Of all the important lessons you learn after having kids, one of the most important is the magic of snacks. Aside from the practical function of providing some nutrition between meals, they have also provided me needed distractions on airplanes, on shopping trips, or in the waiting room of medical offices. I have regretted many a time when I have forgotten to bring snack to any outing. The hanger, the whining, the me having to go off and try to find something healthy and pay two times more for it at some remote corner store…
Here is a list of five favorite MTHFR Kids on-the-go snacks for our family. What gives them their MTHFR Kids seal of approval? Well, for every family this might differ, but for ours it’s being either dairy free, gluten free or ideally, both. While our kids do eat some dairy and a bit of gluten, my goal is to eventually get them off it completely, so whenever possible, I’m offering them options without those things. Oh, and they better taste good to me too. Long ago when my first started solids, I committed to never feeding my kids anything that didn’t taste good to me too.
This round of snacks focuses on home made. In the future, I’ll be doing another post just on store bought, packaged snacks. Until then, get in the kitchen and have some fun! The kids can help prepare all of the yummy snacks in the list below.
5 MTHFR Kids On-the-Go Snacks
1. Fruits and veggies
This one is such a no-brainer, but even I have to remind myself that it’s an option. I always seem to be reaching for something in a package because I associate packaged food with snack food. There are tons of options and variations in this category. Berries, apples, apple slices with nut butter, bananas, oranges, pears, carrot sticks, celery sticks, cucumber sticks, jicama sticks… you get the idea.
Under this same category I’d put dried fruits like mango, papaya or apples. Easy make-at-home trail mix is another great on-the-go option. (We like to do sprouted almonds, roasted cashews, raisins, dried cranberries and some mini-chocolate chips.)
2. No Bake Energy Bites
These are amazing, you guys! My kids absolutely love them and I have a hard time staying grain free when I make them. I make a batch that lasts all week. The kids will have them one day for breakfast at the beginning of the week, I add one to the lunch boxes mid-week, and then offer them up again as an after school snack at the end of the week. I’ve also packed them for play dates and trips to the park. They hold together pretty well, but they can be crumbly so I personally wouldn’t think to pack them for a road trip.
Make It Better: Use Bob’s Red Mill gluten free oats, use another nut butter if peanut butter doesn’t work for your family, use allergen free Enjoy Life Mini-Chocolate Chips.
Get the No Bake Energy Bites recipe here on Gimme Some Oven…
3. Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
I have really great memories of these cookies because I started making them when my youngest was about 18 months old. These are the kind of cookie that have a hard time making it past the cooling rack. They freeze very well and in fact, I’m (slightly) embarrassed to say I know for a fact they are really good straight out of the freezer as well. Hee. Hee. These are another I probably wouldn’t pack for a road trip, but they’re great for any other time.
Make it Better: Again with the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oats and Enjoy Life Mini-Chocolate Chips.
Get the recipe for Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies on Weelicious here…
4. Grain Free Blueberry Almond Breakfast Cookies
These blueberry cookies are grain free and can be made vegan as well (just substitute the honey for maple syrup as suggested in the recipe). I haven’t made these in a while, but I think I should. Especially since at the time of writing I have a heck of a lot of gorgeous blueberries in the kitchen. What I remember about them is they are very sweet as the recipe is written, at least with the honey I used. Maybe the maple syrup would be more mellow. I’ve also never used almond slivers because that’s too high maintenance for me.
These hold together well, but I still wouldn’t pack them for a road trip… (I have said this three times now. Maybe I just have an aversion to anything in the car which has the potential to be fairly crumbly messy. Although, we’ve certainly had enough cracker crumbs in the car. I obviously need to get over it.) Moving on…!
Make it Better: You really can’t. It’s already grain and dairy free.
Check out the recipe on the Bldg 25 blog…
5. Paleo Breakfast Bread
This is one I would probably allow in the car because it holds together really well. It’s also a kid pleaser and packs well in a lunch box. I do not use the Stevia in this. I used it once and I don’t know if my palate is just sensitive, but it is overpowering and fake tasting to me. It’s also not needed in my opinion, but if I really felt it needed to be sweeter, I’d add another teaspoon of honey.
Make it Better: I might add some mini-chocolate chips just because.
Visit Elana’s Pantry for the yummy breakfast bread recipe…
There you have it. A list of our favorite 5 MTHFR Kids On-the-Go Snacks. They’re super healthy, super easy and super yummy.
