63 Kid-Friendly Healthy Snacks

"Mom, I'm hungry!  I want a snack!"  

If you've got little ones, you probably just recently heard those words, and unless you are "The Model Mother", you are probably just about to reach for the nearest cheap, sugar-filled granola bar or the overprice, under-nourishing gold-fish crackers, but... STOP... WAIT... DON'T!!!  

Here, I have compiled a list of my favorite PRACTICAL Kid-Friendly Snacks that I prepared for my little crew over the summer (yes, this has been a long time in the making) that we both liked, because they were tasty, easy to prepare, used things I had on hand, and were fairly balanced and nutritional.  So before your toss them a fruit snack packet loaded with high-fructose corn syrup, consider tossing them a REAL fruit snack, or something fun on this list.

*Please know that I'm not saying your a wicked mother if you give your kids fruit snacks or goldfish.  I would be a hypocrite if I were. :)  I'm only "nudging" you and the kids to branch out and discover something on this list that might be just about as easy to prepare and much more satisfying.

Also, these were just the ones that came to mind.  If you can think of more good ones, by all means, add them in the comments!  I'm always open to new great ideas.

Happy Snacking!

-Lyd

63 Kid-Friendly Healthy Snacks

• Popcorn (MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE!)
• Apple Slices & Peanut Butter (My 2nd Favorite!)
• Sliced Veggies (i.e. carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, or bell peppers) & Ranch Dip
• String Cheese & Tomato Juice
• Trail Mix (Nuts, raisins, mini-marshmallows, chocolate chips etc.)
• Ants on a Log (Celery, Spread Peanut Butter, and Raisins)
• Healthy Granola Bar (LARABAR's are my latest favorite.  The simple, healthy ingredient list with astound you!)
• Nuts & Raisins
• Fruit & Yogurt
• Yogurt & Granola (or for quick Good Morning Granola)
• Apple Sauce & Cheese Slices
• Cottage cheese & Fruit or Tomato Slices
• Melon
• Whole Wheat Pitas & Hummus
• Hard Boiled Egg & Slice of Toast
• Kale Chips
• Sliced Wraps (tortilla, cream cheese spread, ham slice & sprouts) (Julia's Wraps)
• Muffin Tray Sample Plate (Put whatever you have on hand in the muffin cups... kids love it!)
• Snack Kabobs (skewer whatever you have on hand)
• Frozen Peas
• Frozen Grapes
• Almonds & Fruit
• Smoothie (The Green Smoothie from Bliss From Scratch)
• Pickles
• Peanut Butter Banana Toast (Monkey-Bee Sandwiches)
• Canned Fruit
• Sweet Potato Chips
• Healthy Muffin (Three Grain Muffin)
• Dried Fruit (Mango or Apricots)
• Ricotta w/Fruit
• Deli Meat Slice & Fruit
• Edamame
• Tuna (w/ a tiny put of mayo or plain yogurt and salt) & Crackers
• Grapefruit w/a bit of salt or sugar (I still can't abide this, but for whatever reason my kids love it. :)
• Oatmeal & Fruit
• Yogurt & Graham Cracker (I'm LOVING Greek Yogurt lately... so creamy and more protein)
• Mini Pizza (English Muffin, sauce, & pepperoni, Microwave)
• Juice Ice-Cubes
• Chips & Salsa
• Whole Wheat Breadsticks & Tomato Sauce for dipping
• Pudding (Homemade Dairy-Free Chocolate Pudding)
• Wimbledon Strawberries (strawberries, sour cream or plain yogurt, and brown sugar)
• Chocolate Slim Fast Drink w/Banana
• Nut Mix
• Whole Carrot
• Cheesy Toast
• Cheese Quesidilla Slice
• Fruit Cups
• Warm Refried Beans & Tortilla Chips
• Creamy Fruit (Sliced Fruit drizzled kefir) (*FYI Kefir was done wonders for my digestive systems... not to give too much info. :) It's loaded with pro-biotics... super good for you!  I put it in my smoothies every morning. I use The Greek Gods brand in the dairy section at Winco.  It's about $3.00 per quart. Worth every penny!)
• Sliced Bananas, Milk, & Honey (My dad used to give this to me for a bed-night-snack :)
• Sliced Fruit w/drizzled honey
• Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich slices
• Peanut Butter & Honey Sandwich Slices
• Banana Chips
• Cheese Chips (cheese melted over chips)
• Crackers & Cheese
• Steamy Brown Rice w/Parmesan Cheese and salt
• Tomato slices w/mozzerella cheese slices
• Cinnamon Baked Apples (Microwave 2-3 minutes)
• Toast w/Ricotta and Strawberries
• Apple Sandwiches
• Healthy Cookies (Giant Breakfast Cookies)  

How to Hard Boil Eggs in the Oven... (THE BETTER WAY!)

