What's your secret to healthy snacking?

[LouMumsnet]

Calling all snackers - and parents of snackers!

We're writing a Mumsnet guide to healthy snacking and would love to include some gems from wise Mumsnetters. We're after crafty ways to get more fruit and veg into the DC, and clever, portable snacks to eat in the car after school or on the go.

Please do pop your ideas in this thread - we look forward to reading them.

Thank you

I don't think these are innovative but we like apples and peanut butter and recently I've started banana sandwiches (peanut/almond butter sandwiched between a banana sliced down the middle).

We love making egg "muffins" (essentially mini omelettes) with various fillings such as broccoli cheese, mushroom, carrot and pea.
They're nice hot or cold.
I think I actually came across them as a weaning food but my older ones love them too (so do DH and I) 🥕

Nuts! DS1 does not eat any fruit or veg, but he will eat nut bars because he doesn't know they're healthy. They're full of fibre, protein and other nutrients. His favourite are the M&S nuts, seeds and sea salt bars.

I complain loudly and go on about them as though they were as bad as Mars Bars.

@SquirtleSquad

We love making egg "muffins" (essentially mini omelettes) with various fillings such as broccoli cheese, mushroom, carrot and pea. They're nice hot or cold. I think I actually came across them as a weaning food but my older ones love them too (so do DH and I) 🥕

I make them too! With egg white - spinach and tomato are nice.

I’ve just put cottage cheese on seaweed thins and it was DIVINE.

I’m going to have to pull a 🤔 face on that!

Have the healthy snacks ready to eat. Carrot sticks already cut in the fridge, so they are as easy to grab as a biscuit.

Do not keep unhealthy snacks in the house. That way, you have to make a special effort - ie walk to the shop, if you really want to eat something like a chocolate bar. Make it hard for yourself - never ever have multi packs of crisps in the house.

And keep your fruitbowl full of fruit.

Frozen yoghurts, they take so long to eat, taste gorgeous and you're full by the end. Also frozen grapes and cut up apples. Oh and loads of water

I figure if I run to Pret or M&S I deserve any snack I want !

Do not keep unhealthy snacks in the house.
I'm the opposite on this, when there's nothing in the house I crave it. If we have a full mix of healthy and unhealthy I'll push for healthier

Always cook too much because leftovers make great snacks
Always have a full fruit bowl and lots of veg
Always have eggs

I like to have things like squirty cream, mini marshmallows, sprinkles, chocolate chips, syrup and sauces to make something simple into a dessert or treat. Love a hot chocolate which looks great too, or an ice cream Sunday or jelly. I like to mini ones so not too crazy calorie wise but feels like a treat

I usually have some chicken of some kind I the fridge ready to eat. Drumsticks, leftover roast chicken, marinated chicken strips, etc. I also like prawns and other sea food for a quick snack

Frozen grapes and blueberries, lovely and somehow feel more substantial than they do otherwise.

Chilli pickles (Aldi) straight from the jar. Properly kill cravings for sweet stuff.

Buy a whole watermelon, they work out at a decent price when you use the whole thing. Chop some up and leave it prepared in the fridge for snacking and freeze slices (can add lolly sticks if you like) to eat straight out of the freezer like an ice lolly frozen candy floss grapes are also amazing!

Carrots - kids love to eat whole carrots like Peter rabbit!

Or you could not snack.

Pickled silverskin onions. Yum

Popcorn

Sugar free jelly with fruit. Frequently have one made up in the fridge that's easy to pick at. Often have another made up with natural yoghurt to accompany.
Favourite flavours are orange jelly with mandarins and lemon/lime jelly with yoghurt. Make a really refreshing pud x

pickled gherkins

scottish oatcakes eaten slowly

I second oatcakes - when my children were really little, they thought they were biscuits.. sadly, this didn't last very long..
Oatcakes with cheese/houmous/peanut butter

Homemade flapjack - takes less than ten minutes to mix together the ingredients and stick in the oven

Plain natural yoghurt with honey

Hard boiled eggs

Banana cake - don't add sugar to the ingredients, bananas are sweet enough

Medjoul dates (not expensive if you buy from Aldi)

I know many will hate this, but I have rice cakes spread with marmite, and cottage cheese on top!

Rice cakes are evil. Sugar spike stuff.