picky preschooler snack ideas

[glad2bemama]

Help! My four year old is a self-imposed mostly vegetarian. I need high protein/ high fat snack ideas. He has some blood sugar problems and never gets hungry, so I have to get the most out of the food.

Just something to add, my second child only loves protein. Funny, huh?

[LEmama]

I am at work and don't have any recipe books handy, but here are a few ideas:

-nut butters/cream cheese spread on anything he likes

-Soy milk - I sometimes buy the enriched drink box size on sale - my kids think it's a treat! Homemade smoothies using soy milk are also good

-hard boiled eggs - or make a big omlette and save the leftovers for the next days' snack

- firm Tofu - pan fry w/ bit of oil & season. Cut into chunks

-whole milk yogurt (Yo baby is yummy)

-quality canned soup. My kids love Amy's Lentil soup - it's quick & nourishing

-burritos - refried beans, cheese, veggie/salsa - again can be made ahead of time and stored in small portions

-pizza toast - Ezekial bread topped w/ sauce, cheese, etc. Toast in toaster oven

-nut balls - I have never made these...you will have to experiment - Combine any of the following, roll into balls, refridgerate until firm: Nut butter, chopped nuts, honey, raisins, carob chips, shredded coconut, wheat germ, raw oats

Good Luck!

[feather]

~hummus with pita triangles to dip. Or dip veggie sticks.

~ants on a log - celery with any nut butter inside, sprinkled with raisins.

~a fruit and cheese plate:apple slices, crackers, cheese,grapes.

~healthy muffins and breads, zucchini, oatmeal.....

~granola: can put on vanilla yogurt or frozen yogurt.

~go to healthfood store and buy an assortment of healthy yummy cereals to make a snack mix. We use *Mothers* brand peanut butter bumpers and honey O's.

~apple slices sprinkled with cinnamon.

~baked apples with maple syrup/honey and raisins.

~Marinate flat tofu slices in rice vinegar, soy sauce, and maple syrup, then bake. They are sweet and good.

~make your own jello - add fruit cocktail.

~In the healthy section of my grocery store I get veggie nuggets and chix nuggets. they are a good finger food snack and dd likes to dip in ketchup.

~do you have a juicer? apple-carrot juice is much loved by my 21 month old dd.(can add flax oil and it will not be noticeable)

~baked sweet potato(we put soy butter on top)

~baked potato with cheese,beans, or anything on top.

~veggie burgers - just the burger, cut into triangles

~felafels - just the felafel without any bread: make into finger food shape and have them dip into a sauce like sour cream(or a soy subst.) we have big felafels for dinner sometimes and I save the extra mix to use for snacks later.

~will they eat avacados? they are good sliced by themselves or made into guacamole. dip in tortilla chips.

~ bean dip with tortilla chips.

~oddly enough dd's favorite is miso soup with cubed tofu and seaweed. she shovels in the seaweed. you just never know!

IS THIS ENOUGH FOR YOU????????(LOL) I HAVE MORE!

[glad2bemama]

Thankyou so very much for all of the great ideas. I am getting hungry just thinking abou them!

I have a question about the marinated tofy triangles, though what are the proportions?

Also, does anyone have any protein bar recipes?

Thankyou again for all of your terrific help!

[feather]

I once had the correct proportions..............but I NEVER measure anything.LOL!
I would say (very roughly) a cup of soy sauce, a cup of maple syrup, and 1/4 cup of the rice vinegar. You just need to make sure that you have enough liquid to cover all of the tofu slices completely. then you just dump the liquid out because the tofu will have absorbed all it needed. You don't need to marinate for very long before it absorbs the flavor.I bake them at 350 degrees until they are looking a little dry. I like them on the crispier side - so just bake them til you like the look of them.
JR

[bebe luna]

Here's a few more ideas-

*Poppy ball candy:
1 cup poppy seeds, 1 cup walnuts or pecans, 1/4 tsp. ginger pwdr, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 1/4 cup brown rice syrup
Grind seeds, coarsely chop nuts. Mix 1/2 the nuts w/ other ingrediants. Form into balls and roll in remaining nuts.

Carob "Fudge"-
2/3 cup carob, 1 cup dates- finely chopped, 2 Tbsp. soy flour, 1 1/4 cup water, 2 Tbsp agar agar, 1 Tbsp. vanilla, 1/2 cup pecans.
Dissolve agar agar in hot water. Mix all ingrediants together. Pour in a dish and chill. When chilled- cut into squares.

*Broiled tofu-
cut tofu into small squares/cubes. In a bowl, drizzle tofu w/ olive oil and tamari, sprinkle w/ nutritional yeast, mix well. Spread on oiled cookie sheet. Bake in oven at 425. Turn tofu every 15 minutes- until all browned. Takes about 35 minutes. Serve w/ ketchup or other favorite sauce.

Poppy Candy #2:
1 cup ground poppy seeds, 1/2 cup ground nuts, 1/2 cup bran, 1/2 cup lecithin granules, 1/2 cup brown rice syrup or honey, 1/4 tsp vanilla, 1/2 a banana- mashed, 1/2 rind of small lemon- zested.
Mix everything together thoroughly. Press into a pan w/ wax paper under & over the mixture. Refridgerate over night. Remove wax paper from the top, cut into squares and serve.

*Rice cakes w/ almond butter and honey on top
*Vegi sticks and hummus and/or tahini sauce
*Homemade tofu pudding
* Homemade pancakes or muffins w/ soy flour or protien powder added
*Edamame (boiled and salted soybeans in the pod)

*Homemade spring rolls- fill spring roll wrappers or sheets of nori w/ baked tofu, and vegis, rice or rice noodles, etc. Dip in plum sauce, peanut sauce, teriyaki, soy sauce, etc.

[glad2bemama]

These are great! The spring rolls and carob fudge sound just too good. Hopefully this will do the trick.

Just another question, though, what is agar-agar? Probably a silly question, but had to ask.

Thanks again!

[bebe luna]

agar-agar is a seaweed... it works much like cornstarch- for thickening & stiffening. I buy it at my coop, they keep it in the "Oriental Foods" section- by the nori, thai seasonings, seaweeds, etc.

[glad2bemama]

Just wanted to say thankyou so very much everyone! I am so impressed with all of you for taking the time to send me so many winderful ideas!

We went to the co-op last night with a grocery list full of ideas. I feel rejuvinated-- with a very picky 4 yo who never gets hungry and only wieghs 32 lbs. and is rather tall for his height this is a constant concern.

Anyway, the nut butter snack balls were a huge hit as I think a lot of them will be!

Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou to all of you!!!