To ask what snacks you feed constantly hungry kids?

[lollilou2]

Especially kids who prefer to eat little and often rather than big portions?

Trying to cut out the biscuits that are starting to appear far too often, but sometimes a apple just doesn’t cut it!

breadsticks, we buy the big ones which are great for days out or with a group, dish out the breadsticks. Also the mini ones in packs with some houmous or cheese triangles are good. Rice cakes, savoury or the sweet ones with yoghurt or chocolate on top, such a thin layer I don’t see it as too bad. I’ll sometimes say have more breakfast then and do more cereal. My kids also like cream crackers. These are all pretty good but they also love biscuits so I’ll sometimes do a deal of a more filling snack plus a biscuit.

My daughter is constantly hungry at the moment. I'm not sure if it's a growth spurt or what.
She is having crackers with either tomato puree, cheese, or both on. She also likes a chopped up granny smith apple with a little pot of honey or choc spread to dip the chunks in to.

She's never been a massive meal eater.

Cheese and apple cubes
Greek yogur
Salami
Apples and peanut butter

cheese, houmous, yoghurt, bananas, nuts - all quite filling.
Let them make fruit kebabs out if a selection of fruit - also slows them down so they can sense when they are getting full.

Boiled eggs
Hummus and carrots or peppers
Fish fingers
Fruit
Oat cakes and peanut butter
Tortilla (omelette type)
Nuts
Cheese and crackers
Cherry tomatoes, cucumber, frozen peas
Beans on toast

Cheese, cucumber, carrot, fruit, rice cakes, popcorn, cream crackers, yoghurt, bread sticks, toast, leftover meat, crumpet, sausage rolls or cereal.
I found routine helps so mine have 3 meals and a snack, know what times these are and know that between these times there's no food. I also have had a rule fruit or vegetables first along with a drink which fills them up. Always sit at the table to eat.

• Carrot sticks with hummus
• Healthy cereal
• Seeded/Wholegrain toast
• Homemade breakfast bars (www.nigella.com/recipes/breakfast-bars)

Re: the bars you can vary the ingredients (I've done them with dried cherries/chocolate chips or apricot and macadamia nuts etc).

Really easy to make (I can make in 5 mins as I just eyeball the ingredients now as I'm
so used to making them and then it's just hands off oven time).

Banana sandwiches 😋 .Toast and peanut butter 😋 . Love the way it melts , sort of .

Oatcakes are great, super easy to make homemade ones too. Greek yoghurt. Raw veg sticks. Hard boiled eggs. Mini weetabix. Roasted chickpeas.

Savoury definitely, hummus and crackers perhaps, thigh ideally wholemeal pitta actually plus salad.

I also would clamp down on the snacking as it encourages overeating

Breadsticks, toast, cereal, homemade flapjacks, sandwiches, endless amounts of fruit... it's never ending atm, I have a few going through growth spurts, my shopping bill is eye watering.

I’d try and get more calorie dense foods in at meal times, but otherwise..

Peanut butter and apple
Babybells and apple / oatcakes
Banana and nuts
yogurt with whatever fruit
humous with carrot sticks / oatcakes
cream cheese with carrot sticks / oatcakes
peice of toast with peanut butter / cream cheese

etc

Also quesadillas.

Two tortilla wraps. Lay one in a dry fry pan (no oil) add grated cheese and anything else you fancy/have such a ham, tomato, spring onion, chilli if you like heat etc. Slap the other wrap on top.

Pan on and wait until it's toasted on the bottom (couple of minutes) flip and repeat.

Cut into six wedges like a pizza (serves two - 3 each as a snack). Alternatively one each with some beans as a quick meal when in a rush.

Hot cross buns, ham sandwiches, sausage rolls, Grapes, raisins, anything my son will eat tbh

We use homemade flapjacks/cereal bars.

Pancakes are quick and easy to make (flour,egg,milk really) with some bannana and fruit on. You can freeze an additional ones if you make too much mix then a quick warm up of one through the week.

I do the same with porridge once it's done on the hob, serve one serving then put the rest in a few little tubs with an extra splash of milk in then you can reheat for brekkie or supper with some blueberries or strawberry or honey

Breadsticks with humous, cucumber, hard boiled egg or apple.

Our DS used to like ham rolled up with cheese In the middle as a snack or part of little nibbles at snack time

Apple slices with peanut butter

Egg in a cup (soft boiled egg mashed in a cup with a knob of butter and salt and pepper) Scottish childhood staple 😋

Cold tuna pasta

Yoghurt and berries

Bananas, ALL the berries, bread sticks, rice cakes, crackers with cheese, cucumber sticks, slices of ham with grated cheese inside rolled up, crusty bread and butter, small bowl of cereal, yogurt with honey, leftover cooked chicken/fridge raider type things.

I find my kids are most "satisfied" aka willing to be done eating and not just eat for the sake of it if they have something decent and then a small biscuit after like a custard cream or something. Then they've had something sweet they feel "done" so they usually get a biscuit or two after lunch and then a couple of these other snacks in between.

They are quite fussy though but I've come to know what they like.

Don't fill them up with refined carbs, like biscuits and bread, as they will be hungry again shortly afterwards. Instead give higher fat and higher protein foods such as cheese, nuts, avocado, beans etc.

Breadsticks, popcorn, cheese and crackers, carrots and hummus, olives, apple and peanut butter, smoothies,flapjack

Place marking for my very fussy 3 and 4 year old

I agree re: snacking in general but there are times when children are having growth spurts where their appetite goes crazy.

For example when my son was a mid-late teen he was perpetually hungry (never overweight). Had a good breakfast at home, plus homemade substantial pack up and evening meal. He still needed food more regularly. He just needed a lot of fuel for being very active and a big growth spurt.

So I just tried to make sure we had things that were healthy. Those nigellla bars were a godsend in terms of cost and keeping him satiated.

If they will only eat little and often (so from the sound of it, they aren't having a full meal at meal times) then it's even more important to make sure the snacks are healthy and along the lines of what they're missing from a full meal. IE, veg like carrot sticks, protein such as hummus or eggs, hearty filling carbs such as oatcakes etc.

You say the biscuits are disappearing at an alarming rate- I'd definitely not be offering biscuits until they'd eaten enough proper food. Often snackers opt for snacking because the snacks being offered are the more desirable fun foods.

DS (5) is a bottomless pit nursery suggested bigger snacks that include a whole grain carb, protein and a fruit/veg eg wholemeal toast with nut butter and banana sliced on top, humous, carrot sticks and mini pitta, he also likes babybel, a few crackers and apple slices, we also still give him full fat milk to drink several times a day, he eats like a horse but he's on the lower end of healthy BMI and very active/lots of sports clubs so I'm conscious to make sure he's getting enough fuel type food. We also make banana bread with just mashed bananas, eggs, butter, flour, baking powder and a splash of milk/water, sometimes I put nut butter in, other times cinnamon and a few sultanas a slice of that and some full fat yogurt goes down a treat after school and before gymnastics. He also has free access to the fruit bowl anytime

Just a caveat he eats 3 decent meals a day, if he didn't the snacks would be reduced