toddler snacks

[TurquoiseCat]

3yo DD is on an 'eat everything in sight and ask for more immediately' mission. I reckon she's building up for a monumental growth spurt.

The problem is, I can't think of anything else to give her! She currently eats cheese, ham, egg (scrambled), cucumber and carrot sticks, fruit (but not apples or small berries), plain breadsticks/crackers, toast (but no peanut butter), cereal (the more unhealthy the better in her eyes), and crisps of every description every given opportunity.

With the bloody abundance of chocolate and sweets in the house and with DD getting over chicken pox plus the weather being crappy, the combination of hungry/tired/cabin fever/'I want chocolate'/general toddler whinging is getting a bit much!

Does anyone have any recipes or ideas for healthy snacks - preferably ones that are easy to prepare (the amount of effort put in seems to be directly linked with the rate of refusal)?

Why does there need to be variety? If she is genuinely hungry then give something that is filling - Ham sandwich or hard- boiled eggs plus cucumber, pepper, carrot sticks. After having that say they have to wait for their next meal. Don't give crisps or cereal as that is just tasty and makes a child want more of something.

I would prefer variety as she eaten the same ham/egg/cheese with cucumber and fruit lunch for the past six months (or more, all the damn lunches have merged into one non-varied lump). That's why I asked for some new ideas!

How about tuna or salmon or hoummous in a wholemeal pitta, plain pancake with banana, yoghurt, couscous salad with spring onion and raisins, cheese on toast, tortilla wrap pizza, oatcakes with a smear of Philadelphia

Will she eat porridge or veggie soup?

Ds loves making flapjacks and with me (try to make them fairly healthy)

If you are feeling brave and want to 'cook' together, my DS (2.9) and I make these;

Should make a dozen but he eats the mixture whilst we make it :)

Three dates
Cooking chocolate
Small Ella's Kitchen fruit purée pouch - we like mango.
Then whatever else you fancy in the way of seeds, dried fruit, ground or chopped nuts, oats etc (we use almonds but obvs be careful with nuts and small children.

I whizz up the dates and any bigger seeds, then put them in a mixing bowl with the purée. We then just add all the other bits and pieces until we have a mixture that is suitable to roll up into little balls - maybe large marble sized.

Then we freeze the balls for thirty minutes. When DS has lost interest I dip them in chocolate, just a little bit to hold them together. You could use yogurt instead I think.

He loves them, they're really healthy compared to the usual shop bought rubbish too.

very hard not to eat them myself though

Pancakes
Veggie muffins
Cheese scones
Flapjack
Chopped fruit
Grated cheese
Dried fruit

These all go down well here.

I make these cheese and brocolli muffins for my DD, she loves them, they are perfect snack size, they freeze well and you can use different veg _ I did cheese, carrot and courgette and they turned out well.

www.babyledweaning.com/blw-recipes/broccoli-and-cheese-muffins/

How about avacado? My almost 2 year old loves them and they're filling. Especially in a brown pitta with hummus and a bit of tomato.

Scotch pancakes
Plain biscuits _ digestive type
Slices if omlette

My 4yo son loves crumpets, toaster waffles and pancakes, quesadillas with ham and cheese, rice cakes with peanut butter or Philadelphia, cooked chicken, pita bread and hummus, home made granola bars/flapjacks/healthy brownies, some times I made batches of savory muffins/scones and freeze them too

Ooh suggestions - thanks very much!

I'll try some pitta breads with different dips, she's turned her nose up at hummus before, but perseverance might win through!

Savoury muffins might also be good - I use to make some cracking cheese veggie ones before DD, so can try altering the recipe (there's more chilli in my original than DD will be comfortable with)!

Thanks to everyone taking the time to reply - my thinking brain is too frazzled at the supermarket for inspiration, probably due to the constant badgering for 'elsa yoghurts' or 'peppa biscuits' or just 'SWEETS'

DS is 2 and also eats everything in sight. Current favourites are:

• Dim sum (I buy big bags of frozen gyoza from Costco and steam them)
• Popcorn (low fat/sugar/salt variants only)
• Porridge
• Cheese on toast

He also eats leftovers from our dinners, I cook extra of things like cous cous and roasted vegetables and he has them for his lunch the next day.