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Healthy Snacks For Toddlers

July 13, 2022 by Lindsay Leave a Comment

Need ideas for healthy snacks for toddlers? This list is specifically geared towards kids 1-3 years old, with homemade and storebought ideas for at home and on the go.

healthy toddler snack ideas homemade and storebought

Hi friends!

Let’s talk healthy snacks for toddlers. Way back in 2015 I wrote a post called 10 Healthy Toddler Snacks and it’s been wildly popular on Pinterest. It has some great ideas so be sure to check it out! I think a lot of snack ideas posts are geared towards kids in general but there always seems to be a fair amount of ideas that aren’t safe for toddlers, mainly because of choking hazards. So I wanted to put together an even bigger list of toddler-safe snacks.

When it comes to choking hazards, it’s important to be aware. Let’s review some of the more common toddler choking hazards:

toddler choking hazards

Toddler Choking Hazards

  • Round foods like hot dogs, sausages, cherry tomatoes and grapes
  • Hard foods like apples and carrots and other hard raw veggies
  • Nut butter by the spoonful or thickly spread on bread
  • Marshmallows, whole nuts, gum, hard candy, chips and popcorn

choking hazards modified

Toddler Choking Hazards modified:

  • For round foods: cut lengthwise into quarters
  • For hard fruits and veggies: grate, cut into matchsticks, dice and saute, steam or roast to soften
  • Nut butter: spread thinly on toast
  • Marshmallows, gum, hard candy, chips and popcorn should be avoided
  • Chop whole nuts into very small pieces and consider softer nuts like cashews/pecans/pistachios vs almonds/peanuts
  • Popcorn cakes/rice cakes are safer than popcorn kernels

after school healthy snacks

Healthy Snacks For Kids

If you’re looking for snacks for older kids, I have several posts to check out. These lists will have some snacks that are good for toddlers but not all of them:

  • 60+ Healthy Packaged Snacks For Kids
  • Healthy Costco Snacks
  • Healthy Walmart Snacks
  • Best Trader Joe’s Snacks
  • Healthy Amazon Snacks
  • Peanut & Tree Nut Free Packaged Snacks
  • Healthy After School Snacks

And a lot of these snacks would be great in lunch boxes so if you need more lunch box ideas, check out my Month of Easy Packed Lunches for Kids resource!

So let’s dive right into toddler snacks, shall we?

healthy toddler snack ideas

Healthy Snacks Toddlers

Here are some snack ideas that I make at home:

  • Smoothies
  • Hard-boiled eggs – I usually cut them into quarters
  • English muffin pizzas
  • Mini muffins – My favorite for young toddlers are my Sweet Potato Banana Bites – Here are lots of my kid-friendly baking recipes. My friend and fellow RD Min over at The Adventures of MJ and Hungryman also has tons of Healthy Baby and Toddler muffins here.
  • Fruit – berries, kiwi, mandarin oranges, bananas, fruit leather, raisins, grated apples + pb yogurt dip
  • Vegetables – matchstick carrots, peas, corn, cucumber, roasted sweet potatoes + ranch/hummus/laughing cow (toddler dips)
  • Quesadillas
  • Waffles/toast with peanut butter and jelly or avocado, cut into sticks or in half
  • Nut-free trail mix – pumpkin & sesame seeds, cereal, dried fruit
  • Homemade energy bars – use any energy ball recipe that uses a food processor to avoid big chunks, then press into a pan and cut into bars vs balls, then cut
  • Egg wraps/mini egg muffins
  • Oatmeal
  • Pancakes

storebought toddler snacks

Healthy Snacks For Toddlers On The Go

Here are some packaged snacks that I often have on hand for quick snacks both at home and on the go:

  • Bars – Larabar minis, Happy Family Organic & Nature’s Bakery Baked Ins are some of our favorites. Check out my list of Healthy Store-Bought Granola Bars for Kids for more toddler-friendly options
  • That’s it dried fruit mini bars
  • Innerpeas/Harvest snaps
  • Triscuit thins
  • Bambas
  • Canned beans & chickpeas
  • Stonefire mini pitas
  • Cereal -Cheerios & Love Grown are our favs – here’s more Lower Sugar Cereals For Kids
  • Skinny Pop or Safe & Fair Popcorn cakes
  • Hummus
  • Freeze-dried fruit
  • Hippeas
  • Made Good granola bites
  • Bitsy’s Crackers
  • Soozy’s Muffins
  • Veggie’s Made Great Muffins
  • Mini bagels, Dave’s Killer Bread thin sliced or Brownberry bread with peanut butter or avocado
  • Seaweed snacks
  • Brown rice thin cakes
  • Horizon Organic shelf-stable milk
  • Zego fruit and chia bars
  • My Superfoods Granola bites
  • Cheese
  • Olives (quartered & pit removed)
  • Annie’s whole wheat bunnies
  • Yogurt/kefir – Chobani, Siggi’s & Stonyfield have good lower sugar options
  • Mamma Chia Squeeze pouches
  • Serenity kids pouches – they have lots of meat and veggie options
  • Enjoy Life fruit and seed mixes
  • Waffles – we like Kashi and Kidfresh Foods

So there you go! Lots of toddler-friendly snack ideas for you!

Need ideas for healthy snacks for toddlers? This list is specifically geared towards kids 1-3 years old, with homemade and storebought ideas for at home and on the go.

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Snack, Snack Round-Ups

Healthy Amazon Snacks

July 13, 2022 by Lindsay Leave a Comment

Here are 25+ healthy Amazon snacks. Perfect if you need healthy individually wrapped snacks for the classroom, sports teams etc!

healthy snacks from amazon

Hi friends!

Today I’m sharing some healthy snacks on Amazon. Back-to-school season is here and for some of you, that may mean adding the task of providing classroom snacks to your monthly reminders. I’ve got several snack lists available to help you including:

  • Peanut and Tree Nut Free Packaged Snacks
  • 60+ Healthy Packaged Snacks for Kids
  • Healthy Snacks At Costco For The Whole Family
  • Best Healthy Walmart Snacks
  • Best Trader Joe’s Snacks

While some people prefer to shop in-store, I know that for others it can be easier to order online. So I rounded up some healthy snack options that you can order from Amazon. If you’re looking to buy, I’d check the prices frequently because I’ve seen these snacks go on sale fairly frequently. A lot of these snacks would be great in lunch boxes as well. I have a whole lunch resource if you need more ideas – A Month of Easy Packed Lunches for Kids.

Individually Wrapped Snacks

healthy classroom snacks from amazon

The links below are affiliate links. That means I make a small commission if you use them, at no additional cost to you!

