Healthy Snacks for School or on the Go

Healthy Snacks for School or on the Go!

These ideas were assembled with the idea of preparing school snacks, but would work equally well for munchy time at home!

Veggies:

Broccoli

Carrot Sticks

Cauliflower

Celery Sticks – plain or filled with cheese spread, cream cheese, or peanut butter (top with raisins for “ants on a log”!)

Cucumber Sticks or Wheels

Green Onions

Mushrooms

Olives

Pickles

Radishes

Sprouts (bean)

Sugar Snap Peas (fresh)

Sweet/Green Pepper Strips

Tofu

Tomato Wedges

Serve with or without dressing/dip. Many cookbooks & web pages also offer ways of “dressing up” fruits & vegetables to be cute or more appealing to kids.

Fruit:

Fresh:

Apples

Apricots

Avacado

Bananas

Blackberries

Blueberries

Cantaloupe

Cherries

Dates

Grapes

Honey Dew

Kiwi

Mango

Nectarines

Oranges

Papaya

Peaches

Pears

Pineapple

Plums

Raspberries

Strawberries

Watermelon

Cut into wedges, slices or bite size pieces. Eat plain or with cheese, honey/coconut or honey/oats, kabobs speared on pretzel sticks, yogurt or peanut butter.

Dried:

Apples

Apricots

Bananas

Blueberries

Cantaloupe

Cherries

Coconut

Mango

Mix

Papaya

Peaches

Pears

Pineapple

Prunes

Raisins (plain or covered in yogurt)

Strawberries

Fruit leather such as fruit roll ups or gummy fruit can be substituted, but is usually higher in sugar, so not as recommended.

Cheese:

Cottage cheese

Sliced or Cubed or String (White or yellow American, cheddar, swiss, mozzarella, gouda, monterey jack, Colby, pepper jack, etc.)

Ricotta

Grains:

Bread:

Slice of (white, wheat, multi-grain, raisin, banana, corn, pumpkin, rye, pumpernickel, cranberry, carrot, melba toast, orange, pita, zucchini, etc.)

Bread Sticks

Bagel

Muffins – NOT cupcakes (banana, blueberry, cream cheese, poppy, lemon, wheat, cranberry, strawberry, pumpkin, corn, multi-grain, bran, apple, cinnamon, raspberry, blackberry, carrot, orange, zucchini, etc.)

Corn or rice cakes

Rolls

Croissant

Scones

Breads may be served plain or with cream cheese (spread), honey (spread), peanut butter, jelly/jam/preserves, slices of cheese and/or slices of meat.

Crackers:

Saltine, butter, cheese flavored, wheat, multi-grain, sesame, graham, goldfish/whales, animal, etc.

May be served plain or with cheese spread or slices/cubes, cream cheese spread or peanut butter

Cereal:

Cheerios, Kix, Life, Chex, Granola, Rice Crispies, Oh’s, King Vitamin, Cracklin’ Oat Bran, Oat or Corn Squares, Crispix, etc.

Cereal, granola, or grain bars (maybe filled with a fruit filling) - NOT cereal bars that are overly sweet or bars with chocolate coating.

Cereals can be served plain, mixed (consider Chex Mix) or with milk.

Miscellaneous Grains:

Pretzels (Serve plain or with cream cheese spread, cheese spread, dip or peanut butter.)

Fruit bars or fruit cookies such as fig or apple newtons

Oatmeal raisin cookies might be a nice occasional treat because of all the sugar.

Other Snacks:

Popcorn (Plain, buttered, salted or seasoned. Can also be made into balls using corn syrup, molasses, or peanut butter.)

Trail mix (Dried fruits & nuts. M&M’s may be added in moderation)

Applesauce (Plain or flavored)

Jello (regular or with added fruit and/or cream cheese cubes. Also make “Jigglers” for a twist.)

Pudding (think sugar free)

Yogurt (Mix in items such as grape nuts, coconut, granola, etc)

Hard boiled eggs

Vegetable juice such as V-8

Sandwich meats (Bologna, turkey, ham, salami, etc)

Fruit cups

Vegetable chips/sticks (in the potato chip aisle)

Vienna Sausages

Seeds – pumpkin, sunflower, etc.

Wasabi/wasabe peas (mix with some oriental sticks such as rice, sesame, soy nuts, etc. FYI – they can be rather, um, warm, to the taste)

Carob covered fruits or nuts (a healthy(ier) substitute for chocolate)

Smoothies can be made in advance & frozen to preserve the coldness before snacktime.

Dip Suggestions:

Pizza Sauce

Spinach dip

Apple Butter dip

Dill & plain yogurt dip

Peanut butter & honey dip

Salsa

Onion dip

Ketchup

Caramel

Vanilla yogurt

Brown or spicy mustard

Mayonnaise, vinegar & sugar dip

Sweet & sour sauce

Barbeque sauce

Nut spread such as Nutella

Hummus

Ideas for Mixing It Up!

Sandwiches – only half or quarter size. (Cut with shaped cookie cutters for added appeal! Remember that not all sandwiches have to be meat & cheese. Try fruit & cheese, veggies & cream cheese spread, peanut butter & fruit such as bananas.)

Roll Ups/Wraps – use a lettuce leaf, slice of cheese & deli sliced meat, or roll a vegetable stick or fruit wedge in a slice of cheese & deli sliced meat. A spread or dip can be included.

Dip graham crackers in some applesauce.

Kabobs – slice of veggie, cube of cheese, cube or slice of rolled up meat – Voila!

Mix up some fruit cubes & throw in some coconut or miniature marshmallows

Cracker sandwiched with peanut butter or cheese spread

Cottage cheese and fruit

Things to stay away from:

Candy including chocolate

Cookies as they are usually full of sugar

Cupcakes

Cake

Chips such as potato, corn, cheese, tortilla, etc.

Big portions more geared towards a meal

Items needing a heat source such as an oven or microwave

Frozen items that need to stay frozen

Jerky is usually high in sodium

This list comes from much time spent researching the web & previous schools’ snack ideas lists. I hope this page helps others to find new ideas to promote better health in their family.

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