It is just a little white egg.  Why has boiling it always intimidated me so?  I seriously have to google directions every time!  How long to I boil them?  Why did that one just explode?  Did I take them out too early?  Did I leave them in the cold water long enough?  Was the cold water the right temperature?  Then, why is the yoke still runny?  Ok- so it's not rocket science, but it definitely feels like EGG Science.  So imagine my delight when I saw a "pin" suggesting you bake them in the oven.  Rapturous Day!  You can't top these easy fool-proof instructions.  I will never make a hard (not boiled) egg any other way!  My kids loved peeling them. :) I loved shaking up our typical dinner menu.

How to Hard Boil Eggs in the Oven

To make the eggs, simply bake them in a 325 degree oven for 30 minutes. You can place them directly on the rack or use a muffin tin, which makes it easy move them in and out of the oven in bulk. Once the 30 minutes have passed, remove the eggs from the oven (carefully, because they are hot) and plunge them in cold water for 10 minutes.

The shells may have brown spots where they were in contact with hot metal. Sometimes that discoloration fades away in the water plunge, but sometimes it will leave marks on the whites.

(Source)

*Wouldn't this be perfect for Easter eggs?  This would save a lot of time!

Made a delicious Egg Salad Sandwich for dinner with mine.  What will you make?

Fast Break for Breakfast...

My children go to a great school, and one of their focuses is on good nutrition.  For school lunch, they contract with an awesome catering company that focus on home-cooked, fresh, local, healthy food as much as possible.  They recently sent out this article and I thought it had some great breakfast ideas worth posting, so I'm passing it along.

"Whether or not children eat breakfast affects their learning, but so does what they eat. Children who eat a breakfast containing both complex carbohydrates and proteins in equivalent amounts of calories end to show better learning and performance than children who eat primarily a high protein or a high carbohydrate breakfast. Think grains, plus nuts, dairy or meat, plus fruits.

Breakfasts high in carbohydrates with little protein seem to sedate children rather than stimulate their brain to learn. Think sugared cereals, plus pop-tarts, plus juice.

High-protein foods perk up the brain by increasing levels of two “alertness” neurotransmitters, dopamine and norepinephrine. A high-protein meal really is a “power breakfast” or a “power lunch.”

Like the structural steel of buildings and the metal meshwork in concrete, proteins provide the framework for every cell of the body. Just as workers at a construction site need a steady supply of building materials, tissues undergoing repair and those that are growing need a steady supply of protein to build and rebuild organs, muscles, antibodies, hormones, and enzymes - every kind of cell in the body.

Examples of balanced breakfasts include:

     1. Scrambled eggs, toast, orange juice

     2. Cheese melted on toast with a piece of fruit

     3. Peanut butter and banana slices on an english muffin, milk

     4. Whole-grain waffle, sausage link, orange slices

     5. Oatmeal with sliced almonds, raisins, cinnamon and milk

     6. multi grain toast with sun-butter spread and blueberries

     7. Granola cereal, plain yogurt, a sliced apple

     8. Veggie omelet, bran muffin, fruit with yogurt

     9. Whole-grain toast, bacon slice, fruit

     10. Whole-grain pancakes or waffles topped with berries and/or yogurt, milk

     11. Whole-wheat zucchini pancakes topped with fruit, milk

     12. French Toast topped with fruit, orange juice or milk

     13. Cream cheese on a whole-grain bagel, orange juice

     14. Cashews, whole grain bagel, fruit

15. Turkey and avocado slices rolled in a whole grain tortilla

Of course, it’s what you eat not what you say that impresses a child most. By treating yourself to a healthy, balanced breakfast, you model to your children that eating a healthy breakfast gives the whole family a smart nutritional start.

And if you aren’t a breakfast eater, how about a smoothie? All kinds of combinations of fruit, yogurt, nut butters, avocado, can quickly be made into a fast (and portable) breakfast.

Maybe your kids would enjoy making up their own breakfast smoothie recipes!? Send us your successes and flops and we’ll have fun sharing them here.