Amazon Crunchy Snacks

  • Sunchips Variety Pack (40 count) *no nut ingredients
  • Stacy’s Pita Chips (24 count) *no nut ingredients
  • Bada Bean Bada Boom Broad Bean Crisps (24 count) *made in a facility that processes tree nuts and peanuts
  • Hippeas Chickpea Puffs (12 count) *nut-free
  • The Good Bean Roasted Chickpeas (50 count) *nut-free
  • Belvita Breakfast Biscuits Variety Pack (48 count)
  • Whisps Cheese Crisps (12 count) *nut-free
  • SkinnyPop Popcorn (30 count) *nut-free
  • Bitsy’s Cheddar Crackers (30 count) *nut-free
  • MySuperCookies (24 count) *nut-free

Nut/Seed Snacks on Amazon

  • Wonderful Pistachios (9 count)
  • Oh Nuts! Trailmix Packs (12 count)
  • Larabar Minis (20 count)
  • Enjoy Life Seed & Fruit Packs (24 count) *nut-free
  • Zeezee’s Roasted Sunflower Seeds (48 count) *nut-free
  • Found these Amazon Sahale Snacks after I finished my roundup and they look great too! (12 count)

Amazon Fruit Snacks

  • That’s It Mini Fruit Bars (24 count) *nut-free
  • KIND Whole Fruit Bars (12 count) *nut-free
  • Wildmade VeggieGo Fruit & Veggies Strips (20 count) *nut-free
  • Brainiac Applesauce Pouches (10 count) *nut-free

Amazon Granola Snacks

  • Made Good Granola Minis (28 count) *nut-free
  • MySuperSnacks Granola Bites (12 count) *nut-free
  • Clif Kid Z Bars (18 count)
  • Rule Breaker Cookie Bites (12 count) *nut-free

Jerky Snacks from Amazon

  • Chomplings Beef Sticks (24 count) *nut-free
  • Jack Links Jerky (20 count) *nut-free

In addition to my roundup of Amazon healthy snacks, here are a few of my favorite individually wrapped snacks from Costco as an added bonus:

  • Skinny Pop – nut free
  • That’s It Fruit Bar Minis – nut-free
  • Made Good Granola Minis – nut-free
  • Country Archer Mini Beef Sticks – nut-free
  • Gogo Squeeze or fruit cups – nut-free
  • Trail Mix packets
  • Clif Kid Z Bars
  • Clif Nut Butter Bars
  • Kind Minis
  • Larabars

And if you’re looking for even more snack ideas check out my After School Healthy Snacks and 10 Healthy After School Snacks For Kids posts!

Here are 25+ healthy Amazon snacks. Perfect if you need healthy individually packaged snacks for the classroom, sports teams etc!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Snack, Snack Round-Ups

5 Steps To Food Prep

June 12, 2022 by Lindsay 3 Comments

Want to learn how to food prep? These 5 Steps to Food Prep are perfect for a beginner who likes the idea of meal prep but isn’t sure where to start. With a little work, you’ll head into your food prep session with a plan of attack to help you make the most of your time.

5 Steps to Food Prep

*Originally published 11/2018. Updated 9/2021*

Hi friends!

As a Registered Dietitian and busy mom of 3, I consider food prep to be one of my most important healthy living tools. Even just an hour per week can make a huge difference in helping you make healthy choices during a busy week. If you’re ready and willing to learn, I’m here to help! In this post, I break the process down into 5 simple steps from start to finish to help show you how to do everything from plan to execute.

If this post is helpful to you, you’ll love my Mastering Food Prep course. I cover these five steps in even more detail, plus I talk about food prep beyond dinner, give you tips for adding variety, talk about flexible food prep and food safety and cover some of the most common roadblocks to food prep.  I also have an ebook called Ultimate Guide to Food Prep.

Ready to learn? Here we go!

How To Food Prep

food prep list

Step 1: Make a Meal Plan

This can be full recipes or simply a list of food components. It does not have to be every single thing you’re going to eat next week or even full meals. The goal is to just make a list of food items you could prep that will make your life easier. So, that could be 5 full meal dinners or it could be a few breakfast ideas plus some rice, beans and grilled chicken to use throughout the week.

If you’re new to meal planning and food prep, I wouldn’t recommend putting 5 brand new recipes on your meal plan. A good rule of thumb generally is 1-2 new recipes, 1-2 tried and true family favorites, 1-2 nights for leftovers and 1-2 dinners out. Think about your schedule. If you have a super busy night on the calendar, it might make sense to plan a crockpot meal for that day. Or maybe making dinner isn’t a struggle for you. Maybe you struggle with eating breakfasts in the morning or choosing healthy snacks and you want to focus on prepping on items to help solve those pain points this week.

A few tips:

  • If you need inspiration, use Pinterest, google and blogs to search for recipes. You can start a Pinterest board to save recipes you want to try, or screenshot them on your phone and save them in a note in Evernote or Google Keep.
  • Check your freezer and pantry to see what you have on hand and search for recipes that include those ingredients.
  • Check the grocery ads to see what’s on sale that week and plan around that.
  • Remember not to be overly ambitious. Pick a few things, prep them this week and make adjustments for next week based on what you learn.
  • While Sunday is a common food prep day, it’s not a hard and fast rule. You can choose whatever day works with your schedule.

Components vs. Full Meals

If you think you want to prep components vs full meals, but aren’t sure how to really narrow down what to prep, think about what you use most during the week. Pick a meat to grill or shred, a few veggies to roast, a carb like rice or quinoa. Or, if you like salads, prep greens and then a protein or two and a couple of sauces or dressings so that you can mix and match things during the week.

One benefit to choosing components over full meals is that you can eat the same thing on repeat if that doesn’t bother you OR you can combine the components in different ways throughout the week.

For example, you could prep shredded chicken, rice, roasted sweet potatoes, and broccoli. Then you could use those to make 3 different meals:

  • Night 1: Make burrito bowls with the rice and chicken and top them with beans, avocado, cheese and salsa.
  • Night 2: Toss some chicken, sweet potatoes and broccoli in a quick peanut sauce and serve over rice for an Asian spin.
  • Night 3: Add BBQ sauce to the chicken to make sandwiches and serve with a side of broccoli.

grocery shopping with list

Step 2: Make a Grocery List

This is a pretty easy one and can often be done right after you make your meal plan. There are even some apps you can use that allow you to save recipes from various sites and then automatically generate a grocery list. I haven’t tried any myself, but these are some that were recommended:

  • Paprika
  • Pepperplate
  • Anylist
  • Plan to eat
  • Prepear
  • Favoreats

But nothing says you have to use one of those. Write a list out on paper, create an excel spreadsheet of your most commonly purchased items and highlight what you need for the week, whatever works for you. I keep the basics in my head, keep a running list of things I run out of through the week on my phone and then add any extra ingredients I want to remember to buy for the week ahead. If you have Alexa, you can also use her to add items to your grocery list and then pull up the list on the Alexa app on your phone while shopping.

Be sure to check your freezer and pantry to see what you already have on hand and don’t need to buy.

food prep plan

Step 3: Make a Prep Plan

This is arguably the most important, especially for beginners because it’s where you write out every single thing you want to prep during your food prep session. If you have components on your meal plan list, add them to your prep list – ie shredded chicken, rice, pancakes, etc.

If you have full recipes, look at the recipes and see what needs to be done. In my example above, I planned to make Carrot Oat Bars. So on my prep plan I  wrote 1) Roast Carrots 2) Make bars. I also planned to make Baked Ranch Chicken Taquitos, so I wrote 1) Cook and shred chicken 2) Make Taquitos

If you don’t love leftovers but still want to use food prep, this is where you could look at your meal plan and see what could be done ahead of time to make your weeknights go more smoothly. If you’re making Chicken Fried Rice one night, during your food prep session you could cut the chicken and store it raw in one container and chop all your veggies and store them in another container and cook the rice. Then on the night of, just dump everything in a pan to make the fried rice.

