"Junk" food - part 2 ... healthy snacks

Carrying on from my post about junk food. Since most of the toddlers seem to not eat much junk food, what sorts of healthy snacks do they have?

I'm just after ideas as Jake is a very big eater. Hes very active and DH and I both have healthy appetites and fast metabolisms (and probably don't eat as well as we should!). He eats enough fruit to sink a ship (pretty much every meal he has at least one type of fruit) and has veges/meat every night but needs dessert etc after. I've started doing jelly as dessert some nights cos he was eating yoghurt all the time plus crackers / bikkies as dessert. Some of the snacks he has are:

Fruit of all types (incl fresh, tinned with breakie, dried apples, dried apricots, raisins)
Crackers / rice crackers / rice wafers / cruskets etc
Pop corn (light buttered)
Nuts (peanuts, almonds, cashews) (I give him these for the "good fats")
Pumpkin seeds
Salad (tomato, cheese, cucumber)
Sammies / toast
Plain biscuit
Fruit / muffin bar (not too fussed on most of them)
Frozen bananas (or ice blocks) over summer

Any other ideas would be great thanks! I get sick of giving him the same things all the time!

Jake munches out on
dates
dried and fresh fruits
home baking like bikkies, muffins and muesli bars
I also make a no-knead bread that is full of nuts and seeds and flax oil and he has that with some olivani as a snack
Luncheon is a huge fave at the moment - we get it from our homekill butcher so its 100% natural with no preservatives or nasties
I make cheesy vege squares (with a dairy-free alternative) and Jake loves them (an Alison Holst recipe)
Stuffed eggs are popular here too
Mini sausages cooked and served cold with abit of tom sauce
Homemade chicken nuggets and fish fingers
Mini corn cakes
Uhm I make a one swipe date spread (Alison Holst) coz Jake adores dates so put this on toast for him
I make porridge cakes with our leftover porridge and they get snapped up fast


Dessert is popular with both the males in my house. I often make mini fruit crumbles which is another way to get fibre and fruit into them both. Uhm beat a can of fruit in juice then freeze. Its a quick and easy (and healthy) sorbet.
Another thing to do with canned fruit is to drain the juice into a pan and bring it to the boil. Mix about a tablespoon of custard powder in with 2-3 tablespoons of water, then mix it in abit at a time til you have custard then chop the fruit up into it.
We also have sago cream pud, banana fool, fresh fruit with dips...
Let me know if you want any recipes.

Hope you find some new ideas

edit - spelling mistake

Edited by Babe

we dont do desert as a rule... its more of a whim thing...if mummy feels like it we might have ice cream... snacks are fruit.. discovered recently that all the kids love popcorn, make it myself so no additives, so yum when its hot out of the pan (no microwave in this house).

I'm not sure if home baking counts as junk so if you think so ignore this but I make up a tray for Jake. It has sultanas, grapes, luncheon fingers, mini corn fritters, muesli bars, sandwiches on homemade bread so filling, dates, semi-cooked carrot sticks and hummus. He has this out during the morning and afternoon on his little table and can go snack whenever he feels peckish. I've found it really good since he doesn't get as grumpy trying to communicate what he wants and he tends to try a wider range of food.

Spencer has been real fussy with eating his meals so we haven't been doing much snack wise recently but when we do we do fruit (he is also a fruit monster), corn thins with cream cheese, popcorn, rice crackers (he won't eat them with stuff on the strange child). Muffins, but he's not that keen on them, mother earth fruit sticks. He's not keen on sandwiches and only eats them with jam on, same with toast so he doesn't have them much, I do offer with other stuff like ham or tuna but he generally refuses to eat it.
He likes fruit bread so I offer that sometimes, sometimes just plain or toasted with cream cheese or just with a bit of olive oil on.
He also has casava crisps and healtheries rice rounds and potato sticks.

I think that is pretty much it for snacks

Oh he loves chunks of cucumber, but that's not very filling.

We don't always do desert, because of the trouble with him not eating his dinner (he was refusing dinner but asking for crackers), but if he does eat all his dinner we offer either fruit, yoghurt, jelly or tinned fruit, or if hot sometimes an ice block or some kiwi crush. He hasn't had ice cream but that is because he doesn't eat dairy (the cheese and yoghurt are soy ones).

We have been a bit restricted by his allergies and also I try not to buy anything that has preservatives, artificial colours, flavours or any other number in it, that goes for all of us not just what Spencer eats. So that means even most dried fruit is out as most of those have preservatives.

nikki a snack doesnt have to fill them for long, just a couple of hours till a main meal anyway.
was thinking about this while cooking dinner. cheese are good snacks here, fruit of course, the youngest like raisins straight out of the packet (she eats the pack too if they dont full her up enough lol!) fruit is probably your best bit as you dont need it to fill them completely just tide them over.   

Bizzy - my boy is a big eater ... if you don't fill him up he will be back in the pantry 30mins later! He eats 1-2 bowls of cereal, toast and 2 types of fruit (or a bowls of tinned fruit salad, ie up to half a can) for breakfast, and dinner can go on for 30-60 mins as he eats so much!!!

Sounds like I have most of the usual snacks covered .... maybe he doesn't need any more variety.   

nikki i hear you there. i think my boy is happier eating in the morning tho, he could eat a whole can of fruit salad on his cereal if i let him and half an hour later is saying he is hungry again... he isnt a big dinner eater tho...

oh and i have tried baking and the boys didnt like it. made these really yummy mueslie bars from the littlies mag and they even looked like store bought ones too... but no they didnt want them!



Edited by Bizzy

sorry haven't had a chance to read it all...E has never had dessert(poor baby!!!) :)

for snacks(besides heaps of fruit) he has cassava chips, milkies or mother earth bars, rice cakes, dried fruit, orgran biccies /snax biccies ..his favourite at the moment is hot cross bun and kiwifruit (not together ...weird child:) )

I get sick of giving him the same things too! He's 14 months and eats about 7am (breakfast) 10(snack) 1130 (lunch) 230 (snack) and 430 tea..