Recipes for Healthy Treats?

[naturekate]

Hey Mamas, 

I need some of your fabulous recipes for healthy "treats" for my 5 year old's lunch box.  She's suddenly hit a weird anti-protein eating phase, and I'm trying to sneak in some proteins and maybe veggies (she does eat plenty of veggies, but there's no thing as too much, you know ;) )

If there are nuts visible she won't eat it, and she can't handle dairy outside of butter.  I'm gluten-free, and try to limit gluten in my house, but sometimes cook glutenous things for my husband and kid, so that's negotiable.

I was thinking maybe something along the lines of almond butter rice crispy treats, or sneaky muffins.....what do you think?

[Jenni1894]

I make homemade granola bars (oatmeal, rice krispies, choc chips, honey...etc) and my kids (7, 3 1/2 and 17 mos) LOVE them.  So does my DH.  I throw in some flax seed to make it healthier.   Let me know if you would like the recipe....I'd have to dig it up, it's on my blog somewhere.  lol  

They also love smoothies and homemade choc chip cookies.   I make them in mini muffin tins and they are the perfect 2 bite size for a treat.   DS also likes the organic suckers and gummy bears.  In fact DH is a totally candy junkie and requests the organic suckers all the time.  

I almost always add some pureed carrots to spaghetti sauce!!  

[skreader]

I recommend that if you want   "healthy treats" for  her lunch - make it easy on yourself.  

 - Popcorn (make the night before & put in a baggie)

 - Rice cakes? (w/ peanut butter? w/ apple butter? )

- Dried fruit?

- Fresh fruit (grapes? cut up apples?)

- cultural thing - does she like dried fish? My DD liked dried squid for a while as treat. Some smoked fish can be very tasty.

[onlyzombiecat]

edamame

hummus with veggies or crackers

apples or celery with peanut butter/almond butter

roasted chickpeas

meat- meatballs, sliced or cubed meat, jerky or pepperoni

cherry tomatoes stuffed with ham/chicken/tuna

sunflower seeds

eggs- deviled eggs, rolled omelet... lots of things to do to eggs

homemade egg rolls with meat and veggies

gelatin

tofu http://www.food.com/recipe/marinated-baked-tofu-114102 http://www.food.com/recipe-finder/all/tofu-dip

granola http://www.theveggietable.com/recipes/granola.html

Some interesting looking dairy free recipes- http://dairyfreecooking.about.com/b/

[mommariffic]

Jenni - I would love that granola bar recipe, holy YUM 

[Jenni1894]

Here's the recipe!! 

2 1/2 C. quick oats
1/2 C. crisp rice cereal
1/2 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 C. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 C. canola oil
1/4 C. honey
1/2 tsp. vanilla
ground flax seed (optional, I just add a few tablespoons)

Sometimes I add some PB too.   I don't really measure, but a couple of big spoonfuls.

To make granola bars you need a baking pan and for the granola bites, you will need mini silicone cups or a mini muffin pan. This will make 8×8 pan of granola bars plus about six mini-granola bites.

Add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix…..save the chips out for now. Mix it really good! If your mixture seems dry after mixing then you may need to add a little more oil and/or honey – a teaspoon at a time – until it starts to clump up a little.
Bake 350 degrees.
Granola bites: 12-15 minutes. (in a mini muffin pan or silicone cups)
Granola bars: 17-22 minutes (keep an eye on them!) Line a baking pan with parchment or tin foil and spray it well w/cooking spray.

Smoosh the mixture and flatten it out. Remove from oven when golden. Let the granola bites cool completely. Just leave ‘em alone for a few hours so they can set. I leave them sit over night.
If you are making bars…..flip the brick out of the pan and cut into granola bar sized bars. Wrap in foil and/or store the bites in an airtight container or ziploc.
I can’t tell you how long they will last…..they only last a few weeks in this house.

[mommy212]

You can also make muffins with zucchini, pumpkin, apple, berries, pears, banana... So many ways to make them tasty! We like pumpkin muffins (or cookies) with dark chocolate chips, soooo good. Zucchini also makes good brownies. I noticed a recipe on Mothering as well, for sunflower seed cookies, sounds like a good protein source to me. DS loves smoothies with tofu, yogurt, banana, strawberry or blueberry, almond butter, flax oil, etc. Sometimes I put spinach or kale, sometimes I don't. On another thread or two I have posted my high-protein hot cereal recipe that I love (fast and easy breakfasts in toddler forum I think) which isn't good for lunches much, but maybe it'll help with the protein. IF you drink milk of any kind, you can try making strawberry milk, just whiz it in the blender with a few strawberries and bam. :)

[naturekate]

thanks for the recipes and great ideas :)  Anyone have a favorite pumpkin/zucchini muffin recipe?

[Jenni1894]

We LOVE this recipe for pumpkin muffins!! 

And I made them all myself!!!

You need:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
1/2 cup water
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 -1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400
Mix sugar, oil, eggs, pumpkin and water. Then gradually add flour, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Fold in chocolate chips. I had about a 1/4 of a bag left and thought, hey, let’s throw them in. And we did and it was good.
Bake 15 minutes

They are yummiest right out of the oven…nice and warm!!!