You get this handy template in my Freezer Magic Ebook!

And then take it a step further and break everything down by area of the kitchen. Write out what can be done in the oven, what you’re planning to do in the instant pot or slow cooker, what you’ll cook on the stove and what can be done on the counter. This gives you a visual idea of how much you’ll be using each area of the kitchen…and then you can figure out what order to do things. Remember you can use multiple areas of the kitchen at once….so you can throw something in the oven, something in the Instant Pot and/or slow cooker, start something on the stove and then be chopping veggies on the counter while all that is cooking.

In the image below you can see how I numbered my list as I planned how to get everything done.

prep to prep for food prep

Step 4: Prep for Prep

Look at your prep plan and see if there’s anything you could do the day before to make your prep day run more smoothly. Things like roasting carrots for Carrot Oat Bars, making shredded chicken in the Instant Pot or slow cooker so that you can use it to make enchiladas the next day, etc.

Or maybe you look at your plan and see you have a lot of stuff that requires the oven. Take 5 minutes to chop up two trays of veggies and get those roasted ahead of time so you don’t have quite as much to do the next day. You can see what I planned to do on Saturday in the image above.

Don’t stress if you can’t find anything to do ahead of time or if you don’t have time the day before. This is something I just started doing recently and I find it helpful, but I never spend more than 5-10 minutes of active time on Saturday. It’s usually a matter of throwing some lentils in a pot on the stove to cook while I eat breakfast or spending 5 minutes chopping potatoes and sweet potatoes and letting them cook in the oven.

5 Steps to Food Prep

Step 5: Execute Your Food Prep Plan

By the time Sunday rolls around, you should be feeling pretty good about your food prep session. Perhaps you’ve already even prepped a few things. Set aside time for your prep session and get to work! And enjoy the fruits of your labor all week long! Don’t stress if everything doesn’t go according to plan. Food prep gets easier with practice and the more you do it, the more of a habit it will become.

These 5 Steps to Food Prep are perfect for a beginner who likes the idea of meal prep but isn't sure where to start. With a little work, you'll head into your food prep session with a plan of attack to help you make the most of your time.

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Food Prep

Best Trader Joe’s Snacks

July 13, 2022 by Lindsay 1 Comment

Looking for the best Trader Joe’s snacks? Here are 35+ healthy snack ideas from cereal and oatmeal to popcorn and granola bars.

trader joe's healthy snacks

Hi friends!

We’re continuing our healthy snack series with some ideas for healthy snacks from Trader Joe’s. I don’t have a location super close to me so I only shop there 3-4 times a year but when I do go, I always find some good stuff. I wanted to share some things I found on my last trip that would be good for snack time! I look for things that have both some protein and some fiber (usually at least 2g each)  and are relatively low in added sugar (I aim for 6g or less, sometimes 7-8g).

If you’re looking for more snack ideas, check out these posts:

  • Healthy Amazon Snacks
  • Best Trader Joe’s Snacks
  • Best Healthy Walmart Snacks
    Healthy Snacks At Costco For The Whole Family
  • Healthy Snacks For Toddlers
  • Peanut & Tree Nut Free Packaged Snacks
  • Lower Sugar Cereals For Kids
  • Healthy Store-Bought Granola Bars for Kids
  • 60+ Healthy Packaged Snacks For Kids
  • After School Healthy Snacks
  • Healthy Road Trip Snacks

These snack ideas also make great additions to lunch boxes! If you need more lunch ideas, check out my guide: A Month of Easy Packed Lunches For Kids.

Are you ready for some ideas? Here we go! I’ve tried to include the amount of protein, fiber and sugar for your convenience but remember it can change so check your labels!

Best Trader Joe’s Snacks

healthy trader joes breakfast

Remember that traditional breakfast foods aren’t just for breakfast, they make great snacks too! Trader Joe’s has lots of great cereal options (at a great price!) that can be eaten plain, with milk, in trail mix etc. I look for cereals with at least 2 grams of protein and fiber and 6 grams or less of added sugar. Here’s The Ultimate List of Lower Sugar Cereals For Kids if you want more options. Oatmeal is another great snack that can be made quickly. Make it with milk, add peanut butter for protein and fruit for sweetness.

Trader Joe’s Good Snacks (or breakfasts!)

  • Trader Joe’s O’s (3g fiber, 3g protein, 1g sugar)
  • Trader Joe’s Crunchy Almond Butter Puffs (2g fiber, 6g protein, 6g sugar/5g added)
  • Barbara’s Puffins (6g fiber, 3g protein, 6g sugar)
  • Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes (7g fiber, 5g protein, 5g sugar)
  • Classic Oatmeal Cups (6g fiber, 8g protein, 0g sugar)
  • Unsweetened Instant Oatmeal (4g fiber, 5g protein, 0g sugar)
  • Trader Joe’s Multigrain Toaster Waffles (5g fiber, 2g protein, 7g sugar)
  • Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat English Muffins (3g fiber, 6g protein, 2g sugar)
  • Trader Joes Whole Wheat Bread (2g fiber, 4g protein, 1g sugar) – they also have a sprouted wheat sourdough sliced bread!

healthy trader joe's snacks

Trader Joe’s also has tons of healthy snack bars! Here’s a list of Healthy Store Bought Granola Bars for Kids if you want more options. In general, for bars, I look for at least 2g protein and fiber and 6g or less added sugar (sometimes 7-8g).

Trader Joe’s Snacks Best Granola Bars

  • Trader Joe’s Raises The Bar (3g fiber, 2g protein, 8g sugar)
  • Trader Joe’s These Peanuts Went On A Date Bars (1g fiber, 4g protein, 16g sugar/0g added)
  • Trader Joe’s ABC Bars (2g fiber, 4g protein, 6g sugar/4g added)
  • Trader Joe’s Organic Hemp Seed Bars (1g fiber, 3g protein, 5g sugar/3g added)
  • Trader Joe’s Organic Chia Bars (3g fiber, 3g protein, 4g sugar)
  • Trader Joe’s This Coconut Brings Chocolate on a Date Bars (4g fiber, 3g protein, 15g sugar/0g added)
  • Trader Joe’s Mixed Berry Granola Bites – not pictured – 2g fiber, 2g protein, 6g sugar/4g added)
  • Peanut Butter and Jelly Frooze Balls – (9g fiber, 5g protein, 31g sugar/5g added)
  • Trader Joe’s Happy Trekking Trail Mix – (2g fiber, 4g protein, 8g sugar)
  • Trader Joe’s Apple Carrot Fruit Sauce Crushers (2g fiber, 0g protein)

trader joe's snacks

Need crunchy snack options?

