Healthy Snacks
Moms View Message Board: Parenting Discussion: Archive July-December 2005:
Healthy Snacks
I need some ideas. This morning Matthew didn't finish his breakfast, fresh fruit, yogurt and waffles. He ate all the fruit but left some of the waffle, so I saved it for a snack for later.
He finished his snack and wanted more, I found some of those Fish Crackers (not such a good snack) anyway he kept wanting more. So I went in search of something else. I have some fig cookies in the cupboard which I thought were healthly, however the second ingredient on the list is sugar. He ate two cookies. He was obviously hungry.
I need some ideas for morning and afternoon snacks, something a little easier than fruit, I know fruit is good, but it's messy and not all that filling. He still doesn't have any back mollars (sp?) so things like carrots and hard vegies are not a good option yet.
I make a lot of homemade cookies, but that really doesn't mean it's healthy, it's just better than store bought.
We haven't tried peanut butter yet.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
My kids always ate cheese as snacks, they loved yogurt covered raisins. I agree with the fruit, it is a lot of work. I did start buying canned fruit, cut up peaches, baby oranges, etc. Also our favorite snack was cheerios. We lived off that for awhile 
ill move this later to recipe section if a moderator duznt beat me lol got to love them.
these the kid can help make and are good and nutritious
kids enjoy eating what they make. and u can add different variations to them.
Easy Honey Balls Recipe - Kids Snacks
2/3 cup honey
2/3 cup peanut butter
1 cup non-fat dry milk
2/3 cup coconut
Mix ingredients in order given. Form into small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Chill well. Note: Some kids have severe allergies to peanut butter - make sure you check with children's parents before feeding them peanut butter snacks.
Fruit Nuggets - Easy Healthy Snacks Recipe
¼ cup dried pitted prunes
¼ cup dried apricots
¼ cup dried figs
¼ cup pitted dates
1/3 cup wheat-flake cereal (like Wheaties)
¼ cup honey
½ square unsweetened chocolate; melted
1 cup boiling water
Non-stick cooking spray
coconut
Let prunes and apricots stand in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain. Put all fruit through food processor and mix with crushed cereal. Blend in honey and melted chocolate. Spray hands with non-stick cooking spray and shape mixture into 1-inch balls. Roll in coconut.
Chill and refrigerate in an airtight container.
Monkey Bread Recipe
4 tubes refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
¾ cup sugar
1 t cinnamon
1 cup sugar
¾ cup butter (1½ sticks)
¾ t cinnamon
Grease 2 bread pans or one Bundt cake pan. Preheat oven to 350° F. Pour ¾ cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a paper bag and shake to mix. Open each tube of biscuits and cut each biscuit into four parts. Place a few pieces at a time into the bag with sugar/cinnamon mixture, and shake until coated. Place coated pieces evenly in the prepared pans.
Put 1 cup sugar, ¾ cup butter or margarine, and ¾ teaspoon cinnamon in small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Pour half of mixture evenly over each pan of biscuits. Bake for 30 minutes.
Peanut Butter Clouds Recipe - Snacks For Kids
1 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup shortening
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
In a large bowl, combine sugars, shortening, peanut butter and eggs. Beat until well blended. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Shape into balls about the size of a walnut. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet and flatten with a fork to make a criss-cross pattern. Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned, at 350° F.
Note: Some kids have severe allergies to peanut butter - make sure you check with children's parents before feeding them peanut butter snacks.
Yummy Frozen Bananas - Kids Healthy Snacks
4 ripe but firm bananas
popsicle sticks
½ cup chocolate, chopped
Peel bananas and cut in half. Place a popsicle stick into the middle of the cut end as a handle. Melt chocolate in the top of a double boiler. Dip bananas in chocolate and turn until well coated. Place bananas on waxed paper on a cookie sheet and freeze for a hour.
Dinosaur Eggs - Kids Snacks Recipes
2-6 oz. pkgs. lime gelatin powder
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup cold milk
1 pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix
Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Stir in cinnamon. Beat milk and pudding mix until blended. Whisk into gelatin until smooth. Pour into a 13x9x2-inch pan coated with non stick cooking spray. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Cut into ovals.
