Comments are welcome.)
Tired of packing the same old lunches for your kids? We are, too! We've been on the lookout for some interesting ideas for snacks to round out a healthy lunch box. Toss one of these goodies into your little one's midday meal and introduce them to something new!
1 Squeezable Fruit: These single serve packages are 100% fruit and provide a break from traditional lunch box fare, like apple slices. Homemade Harvey, in three flavors ($1.69 each). Available at Whole Foods Market.
2 Dried or dehydrated fruit: For another variation on the fruit theme, try dried or dehydrated fruit. Sometimes kids will try an exotic new food if it comes in a fun, dried form. Various kinds available at your local supermarket, or try Trader Joe's for some more unusual types.
3 Whole Wheat Pretzels: Lot of kids love pretzels as a snack, and they are healthier than chips. Kick up the nutrition with a whole wheat version. Trader Joe's Honey Whole Wheat Pretzels ($1.89 per bag).
4 Cereal and Granola Bars: There are lots of options for these bars on the market, many made with whole wheat, real fruit, and less sugar. Try Barbara's Fruit and Yogurt Bars (at Whole Foods; $3.59 for a box of 6) or Revolution Foods' Grammy Sammies (at Babies R Us; $3.29 for a pack of 5).
5 Seaweed snacks: For the more adventurous eater, try a super healthy seaweed snack! Sea's Gift comes in sweet or roasted versions. Available at Whole Foods ($0.79 per pack).
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As a stay-at-home dad, I am always looking for snacks like this. Great suggestions! I'm headed out to shop right now... :)
I like the idea of the seaweed snacks. Do you know if they are high in sodium?
Nice post, Beth!
While I completely empathize with those times when I feel like it's the same ole' same ole' snacks, I hesitate going for items like the squeezable fruit that's so far from the original state of the fruit that it seems to perpetuate the notion that the real fruit is ho-hum, boring old fruit. I think of what Michael Pollard stated in his book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, in which he encourages us to serve and consume foods that our great-great grandparents could have recognized as food.
We are cultivating attitudes toward food that can be beneficial or detrimental....
These are all fantastic ideas, especially the squeezable fruit! Can't wait to use them at our next practice!
I know my kids are going to flip out for the Squeezable Fruit! What a great idea. Now, if I could just get them to eat the Seaweed Snacks I'd be one step closer to having them eat the food I like. Thanks Beth! Keep those ideas coming.
Fun! And yum!
I always have some frozen fruit sauce pouches on hand. European summers are hot and these make great treats. Take it out of the freezer (or pack it in your bag, as the case may be) a couple of hours in advance and it should thaw well enough (remaining very, very cold) in time to enjoy.
@natashah, actually, they are pretty low in sodium. I have some Sea's Gift and some Trader Joe's roasted seaweed snack, and each have only 50 mg sodium per serving. Thanks for asking!
Ooh, I didn't know about these seaweed snacks. Thanks! I wonder if I could get them in my kids? I would certainly like them.
Freezing the squeezable fruit is a great idea. Fun post and great pics!
What ever happened to carrot sticks and apple slices? We're trying to move away from food that comes from packages - God only knows how long that food has traveled...
I like the idea of eating food as it naturally comes, but sometimes that just doesn't roll with kids:) To spice it up, and add something special I really like the idea of the fruit pouch! I'll definitely be adding it to my daughters lunch- thanks!
Whole wheat pretzels...yum! I wish we had Trader Joe's here.
And if my daughter would eat fruit at all--in whatever form!--I would gladly give it to her in a pouch! :) That's one thing I've learned having a few kids, sometimes no matter what you try, one of them just won't eat something while the others love it.
Great ideas!
Trader Joe's also sells the fruit pouches in a four-pack (limited flavors but good price) and I even just saw them at Publix (local grocery store) in the fruit section. DH and I had some ourselves when we were in Europe (really popular for babies/kids there) and they were actually really good!
Getting kids hooked on processed foods is bad for their health and for the family budget. I'd be wary of store-bought value-added items like fruit snacks and bars if you don't want a child who turns his nose up at actual fruit.