Crackers from Trader Joe’s

  • Soft Baked Sunflower Butter Cookies (nut-free for school!)
  • Trader Joe’s Multigrain Crackers (3g fiber, 2g protein, 2g sugar)
  • Trader Joe’s Bite-Sized Cheesy Crackers (0g fiber, 5g protein, 0g sugar)
  • Trader Joe’s 3 Seed Sweet Potato Crackers (2g fiber, 2g protein, 2g sugar/0g added)
  • Trader Joe’s Inner Peas (4g fiber, 5g protein, less than 1 g sugar)
  • Trader Joe’s Bambas (2g fiber, 5g protein, less than 1g sugar)
  • Trader Joes Organic Popcorn with EVOO (3g fiber, 3g protein, 0g sugar)
  • Trader Joe’s Crisp Crunchy Crisps (3g fiber, 4g protein, 0g sugar)
  • Almond Butter Filled Pretzel Nuggets (2g fiber, 5g protein, 4g sugar/3g added) they also have peanut butter filled pretzels!

Remember I always aim to pair a carb-based snack like popcorn with a protein for a more filling snack!

healthy snacks at trader joes

And a few more ideas for you- mostly protein-based:

Protein Snacks from Trader Joe’s

  • Trader Joe’s Organic Turkey Breast – love the ingredient list – just turkey, salt and water – great for small sandwich
  • Trader Joe’s Fish Sticks – pop them in the oven or air fryer after school for a quick snack (or even the microwave)
  • Trader Joe’s String Cheese
  • Avocado’s Number Guacamole to Go
  • Chomps Meat Sticks (aff link)
  • Trader Joe’s Organic Lowfat Yogurt Squishers – only 6g added sugar
  • Trader Joe’s Kefir – mix flavored with plain to lower the added sugar
  • Trader Joe’s Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage – add to an egg wrap or egg waffle!
  • Fruits and veggies! They have tons of great produce options. Pair them with a protein source!

I hope this list was helpful!

Looking for healthy Trader Joe's snacks? Here are 35+ ideas from cereal and oatmeal to popcorn and granola bars.

If you’re looking for Trader Joes vegetarian snacks, most of these fit the bill minus a few in the protein section. There are also some Trader Joe’s seaweed snacks that I didn’t include. They make a great snack, just make sure to pair with other items to make a more filling snack!

What are your favorite Trader Joes snacks?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Snack, Snack Round-Ups

Apple Cinnamon Red Lentil Muffins

March 18, 2022 by Lindsay 20 Comments

These Apple Cinnamon Red Lentil Muffins are kid-friendly, lightly sweetened and full of fiber! They’re perfect for breakfast, snack time or a nut-free school lunch!

Apple Cinnamon Red Lentil Muffins

Hi friends!

I’m excited to share these Apple Cinnamon Red Lentil Muffins with you guys! If you’ve been around awhile, you know I make my Lentil Banana Muffins every week and they’re my kids’ all-time favorite. I’ve been meaning to try another flavor combo for a while and finally got around to it last week. 

Red Lentil Recipes

Instead of the green lentils, I use in my lentil banana muffins, I went for red lentils. They cook super quickly and are perfect for adding to baked goods! I’ve used red lentils specifically in these Red Lentil Cookies from my friend Sally and they’re great! If you’re looking for a savory recipe, try the Best Lentil Soup Recipe via Cookie & Kate. 

Since a lot of you are looking for more plant-based recipes, I rounded up 15+ Easy Red Lentil Recipes for you to try them. 

You also might know that I make almost all my muffin recipes in the food processor. Here’s why – I can put pretty much anything into my muffins and the food processor blends it up nice and smooth so there are no chunks – which my kids don’t like. I don’t hide things in my baked goods – my kids always know exactly what’s in them and usually help me make them, but it’s nice to be able to end up with a smoother muffin once they’re baked!

Apple Cinnamon Red Lentil Muffins

apple cinnamon red lentil muffin cut in half

If you don’t have a food processor, you can mix the lentils, , apple, oil and egg in a blender and then transfer to a bowl and mix by hand.

Also, remember the correct why to measure flour is to spoon into the measuring cup and level with a knife. If you don’t, you may overfill your measure cup and end up with too much flour, which can alter the recipe.

Here’s how you make these:

Print

Apple Cinnamon Red Lentil Muffins

Apple Cinnamon Red Lentil Muffins
Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 10 reviews

These Apple Cinnamon Red Lentil Muffins are kid-friendly, lightly sweetened and full of fiber! They’re perfect for breakfast, snack time or a nut-free school lunch!

  • Author: Lindsay
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Cook Time: 20
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 10-12 muffins 1x

Ingredients

Scale

1/2 cup pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)
heaping 1/3 cup dry red lentils
2/3 cup shredded apple (squeeze in paper towel to remove moisture, then measure)
1/3 cup oil (i use avocado oil)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1.25 cups white whole wheat flour
extra cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

  1. Put lentils in a small pot with 2 cups water. Cover and bring to a boil. Crack the lid, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Drain. You should have about 1 cup once cooked.
  2. Put pepitas in a food processor and process until finely chopped.
  3. Add cooked lentils, shredded apple, brown sugar, oil and egg and process until smooth.
  4. Add cinnamon, vanilla, flour (correctly measured), and baking soda and process until combined.
  5. Scoop into greased muffin tins (i make 11 muffins).
  6. Mix a little sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and sprinkle on top of the muffins.
  7. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Notes

  • Someone made these by just adding a medium apple (sliced off the core) to the food processor without shredding first and reducing the oil to 1/4 cup and said they worked fine!
  • I make this with King Arther measure for measure gluten-free flour and it works great.
  • When measuring flour be sure to spoon into measuring cup and level with knife.
  • I haven’t tried the recipe without the pepitas but i think they’d be fine without it. I just like the nutrients they add.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @theleangreenbean on Instagram

If you’re intimidated by lentils, this is a great place to start! I promise you can’t even taste them!

These Apple Cinnamon Red Lentil Muffins are kid-friendly, lightly sweetened and full of fiber! They're perfect for breakfast, snack time or a nut-free school lunch!

Do you have any favorite lentil recipes to share?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Breakfast, Healthy Muffins & Bars, Snack

Healthy Road Trip Snacks

March 14, 2022 by Lindsay Leave a Comment

Need some healthy road trip snacks? Or just some on the go snacks? Whether it’s vacation, driving to sports practice or a day of running errands, here are some travel snacks you’ll love!

healthy road trip snacks

Hi friend!

A couple of years ago I was asked for some ideas about snacks for the car that aren’t super messy so I wrote this post on Low Mess Car Snacks for Kids. I’m finding that a few years later, I still heavily rely on car snacks so I’m always thinking about new ideas. In addition, this summer we drove from Ohio to Minnesota with 3 kids 6 and under. Believe me when I say I packed a lot of snacks. I wanted to share some good road trip snacks for kids -both what we packed in our cooler and the non-perishables in case you need more road trip snacks ideas! You could also pack a lot of these for plane snacks!