Peanut Honey Huggers Snacks For Kids
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 cups roasted, salted peanuts
Combine honey, butter and cinnamon in a 2-quart microwave-safe container; microwave at HIGH (100%) 4 to 5 minutes or until microwave-safe candy thermometer reaches 235 °F Stir in nuts; mix thoroughly to coat. Microwave at HIGH 5 to 6 minutes or until foamy; stir after 3 minutes. Spread in single layer on foil sprayed with non-stick vegetable spray. Cool. Break into small pieces. Preparation Time: About 15 minutes
Cheese Bread Recipe - Easy Snacks
1 egg
1½ cup milk
3¾ cups baking mix (such as Bisquick)
1½ salt
1 cup cheddar cheese, finely grated
1 tablespoon onion, minced
1 tablespoon poppy seed
Heat oven to 350°. Grease bottom of 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the egg and milk, blend well. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Beat vigorously for 1 minute. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle top with poppy seeds. Bake 50-60 minutes. Place on wire rack to cool 5-10 minutes before removing from pan. Slice and serve warm.
Easy Granola Bars Recipe - Healthy Kids Snacks
3½ cups oats, quick uncooked
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped nuts
2/3 cup margarine, melted
1/3 cup honey, corn syrup, or molasses
1 egg, beaten
½ t vanilla
½ cup brown sugar, packed
½ t salt
Toast oats in ungreased shallow baking pan at 350° F. for 15-20 minutes. In a large bowl, combine toasted oats with remaining ingredients and mix well. Press firmly into well greased 15½ by 10½ jelly roll pan. Bake at 350° F. for 20 minutes.
Cool and cut into bars. Recipe can be baked ahead and frozen.
Coming from a parent who has two children with severe nut allergies - Beware of peanuts and tree nuts before the age of 3.
Off the top of my head: Rice and wheat puffs, Cheerios, Kix, toddler friendly fresh fruits and veggies, cut up cheese, cream cheese on bread/toast,...
I used to buy no sodium canned veggies for snacks. They are soft to chew and don't need to be heated.
Cut up fresh veggies are toddler friendly if you par boil them. That makes them soft enough to eat safely.
These are a big hit with Kaitlyn:
:The new yogurt Cheerios
:Dole prepacked fruit cups
:String cheese
:Dinosaur and/or star shaped cheese
:Grapes
:Apples/peanut butter
:Apple sauce with teddy grahams mixed in
 atmeal with teddy grahams mixed in
:Strawberries cut up into bite sized pieces
:Regular salads with dressing and goldfish mixed in to make it "interesting" for her
:Cherry tomatoes
:Pretzels and cheese (we use salt free)
:Banana sandwiches (we do bananas with pb) cut into bite sized pieces or cut with cookie cutters
Oh and she recently fell in love with steamed broccoli
Heaventree - Thanks for asking about this! I've been thinking the same thing lately about Natalie's snacks. She doesnt' usually have an AM snack but always an afternoon one. Her 'snack' is pretty big, too, she would never be satisfied with cheerios so I feel like I'm constantly looking for new ideas for this.
We do:
-A TON of canned fruit, just about anything (the lite, drained)
-nutri grain bars
-cheese
-yogurt, but she's turning that away lately so another one bites the dust!
-peanut butter crackers
-whole wheat crackers with cheese
Thanks everyone for the new ideas! I never thought of doing the pbutter with bananas, Melissa. Banana is about the only fruit she seems to dislike, but would probably go for it with the pbutter.
A couple more...we also do wheat thins and raisins a lot, but those are always in addition to something more substantial like a nutri grain bar or a fruit can.
Does Matthew eat that much for a snack Heaventree? Natalie is (as we speak) finishing off her second can of pineapples and then will have some cinnamon teddy grahams. Just wondered!
Deanna, try slicing the bananas and sprinkling colored sprinkles on top.My kids learned to love bananas this way!
Graham Crackers, Mashed Black bean and cheese quesadillas cut into pieces, nutrigrain bars, pretzels, grapes last pre cut for a couple of days, cheerios with peanut butter in the middle, wheat crackers with cheese,applesauce-(no sugar added). I always cut carrots into very thin strips and then no biggie on the molars. Honestly we did, and still do, a lot of fresh fruit for snacks...I usually cut up a few in the am and then it is there throughout the day!
Thanks Annie for the banana tip...we'll try it.
I also wanted to add raisins to the list...she loves those. I also still buy some Gerber finger snacks just for a change and on the go times. It takes us a while to get through them, but they're pretty handy. She's getting a can of banana fruit puffs in her stocking this year! LOL
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