Good dairy-free toddler snacks?

[bluedaisy]

DD was allergic to dairy as a toddler, I think she is outgrowing it but we still try to avoid most dairy.

we try to do healthy, all natural food as much as possible.

I am looking for some good, easy snacks - I have been resorting to raisins, cheerios, and pretzels too much. I don't like giving her processed things and I don't think those things really fill her up.

My almost 2 year old is good at eating healthy meals but I want to improve her snacks.

Thanks!

[carmel23]

Pita and hummus? Carrots, olives, veggies? Bean and rice burritos? quinoa? Cut up melon, Apples to dip in Peanut/Almond butter? Sourdough bread with earthbalance spread? rice wrapped in nori with sauteed veggies, like futomaki... Corn chips and salsa?

Trader Joes has a lot of things, snacks and such, like peanut better pretzels, that are vegan.

My daughter was dairy free as a toddler (and soy free) and we just ate tons of whole foods, nuts, and beans.

[Summersquash]

DD is dairy free too. Her all time, 100% favorite snack that she would eat all day long if I allowed it is oyster crackers. She also loves dehydrated fruit (it kind of melts in the mouth, it's not chewy). She will eat beans, cut up grapes, hummus, dried cranberries, and sliced-up roasted turkey.

[caenach]

We limit DD's dairy intake as she, too, has had dairy issues. We do lots of snack plates of just veggies/fruits (cucumbers, avocados, apples, grapes, bananas, mangos, bell peppers, steamed broccoli, lightly steamed carrots, frozen peas, pears, etc). Sliced chicken and turkey are big. DD loves carbs...popcorn, pita, tortillas, pretzels, wheat crackers, peanut butter & honey on toast, stuff like that. She loves to dip things into cucumber dip or hummus.

[gagin37]

we limit ds's (25m) dairy, because he's also been very sensitive to it, but seems to be growing out of it a little bit. I'm allergic myself, so we'll see how he does. he LOVES hummus with different crackers and carrot sticks to dip in it. Apple slices with natural PB is also usually a hit. He likes dried fruit and fruit leather of just about any kind. slices of ham or turkey sandwich meat (we buy the kind without all the bad stuff in it). But we also do boxed raisins and pretzels and sometimes animal crackers. He can handle cheese in small doses, so sometimes he'll have that. I just be careful to watch how much he gets overall on a daily basis.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

My DD snacks on lots of almonds, fruit, and roasted plantain chips.

[crunchy_mommy]

We don't do dairy etiher (vegan), though DS isn't very good about snacks or any eating at all sometimes... Some things we offer him, sometimes he loves them lol: nut/seed butters, freeze-dried fruit, yuca crackers, dehydrated veggies, tofu (though we rarely do soy), hummus on carrots or chips, fresh fruit... one of DS's friends loves tofu dogs though I prefer less processed options. We don't do much wheat but you could make mini sandwiches with nut butter or sliced meat or homemade veggie spread...

[MountainMamaGC]

Fruit like apples, oranges, bananas and grapes.
Smoothies made with greens, fruits, and non dairy milk.
Dried fruit like cranberries, raisins, and figs.
Toast (homemade bread) with coconut butter and jam. (Budda and jahm as she calls it. lol)
Homemade muffins are awesome because you can add all kinds of nuts, fruit and grains and I usually cut the sugar in half. I am making a lot of zucchini muffins and loafs these days.

She will snack on chick peas. I just buy a can and drain and rinse it.

[summersmama]

lots of good suggestions already...
hummus is by far my 2 year old's fav-and i make it myself so its cheaper (easy too!). avocado slices, or mashed avocado with chips, crackers, veggies. she also loves rice cakes, homemade muffins (i have some great recipes if you want some) are also great-i let her 'help' make them and she always loves eating them more when she has helped. make a bunch and you can freeze them and take them out when you need them, eliminating the need to bake constantly. oddly enough she also loves pesto, which i was a bit surprised by. but it goes great on those pretzels!! i have a great vegan recipe for that also if you'd like it.

[crunchy_mommy]

Another idea I forgot, DS can't really handle whole nuts yet (though he finally has a couple molars so he might do better now!) so I made this thing that was dates, cranberries, a little cinnamon, and chopped nuts -- grind it all in the food processor & then roll into little balls & flatten a bit so they look like tiny cookies. (Here's the basic recipe I followed, plus variations: http://enlightenedcooking.blogspot.c...rs-part-3.html)

[summersmama]

lara bars are great too, if you can handle the nuts.

[dakotablue]

DS is dairy free, wheat free, soy free. Want we do

Carrots (he does really well with baby carrots, but he also has had 8 teeth for a while)
Bananas
Granola bars (wheat free/ yes there is oats but no reaction to oats)
Apple slices
Pears
Dried fruit (not too much cause that can be bad)
Rice crackers (Baby Mum-mums which say they could contain a trace of dairy but DS hasn't reacted)
Organic fruit strips (kinda like fruit roll up, but only fruit)

Thats about all I can think of for our go to snacks.

[Purplegal]

Originally Posted by summersmama

oddly enough she also loves pesto, which i was a bit surprised by. but it goes great on those pretzels!! i have a great vegan recipe for that also if you'd like it.

Oooh could you post that pesto recipe? DD used to LOVE pesto but I've had to cut all dairy for her, and we all miss it!

These are all great suggestions! Only thing I can add is my DD will only eat carrots with a dip, and she doesnt like hummus ( ) so I get a dairy free Ranch dip they have at my natural foods store...Organic Ville... it has soy so I try to use it sparingly..
http://www.organicvillefoods.com/ranch.html