I’ve also already written several snack posts that will have more options for healthy on the go snacks. Check out:

  • Healthy Snacks At Costco For The Whole Family
  • Best Healthy Walmart Snacks
  • Peanut & Tree Nut Free Packaged Snacks
  • After School Healthy Snacks
  • Healthy Amazon Snacks
  • Lower Sugar Cereals For Kids
  • Healthy Store Bought Granola Bars for Kids
  • 60+ Healthy Packaged Snacks For Kids

So here we go:

Good Road Trip Snacks

good road trip snacks for the cooler

Healthy Road Trip Snacks For The Cooler

  • Fruit –
    • grapes- I pulled them all off the stems ahead of time
    • bananas
    • apples- leave them whole or slice ahead of time and rubberband together to minimize browning
    • clementines – you can peel them ahead of time to make it easier
    • applesauce cups (or pouches for younger kids to minimize mess)
  • Veggies-
    • baby carrots
    • celery sticks – you can even prep ants on a log ahead of time
    • bell pepper strips
    • snap peas
  • String cheese and cheese slices
  • Hard-boiled eggs – peel them ahead of time
  • Yogurt- yogurt tubes/pouches are less messy for kids. You can also freeze them ahead of time to minimize mess even more 
  • Hummus
  • Deli turkey & pepperoni – can be eaten with crackers and used to make a sandwich
  • Homemade muffins/bars – I have a whole list of Kid-friendly Baking Recipes for bars and muffins packed with veggies and legumes!

healthy road trip snacks non-perishable

Car Travel Snacks (Non-perishable):

  • Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches – you can store them in the cooler if you use jelly, or you can skip it, or use honey!
  • Bread – for turkey and cheese sandwiches
  • Simple Mills & Wheat Thins crackers
  • Cheerios cereal – I have a list of Low Sugar Cereals for Kids if Cheerios isn’t your favorite
  • Pretzels
  • Granola bars – Try one of these Healthy Store-Bought Granola Bars for Kids– our favs are KIND, Larabar and Kashi
  • Chips
  • Candy – is it the healthiest? No. Will it sometimes save your sanity as a parent? Yes 🙂

Note that we stopped overnight in a hotel with a fridge and I knew the place we were staying had a fridge so I wasn’t worried about packing too much food because I knew we could just eat it throughout the week of vacation. 

I’ve also noticed that sometimes my kids don’t eat a ton in the actual car but then they’re starving when we get to the hotel so it’s nice to have things on hand to give them while we get settled, figure out where we’re going to eat dinner etc. 

While I recognize that eating in the car is generally not recommended as it can be a choking hazard, I’m also a mom with young kids and know that it sometimes can’t be avoided. I found that plastic cups are a great way to pass snacks back to kids because they’re easy for them to hold and they fit in car seat cup holders. If your kids are still rear-facing, make sure you can see them while eating either by sitting near them or at least in a mirror.

on the go snack ideas

In addition to what’s listed above, here are more ideas:

  • Waffles and pancakes
  • Popcorn 
  • Dried fruit bars or strips (smaller things like raisins are more likely to be dropped, go for things like mango, pears, dates, apricots, 
  • Chomps meat sticks (aff link)
  • Nuts 
  • Trailmix
  • Roasted chickpeas/broad beans/edamame
  • Homemade energy balls
  • Tuna pouches with crackers
  • Sweet potato chips

A reminder that popcorn, whole nuts, roasted chickpeas etc are choking hazards for young kids.

Need some healthy road trip snacks? Or just some on the go snacks? Whether it's vacation, driving to sports practice or a day of running errands, here are some travel snacks you'll love!

What are your favorite healthy road trip snacks?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Snack, Snack Round-Ups

After School Healthy Snacks

July 13, 2022 by Lindsay Leave a Comment

Looking for After School Healthy Snacks? Here are ideas for if you eat dinner early or late, before practice snacks, car snacks, non-perishable snacks and more.

after school healthy snacks

Hi friend!

A couple of years ago I rounded up some of my favorite recipes for after school snacks in this post- 10 Healthy After School Snacks For Kids. It covers everything from English muffin mini pizzas to energy balls to oatmeal. Since I know that at home, homemade snacks are not realistic for every family every day, I wanted to give you guys a few more good after-school snacks (both homemade and storebought) for specific after-school scenarios. You could also easily add these snacks to lunch boxes. For more lunch box help, check out my guide: A Month of Easy Packed Lunches For Kids.

If you’re looking for store-bought snack ideas, here are some posts that may help:

  • Healthy Amazon Snacks
  • Best Trader Joe’s Snacks
  • Best Healthy Walmart Snacks
    Healthy Snacks At Costco For The Whole Family

Easy After School Snacks

after school snacks

Healthy Snacks for After School

If you eat dinner later or have a couple of hours between the kids getting home/leaving school and dinner time they may need a fairly substantial snack, especially if they ate lunch early:

  • Smoothie
  • Microwave Egg Sandwich (or Turkey Cheese Avocado, PBJ etc)
  • Overnight oats or warm oatmeal
  • English Muffin Mini Pizza + fruit
  • Waffle + peanut butter
  • Homemade energy balls or Made in Nature Figgypops
  • Sweet Potato White Bean Bar + lifeway kefir
  • Amy’s frozen burrito
  • Simple Mills crackers + turkey + cheese
  • Clif Nut Butter Bar or Larabar or KIND bar
  • Beanitos chips + Guacamole
  • Kodiak Cake pancakes + yogurt
  • Barbara’s Puffins or Love Grown cereal + milk

Lentil Banana Muffins - perfect for breakfast or snack

Easy After School Snacks To Make

If you eat dinner fairly early and just want something to tide your kids over until then without ruining their dinner. Added bonus- these are simple after school snacks kids can make themselves with minimal help from you!

  • Veggies with hummus or ranch + pita
  • Apple slices with peanut butter
  • A hard-boiled egg and some raisins
  • A small bowl of Cheerios with milk
  • A handful of trail mix
  • Lentil Banana Muffin (or another nutrient-dense muffin/bar)
  • Freeze-dried veggies like Rhythm Superfood carrot sticks with string cheese

Healthy Toddler Snacks - cottage cheese, hummus, cereal, peanut butter with banana

Healthy Pre-Workout Snacks

Have kids headed to sports practice after school? Here are some ideas:

  • Granola bar
  • Cereal or muffin
  • Half a bagel
  • Apple or banana with peanut butter
  • A small bowl of oatmeal
  • Crackers with turkey
  • Trailmix- raisins, cereal + peanuts
  • Yogurt + fruit
  • Clementine + hard-boiled egg

crunchy snacks from costco

Healthy After School Snacks To Buy

I have a whole post of after school snacks to buy – 60+ Healthy Packaged Snacks For Kids so check it out for tons of ideas. I also have lists for Healthy Costco Snacks, Best Trader Joe’s Snacks and Healthy Walmart Snacks. But in general, here are a few of my favorite packaged snacks:

  • Skinny Pop or Angie’s Boom Chicka Pop
  • Cheerios/Barbara’s Puffins/Love Grown Foods cereal
  • Lifeway Kefir or Chobani or Siggis lower sugar yogurt – For the kefir, I make a glass with half plain/half flavored to reduce the sugar, for the yogurt I would pair with fruit
  • Simple Mills Almond Crackers or RW Garcia Sweet Potato Crackers
  • Sabra Hummus or Wholly Guacamole with crackers/veggies
  • Larabar or another from this list of  Healthy Store-bought Granola Bars For Kids
  • Biena Roasted Chickpeas
  • Made in Nature Figgy Pops
  • Kashi Waffles
  • Kodiak Cakes pancakes

Low Mess Snack for Kids

Healthy Car Snacks

I wrote about Low Mess Snacks for Kids here. Here are some simple pairings that won’t make too much of a mess in the car. Keep a little trash can or bag in the car for wrappers.

