chewy food suggestions please

[tree-hugger]

My two year old needs to eat some really chewy foods as part of her speech therapy. The speech therapist suggested granola bars, which do indeed require a lot of muscle power to chew. I would rather not feed her granola bars because they have quite a bit of sugar in them and we try to eat no refined grains and no sweeteners (sugar, high fructose corn syrup, honey etc). Can anyone think of some foods that are as chewy as granola bars but lower in sugar? Thanks!

[Chamomile Girl]

Originally Posted by tree-hugger

My two year old needs to eat some really chewy foods as part of her speech therapy. The speech therapist suggested granola bars, which do indeed require a lot of muscle power to chew. I would rather not feed her granola bars because they have quite a bit of sugar in them and we try to eat no refined grains and no sweeteners (sugar, high fructose corn syrup, honey etc). Can anyone think of some foods that are as chewy as granola bars but lower in sugar? Thanks!

Dried fruit with no added sugar? Dried mango is a good one. Figs are chewy (also very sweet, but at least not refined). Hmmm...

[possum]

Jerkey?
What about chewing gum? Would that do it. My son is almost 3 and has been chewing xylitol gum for dental issues for almost a year. It took some practice, but he's pretty darned good about chewing it and spitting it out in an appropriate place now.
Melinda

[CookiePie]

dates & prunes

[figmama]

you could try making your own granola with honey or molassas. this might not appeal to your dd, but i like my oatmeal kinda chewy