10 Healthy Snacks on the go

I am walking up and down the snack aisle, while my eagle – like eyes are constantly scanning for yummy yet healthy snacks. My ears are ringing with the word ‘H..E..A..L..T…H..Y.”

As a mom, we want to make sure that what we put inside our kids body is nutritious especially with so many products containing GMOs or high fructose corn syrup or any other harmful chemicals which affect our kids health.

Keeping that in mind, I want to ensure that I provide kids with healthy snacks. My kids ask for snacks as soon as they step outside the house so snacks are a must especially when we are traveling in the car or on our way to an activity.

As my search ended, I was quite upset and shocked because I barely had any snacks in my cart since a lot of the snacks were junk food. So, I decided to look at other aisles to see what I could find. I wanted to share with you 10 Healthy Snacks which kids enjoy.

Home made snacks:

1. Granola with Greek Yogurt – This is a very easy and quick recipe. You can prep the granola at home and keep it in an air tight container. I mix maple syrup and a pinch of salt in my oats and bake it in the oven. You can add nuts to get a crunchy flavor. There are small Greek yogurt cups available so when you are on the go, all you have to do is open the yogurt cups and mix in the granola.

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2. Fruits – Fruits are always a great alternative for snacks. With small oranges, grapes, strawberries, apples, watermelon and you name it, I sometimes like to cut up fruits, take them in a container, keep forks ready and pass it around in the car. Surprisingly, if the fruits are peeled and cut, my kids devour them down. Sometimes, they want more and I am out of them. I also like to cut up apples and take almond butter in a container so they can munch on apples and almond butter. In the ready to go apple snacks, by the time I want to use them, either the apples go bad or I have to use it within three days of buying it. Therefore, I rather create a home version of the apples and almond butter.

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3. Granola Bars or Energy Bars – The beauty of making this bars at home, you are in full control of how much sugar and other ingredients are added in it. You can also get rid of any harmful chemicals and be preservative free. Check out my recipe of Blissful Energy Bars at savvy5.com/picky-eaters/blissfulenergybars.

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4. Popcorn (homemade) – It may sound junk, however, popcorn is one thing that has less calories, salt and oil. The trick is it has to be homemade. I buy the kernels from Trader Joe and make a fresh batch at home. I bought a popcorn maker, Vibe by Chef’n from Amazon. So, I put one spoon of oil, pinch of salt, and paprika to give the flavor. Then I microwave it for two and half minutes and viola, it is ready to eat. Kids love it, adults can eat carefree and moreover, you can put it in small ziploc bags and have them ready to go.

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5. Smoothie – I like to keep my smoothies simple with not too many ingredients because then my kids do not like the taste. I like to do strawberry smoothie, mixed berries smoothie and green smoothie. I will also add a little protein powder in the smoothie so it gives them the boost of energy right before any activity. I mask the taste of protein so kids are still getting their nutritional needs and its tasty for them.

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Store bought Snacks:

6. Trail Mix Monster Farms Nuts – This is a Target brand which are delicious and nutritious. These are nuts which come in little pouches and lot of different flavors. They are very easy while traveling in the car. You can also find packet size nuts in Costco which are either plain or lightly salted in flavor.

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7. Stonyfield Organic Kids Yogurt – These yogurt pouches come in two flavors – blueberry or strawberry. They are organic and gelatin free. My kids love this espescially before swimming since they are tasty and give that quick boost of energy. You can find them at any shop, but I feel Costco has the best value for it. They also have small bottles of strawberry smoothie for kids. My kids felt like it tasted as same as the yogurt, but since it is in a bottle, they were more excited to drink it. The yogurt has less sugar than the smoothie, but it is not a bad option when compared to other snacks.

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8. Freeze dried veggie and fruits – This are not too expensive specially at Trader Joes and they make a good munching for the ride or even at home when kids are looking for what to eat. They have the Just Beets, okra, broccoli, mango, banana, strawberries and more. We really like the okra a lot. Another brand which carries dried veggies is Bare. It has very simple ingredients, no added ingredients and they are super crunchy too.

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9. Mini-hummus cups or bagel chips and cream cheese packets – These are perfect in portion, delicious and nutritious too. One cup is quite filling for kids and keeps them going. The cream cheese come in strawberry, garden vegetable and chive and onion flavors. I really like these as it is healthy and does the job. I end up having the bagel and strawberry when I am on the go at times.

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10. Energy Bars – There are quite a few energy bars out there which are nutritious for the kids without much added sugar and very few ingredients. Lara Bars, Purely Elizabeth or Plum bars are few of the energy bars which are tasty and a good option when you do not have time to make energy bars at home.

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I am sure that there are a lot more healthy snacks out there. However, my rule of thumb to decide is to check for ingredients and how much added sugar there is in the snack. I prefer snacks with fewer ingredients versus a whole paragraph of ingredients that do not make sense.

Do share your to go snacks that you feel are healthy and nutritious options for kids.