  • Yogurt tube + banana
  • Cheese stick + That’s It fruit bar
  • Chomps Meat Sticks + clementine
  • Egg wrap + apple
  • Smoothie made with milk/yogurt, fruit, and spinach
  • Turkey, cheese, and apple or avocado rolled in a tortilla
  • PBJ sandwich
  • HB eggs + granola bar
  • Cold pizza or quesadilla (less mess than when they’re hot!)

Healthy Microwave Popcorn in a paper lunch sack

Healthy Non-Perishable Snacks

Ideas for non-perishable snacks if you have to pack them in the morning and need them to still be safe to eat after school:

  • Granola or protein bar
  • Trail mix
  • Popcorn
  • Healthy Muffin/Bar
  • Chomps meat sticks (aff link) + fruit (try fresh fruit, fruit cups, dried fruit or fruit/veggie pouches)
  • Dried fruit + Whisps cheese crisps
  • Low sugar cereal + Horizon Organic shelf-stable milk boxes
  • Peanut butter sandwich
  • Roasted chickpeas or roasted edamame (you can add these to trail mix!)
  • Squeeze pouches of nut butter + crackers /banana/celery
  • My SuperCookies/bars
  • Bitsys crackers
  • Triscuits/Simple Mills/RW Garcia crackers
  • Bare Apple chips
  • That’s It Fruit bars
  • Fruit & veggie pouches

After School Snacks for Teens

Have a teenager? Here are some snack ideas:

  • Tuna Salad + Crackers
  • Scrambled egg + toast
  • Turkey Sandwich
  • Smoothie with fruit, yogurt or milk and spinach or a smoothie bowl topped with cereal
  • Popcorn trail mix
  • Deviled eggs
  • Ramen
  • Chicken quesadilla
  • Rotisserie Chicken wrap
  • Energy balls
  • Oatmeal
  • Yogurt parfait
  • Frozen waffles
  • Frozen Fish sticks/chicken nuggets/potstickers
  • Freezer breakfast sandwiches or burritos
  • Avocado toast
  • Nachos with guacamole
  • Charcuterie snack plate

Want more? My friend Sally wrote a post of 100+ Healthy Snacks for Teens Who Are Always Hungry.

And don’t forget I have a whole list of Peanut & Tree Nut Free Packaged Snacks if you need those!

Looking for After School Healthy Snacks? Here are ideas for if you eat dinner early or late, before practice snacks, car snacks, non-perishable snacks and more.

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Snack, Snack Round-Ups

Best Healthy Walmart Snacks

July 13, 2022 by Lindsay 2 Comments

Looking for the best healthy Walmart snacks? Here are some ideas for everything from chips, crackers and granola bars to protein and frozen snacks.

healthy walmart snacks

Hi friends!

We’re continuing our snack series with the best Walmart snacks. You can also find the best Costco snacks , Healthy Amazon Snacks or the best Trader Joe’s snacks if you need them!  Or for a more general list, check out 60+ Healthy Packaged Snacks for kids.

Remember that all of these snacks would also be great in lunch boxes! If you need help packing lunches check out my Month of Easy Packed Lunch Ideas For Kids guide.

Walmart Best Snacks

So what are the best snacks at Walmart? As a Registered Dietitian and mom of 3, here are some general guidelines I try to follow and recommend:

  • I try to choose snacks that have at least 2g of both protein and fiber most of the time.
  • I focus on making sure snacks include protein so if I have a snack like crackers or cereal, I pair it with a protein like yogurt or turkey etc.
  • I try to limit added sugar to 6g or less whenever possible. Occasionally 7-8g, but snacks with 9+ grams of added sugar or more are more like treats than snacks in my opinion.
  • I check the sodium content but it doesn’t always make or break my choices. Remember that 140mg or less of sodium per serving is generally considered low sodium.
With that being said, here are some of the best Walmart healthy snacks, in my opinion. I’ve tried to include some name brands as well as some of their Great Value store brand.

Walmart Snacks Chips & Crackers

Walmart Snacks Chips

If you’re looking for crunchy/salty snacks like chips and crackers, here are some ideas:

  • Ritz Toasted Pita Chips
  • Goya Plantain Chips
  • New York Style Bagel Crisps
  • Crunchmaster’s Multi-Seed Crackers
  • Great Value Vegetable Chip Mix
  • Terra Sweet Potato Chips
  • Orville Redenbacher’s Popcorn (made with avocado oil)
  • Great Value Thin Wheat Crackers
  • Great Value Woven Wheat Crackers
  • Late July Sea Salt Thin and Crispy Chips
  • Whisps Cheese Crisps
  • Simple Mills Almond Flour Crackers
  • Great Value Mountain Trail Mix
  • Great Value Shelled Pistachios (are any of their nuts!)
  • Triscuit Thin Crisps

Reminder to pair crackers and chips with some extra protein if possible!

walmart protein snacks

Walmart Protein Snacks

If you need protein-based snacks:

  • Stonyfield Organic Kids yogurt cups
  • Stonyfield Organic Whole Milk Vanilla Yogurt
  • Great Value Plain Greek Yogurt (Walmart doesn’t have many good lower sugar yogurt options so an easy solution is to mix plain and flavored yogurt together to reduce the sugar content!)
  • Breakstone’s Cottage Doubles
  • Great Value Cheese Cubes
  • Frigo Combo Pack – Colby Jack cheese & turkey sticks
  • Chobani drinkable yogurt
  • Great Value frozen edamame
  • Lorissa’s Kitchen jerky
  • Great Value Hard Boiled Eggs
  • Horizon Organic shelf stable milk
  • Great Value cheese sticks
  • GogoSqueez Morning Smoothies
  • Oscar Mayer Natural turkey breast

walmart fruit snacks

Walmart Fruit Snacks

Ideas for snacks involving fruit:

  • Great Value Dried Apricots (or any other unsweetened dried fruit)
  • Great Value Triple Berry Blend frozen berries (mix with milk and spinach for a quick smoothie!
  • Great Value Banana Chips
  • Great Value Bursting Berry fruit pouches
  • Freshness Guaranteed Mild Guacamole (great with plantain chips!)
  • Wymans Just Fruit & Greek Yogurt Bites
  • Mamma Chia Squeeze
  • Great Value Unsweetened Applesauce
  • Great Value Diced Fruit in 100% juice

Remember fruit are a carb source so pair with protein or healthy fats for a more filling snack!

walmart granola bars

Walmart Granola Bar Snacks

Ideas for the best bars Walmart offers. Many of these contain nuts so if your school is nut-free you might need other options:

  • Nature’s Bakery Baked-Ins
  • Belvita Soft Baked Cookies (a little higher in added sugar but also have some protein and fiber)
  • Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Date & Nut Bars (very similar to Larabars)
  • Happykid Bars
  • Bear Naked Granola (add to yogurt for a parfait!)
  • Safe & Fair Birthday Cake Granola (top allergen-free!)
  • KIND Dark Chocolate Chunk Bars
  • KIND Nut Butter Filled Snack Bars
  • KIND Peanut Butter Breakfast Bars
  • Kashi Chocolate Almond Sea Salt Bars
  • Larabar Minis
  • Simple Mills Dark Chocolate Almond Soft Baked Bars
  • RX Kids Bars

