Healthy classroom snacks

[emelsea]

Any suggestions for healthy - but still fun! - classroom snacks for the preschool crowd? I don't want to resort to celery sticks filled with peanut butter (mostly because we aren't fond of celery at my house), but I also don't want to be bringing in candy and junk food.

I've thought about muffins, and if anyone has really yummy recipes or suggestions, I'd welcome them.

[Enudely]

popcorn?

Apple slices dipped in orange juice?

Crackers and Peanut butter?

Plain Yogurt and Maple Syrup?

Sprouted bagels and cream cheese?

looking forward to hearing more suggestions!

[happyhippiemama]

DD's class loves it when she brings in green grapes.

They also like string cheese (although I never know what to provide for non-dairy kiddos).

Oh!! And I can get a bag of dried papaya spears from our NF co-op for like $4.50. They're so heavy, iykwim, and sweet, that I just slice them lengthwise into small strips and have plenty for the 18 4yo's in DD's class.

[veganf]

With 2 boys in cooperative preschool right now we end up bringing a lot of snacks.
For my 3yo's class on wednesday I made mini pumpkin muffins and cut sliced honeydew melon into maple & oak leaf shapes with mini cookie cutters to be eaten with a frilly toothpick.
Here's the muffin recipe (I used an acorn squash this week because I had quite a few):

Squash Muffins

5 T. margarine or butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups roasted mashed/pureed squash, any variety
3 T. milk (any kind) or water
1 t. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. ground allspice
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1 T. raw cane juice crystals

Melt or soften margarine in a large bowl. Add brown sugar and mix until creamy.
Mix in pumpkin, milk, & vanilla.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix well.
Spoon into a greased muffin/mini-muffin pan (I spray with olive oil). Sprinkle tops with sugar crystals.
Bake large muffins at 350F for 25-28 minutes, mini muffins for 18-20 minutes.

I often make banana muffins too.
This morning I made mini apple/carrot/collard muffins and the boys and my husband had 3-4 each!

Other snacks I often bring:
- Veggie Booty or Tings
- homemade hummus with veggies and Harvest vegetable Wheat Thins for dipping
- fruit kabobs
- homemade pretzel mix/trail mix (without nuts though since our preschool is nut-free)
- raisins, apricots, or other dried fruit
- mini bagels w/ whatever spread or filling your kids like

[Pyrodjm]

Raisins, zucchini bread/muffins,trail mix

[NicaG]

I posted this in the nutrition/good eating forum yesterday. It's really good and easy! My toddler even helped me make these muffins yesterday. Yield about 12 muffins, or more if you make them smaller.

Pumpkin Muffins

in one bowl:
1/2 cup oil (I was told that I could substitute 1.5 cups ground flax meal for the oil, but I haven't tried that)
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup water
1 cup pumpkin (you can use a whole can if you prefer, and it makes a slightly wetter, more custardy muffin)

in another bowl:
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch of cloves (vary the spices if you want)

Mix the flour mixture into the pumpkin/egg mixture, and divide into a muffin tin. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or so (1 hr if you bake as a loaf)

[eirual]

What about spreading a wrap with cream cheese, then rolling it up into a log, and cutting the log into .5 inch pieces. Makes bite-sized creamed cheese sandwiches. You can put something fun and colourful in the centre- my granma makes them for luncheons and uses gherkin pickles or cherries in the centre. You could use any kind of berry or fruit, really.

[eirual]

...deviled eggs?

-pitas and hummus (you can get pocket pitas, spread the insides with hummus, then cut into triangles to make distribution quick and easy)

-frozen smoothy-pops

-frozen (?) bananas on a stick, rolled in peanut butter, then rolled in nuts/cereal/sprinkles

-oatmeal raisin cookies, easy on the sugar.

-cheese and crackers

[AAK]

The kids always seem to think fruit is more fun when it is on a stick. So, we do fruit cabobs a bunch. I would use common fruits along with something that some kids might not get to experience.

Amy

[emelsea]

Thanks for the great ideas, everyone. I hadn't thought about using cookie cutters to cut out fun shapes in fruit, but what a great idea! And the fruit kabobs - I'd forgotten about those. I've made them before and used a straw instead of wooden skewers.

[katheek77]

Whole Wheat (sort of) Pumpkin Muffins
1 C all-purpose flour
3/4 C whole wheat flour
3T honey
2t baking powder
1t pumpkin pie spice
1/4t baking soda
1/8t salt
1 beaten egg
3/4 C skim milk
2 T butter, melted
1 C pumpkin, mashed

Preheat oven to 375
Oil twelve muffin cups, dust with flour.
Mix together first seven ingredients (flour to salt). Make a well in center of mix.
Combine egg, milk and butter. Stir in pumpkin. Add to flour, stir until just moistened.
Spoon batter into cups about 2/3 fill. BAke for 15-18 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from muffin cups. Makes 12 muffins.

Zucchini Muffins
3 eggs
1 cup oil
1 2/3 cups sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 cups zucchini, grated
3 cups flour, sifted (I do half all-purpose, half whole wheat)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 C walnuts, chopped (optional)

Beat the eggs until they are light and foamy.
Add the sugar, oil and zucchini.
Blend well with a spoon.
Mix the dry ingredients and add to the egg mixture; blend well.
Add the nuts, and spoon into greased muffin tins.
Bake at 325°F for 20 minutes. Makes 24 muffins.

My daughter (16mos) really likes hummus and pita/pita chips. Or baba ganoush on whole wheat mini-bagel. I know from working with preschoolers that if they can "dip" something, they really enjoy it...maybe pieces of fruit on toothpicks or veggies with a couple of "dips" (yogurt dip, jam dip, hummus, baba ganoush, etc.). What about a modified fondue? (Whole wheat bread/bagel pieces with a simple fondue... www.recipezaar.com has lots of recipes)

[shelbean91]

I've done ladybugs (apples/peanutbutter/raisins), goldfish (ok, not REALLY healthy, but I sent the multigrain instead of regular), cheese sticks, applesauce, grapes

[greenstylemom]

I just finished up a week of snacks. I took

Spelt pretzels and cubed cheddar cheese

Whole grain fruit bars (they look like Fig Newtons and are in the bulk section of Wild Oats or Whole Foods) and grapes

Annie's Whole Wheat Bunnies and carrot sticks

[momoftworedheads]

carrot chips and fat free ranch dressing dip

fruit kabobs (we do banana, cantalope, berries and grapes)

soft pretzel sticks and mustard dips

apple chips

bagels (cut in small pieces) with a dip -hummus, cream cheeses

Take care!