For this simple and healthy little snack I created a circular pineapple shape by squishing two pieces of fresh cut pineapple together and rough cutting them into a circle. My guess is that your children will be perfectly happy with or without the quasi-perfect circle shapes. Where my kids have the most fun is making it themselves, the wonkier and goofier looking the better.
Fresh strawberry, fresh pineapple, and fresh kiwi, sliced 1/2-inch thick
Thread fruit onto bamboo skewer* or lollipop stick. Serve.
*Note: I’m guessing bamboo skewers should not be put in the hands of most children under the age of 3, possibly 4. I cut off the pointy tips after assembly. A safer option might be lollipop sticks; pre-punch holes in the food and let the younger ones assemble on their own.
Yield: variable
Prep-time: 5 minutes
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I’ve decided we need to start eating more snacks on a stick.* The kids had a great time making and eating these.
We use pepperoni that is not pre-sliced. The pre-sliced stuff often looks a deeper shade of artificial and is too thin. But obviously you can make due with whatever is on hand.
Slices of pepperoni
Chunks of mozzarella string cheese
Canned sliced black olives
Grape tomatoes
Thread pepperoni, cheese, olives, and tomatoes onto bamboo skewers. Serve.
*Note: I’m guessing bamboo skewers should not be put in the hands of most children under the age of 3, possibly 4. I cut off the pointy tips after assembly. A safer option might be lollipop sticks; pre-punch holes in the food and let the younger ones assemble on their own.
Yield: variable
Prep-time: 10 minutes or longer if the kids are assembling
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We had a bit of a situation developing at my house this morning. A ripe avocado was on its way out. I just can’t stand to see an avocado go to waste. In addition, some bananas were looking like no one was going to eat them. All this amounted to the perfect excuse for some experimentation. Thus the Green Monster Smoothie was born.
According to Lori at Fake Food Free, bananas and avocados are a popular snack combination in Brazil. And Dani Spies whips up some mighty fine lookin’ baby food using the same ingredients.
My preschooler happily took a taste, told me it was perfect, and then didn’t touch the rest of it. Is she actually trying to be polite and make me happy???!? This makes no sense at all.
I can see this being more of a hit with the toddler-set. I enjoyed it, but it is super rich and all I could put away was about a cup. So, unless you have a crowd, you might want to halve the recipe.
1 ripe Haas avocado, pitted
1 ripe banana, peeled
1 1/2 cup milk (or more if you’d prefer it thinner)
1 tablespoon sugar
Small pinch salt
Place the avocado, banana, milk, sugar, and salt in a blender and process until smooth. Serve.
Note: Cut up the banana and freeze it beforehand for a snack on a hot day like Lori did.
Yield: 2 1/2 cups
Prep time: 10 minutes
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One sip of this homemade Orange Julius transported me back to The Valley Fair Mall circa 1986. I never thought about it much when I was 13 years old, but the secret to Orange Julius’ frothy goodness is egg whites. Not wanting to forage for powdered egg whites or fork over the money for Eggology, I figured out how to pasteurize them easily at home.*
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon water
1 large egg white or 2 tablespoons pasteurized egg white product
3/4 cup water
1 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups ice (about 10 cubes)
3 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate
Unless you’re using a pasteurized egg product, pasteurize your egg white in a double boiler over gentle heat. In a small bowl, whisk egg white along with the sugar and 1 teaspoon water. Place bowl over a small saucepan containing an inch or two of simmering water.
Whisk constantly until the mixture reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Use an instant read thermometer to take the temperature. Keep the themometer in the egg mixture as much as possible and not touching the bowl. Once the thermometer reads 160, remove the bowl from heat and continue to whisk for another minute to be sure the egg doesn’t coagulate.
Pour egg white mixture into a blender along with the 3/4 cup water, orange juice, vanilla, ice cubes, and orange juice concentrate. Blend until smooth. Serve immediately.
Yield: 4 cups (or thereabouts)
Prep-time: 10 minutes
*While the odds of bumping into an egg contaminated with salmonella are slim, it’s not worth the risk. The last thing I want to do is pass on any bad information or techniques. My instructions for pasteurizing the egg white come from the FAQ section of the American Egg Board (What is an adequate temperature to cook an egg?) and from Pat Willard’s book A Soothing Broth. If you don’t feel comfortable with home-pasteurization for whatever reason, please go and buy a pasteurized egg white product.
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I haven’t actually tasted one of these. My kids will not share! Selfish little monkeys! But I guess that is that best indicator of all that they are a kid-friendly snack. We’ve got a thing for cucumbers dosed in vinegar at our house though. I imagine it’s not a such a thrill for most families. Still, you never know…
The recipe is adapted from one I found in The New York Times Cookbook. I think proper finger sandwiches are supposed to be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for a while, but I opted not to.
1/4 – 1/3 of a medium cucumber (preferably European Greenhouse), peeled and sliced
White vinegar
Salt and Pepper
4 slices of whole grain bread
Butter for spreading
Place the cucumbers in a small bowl, pour over enough white vinegar so that they are well coated. A bit of extra vinegar at the bottom of the bowl is fine. Sprinkle on a little bit of salt and pepper to taste and stir to coat. Allow the cucumbers to sit for five or ten minutes.
