Kids food
I remember thinking what it would be like to feed children and how my children would only eat non processed foods with fruits and veggies. Now that I have children I definitely think feeding them is one of the hardest parts of parenting. I’ve had a couple people ask me about our favorite healthy snacks so I thought I’d share:
- Seaweed: Costco favorite!
- Glitter grapes: wash grapes and while a little wet put into a ziplock and pour in sugar free watermelon jello (or any flavor) and freeze. Hits the spot when you need something sweet.
- Green smoothie: always a favorite at our house! Read this post
- Fruit leather: fruit snacks and fruit roll ups are usually filled with junk so I don’t ever buy them. We make our own fruit leather with mangos and pineapple blended together than cooked in a sauce pan just for a few minutes. No sugar added! Just pour onto parchment paper and put into dehydrator. (I don’t really have a set amount just whatever I have on hand, it turns out great no matter the ratio).
- Oatmeal balls: this is my favorite snack so I always have the ingredients on hand. Coconut, flax seed, honey, peanut butter, mini chocolate chips, oats. I don’t measure exactly just throw in to a mixable concoction and roll into little balls and freeze.
- Jerky: I have a couple different recipes for this but easy to marinate meat and then throw into the dehydrator
- Homemade gogurts: my kids love frozen gogurt but I have always had a hard time with all the additives and sugar so I found these awesome reusable sleeves and I just make my own and freeze them! I just mix Greek yogurt, spinach, strawberries and bananas in my blender, super easy!
- Popcorn: we love this to make popcorn in and we just sprinkle with a little olive oil and salt and it’s a great healthy snack with lots of fiber. I also love doing a popcorn bar and looking for fun new combos. Some ideas although not as healthy: different flavorings (dill pickle is our favorite), apple pie (dried apple, cinnamon and caramel), churro (cinnamon and sugar), smore (crushed graham crackers, mini marshmallows and mini chocolate chips), ranch dry packet, taco seasoning and our favorite simple one is peanut m&ms.
- Dried fruit: super easy to cut up fruit and stick into the dehydrator: strawberries, apple rings, banana chips. My kids love helping and for some reason are more likely to eat when they help. I don’t have a ton of time to cook so I’m always looking for things I can make in huge batches on the weekend.
- Apples! We were slicing apples really thin on a mandolin for our favorite apple pie recipe which requested squeezing lemon juice over the thinly sliced apples and this is now a favorite treat. I’ve also been making applesauce by cutting with this awesome purchase and then cooking until soft, blending (nothing added although cinnamon would be good) and then using this to make our own bags (awesome for baby food too).
More ideas and pics to come…