Healthy snack ideas needed

[BernardandMissBianca]

I'm asking here since I don't frequent the cooking forum.

I'm pulling the kids off red and yellow dye this summer, there have been several parents at the local schools talking about the behavioral changes in kids with these foods so we are trying it out. So no M&M's, fruit snacks, gummie whatevers, etc....

I'm loading up on fruits and veggies but what else is there?
I can only come up with popcorn, sad I know but I can't think of anything. At school they always had fruit snacks or granola bars. Anyone ever make their own granola bars?


TIA!!

 

[vanyel]

how about nuts, raisins, peanut butter?

 

[aroyer]

We are trying to go more healthy as well. Just came to this conclusion yesterday, so I too would like to see what everyone comes up with. My kids really like fresh fruit, so we are in luck there. We used to get by with popcorn, but DD announced last night that she no longer liked popcorn. All I can figure is that we had just told her no more fruit snacks and she was going to be stubborn on popcorn. Who knows.

 

[aroyer]

Ok, sorry to post twice in a row. I just looked through the pantry and read some labels. How about whole grain Goldfish and all natural applesauce?

 

[hopemax]

Unsalted sunflower seeds, string cheese.

 

[daisyduck123]

pretzels, ritz crackers?

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

My kids like Stacey's baked pita chips dipped in peanut butter or hummus dip. string cheese is always a big hit.

Carrot sticks and celery sticks are good.

Yogurt is a good snack we like stoneyfield farms brand.

 

[Faerie]

a favorite snack from my weight watchers days:

a low fat cinnamon graham cracker broken in half. Two teaspoons of fat free cool whip, make sandwich and freeze. so YUMMY

 

[aroyer]

a favorite snack from my weight watchers days:

a low fat cinnamon graham cracker broken in half. Two teaspoons of fat free cool whip, make sandwich and freeze. so YUMMY

YUM- we are definitely trying that.

 

[YodasMom]

Apple slices dipped in natural peanut butter....almost has a carmel apple taste. It's addicting!

Frozen fat free Cool Whip (tastes like ice cream) on top of stawberries, raspberries, blueberries or other fruit with a tablespoon of granola on top.

 

[piratesmate]

Years ago no one knew about ADHD - they just called it being "hyperactive". There was one child in my class who was quite the "live wire" but when his doctor diagnosed him as hyperactive, the father refused to allow him to be put on drugs. The mother got the book about the "Feingold diet" and one of the things they talked about was red dye. The other big thing I remember being a problem was preservatives, which oddly enough I found the preservatives were causing me major headaches.

I was teaching in a small private school & the principal had this thing about allowing the children to have snacks throughout the day. To avoid my little live wire sharing snacks others brought I started keeping a dish of "gorp" on my desk....dried fruit & nut mix basically. It actually went over really well with all of the kids...especially if it had chocolate bits or carob bits in it!

And yes - I noticed a really big change in this particular child's behavior without the dyes & preservatives.

I did make my own granola back then, but I can't even remember how I did it! I'll go back & look through some of my cookbooks.

Other snacks? Chex Mix (home made, not the store kind), peanut butter (we used natural back then - just peanuts & salt - I don't know about regular store bought) on apples/graham crackers/pretzels/rice cakes, baby carrots/celery/broccoli/bell peppers & dip, hummus & pita... Oh - fruit leather...again I dried my own. Frozen Bing cherries (pitted) & blueberries make a nice treat too - but they'll stain.

I also made Knox Blocks (like the Jello Jigglers, but with Knox gelatin & juice. For us, the big thing was everything was made at home - but I didn't have my own kids. It takes a lot of time to do it. At the grocery store it was up the produce aisle, across the meat section, down the dairy aisle & out the store. I even made my own bread. But I got rid of my headaches. Of course that's not the end result you're after, so you don't need to go as crazy as I did!

 

[ddavis860]

We are big on the apple slices with the PB. I heat it up in the microwave to make a PB dip...they love it, and make sure they scrape it all of the plate.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

The kids love hummus and it's on sale this week so I'm getting that. And the cool whip sandwiches sounds yummy!!

Mom has a kid in her day care that is like jekyll and hyde when he has red dye. He can actually feel himself change and you can see it in his face. The other day we had M&M's and the kids were really good before they had them but monsters after.

I need to read the cereal labels too. I know a lot of that stuff has red dye.

 

[Lisa]

Watch the red dye in OTC meds. DD goes bonkers when she has cherry cough syrup, benedryl, etc.

I love the cool whip sandwiches. Another good ww recipe. A box of spice cake mix and a can of pumpkin. Mix together and make mini muffins. You didn't know I was such a good cook, eh, Buffy? LOL

 

[ddavis860]

My experience with red dye...

My DS19 has been getting migraines since he was an infant. I knew from early on that there was something in the red dye that was effecting him. The polio oral has red dye in it...within an hour of my baby getting that thing, he was crying uncontrollably. This was a happy baby who never cried, so I knew there was something wrong. I called the Dr...their answer was a reaction to the shots, normal. Then he got sick, and it was the polio stuff...I called again...not normal, but was OK. The thing was, after he got sick, he was OK...dye was out and in a little while he was sweet and happy again.

So, I started wondering about the dye, and the tylenol has it...every time I gave it to him, he was headache, crying, got sick and was fine... Let me tell you, it is really sad when your little boy comes to you saying "boo-boo head, boo-boo head", just broke my heart!

There are dye free pain relievers now, which is really good. DS doesn't get the headaches as much now, but he also knows to stay away from "red" that isn't natural...

 

[TPCShauna]

I only allow healthy snacks for Girl Scout meetings. We do cheese and crackers, popcorn, string cheese, pita chips and/or baby carrots with hummus, friendship trail mix (with peanuts, chow mein noodes, pretzels, dried apple chips, chocolate chips, dried banana slices, rice crackers and sometimes marshmallows), plain pretzels, granola with fresh yogurt, frozen grapes, and pita bread with Laughing Cow cheese wedges.

We also make our own fruit leather (fun for the kids). For one of our badges, we had to make a bunch of things out of food. We made banana trees with 1/2 bananas, grapes, strawberries, lettuce and pineapple rings and a couple of other fun things. We also made peanut butter "dough" that the girls could mold into fun shapes and then eat.

Let me know if you need any recipes.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

so eating healthy bites...... the wallet that is!!! 280 dollars later! OY!!!
But that will last til the end of the month, knock on wood.

Keep the ideas coming!!! I love them all!

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

so eating healthy bites...... the wallet that is!!! 280 dollars later! OY!!!
But that will last til the end of the month, knock on wood.

Keep the ideas coming!!! I love them all!

Tell me about it.
You all inspired me to do something about our decidely unhealthy eating. Besides giving up Happy Meals this week, so I went grocery shopping and $126 later I have enough for maybe this week into next.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Well after being on steroids for the poison ivy I have hit the magic # that I swore I never would so I am recommitting myself to to change the way we all eat. McDonalds is out for the summer for more than one reason Funny thing is too, the kids have not complained a bit about what I bought. Go figure!

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

Mine are like that today too.
The one actually wants more yogurt. Who knew?