If you look at any “Mom” forum, you’ll most likely see that someone at some time has asked for healthy snack ideas for their baby/toddler/kid. We’re always looking for ways to feed our kids healthy foods that they actually like. That can be quite the challenge! Please, please — you DON’T have to go out and spend a ton of money on popular “baby” snacks (puffs, wheels, purees, etc.) You can make them yourself for a lot cheaper, AND you’ll know exactly what is in them!
If you have other ideas, please post below or email me so I can write another post full of brand new ideas for mommas!
Healthy, Unique Finger-Foods
1) Bite-sized pieces of frozen fruits or veggies: peas, broccoli, grapes, strawberries, cauliflower, carrots, etc. Sometimes the little ones will shun cooked veggies, but will eat the same thing if it is frozen. Tricky! Actually, I do NOT like many raw veggies. I froze these little broccoli pieces and didn’t mind them too much. I also dipped a few in pineapple juice before freezing. Those were great! Freezing tends to make the flavor of food quite a bit milder. That can be a good thing.
2) Make your own dehydrated fruits and veggies: See an upcoming post for my experiment with this!
3) Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars: cut into bite-sized pieces or let your little one bite from a bigger piece
4) Greek Yogurt in a Squooshi-like container: Here’s an almost-messy-proof way to serve your little one yogurt, applesauce, a thick smoothie, or any thicker puree!
5) Raw Apple slices or chunks with a sprinkle of cinnamon… no sugar: So simple, so good! Thanks, Jenn!
6) Yummy Frozen Bites: make your child’s favorite smoothie and put small blobs of it on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper. Below, you’ll see that I experimented with freezing a lot of things, from left (bottom) to right (top): Smoothie, Greek Yogurt, Applesauce, Peanut Butter, Avocado, and Yogurt on Avocado. Have fun with it! Serve frozen, and note that these little blobs defrost fairly quickly, so serve immediately, and don’t take too many out of the freezer at one time.
8) Small Pieces of Prunes: Cut up into bite-sized chunks. I would serve 4 max every 2 days. 😉
9) Hard Boiled Egg: Let your little one play with it and pull it apart on his or her own!
10) Homemade Apple Sauce/Chunks: These are soft, tasty, and healthy! Even if your little one doesn’t like raw apples, they might like this cooked treat.
Share your child’s likes/dislikes, ideas for unique and healthy snacks, or your experience with the snacks I listed above!
I make mini muffins and freeze them for snacks throughout the month. Cream together 1/2 cup butter with 1/2 cup brown sugar. In a separate mix 1/3 cup white flour, 1/3 cup whole wheat flour, 1/3 cup oat bran and add to butter/sugar mix. I use 2 grated carrots, a REALLY ripe banana, and 1/2 cup purreed squash or sweet potato to moisten it. Add the batter to a mini muffins pan and bake at 350. So good and full of veggies.
That sounds awesome, Andrea! Thank you for sharing! I’ll try them out.