As an adult who has never really liked fruit, I'm interested in giving Homemade Harvey a try..... and while I understand the sentiment behind those opposed to serving fruits in anything but their natural form, check out the link which shows the ingredients - nothing but organic fruit! Sometimes you have to introduce new foods in creative ways in order for the flavors to catch on!
Squeezable fruit containers are adorable! Nevermind the kids, I may get some for myself. Great suggestions all around. Thanks!
The fruit squeezy things are basically applesauce with other fun flavors. I give them to my 2 year old as a snack, and they certainly haven't stopped her from enjoying all types of fruit (of course, we're talking about a child who once tore open a clamshell container of blue berries in a Trader Joes, sending them flying, and has gnawed through banana peels when I wasn't looking).
By the way, my kids can't get enough of the freeze-dried mangoes from Trader Joes, and they are very portable. Also not as sticky as the dried kind.
Am I the only one who balks at the price tag on the squeezable fruit? Especially when compared to the cost of applesauce or real, actual fruit? It might be a nice treat every once in a while, but it's not something I'd put in my kid's lunchbox everyday, especially since it wouldn't be the main food item in their lunch.
Interesting ideas! And, as others have said, it does seem effective to introduce new or exotic flavors in ways that will make less-than-adventurous kids attempt something out of their norm. Thanks for the suggestions on how to do just that, but in a healthy way!
I think these are great. We use real fruit at home, but my daughter has trouble with a whole apple and the slices get brown and slimy on longer outings, bananas don't fare well banging around in the diaper bag and oranges are hard for her to peel. Things like these are great, because you can throw them in the diaper bag and don't have to worry about taking them out if they aren't consumed that day.
Now, if I could just get a Whole Foods and a Trader Joe's in my area!
Definitely trying those seaweed snacks!
Is the squeezable fruit freezable? In my secret fantasy, it would become a slushy, summery treat for hot days, day hikes and beach trips.
It's nice to see gim featured on an american blog. We always wrap seaweed sheets around rice for a quick snack.
I'm not understanding the controversy behind squeezable fruit. Isn't it just like applesauce? It's a good alternative to sweets that parents might be tempted to reach for in the name of convenience.
Great post!
I would have liked to see more snacks that don't come pre-packaged, in individual throwaway containers. I pack my son's snacks in tupperware, or in wax paper bags which can be composted.
Great ideas and discussion. I wasn't going to comment but I feel compelled to add my 2 cents on the squeezable fruit. My 15 month old loves all fruit! Blackberries are his current fav. When I found these fruit pouches I was thrilled because, like someone said before, they travel well. Babies R Us also has some pouches with broccoli, peas, or carrots. They are organic and since I've been making homemade purees for my son since he started eating solid food, this IS their natural form as far as I'm concerned.
I'd love to try the seaweed!
i agree with carrie h and clarity13.
while i'm not broke i don't really like the idea that i'm paying for something i could make myself from fresh fruit and create less waste in the process. my son has a goodbyn so it would just go into one of his sections of it anyway.
Organic fruit in children = good
Individual packages of fruit in containers that can't be recycled = wasteful and stupid
The controversy is the packaging, and I have to admit that "landfill friendly" really caught my eye. I checked them out last night at the store and it made me pretty angry. What total greenwashing hogwash.
I called Homemade Harvey this morning and was eventually connected to the CEO. She confirmed that "landfill friendly" meant that drum, roll, the packaging was small. And also that it a mistake to print it on the packaging. New packages will remove the absurd language. They've also signed with a speciality recycler who will be able to recycle the packaging.
My 2 1/2 year old loves those fruit crushers. Some more ideas here:
http://thesweetest3.com/?p=1238
Try these, the original french version, cheaper and available in the US. Standard in France for years!!! Got ours last week and my daughter loves them.
http://amzn.to/9AFrIA
I really think it needs to be pointed out that any child sent to school with a tupperware container of gooey seaweed in their lunch boxes (at any age) will absolutely be made fun of until at least the end of the school year. I don't care how adventurous your child's tastes are, giving them something so strange that most adults would hesitate to try it is equal to sending them off to school with a kick-me sign on their back. Don't be surprised if they come home with one.