Here’s a list I made of Healthy Storebought Granola Bars for Kids.

walmart carb snacks

Walmart Carb Snacks

Some healthy carb sources for snacks:

  • Cheerios
  • Dave’s Killer Bread Thin-Sliced
  • Dave’s Killer Bread Raisin’ The Roof
  • Thomas Whole Wheat English Muffins
  • Aladdin’s Small Pitas
  • Great Value Quick Oats (oatmeal or overnight oats make a great snack!
  • KIND Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal – if you want pre-flavored packets
  • Quaker Fruit & Cream – these are a little higher in sugar than I’d like but occasionally fine (I ate them all the time growing up 🙂
  • Nature’s Own 100% Whole Wheat Bread (for sandwiches, french toast etc)
  • Great Value Rice Squares – here are more Lower Sugar Cereals for Kids

individual snacks walmart

Walmart Individual Snacks

At Walmart P3 snacks and other convenience snacks like them are readily available.  While these are fine occasionally, I highly encourage you to make your own to save money. You can easily buy a bag of cheese cubes, some nuts and dried fruit, a box of crackers and a package of lunch meat and recreate all of these for much cheaper!

Walmart Frozen Snacks

If you are looking specifically for frozen snacks here a few ideas:

  • Ian’s Fish Sticks
  • Great Value Edamame
  • Amy’s Frozen Burritos/Enchiladas
  • Tyson Chicken Nuggets/Patties
  • Red’s Chicken & Cheddar Burritos (a little higher in sodium than I’d like)
  • Siete Almond Flour Tortillas (to make quesadillas or tacos)
  • Kodiak Power Flapjacks

Walmart Diabetic Snacks

And in case you’re looking for the best Walmart snacks for diabetics specifically? I wanted to share a few that might be chosen by my husband who is a type 1 diabetic:

  • Simple Mills Almond Crackers
  • Great Value Cheese sticks
  • Great Value Nuts
  • Jerky
  • Hard-boiled eggs
  • Turkey sandwiches
  • Crunchmaster crackers
  • Triscuit thin crisps
  • Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn
  • Simple Mills Soft Baked Bars
  • Whisps cheese crisps

Did you find any new ideas?

Looking for the best healthy Walmart snacks? Here are some ideas for everything from chips, crackers, granola bars and more.

Want more snack posts?

  • Lower Sugar Cereals For Kids
  • Healthy Store-Bought Granola Bars for Kids
  • Healthy Snacks For Toddlers
  • After School Healthy Snacks
  • Healthy Road Trip Snacks

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Snack, Snack Round-Ups

Healthy Snacks At Costco For The Whole Family

July 25, 2022 by Lindsay 1 Comment

Looking for healthy snacks at Costco? This list includes 50+ options that the whole family will love! Cruchy snacks, high protein snacks, granola bars and more.

healthy snacks at costco the whole family will love

Hi friends!

A couple of years ago I shared a list of our favorite things to buy at Costco. Recently I’ve been getting a lot of requests for snack ideas so I compiled a list of healthy Costco snacks to give you some new ideas. If you need more ideas, check out Best Healthy Walmart Snacks , Best Trader Joe’s Snacks & 60+ Healthy Packaged Snacks for Kids. And be sure to check this Healthy Road Trip Snacks post so you can stock up while you’re at Costco!

These snacks would also be great for packed lunches. Check out my Month of Easy Packed Lunches for Kids if you need more lunch box ideas!

I’ve tried to include some of the nutrition info that I look at when choosing snacks, including protein, fiber, sugar and sodium., but remember there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to snack guidelines. As a Registered Dietitian and mom of 3, here are some that I use when purchasing for my own kids and recommending for others:

  • Most of the time I try to choose snacks that have at least 2g of both protein and fiber.
  • I always try to make sure snacks include protein so if I have a carb-based snack like crackers or cereal, I pair with a protein like cheese, yogurt, turkey etc.
  • I try to limit added sugar to 6g or less whenever possible. Occasionally 7-8g, but snacks with 9+ grams of added sugar or more treats than snacks in my opinion.

When it comes to sodium, it usually doesn’t make or break my snack decisions. I’ve included it mostly so you can see how the amounts vary from snack to snack. Some crackers and granola bars are higher in sodium than others. Things like cheese and jerky can also be high in sodium. It’s mostly something I take note of at snack time and if I’m serving something higher sodium like a cheese stick, deli meat or jerky, I try to balance it with something lower sodium like fruit, a homemade muffin, etc. Also remember some sodium is naturally occurring, but a lot is added during processing. 140mg per serving or less is generally considered low sodium.

Best Costco Snacks 2021

I’ve tried to group the snacks into categories to make it easy for you. Also, remember that Costco stores vary regionally and also seasonally. This is my list of best Costco healthy snacks 2021 that were available at my Costco in Columbus, OH. I’ve tried to note whether the products are gluten-free/nut-free when i was able to verify but if you have allergies/intolerances, please do your own research. If you need more allergy-friendly snacks, check out my Peanut & Tree Nut Free Packaged Snacks post.

As the year goes by, I will do my best to update this post with new items I see so that you can keep an eye out for them. Also, a reminder that many of the snacks at Costco are available in smaller quantities at other stores. If I’m trying something new with my kids, I often buy somewhere else first to make sure they like them before adding to my list of Costco snacks to buy.

Here are some of my Costco favorites, plus ideas for pairing them to make balanced snacks!

Healthy Snacks At Costco

crunchy snacks from costco

Costco Chips and Snacks (Crunchy)

  • Food Should Taste Good Multigrain Tortilla Chips – 2g protein, 2g fiber, 0g sugar, 75mg sodium (Gluten-free, nuts not in ingredient list but not guaranteed)
  • Hippeas – 4g protein, 3g fiber, 2g sugar, 140mg sodium (gluten-free, nut-free)
  • Harvest Snaps – 5g protein, 4g fiber, 0g sugar, 75mg sodium (gluten-free, nut-free)
  • Barnana Plantain Chips – 1g protein, 0g fiber, 0g sugar, 60mg sodium (gluten-free, nuts not in the ingredient list but made in facility the processes tree nuts)
  • Peanut Butter Pretzels – 4g protein, 1g fiber, <1g sugar, 230mg sodium
  • RW Garcia Sweet Potato Crackers – 2g protein, 1g fiber, 2g sugar/no added sugar, 50mg sodium (gluten-free, made in peanut/treenut free facility)
  • Simple Mills Almond Flour Crackers – 3g protein, 2g fiber, 0g sugar, 180mg sodium (gluten-free)
  • Wheat Thins – 2g protein, 3g fiber, 5g sugar, 200mg sodium (nut-free)
  • Triscuits – 3g protein, 3g fiber, 0g sugar, 160mg sodium (nut-free)
  • Skinny Pop Popcorn – 2g protein, 3g fiber, 0g sugar, 75mg sodium (gluten-free, nut-free)
  • Sun Chips – 2g protein, 2g fiber, 2g sugar, 140 mg sodium (nut-free)
  • Whisps Cheese Crisps – 13g protein, 0g fiber, 0g sugar, 350mg sodium (gluten-free, nut-free)

A reminder that I try to always pair things like crackers with a protein or fat source for more staying power!

