"Unusual" healthy snacks your kids eat - summer foods especially needed

[katieandfelicity]

So these things may not be unusual foods, but they're not so mainstream either - at least the way i do it.

My contribution to the list:

frozen peas. Easiest finger food frozen summer snack. Kids love it. Can't go wrong.

homemade frozen yogurt pops. I just get those popsicle forms you can get from anywhere and put in my own yogurt and sometimes fresh fruit.

anybody have an idea of how to freeze applesauce as a healthy summer snack?


So what do you do that the rest of us may not have thought of yet?

[kjbrown92]

Cold curried chickpeas (2 out of my 3 kids love them)

Note: I read that freezing yogurt kills the good part of the yogurt, so you may not want to "waste" your yogurt in a pop. We make popsicles out of leftover smoothies or fruit juice.

[mamadelbosque]

raw broccoli & lettuce straight from the gardens Hopefully he'll be as big of a fan of the peas & beans & everything else when/as it becomes available

[emaye_to_2]

I just found out yesterday that my kids love snacking on edamame with a little salt.

[moonglowmama]

frozen grapes. just dry them well and put them in a container. They are especially great after a trip to the pool or being outdoors gardening, etc.

Watermelon, which I know isn't weird, but you can put a little salt on it if you want to make it weird. And, it's super fun to have a seed-spitting contest.

[notjustmamie]

Originally Posted by katieandfelicity

anybody have an idea of how to freeze applesauce as a healthy summer snack?

Can you freeze it in the popsicle molds?

[mamatoablessing]

cherry tomatos
cucumbers
veggie pizza (made with cream cheese, veggies and shredded cheddar, served cold)
frozen rasberries or blueberries

[Viola]

Originally Posted by mamatoablessing

veggie pizza (made with cream cheese, veggies and shredded cheddar, served cold)

Mmmm, sounds good. How do you make the crust? You could probably use a tortilla and make something similar in a wrap.

I've heard of making popsicles from crushed watermelon. I like the smoothie idea too.

[oceanbaby]

We make a lot of smoothie popsicles. If you use blueberries, you can throw some raw kale in there and they will never see or taste it.

Frozen grapes, frozen blueberries, frozen cherries are super yummy.

Slushy drinks - juice and ice blended together.

[Princess ConsuelaB]

Mine love cut up raw fennel, it's crunchy and tastes like licorice.

[onlyzombiecat]

When I was a kid I loved frozen cherry tomatoes and I loved just eating a large fresh tomato whole (unfrozen).
I also liked fresh rhubarb with a little salt.

[wagamama]

Some Japanese snacks my kids like: nori -- you can get it in mini-packs, just check the ingredients to make sure it's not seasoned nori, which has msg and other things.

DS also likes little dried anchovies, called chirimen-jakko in japanese. Super-nutritious. Sometimes they come in little packets mixed with almonds.

Not Japanese, but both kids love plantains fried in butter or another healthy oil.

[organicmidwestmama]

Originally Posted by wagamama

Some Japanese snacks my kids like: nori -- you can get it in mini-packs, just check the ingredients to make sure it's not seasoned nori, which has msg and other things.

DS also likes little dried anchovies, called chirimen-jakko in japanese. Super-nutritious. Sometimes they come in little packets mixed with almonds.

Not Japanese, but both kids love plantains fried in butter or another healthy oil.

ohh, those anchovies sound yummy.
subbing cause i need new snack ideas too.

[treemom2]

Originally Posted by wagamama

Some Japanese snacks my kids like: nori -- you can get it in mini-packs, just check the ingredients to make sure it's not seasoned nori, which has msg and other things.

DS also likes little dried anchovies, called chirimen-jakko in japanese. Super-nutritious. Sometimes they come in little packets mixed with almonds.

My DS also loves both of these for snacks. . .my DD is a little more picky about her Japanese foods. My kids love frozen grapes, frozen blueberries, frozen strawberries, frozen chunks of melon. . .pretty much any frozen fruit. They love it when I put yogurt, honey, and some fruit in popsicle molds and freeze them. They love popcorn. . .especially with butter and cinnamon sugar. My kids like to eat cottage cheese with a little salt and pepper on it. They like rice triangles (DS likes them wrapped in nori, DD doesn't). They love somen or udon noodles with mayo (or their fav dressing at the time) and a veggie salad (cucumbers, carrots, cabbage--all sliced thinly) on top of the noodles. They love peanut butter balls (peanut butter, honey, wheat germ, oats, powdered milk) frozen. My kids love to snack on nuts (walnuts, cashews, almonds) and sunflower seeds. They like when I mix a pkg of cream cheese, 1/2 c sugar (or less), and 1c whipped whipping cream--then freeze. . .it's like ice-cream and they love it (you can also put fruit in it or on top of it). DD likes tofu, I just put green onions on it and a little light soy sauce (for me I love it with grated fresh ginger, green onions, and the light soy sauce). My kids love fresh veggies dipped in curry mayo (just curry powder mixed with mayo until it's nice and yellow).

When I freeze store bought applesauce, I buy the individual containers then just pop them in the freezer as they come. When I make homemade, I put it in small glass bowls and freeze. My kids like to scrape at it with a spoon. It's the only way they will eat store bought applesauce.

[columbusmomma]

:

[kirstenb]

DS loves tomato and cucumber salad- put a little oregano or salt on it.
Frozen berries or peas are another hit.

[mistymama]

Frozen grapes are a staple around here.

Of course we make popcicles out of everything under the sun - from watermelons to juice pops.

We make banana popcicles - cut a banana in half, stick a stick in it, spread peanut butter on it - roll in coconut, chopped nuts, choc chips, anything and then wrap in wax paper and freeze. Mmmm.

Peanut butter balls - PB, powdered milk, honey and roll in oats, coconut, granola then chill.

Onigiri (rice balls) - ds and I LOVE these. I like mine with cucumber, avacado & wasabi inside, ds likes his with just cucumber and avacado. Chilled they are the perfect summer treat and easy to keep stocked in the fridge.

[treemom2]

Originally Posted by mistymama

Onigiri (rice balls) - ds and I LOVE these. I like mine with cucumber, avacado & wasabi inside, ds likes his with just cucumber and avacado. Chilled they are the perfect summer treat and easy to keep stocked in the fridge.

DS loves them with tuna salad or salmon salad inside (tuna and mayo or cooked salmon and mayo).

[mamatoablessing]

Originally Posted by Viola

Mmmm, sounds good. How do you make the crust? You could probably use a tortilla and make something similar in a wrap.

I've heard of making popsicles from crushed watermelon. I like the smoothie idea too.

My Italian MIL comes over once every few months and makes homemade pizza crusts (whole wheat) and stocks my freezer with about 20 of them! So I use those. I have also used the Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough before for this pizza and honestly, it was yummy. I don't usually like that kind of stuff but it works well for this snack.

[FernG]

plain, cream on the top yogurt or kefir mixed with peanut butter and a dab of raw honey.

kefir and berry smoothie.

homemade quick breads (banana bread, zucchini bread, muffin, etc) toasted w/ butter or nut butter and milk to drink.

any type of kimchi.

salsa and black beans.