! I gotta try that!!
    :bigsmile:
  • LisaBeateith2012
    LisaBeateith2012 Posts: 346 Member
    bump
  • stepharega
    stepharega Posts: 211 Member
    melon balls are fun! introduce them to hummus and dip veggies in it! get pop chips! yum yum yumm
  • dsak
    dsak Posts: 367 Member
    Bump... I'm interested to know too. My kids are picky eaters. While they eat fruit, it would be nice to find some alternatives!
  • kelzpop
    kelzpop Posts: 156 Member
    I suggest getting this book... "The Petit Appetit Cookbook: Easy, Organic Recipes to Nurture Your Baby and Toddler"
    It is awesome. It does have some baby food recipes in there, but there are also recipes that my entire family loves. The celebration 'cupcakes' are our favorite. They are made with wheat germ and a tad on the grainy side, but they are yummy.

    I have a yogurt cupcake that I make also that everybody loves. And you can change the flavor based on the yogurt flavor. If you want the recipe, let me know and I can dig it out.

    My son love mandarin oranges, my daughter loves celery sticks and broccoli. And of course, they both love graham crackers. We do a lot of cereal for dry snacks too, like frosted shredded wheat.
  • shaycat
    shaycat Posts: 980
    I suggest getting this book... "The Petit Appetit Cookbook: Easy, Organic Recipes to Nurture Your Baby and Toddler"
    It is awesome. It does have some baby food recipes in there, but there are also recipes that my entire family loves. The celebration 'cupcakes' are our favorite. They are made with wheat germ and a tad on the grainy side, but they are yummy.

    I have a yogurt cupcake that I make also that everybody loves. And you can change the flavor based on the yogurt flavor. If you want the recipe, let me know and I can dig it out.

    My son love mandarin oranges, my daughter loves celery sticks and broccoli. And of course, they both love graham crackers. We do a lot of cereal for dry snacks too, like frosted shredded wheat.

    I would love the cupcake recipe. My kids love cupcakes of coarse!

    I am going to make some bars tonight.

    Any other ideas?
  • sleepytexan
    sleepytexan Posts: 3,138 Member
    mozzarella cheese sticks, fresh fruit salad (berries!!), Greek yogurt blended with peanut butter - dip apples, bananas, celery.

    Laughing cow cheese spread on celery with almonds or raisins (different twist on "ants on a log")

    Acai smoothies with peanut butter - made into popsicles.

    Frozen grapes!! (do not wash first -- wash after frozen, before eating).
  • NGMama
    NGMama Posts: 384 Member
    My kids loooove smoothies. I use Vega protein, water, few handfuls of spinach and a bunch of frozen berries with a frozen banana.

    I've made the banana soft serve with just bananas. You can even dot it with non dairy chocolate chips.

    My kids eat buckets of fruit and lots of raw veg too. Even just bowls of frozen berries are nice in the summer. They also like coconut milk yogurt with fresh berries mixed in.
  • cmeade20
    cmeade20 Posts: 1,238 Member
    My niece LOVES "kickin red" and "sweet yellow" smoothies. I use fresh fruit, plain chobani and skim milk

    Her and her brothers also love anything w/ peanut butter on it- apples, bananas, whole wheat toast and bagels, multigrain crackers
    I also mix plain chobani with fresh fruit and stevia, or honey and nuts, or cinnamon and stevia or this is my favorite 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and 1/4 cup plain oats
    We also bake clean baked goods together I'll get together some recipes for you
  • cmeade20
    cmeade20 Posts: 1,238 Member
    http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/category/snacks/

    http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/category/protein-bars/

    http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/category/muffins/

    http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/category/pie/

    http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/category/clean-eating-candy/

    http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/category/cookies/

    http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/category/dessert/

    http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/category/ice-cream-recipes/

    http://cleaneatingmag.com/Recipes/Recipe/Sweet-Potato-Ice-Cream.aspx

    http://cleaneatingmag.com/Recipes/Recipe/Chocolate-Glazed-Banana-Cupcakes.aspx

    http://cleaneatingmag.com/Recipes/Recipe/Cheesecake-Tartlets.aspx
    http://cleaneatingmag.com/Recipes/Recipe/Dark-Chocolate-Pudding.aspx

    http://cleaneatingmag.com/Recipes/Recipe/Greek-Yogurt-Cheesecakes-with-Quick-Berry-Compote.aspx

    http://cleaneatingmag.com/Recipes/Recipe/Cream-Cheese-Smores.aspx
  • kelzpop
    kelzpop Posts: 156 Member
    Here you go!


    Moist Healthy Cupcakes
    1 C All Purpose flour
    1/2 tsp baking powder
    1/4 tsp baking soda
    1 C sugar
    1/4 C Butter
    1/2 tsp vanilla
    2 egg whites
    2/3 C plain yogurt (I use vanilla or flavored)

    Cream sugar & butter, add in vanilla & egg whites. Alternate dry goods & yogurt until everything is well mixed. Bake for 20-25 minutes in 350 preheated oven. Makes 10 cupcakes.

