Nutritious and Tasty Snacks & Meal Ideas For Kids

by Michelle on May 10, 2010 · 42 comments

in Books,Foods For Kids,Giveaways/Competitions

L2

These points have been developed from being inspired by my experiences being an Aunty & being a babysitter. I also am influenced by Karen’s book (read more about her book below) and from my current studies in Naturopathy. The points are spread out between age groups; some may be suitable for younger children and other points for elder kids. I haven’t specified ages- what foods would be suitable for one child may be unsuitable for another.

Some of these food ideas are also great for teens and adults alike so don’t be afraid to try them! Hope you enjoy them and feel free to add your own in the comments section (and please enter the GIVEAWAY below!).

These are a whole lot of ideas (30+) for healthy snacks and nutritious meals for kids. The aim of the game is to stick with whole foods (or buy natural/organic products without any artificial anythings) and serve lots of bright foods that look appetizing, colourful and fun!

The list is organized into three sections: For the Warmer Months, For the Cooler Months, Anytime Foods and, Foods for Special Occasions.

For the Warmer Months

  • Frozen berries- raspberries and strawberries are great- they look just like lollies, are colourful and are moderately sweet.
  • Frozen red and green grapes.
  • Homemade ice creams such as Avocado Chocolate Ice Cream (but use carob powder instead- it isn’t stimulating like cacao/cocoa powder is).
  • Frozen Icy Poles/Yoghurt: made with yoghurt (or coconut cream/coconut kefir), blended with fruit and the frozen (and depending on how sweet the fruit is a bit of honey).
  • Add a small amount of some warming foods and spices to your and their food and drinks like fresh Ginger to help you and them sweat and cool down naturally.
  • Cooling vegetables such as cucumber and celery.
  • Fresh and seasonal fruit.
  • Fermented veggies!

For The Cooler Months

  • Soup- Try different varieties such as carrot, pumpkin & lentil or leek & potato.
  • Stews, casseroles and chili con carne.
  • Warm (not hot) rooibos tea.
  • Homemade custards (made with real milk, organic free-range eggs, honey or real maple syrup vanilla extract/bean) and served with fresh, stewed or steamed fruit.
  • Soaked/fermented/sprouted grain porridges (Try oat, quinoa and amaranth).
  • Sauteed Veggies and brown rice.
  • Grain dishes.
  • Steamed fish and vegetables.
  • Bone broths:

Anytime:

  • Cut up slices of vegetables and dips.
  • Fresh, seasonal fruit.
  • Soft brown rice crackers/biscuits (to have with dips).
  • Homemade or natural dips (free of artificial anything).
  • Use dips alone for veggies or use them as nutritious sandwich spreads.
  • Cooked organic chicken pieces.
  • Freshly made and diluted juices at room temperature.
  • Yogurt, honey and cinnamon. If your child does not like dairy yoghurt perhaps try goats or sheep yoghurt. Or even perhaps try coconut kefir.
  • Yoghurt and fresh fruit.
  • Cooked fish and vegetable patties.
  • Homemade nut/seed butters (made with soaked nuts/seeds) – Such as almond butter or tahini).
  • Cut up slices of fresh fruit.
  • Fruit sauces (to pour over ice creams, fruit or with custard etc).
  • Eggs and Soldiers: soft boiled eggs cut open with pieces of sourdough toast/or veggie sticks (If you can stick to organic free-range eggs and bread made with whole grains, rather conventional eggs and white bread).
  • Ants on a log: cut up celery/sliced carrots sticks spread with natural nut and seed butters and oil-free sultanas.
  • Soaked beans to munch on with pieces of veggies and dips (as above).
  • Hard-boiled and halved or quartered eggs as snacks.
  • Low (or no) sugar jams with small cut up slices of Essene Bread.
  • Baked goods: made with easier to digest grains (rather than wheat or soy): such as buckwheat, spelt, quinoa and amaranth and whole food sweeteners such as rapadura or maple syrup (for sweet baked goods).
  • Sweet potato cube chips: sweet potatoes washed and cut into small cubes then blanched, covered with a little bit of coconut or olive oil, turmeric and baked until soft and a little bit crispy.
  • Breakfasts: soaked porridges (made with such grain flakes as oats, quinoa or amaranth), scrambled eggs, french toast made with essene bread, fruit salad topped with a nut or seed butter.
  • Fresh or tinned fish.
  • Cubes of feta cheese are great little snacks.
  • Fermented relish, with feta cheese and soft crackers such as buckwheat crackers.
  • Blended bright fruit smoothies- or for the adventurous child try a green smoothie made with 1 type of fruit, 1 type of green leafy (such as spinach) and water.
  • Fresh nuts and seeds (depending on age of child).

For Special Occasions:

  • Chocolate/carob Puddings made with avocado, cocoa/carob powder and honey.
  • Fruit puddings made with fresh fruit, coconut meat and water -blended together.
  • Berry Sauces: (made using berries, rapadura/maple syrup and agar/kudzu (to thicken). Just boil these ingredients, mix. then cool and serve over desserts or with yoghurt.
  • Cakes and biscuits made with whole grains, natural sweeteners and real flavourings (vanilla extract (not vanilla essence) etc).