Here’s our recent family favorite, the Pumpkin Pie Smoothie:

     1 cup Vanilla yogurt

     3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree

     1 banana

     1 cup peaches

     Cinnamon to taste

Here are a few links to other breakfast smoothie drinks:

4 recipes for High-protein smoothies

http://www.livestrong.com/article/363668-high-protein-breakfast-smoothies/

School-ade breakfast smoothie

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/family-nutrition/brain-foods/school-ade-breakfast-run-smoothie

Mango Smoothie

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/mango-smoothie-00000000050660/index.html#

Most of all we hope that eating a high protein breakfast will give you, your kids and their teachers a successful and enjoyable morning."

By Amy Driggs,

On behalf of the School Wellness Committee

Curly Spiral Hotdogs... because you can!

You don't have to be a hotdog lover to think that this is cool.  I can only handle dog pretty much annually, but even I succumbed to these curly-meaty-locks.  There is something all-together facinating about a hotdog to begin with; its astounding that pink fat can hold together so well, but when it still holds it's shape after intense spiral cuts... that does beat all!  Just one of those things I had to blog about.  So here she be, the curly dog.

Curly Spiral Hotdogs
hotdogs
kobob scures
knife

Scure the hot dog with the kabob stick, and spiral cut from one end of the hot dog around to the other.  Grill and eat... if you dare. :)

Here is a link to the tutorial: http://www.foodrepublic.com/2012/06/30/video-how-and-why-spiral-slice-your-hot-dogs

I Digress...

 I recently watched:

and finished it resolved to eat better. (Found here on hulu and instant view on Netflix.)  I've watched a few of these food documentaries.  I think they are fascinating (for example Food, inc.), but this one particularly stood out to me because it was backed up by so much evidence.  I don't  mean to be the one who jumps on "the latest band-wagon"... and yet, perhaps in this case, that's not such a bad thing.

I also just finished reading:

which admittedly was kind of a boring read.  I thought the first half of the book was interesting, but the second half was a bit tedious and repetitive- hard to get through; however, the underlying theme of appreciating our food for it's nutritional value and it's history, rather than the price tag, was powerful.  He encouraged us to think about what we are eating and where it came from- something we do too little of.

SO... I am now committed to really increase my veggies and decrease my meat and dairy.  Please note that I intentionally said "decrease."  I have no intentions of becoming a vegetarian, but for the first time, I am realizing the blessings of closely following my religion's "Word of Wisdom" (the Lord's revealed law of health for his children), where we are encouragement to "eat meat sparingly."  

LET ME TELL YOU-- it has been hard.  I've had to put quite a bit more thought and planning into my meals, but I'm happy to say that I have found several new "meatless" additions, and I have felt healthier.  I think what has surprised me the most is how satisfied I can feel.  There are actually some deliciously flavorful veggie dishes out there, even for a family.  If you have and good ones, do share, because I'm still hunting for some practical meatless meals- not the ones that make you wonder "where's the meat?" or the ones with a ridiculous list of unrecognizable ingredients, or praising the glory of tofu (of which I just can't seem to get excited about... I don't know, maybe give me some time... maybe.)  Anyway, I guess the bottom line is, more fruits and veggies are on their way. :) Not to mention a healthier family!

Dinner Short Cut: Pre-Chopped Kits

LYD's TIP:  I'm sure I'm "reinventing the wheel" here, but as a busy mom, I love to find any way I can speed up the dinner process.  One way I do it is by making a dinner kit to store in the fridge until that meal pops up on the menu.  This is a fairly simple concept, but I love the time it saves me!

*The above picture was my Homemade Chicken and Veggie Soup.  I just heat about 3 T oil in a pot, toss in my veggies kit from the fridge (You can use just about anything), stir to coat, and let them simmer.  I add about 2 or 3 T flour (to thicken the soup), stir, then add the chicken broth (about 1 quart) and chicken.  How easy is that?!  And healthy too! :)

Pre-Chopped Veggie Kits:

• Chop the veggies for the next meal and throw them in a bag or Tupperware to toss into dinner the next night pre-cut.
• While the cutting board is out, cut up a "Snack Kits" for the kids... or adults (heaven forbid :). (Celery or carrot sticks, bell peppers, cucumbers, etc.)

*Veggies that are starting to get old still work great in soups.  Good way to use them up.)

Yeast Dispenser

I love little things that just make life easier. I came across this post on Jennifer's Craft Patch site (which is awesome by the way) and made my life simpler in seconds. I buy the bigger packages of yeast, and store them in my fridge in a glass jar, but this makes pouring it a lot easier, so I thought I would pass on the idea- just cut out the top of an old salt container and trace it to fit the jar. Happy baking!

We Make A Good Pear...