    Honey Cream Cheese Frosting (from the cookbook I mentioned)
    1/2 block softened cream cheese
    1/2 stick softened butter
    2 tablespoons honey
    Blend together


    Banana Apple Bran Muffins
    1 C whole wheat flour
    1/2 C oat bran
    1 tsp baking soda
    1/2 tsp salt 1/2 C butter
    3/4 C applesauce
    3 medium bananas (1 mashed, 2 sliced)
    1/2 C light brown sugar
    2 eggs

    Combine all moist ingredients, mix in dry ingredients just until blended (batter is lumpy and moist). Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full and place banana slice on top. Bake 12 minutes in 375 preheated oven. Let cool for 5 minutes before turning out of tin. The toothpick test doesn't really work on these cause of the banana, you just have to take your best guess.


    Pumpkin Raisin Muffins (these are fabulous, you can make them w or w/o raisins and they freeze well)
    1 C pumpkin puree (can or fresh)
    3 1/2 C flour
    1 C sugar
    2 eggs
    1 1/4 C milk
    1/4 C butter, softened
    1 C raisins
    4 tsp baking powder
    1/2 tsp cinnamon
    1/2 tsp nutmeg
    1/2 tsp salt

    Dredge raisins in 1/2 C Flour. Cream butter & sugar, add pumpkin, milk & egg. Sift in remaining flour & spices. Poru in raising. Bake in 400 degree preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.


    Some other things I forgot about...
    Trail mix, you could let them help pick the ingredients they want to put in it
    yogurt raisins
    yogurt drops (freeze drops of regular yogurt on a cookie sheet for about an hour - they melt VERY easily though)
    zucchini bread with raisins

    I do a lot of stuff with pumpkin and they have a ton of recipes here. http://www.pumpkinnook.com/cookbook.htm
    I'm pretty sure that is where the pumpkin raisin muffins came from. We also love the pumpkin pancakes, but I substitute whole wheat flour.
  • Anyaaaa11
    Anyaaaa11 Posts: 242 Member
    Any kind of fruit or veggie
    Yogurt
    Granola bars
    Prune/dried fruit
    Whole wheat toast
    Crackers
    Cheese sticks
    HARD BOILED EGGS - really good one
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
    WebMD just had a slideshow on how to handle children who are picky eaters. It goes over the different kind of picky eaters, and how to handle each one. http://www.webmd.com/parenting/ss/slideshow-picky-eaters
  • sleepytexan
    sleepytexan Posts: 3,138 Member
    WebMD just had a slideshow on how to handle children who are picky eaters. It goes over the different kind of picky eaters, and how to handle each one. http://www.webmd.com/parenting/ss/slideshow-picky-eaters

    hahaha -- at my house, there are 2 choices for each meal: take it, or leave it. I have 4 kids, and that's the way I roll.
  • ediblepotential
    ediblepotential Posts: 13
    Great suggestions!
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    Fruit
    granola bars
    graham crackers with peanut butter
    cheese
    yogurt
  • brityn
    brityn Posts: 443 Member
    No kids for me, but I do have a 7 year old sister and my girlfriend has a 1 1/2 and a 3 year old...

    I make my sis green smoothies and she loves them! 1 banana, handful of frozen berries, 4 cups of greens (kale, spinach, collard) blend it up with a little water adn a couple of ice cubes and they'll love it! Make sure you add blueberries to cut the green color. The banana will cut the green taste.

    Also, I've been making ranch dressing with fat free plain greek yogurt, low fat milk and a ranch packet. She's now eating broccoli, asparagus and artichokes dipped in it.
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
    WebMD just had a slideshow on how to handle children who are picky eaters. It goes over the different kind of picky eaters, and how to handle each one. http://www.webmd.com/parenting/ss/slideshow-picky-eaters

    hahaha -- at my house, there are 2 choices for each meal: take it, or leave it. I have 4 kids, and that's the way I roll.
    Who said that WebMD recommended anything different? :)
  • Mindmovesbody
    Mindmovesbody Posts: 399 Member
    [/quote]

    hahaha -- at my house, there are 2 choices for each meal: take it, or leave it. I have 4 kids, and that's the way I roll.
    [/quote]

    I love this. This is my house too...take it or leave it. I'm not a short order cook!
  • furrina
    furrina Posts: 148 Member
    On this very important topic: A friend and I recently launched a site dedicated to exactly that: Instilling healthy eating habits in babies and kids, and being able to maintain them as adults. She eventually wants to do a cooking show, but we're trying things out to see what people like. There are lots of kid-friendly healthy recipes and tips as well as natural and healthy alternatives to the usual grocery store attention-grabbers. Anyway, take a look here:

    http://livinggreenwithbaby.com

    and follow us, sign up for our newsletter, share any ideas you have with us on Facebook or get in touch, and look for more good stuff on the way soon!

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