Prepare the bread slices by spreading on a thin layer of butter to coat one side of each slice. Shake any excess vinegar off of the cucumber slices and arrange them on two of the bread slices, overlapping slightly or in two layers. Top with another slice of bread. Cut off the crusts. Cut into quarters, preferably triangles, and serve.
Yield: 8 finger sandwiches
Prep-time: 5 – 10 minutes
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Way back in 2009, I read a glorious post from The Little Foodie about Homemade Microwave Popcorn. Today we finally made it ourselves. Either I’ve been spending way too much time thinking about and preparing high-maintenance snacks (I blame the cold New England winter.), or this is the quickest, easiest, cheapest, simplest snack on the planet. There’s not much there as far as nutrition goes unfortunately, but at least it’s homemade.
Of course, the kids gobbled it all up and were very happy. An added bonus is that we could play around with flavorings if we felt like it. I’m thinking a dash of smoked paprika or cheese powder with Italian Seasoning will be in order sometime soon. Today we took the simple route with a touch of butter and salt.
One small paper lunch bag (ours was 11 x 5 x 3″)
2 tablespoons popcorn kernels
1/4 teaspoon butter
Small pinch salt (only if your butter is unsalted)
Place kernels in paper bag and fold closed two or three times. Microwave on high for approximately 1 minutes 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Ours was ready at 1 minute 40 seconds. Stop the microwave as soon as the flurry of popping is starting to ebb. When the pops start to space themselves out with a second or two, it is done. Take it out even if there is a a little bit of popping still happening. Better a few unpopped kernels than burnt popcorn.
Remove bag from microwave. Open bag and drop in the butter. Sprinkle on the salt as well. Close up the bag and shake it for a minute or two to allow the butter to melt. Serve.
Note: Obviously, this isn’t a snack for little ones who are still required to stay far away from choking hazards. Mine are officially old enough now and I’ve quickly forgotten all the rules.
Yield: 1 1/2 – 2 cups
Prep-time: 5 minutes
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If you’re anything like me, you’re a little stumped by what to do with the giant bunch of leftover parsley sitting at the bottom of your crisper drawer. Occasionally, a dinner recipe calls for 1/4 cup of fresh parsley and I know it’ll make a difference in the end product, so I go ahead and spring for it at the grocery store. But then the rest of it just rots in a bag in the refrigerator. So sad.
Well, those days are over! I have made a modified Green Goddess Dip that makes a special effort to use lots and lots of parsley and pantry staples that you are likely to already have on hand. And you’re getting some bonus greens into your family’s diet!
2 cups chopped fresh parsley, washed
1 cup plain greek-style yogurt or sour cream
1 small or medium clove garlic, peeled and crushed
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice
Pinch salt
Place the parsley, yogurt, garlic, vinegar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Cover and pulse for 20 seconds or so. Serve with fresh veggies or crackers. Store in a airtight container in the refrigerator.
Note: I’ve gone a little easy on the garlic in an attempt to go easy on kids’ palette. But, when I made it I used 2 cloves and my first grader loved it.
Yield: 1 1/2 cups
Prep-time: 10 minutes
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I made a mother load of pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes this morning and didn’t have much mojo left when it came to making a school snack for my first grader. So the pancake sandwich was born. Maybe it should be called a panwich. Whatever it is it could be filled with jam, apple butter, or a lot of other things I haven’t even thought of.
I love that it looks like a whoopie pie.
2 small pancakes, completely cooled
1 tablespoon cream cheese
1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
In a small bowl, stir together the cream cheese and maple syrup until smooth. Spread the cream cheese mixture onto one of the pancakes and top with the second pancake. Serve.
Yield: 1 pancake sandwich
Prep-time: 5 minutes
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Turns out you can have a delicious smoothie
and sneak some tofu into your diet. I started experimenting with this because tofu contains a bit of Iron, and Vitamin C boosts the absorption of said Iron. So this seems like an easy way to get a little extra Iron into our low-meat diet. Miraculously, my kids loved it.
1/2 cup silken tofu
1 medium ripe banana
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Put the tofu, banana, strawberries, blueberries, and maple syrup in a blender and puree until smooth. Serve.
Yield: 2 cups
Prep-time: 10 minutes
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Whenever I eat guacamole, I feel like it might be okay to become a vegan someday. The creamy goodness an avocado imparts is right up there with cheese and butter in my book.
For more “authentic” guacamole, omit the beans, chop the cilantro, and mash all the ingredients up with a fork.
1 small clove garlic, peeled and chopped fine
1/3 cup canned cannelli beans, rinsed (optional)
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 ripe hass avocados, pits and skins removed
Place the garlic, beans, lime juice, cilantro, cumin, salt, and avocados in the bowl of a food processor. Cover and process until smooth, about 30 seconds. Serve with tortilla or pita chips. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Press a piece of plastic wrap on top of the dip to keep browning to a minimum.
Yield: 1 1/4 cups
Prep-time: 10 minutes
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