Kristen asked: I have a question about snacks. Do you plan those in as well? Does your family snack? We are are big snackers here so I am always interested in finding healthier options for us!
Currently, we are actually not big snack eaters. It may be just the season we are in, Karis’ age, and the like. When I am pregnant it is definitely a different story (living off toasted English muffins with peanut butter- yum -12 grams of protein!), and as Karis gets older I am sure they will be increasing at our home! I believe it is important to definitely serve quality snacks, avoiding the abundance of pre-packaged snacks available at the grocery store, where the majority have very little nutrition and are expensive too!
Healthy Snacks
I would encourage you to focus primarily on eating fruits and vegetables in the majority for a snack in various forms (fresh, smoothie, dried, fruit leather, popsicle, etc). Don’t buy special snacks or foods specifically for snacking, as it will be more nutritious and frugal to use things that are already on the grocery list for the most part (more staple items, that is). Strive for a balance of carbohydrates, fat, protein and fiber. This will ensure you maintain a stable blood sugar level, which is good for everyone involved. Good examples of this are celery with peanut butter, cheese and crackers, or tortilla chips and bean dip.
For Baby:
Homemade Crackers – a good quality and simple cracker recipe for everyone actually! If you cook them ashorter amount of time, they are soft and pliable and easily dissolve in an infants mouth. My only suggestion, if you plan to soak, don’t use yogurt! It yields a very sour cracker from my experience. Serve with cheese, hummus or bean dip for older ones.
Homemade Teething Cookies - A good recipe for the little one!
Cheerios – Obviously not the best choice, but when you got to keep the mess down – in the car or at church – a good organic whole grain cheerio is a lifesaver! They stretch a long way too.
Applesauce - this is our main choice right now for Karis!
Toddler & Up:
Cheese & Apples -Fruit and protein all the way!
Trail Mix - I love to munch on a quality trail mix, including pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, almonds, cashews and the like. Excellent protein and yummy!
Apples & Peanut butter - once again a good balance of fruit and protein!
Homemade bread – Karis loves little bits of homemade bread if she gets hungry. I have also saved pancakes from and kept them in the frig throughout the week to tear up for her. She loves it!
Crackers/Tortilla Chips/Pita Bread with Hummus -Vegetables can be served with dips like hummus, or bean dip. I am a huge fan of hummus – so that is another favorite treat with some quality chips.
Applesauce Bread or homemade muffin - another fun healthy treat!
Popcorn – a good snack for the evening, if you buy it whole popcorn rather than the packaged/microwave kind.
Stick to healthy drinks – water! Store bought drinks are normally loaded with an overabundance of sugar. I encourage avoiding the temptation if all possible! Make some homemade lemonade (use stevia or honey in replacement of sugar for a healthy treat!) if the temptation is too great for something different! 
Further Resources:
Simple & Nutritious Snacks for Kids - thanks to Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home for other ideas! She includes smoothies and using smoothies for popsicles – a wonderful idea! If you have a dyhdrator, her fruit leather recipe looks wonderful as well.
Super Baby Food has a whole appendix in the back of healthy snack recipes as well! Check it out at your local library!
Any other healthy snack ideas to share?
With 5 children who ask me “What’s for morning tea?” about 5 minutes after we have finished wiping down the breakfast table I do serve snacks! I have a list of ideas at my blog here: http://angathome.com/2012/04/07/no-or-low-sugar-snacks-for-kids-morning-and-afternoon-tea-snack-ideas/
Hi Lyndsey,
you could check 2 of my recipe blogs for snack type foods.
The Coeliac Lunchbox
Snackered
all my recipe blogs are listed Here
Best Regards,
David
Making applesauce is a great snack idea too, and super easy if you have a Vita-Mix! Some of my kids friends don’t like the peel on their apples, but if I put apple chunks (from 5 apples or so), a few frozen strawberries, and enough orange juice to get it all moving in the Vita Mix and blend it up, we get wonderful raw applesauce that still has the peel.
You mentioned english muffins- I love those too! I was wondering- do you make your own? And if so, do you have recipe?
I have not tried making my own English muffins as of yet, but there is a good recipe in Sue Gregg’s breakfast cookbook, I believe. I will have to try it soon (now that I am pregnant again!) and let you know.
Now I want a snack! Apples and peanut butter – yum! My kids also really like cubed or sliced avocado with tortilla chips or a cheese quesadilla. From what I’ve read, avocados are very healthy for kids.
Thanks for the tips!
We aren’t snackers either, we’ll we really don’t even eat dessert. my dh and I were raised that way. After soup/salad, entree’ no one was hungry for anything lol.
But how desserts for the kiddlets:
raw veggies or fruits. I’ve only given the children veggies w/o anything else. NoP B or ranch dressing etc.
One thing i found a couple of weeks when I had (hopefully my last) wisdom tooth removed, was ice pops. (flavored ice, think slushies, when frozen) I got the high test (meaning w/sugar) but I got the sugar free for teh children. Mommy’s bad habits will NOT go to the next generation! It’s a nice treat when your children go on play date, or when little friends come over. I bought ours at Rite-Aid on sale for $.99.
Pretzels
frozen yogurt
Ice cream (we eat Breyers..most natural, w/o making it homemade)
Thanks for the tips…what a great roundup of ideas!
I just wanted to say that one of my favorite snacks (and my little cousins like it to) are frozen grapes. They don’t freeze solid, but you probably don’t want to give them to inexperienced chewers!
I just put a bag of purple or red (I prefer seedless) in the freezer. I don’t use the green kind–the taste is good, but the color gets kind of hinky.
They taste like min-slushies. My 4-year-old cousin likes his dipped in peanut butter.