I'm fairly certain that the only ones who get "Bored" of the kids usual lunches are the adults making them. Most children like knowing what to expect. They have their favorite foods and when given the choice, they'll eat them almost every day for months at a time. And if that food isn't unhealthy, what's wrong with that? I'm certainly not saying healthy snacks are a bad idea, but if your kids need their fruit altered to the point of being completely unrecognizable then it's most likely that they've been trained to think that anything healthy is bad and that "yummy treats" can only be junk food or fast food.
@Nedra, if it makes any difference, the seaweed isn't gooey, it's like potato chips. Green, yes, but crispy like chips. And I suppose it also depends on where you live and what kind of school your child attends. I'm not sure kids at Alice Waters' Edible Schoolyard schools would get made fun of. Yes, that's the minority, for sure. But I don't think it's an absolute.
I agree that it's the adults that get bored. I certainly am the one who is bored with the lunches. But I also want my son(s) to be eating a wide variety of foods so that they get a full array of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals.
Thanks for the tips, Beth. Just to second #2: My son won't eat fresh mango but loves it dehydrated. If you're worried about waste, You can buy a big bag of it and then put single servings in a "happy sack."
Dried seaweed is a favorite snack at my kid's preschool, which requires uber health in what you bring.
I'm a kindergarten teacher. Every day at snack time I watch our trash can fill to overflowing with the non-recyclable detritus from squeezable/scoopable/slurpable/disposable convenience foods that pass for meals. It might not seem like a big deal for your child to bring one or two of these items each day, but multiply that by 460 kids x 180 days a year x 1,000's of schools across the nation, and the picture looks a bit different. As parents, you have a valuable opportunity to teach your child eating habits that are sustainable over the long term. Please use it!
I am looking for snacks for myself . . . to bring to work. Those seaweed crips, do you dip them in hummus or something? Or do you just eat them plain. What do they taste like?
LOVE IT!
As a Dad that is responsible for lunches, I'm always looking for ways to keep it healthy, exciting and fun. Unlike some who think their children like day in and day out the same thing, mine likes it constantly different. These will do it all.
We even tried the Homemade Harvey's and Seaweed (the seaweed was a stretch for me, but not my 3year old when all was said and done) today, before I sent it off to school, with great success.
I totally agree with some of the people here, as well as sharply disagree with a couple. You have to know your child, teach them healthy eating habits and model for them that making fun of others just because they are trying something different is not cool.
Thanks for the tips Beth!
@janeaustenaddict, the seaweed isn't super sturdy, so they'd probably be hard to dip in anything. They are very light and crispy-- even thinner than a regular potato chip. And they come in different flavors. The Sea's Gift ones come in sweet and savory-- my favorite is sweet, which has just a little bit of sweetness and some sesame seeds mixed in. TJ's now carries their own version that is called "Roasted Seaweed Snack"-- it's just seaweed, canola & sesame oil and salt. It tastes a bit fishy, kind of like the ocean, and salty. You have to try them! I think I've seen a version somewhere that is sesame flavor, too, but I can't remember where.
An idea of something similiar in a reusable container... puree your own fruit and put in a boon squirt spoon (http://www.booninc.com/squirt.html). It's meant for baby food and only holds about 4 ounces but my preschooler seemed to have fun with it for applesauce and yogurt.
Also, it anyone familiar with if seaweed has any metal contamination concerns?
Thanks!
My husband and I have a lunch website with lots of healthy ideas and everything has nutrition info and a picture.
http://www.lunchtaker.com
We tried the squeezable fruit on a recent trip to Disney - we figured it was far from natural state but decent for that type of trip. My kids (us too) really thought it was gross. We tried it cold and warm and each time we all said yuck and opted to buy the expensive fruit they had for sale.