Giveaway Now Finished

A book I highly recommend on Children’s nutritional health is Don’t Tell Them It’s Healthy™ by Australian Nutritionist Karen Fischer. Karen’s book helps parents to encourage their children and teens to eat healthier by providing strategies to market food to them like a business would! Her approach helps kids to learn why and how they will benefit from eating food that is good for them. She also provides ways to explain why they will want to eat certain foods rather than just being told they have to eat it or giving the common answer that it’s just healthy and they need to eat those foods.

This month you will get a chance to win a copy of Karen’s book, Don’t Tell Them It’s Healthy’! For more information on the book (where you can also purchase it) have a look at this page on Karen’s Website.

All you have to do is answer one of these in the comments section (you have 3 choices):

  • How do you get your children to eat healthier foods?
  • Or what are great nourishing snacks you provide for your children?
  • Or what were some healthy snacks you enjoyed as a child or healthier versions of those snacks you loved?

For extra chances to win:

  1. Subscribe to Health Food Lover by Email (This signs you up to get my Feed sent straight to your email).
  2. Add my Feed to your reader.
  3. Tweet about this giveaway and follow me on twitter
  4. Post this giveaway to facebook.
  5. Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post.

Rules:

  • Open to Australian-wide only.
  • You have from today (10th of May) until the end of May to enter.
  • The winner will be chosen via random.org.
  • With every way you entered please leave a comment for each entry to let me know you entered that way.

There you go! Those are the ways to get a chance to win! With every way you enter please write a comment for it to be counted!

Good luck!

Want some time saving tips for healthier cooking? How to be time savvy for your health (or healthy meals to prepare in advance).

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mait/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Submitted to Amy’s Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, 11th of May, Kelly The Kitchen Kop’s Real Food Wednesday 12th May.
[Disclaimer- Please note I am not trying to diagnose, treat or provide any medical or nutritional advice. If you are unsure if any of the foods mentioned are right for you or your child please see your health care professional].

Michelle

Health Food Lover is Michelle Robson-Garth. Michelle is a degree-qualified Naturopath (BHSc) and Massage Therapist. She is also a passionate writer, recipe-creator and all-round foodie from Melbourne, Australia. © Copyright: 2009-2012 Michelle Robson-Garth. Please ask permission first when using any text or images on healthfoodlover.com. Read the disclaimer here. Have a look at the recipe index for more health food lovin’ recipes. Join the Facebook page & follow Health Food Lover on twitter.

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{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }

Anita May 11, 2010 at 2:51 am

Great article, Michelle! I like your choices.
?How do I get my children to eat healthier foods??
I offer a wide range of real foods to choose from, but no junky processed alternatives. I get them to help make their own foods from those choices. Toddlers & Teens are the trickiest, but there’s ways of tricking them into it:)
I really like this idea from Darya Pinto at Summer tomato- food is more satisfying if it is described as “TASTY” rather than “healthy.”
So, I often tell them “it’s great food you’re getting”, “restaurant-style”, “how fabulous/delicious this tastes!”, etc. I put on the hard sell. Lucky for me, it usually is, anyway. Good fats & real salt, & food flavours taste really good!

Reply

Michelle May 11, 2010 at 8:19 pm

Hi Anita,
Thank-you!
That’s a great tip, calling food tasty! I might do that with my nephews and see what happens!
Oh and I really agree about good fats, salts and flavours!!! They absolutely make food taste great! And we do need fats and salt in our diet so no need for people to cut them out I reckon!
Thanks for entering Anita!

Reply

Anita May 11, 2010 at 2:55 am

I tweeted you!

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Michelle May 11, 2010 at 8:34 pm

And thanks for tweeting!

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Michelle (OpenEyeHealth) May 11, 2010 at 4:26 pm

Hi Michelle! Great ideas; I am getting hungry just reading this post! Do you have any suggestions for homemade healthy veggie dips? I would love to try one!

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Michelle May 11, 2010 at 8:34 pm

Hi Michelle.

How about roasted red pepper and lentil dip…..or…..beetroot and feta? or How bout some avocado, coriander & lime dip?

Thanks for that!

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Mary Preston May 12, 2010 at 6:01 am

The best tip I have is growing healthy food and eating healthy food. Involve the children in all the steps along the way. Fun too!!

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Monique May 12, 2010 at 10:03 am

“How do you get your children to eat healthier foods?”
I am a huge fan of hidden vegies in meals – so meatloaf or pasta with lots of grated vegies. I actually use my grater to death grating up all sorts of things to put in meals!!!

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Monique May 12, 2010 at 10:04 am

I just signed up for the email newsletter :)

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Monique May 12, 2010 at 10:06 am

And I am now following you on twitter and have tweeted this giveaway!

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alana May 12, 2010 at 12:11 pm

i give my son rice cakes and fruit for snacks he loves it. lately he has started refusing to eat and being a pain.. bring on the terrible twos

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Madeline May 12, 2010 at 5:32 pm

I make lots of green smoothies around here. My little boy is crazy about them. I use kale, frozen fruit, and a little bit of juice. He thinks it’s ice cream.