I guess I am too lazy to put up step by step instructions with picture tutorials; however, I'm not to lazy to put up the fruit. That's got to count for something, right? I bottled up 3 boxes of pears from the farmers market a couple weeks ago- a lot of peeling. Gave me some good time to ponder life's questions... in-between interruptions with little kiddos. Here is a link to the site I used. Happy canning!

This is just to say... (Plum Syrup)

This Is Just To Say
by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

I have always loved that poem. (My brothers even wrote a song about it.) So simple, and yet, I can just almost taste those delicious plums as I read it. Well- that was what I was thinking about as I made my delicious plums into plum syrup. I had a friend share two bags that were fast ripening. I didn't follow an exact recipe, but it was pretty simple and has been absolutely delightful on pancakes (heated up with just a little cornstarch). I've also used it occasionally to flavor smoothies- a little bit goes a long way.

You can find more specific instructions here, but here is the gist of what I did:

Homemade Plum Syrup

1. Rinse the plums and cut off any bad parts.

2. Have jars and lids sanitized and ready.

3. Put plums in a large pot at turn on medium heat.

4. I think I added about 3-4 cups of sugar my large pot.

5. Bring to a boil and stir frequently.

6. I used my immersion blender to blend it all up- peels and all, but you can blend it before heating in a regular blender.

7. There were still some peels that I strained out after heating.

8. Pour in jars, screw on lids, and water-bath (with water boiling) for about 15 minutes.

9. Pull jars out and let them fully seal and cool. (Listen for the pop, and clap when you hear it- that is literally what we do. :)

Now you have yummy plum syrup you can enjoy all year!!!

"TLC" Teacher Gift Idea

So, I'm feeling like Kashi should be paying me for advertising. :) I came across their "TLC" line and had a great idea for a little teacher gift for my daughter's teacher this year. I thought the cookies, crackers and granola bars would make good snacks for her. Then I found a metal waste basket at the dollar store to put them in. I also found a cute jar that was perfect for my "Happy Pill" idea. I think this would make a fun gift for a friend or anyone who is needing a little happiness and some tender loving care. :)

TLC Gift Basket:
Kashi "TLC" cookies, granola bars, and crackers
metal waste basket
tissue paper
personalized note and a cute ribbon to attach

Happy Pills
Lemon Heads
Cute Jar
Prescription Info Paper (*See picture)
Packing Tape

Homemade Freezer Corn Instructions

If you've got corn coming out of your "ear", and you're getting tired of this... (which takes a lot for me- one of my favorite things!)
You can always do this...

Here is a link to some great step-by-step instructions that I followed: http://www.pickyourown.org/freezingcorn.htm
(Don't forget the step of having your kids do the husking- that keeps my kids busy for a long time!)
Don't you love harvest time!!! Thank goodness for good neighbors who share produce with the less-fortunate apartment people. :) I'm looking forward to having a good garden someday!

A Prize Winning Recipe...

Here is a little something I've been cooking up for the last nine months. He was slightly over-done (arriving a week late) but his deliciously kissable pink cheeks and all that rich dark hair have convinced me that this one is a winner for sure! :) Definitely "Lyd's Favorite"!

MaryJane’s Farm

My daughter’s class recently went on a field trip to MaryJane’s Farm. She is kind of a “local celebrity” and it was fun to see her lovely farm and where all the “magic” happens for her magazines. It was fun to meet her. She is like a lovely, down-to-earth, country version of Martha Stewart. She even came out with her pet chicken named Ginger. (The kids were thrilled! :) One of the reasons I wanted to post this, was because she has a pretty cool line of MaryJane organic foods. I’m not totally immersed in the whole “organic” thing, but I think there is some neat stuff in there and a few fun recipes you might want to check out. It was a neat trip for me. I’m enjoying some of her magazines- she has a really fun old fashioned, Country Girl style that is refreshing after so much of the trendy, new-age stuff that gets thrown at us.

Quick and Easy Cupcakes with Lemon Frosting PLUS a Self-Rising Flour Recipe

I’m coming out of “birthday central” at our house. We have three right in a row (soon to be almost four, because I’m due with another little one in a month), and my daughter was the only one who actually ended up with a “cake”. I made little girly cupcakes for her party. She requested “Pink Lola Frosting” (Charlie and Lola is one of our all-time favorites, so here is a link to a cute Charlie and Lola birthday episode that I highly recommend watching—I dare say I enjoy them just as much, if not more then my kiddos… just a little confession. :) I got this great Mom and Me Cookbook a while back for kids. It is so cute and simple and kids have fun helping because it is so visual. I had to have something to put that “Pink Frosting” on, and this ended up being just as “Quick and Easy” as it boasts to be. :) Better than a cake mix and dare I say, just about as easy. I added just a bit of lemon juice to have it go with the Lemon Frosting I made. Ended up being a tasty little Spring-Time Birthday Cupcake! Wish you could have made it to the party. :)

Lyd’s Tip: It’s easy to make something look fancier with a slice of fruit. Just kind of dresses things up and makes it look special. I would recommend waiting until you are ready to serve though if you are doing a wet fruit like a strawberry- it got a little soggy and wet on the frosting. I also thought the sprinkles would be fun, but by the time I served them, they had bled onto the strawberry and it didn’t look quite so “pretty” but the kids didn’t seem to mind. :)

Quick and Easy Cupcakes (Annabel Karmel, Mom and Me Cookbook)

• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2/3 cup superfine sugar
• 1/2 cup soft butter
• 1 cup self-rising flour (Don’t panic- it’s ok if you don’t have it, just scroll down and I’ve included an easy recipe for self-rising flour.)

Preheat oven to 350. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and beat together until the mixture is smooth and slightly lighter in color.

Line a muffin pan with muffin papers and half-fill each paper with the cupcake batter.

Bake the cakes. You can tell they are done when they have risen up, are golden in color, and spring back into shape when pressed.

Lemon Frosting

(I came across this recipe last summer when I made Lime cupcakes for my sister’s birthday and it is totally my favorite frosting recipe! (As you can see, I subbed Lime for Lemon this time.) It is the first time you actually REALLY want to eat the frosting right off the top- so yummy. Be warned though, it makes a huge batch- I made 24 cupcakes, and I still had almost half a bag left… which isn’t really a problem. :) I made a very creative, yummy fruit dip with it by adding a bit of cream cheese and yogurt, but I think it is best in frosting form.)

• 3/4 - cup Butter, softened
• 6 - cups powdered sugar
• 1/8 - teaspoon salt
• 1 - Tablespoon half and half or milk
• 1 - teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated lime peel (I zested 2 times) (I used Lemon zest.)
• 2 Tablespoons lime juice (the juice of 2 limes) (I used Lemon juice.)
• 2 - Tablespoons light corn syrup

In a large bowl, beat 3/4 cup butter at medium speed until creamy.

Gradually add powdered sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt alternately with half & half and 1 teaspoon vanilla, lime peel and juice, scraping bowl often, until well mixed.

Stir in corn syrup.

Frost cupcakes. (I scooped all my frosting into a zip-lock bag, got air out and sealed tightly. Then I cut about 1/4 inch off the end and piped icing out in a circle starting on the outside of the cupcake and moving into the center. I garnished with a strawberry slice.

Self Rising Flour (about.com)

For each cup of all-purpose flour, add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Mix to combine.

Robot Birthday Cupcakes

I have a SUPER creative friend! These are the cupcakes she made for her sons fun Robot Birthday Party, and I just had to share because I thought it was such a cute idea. She just printed off cute little robots and rockets for the colorful cupcakes- it was so fun! The kids made those cute little paper bag robots with foam stickers- it was really cute!

Guess I’ll Go Eat Worms... In Dirt Cups

HAPPY SPRING!!! It was a rainy Monday today, and as I walked my daughter to school, I noticed all the little earthworms scattered here and there on the pavement- a sure fire sign of spring… hooray! Getting to school took an extra ten minutes, because I had to wait while my daughter hopelessly tried to rescue as many earthworms as possible. This may not be typical “kindergarten behavior,” but in her class it is. They just completed an exploration on earthworms and finished it off by compiling everything they learned into a darling little picture book full of all the earthworm facts they learned along the way. (The book is called E is for Earthworm, An A-z Guide, and proceeds go to future explorations.) They recently had a book signing and reading at a local bookstore, and I made these dirt cups for the crowd. It was a lot of fun and we’re pretty proud of our little “worm” expert. :) This isn’t any kind of gourmet recipe, but great for a spring treat that kids (and might I add adults as far as I’m concerned) are sure to love!

Worm Dirt Cups

• chocolate pudding mix, prepared
• package of Oreos, crushed and crumbled
• gummy worms

In a cup or small bowl, layer prepared pudding with crushed Oreos over it. Top with gummy worm.

It was crunch time and I called in the troops to help me get it all together. Doug came through in a big way! He always seems to do that for me when I bite off more then I can chew… literally in this case. :)