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Katrina May 12, 2010 at 7:10 pm

I do not buy sweets and I try and set an example by eating well myself.

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AmandaSue May 12, 2010 at 7:43 pm

I get them to eat healthier by mixing vegs and fruits in foods they already love. If they can’t see the food they will eat it!

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Christa May 13, 2010 at 12:37 am

My toddler is getting better at eating veggies, and some of the ways that I that encourage him to eat healthier foods are: focusing on veggies he likes (broccoli and carrots), having him help me to prepare his food and singing “Eating healthy is good for you!” from Super Why. I give him his veggies first, either right before or during a meal, so that he won’t get full and not eat them.

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Michelle May 14, 2010 at 6:58 am

These are great points everyone! Good to hear there are so many healthy families out there! Looking forward to posting the winner towards the end of the month.
Keep the entries and great ideas coming!

Reply

Rachael B May 14, 2010 at 6:31 pm

I get my son to eat healthfully by not providing other options. He’s never tasted fast food, etc, so he only knows about fresh fruits, veggies, lean meats, whole grains, etc. (Ok plus the occasional mac’n’cheese lunch every now and then)

Reply

Cricket Saunders May 15, 2010 at 12:40 am

How do you get your children to eat healthier foods?

Right now all my baby eats is stage two foods but I try to keep him healthy by only giving him organic or homemade foods!

Reply

Cricket Saunders May 15, 2010 at 12:41 am

Subscribed to Health Food Lover by Email

Reply

Cricket Saunders May 15, 2010 at 12:42 am

Added your Feed to my reader

Reply

Cricket Saunders May 15, 2010 at 12:46 am

following you on twitter: CricketSaunders

tweeted: http://twitter.com/CricketSaunders/status/14007413056

is it a daily tweet?

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Michelle May 15, 2010 at 5:40 am

Just one tweet is fine, but you can tweet it as many times as you like :)

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Caitlin May 15, 2010 at 2:21 am

I’ve been lucky with my daughter (which probably mean my son will be a bear when he gets there), as she eats well. She definitely loves junk, but we don’t have much in the house, so it’s not an option. I’ve found that as long as she doesn’t constantly get the same healthy food and items cycle through her diet she’s pretty happy to eat them. The funny thing about her is she only likes her carrots a certain way. Raw and cut into slices (or circles, as she says). She does not like baby carrots, sticks, or taking the whole thing. What a goon!!

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Julie May 15, 2010 at 3:09 am

Great giveaway – thankyou!

The nourishing snacks I provide for my stepdaugher include –

: Natural yoghurt mixed with berries
: Bran and banana muffins
: Raspberry friands (gluten free)
: Fruit smoothies
: Rice crackers with hummus

I am very blessed that she loves all sorts of food.

Reply

Cricket Saunders May 15, 2010 at 5:48 pm
Cami May 16, 2010 at 2:37 am

We offer 2-3 vegetables and 1-2 fruits at every meal and my kids choose. Sometimes they even try each one!

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Amy May 17, 2010 at 2:20 am

I always enjoyed carrot sticks and little packets of raisins when I was a kid (in fact I still enjoy both). Once my daughter is old enough I am going to offer her a large range of fruit & veges and to make it a bit more interesting I will mix it up a bit – carrot sticks one night, rounds the next, frozen peas in summer etc

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Jocelyn May 19, 2010 at 12:26 am

I get my little ones to eat healthy by only providing snacks and treats that ARE healthy! They have never had sugar so don’t ask for it!! I’d LOVE to peek inside your book! Thanks

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chanelle May 19, 2010 at 2:56 pm

Start ’em young! My kids will try almost anything because they have always had a variety of healthy foods to choose from.

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Aaron Raynor May 23, 2010 at 10:17 am

Sauce, my mum would get me to eat sprouts and other veggies by covering them in sauce. Make your own homemade chutneys or sauces so it’s all good and healthy.

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Candice May 25, 2010 at 12:12 pm

My 2.5yr old has all of a sudden started to refuse eating his fruit & veges. Ive been hiding different fruits blended with milk to make “milkshakes” & grating up all different veges, rolling into sausage like shapes coating with bread crumbs & frying them to make “sausages”. Also omlettes are great for adding small diced veges too as well.

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Candice May 25, 2010 at 12:12 pm

Ive subscribed to your feed.

Reply

Candice May 25, 2010 at 12:13 pm

Ive subscribed via email.

Reply

Candice May 25, 2010 at 12:16 pm

I follow you on Twitter @Candy3181 & retweeted using your retweet button.

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Gale May 31, 2010 at 5:41 pm

I have a big bowl of fruit I try to keep filled all the time. Any time anyone wants a snack, they can have fruit (or a carrot). I limit un-healthy snacks, but I make the healthy ones easy for them. So, they eat more fruit than candy!

Reply

Gale May 31, 2010 at 5:51 pm
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