granola bars from costco

Granola Bars from Costco

  • Aussie Bites – 2g protein, 2g fiber, 8g sugar, 90mg sodium (shared equipment with wheat, peanut & treenut)
  • Autumn’s Gold Grain Free Granola Bars – 5g protein, 3g fiber, 6g sugar, 60mg sodium (gluten-free)
  • Clif Nut Butter Bars – 7g protein, 3g fiber, 9g sugar/6g added, 150mg sodium
  • KIND Minis – 3g protein, 3g fiber, 3g sugar/2g added, 70mg sodium (gluten-free)
  • Larabar – 5g protein, 3g fiber, 17g sugar/4g added, 65mg sodium (gluten-free)
  • Made Good Granola Minis – 1g protein, 2g fiber, 6g sugar, 10mg sodium (gluten-free, nut-free)
  • That’s It Minis – 1g protein, 2g fiber, 10g sugar/0g added, 15mg sodium (gluten-free, nut-free)
  • Clif Kid Z Bar – 2g protein, 2g fiber, 10g sugar/9g added, 105mg sodium (these are not my first choice because of the higher added sugar)
protein snacks costco

Costco Protein Snacks

  • Kirkland Trail Mix – 5g protein, 2g fiber, 10g sugar/4g added, 40 mg sodium (no gluten-containing ingredients)
  • Kirkland Cheese Fruit & Nut Packs -8g protein, 1g fiber, 8g sugar/7g added, 160mg sodium
  • Country Archer Mini Beef Sticks – 4g protein, 0g fiber, 0g sugar, 200mg sodium (gluten-free, nut-free)
  • Kirkland Ancient Grains Granola – 5g protein, 6g fiber, 9g sugar/8g added, 135mg sodium (processed in a facility that uses peanuts/tree nuts)
  • Babybel Cheese – 5g protein, 0g fiber, 0g sugar, 160mg sodium (gluten-free, nut-free)
  • Kirkland Organic Hard-Boiled Eggs -6g protein, 0g fiber, 0g sugar, 60mg sodium (gluten-free, nut-free)
  • Perdue Panko Chicken Nuggets – 13g protein, 1g fiber, 1g sugar, 450mg sodium
  • Organic Valley Stringles – 7g protein, 0g fiber, 1g sugar/0g added, 210 mg sodium (gluten-free, nut-free)
  • Dietz & Watson Originals Turkey – 11g protein, 0g fiber, 0g sugar, 360mg sodium (gluten-free)
  • Sargento Cheese Sticks – 5g protein, 0g fiber, 0g sugar, 125mg sodium (no gluten ingredients, nut-free)
  • Chobani Less Sugar Greek Yogurt – 12g protein, 0g fiber, 9g sugar/4g added, 50mg sodium (gluten-free,
  • Wholly Guacamole Minis – 1g protein, 2g fiber, 1g sugar, 240mg sodium (gluten-free, nut free…this is a healthy fat, not a protein. Pair with carbs for a balanced snack!)
  • Nuts – They sell large bags of nuts that you can use to make your own trail mix!
healthy carbs costco snacks

Healthy Carb Snacks From Costco

  • Cheerios – 5g protein, 4g fiber, 2g sugar, 190mg sodium (gluten-free)
  • Dave’s Killer Bread – 5g protein, 5g fiber, 5g added sugar, 170mg sodium (nut-free)
  • Kodiak Frozen Waffles – 12g protein, 3g fiber, 6g sugar/5g added, 370mg sodium
  • Kodiak Cakes Pancake Mix – 14g protein, 5g fiber, 3g sugar/2g added, 380mg sodium (no nut ingredients but processed on shared equipment with tree nuts)
  • Lotus Foods Rice Ramen – 4g protein, 2g fiber, 0g sugar, 0g sodium (gluten-free, no nut ingredients but some products processed in facility that contains nuts)
  • Kirkland Hummus Cups – 4g protein, 3g fiber, 1g sugar, 290mg sodium (gluten-free)
  • Brownberry Multigrain Sandwich Thins – 6g protein, 3g fiber, 3g sugar/2g added, 300mg sodium
  • Quaker Oats – 5g protein, 4g fiber, 1g sugar, 0g sodium
  • Veggies Made Great Double Chocolate Muffins – 4g protein, 1g fiber, 10g sugar/8g added, 150 mg sodium (gluten-free, nut-free)
  • Brownberry Oatnut Bread – 4g protein, 2g fiber, 3g sugar, 150mg sodium
  • Siete Foods Tortillas – 1g protein, 3g fiber, 1g sugar/0g added, 220mg sodium

Many of these are things that require a little prep work at home to turn into snacks vs being pre-packaged but they shouldn’t take much time and are cost-effective to buy at Costco. Use the bread to make sandwiches/toast/french toast. Use the oats to make oatmeal, energy balls, muffins. Make pancakes or waffles with the mix and freeze them. The ramen noodles cook in 5 minutes for a quick snack.

fruit snacks costco

Fruit Snacks From Costco

  • Bare Apple Chips – 0g protein, 4g fiber, 21g sugar/0 added, 0mg sodium (gluten-free)
  • Mott’s Applesauce – 0g protein, 1g fiber, 11g sugar/0 added, 0mg sodium (pair with a protein source! gluten-free)
  • Kirkland Three Berry Blend Frozen Berries -2g protein, 5g fiber, 10g sugar/0g added, 0g sodium (mix with spinach and milk for an easy smoothie!)
  • Made in Nature Figgypops – 2g protein, 3g fiber, 10g sugar/0g added, 40mg sodium (gluten-free)
  • Gogosqueez – 0g protein, 3g fiber, 12g sugar/0g added, 0mg sodium (gluten-free, nut-free)
  • Kirkland Sunsweet Dried Plums – 1g protein, 3g fiber, 15g sugar/0g added, 0mg sodium (there are TONS of dried fruits available. Pair with a protein option for a more filling snack, use in trailmix etc!)
  • Del Monte Fruit in 100% juice – 0g protein, 1g fiber, 13g sugar/0g added, 10 mg sodium

Remember to pair these snacks with protein/fiber/healthy fats to make a more balanced, filling snack!

hemp hearts and flax seed

I also always have these bags of ground flax and hemp hearts at home to add to homemade snacks. I mix them into yogurt, pancakes, waffles, smoothies, muffins and bars. I sprinkle them on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Basically any time I can add them, I do!

Costco Vegan Snacks

Looking specifically for vegan snacks? Here are a few:

  • Hippeas
  • Made Good Granola Minis
  • Simple Mills Almond Flour Crackers
  • Harvest Snaps
  • Skinny Pop
  • Dried Fruit
  • Barnana Plantain Chips
  • RW Garcia Sweet Potato Crackers
  • Wheat Thins
  • Triscuits
  • Larabar
  • That’s It Minis
  • Kirkland Ancient Grains Granola
  • Cheerios
  • Dave’s Killer Bread
  • Lotus Foods Rice Ramen
  • Kirkland Hummus Cups
  • All the fruit options listed above!

Did you find any new ideas? Pin this post for later! What are your favorite Costco snacks?

Costco Snacks To Buy

Looking for healthy snacks at Costco? This list includes 50+ options that the whole family will love! Cruchy snacks, high protein snacks, granola bars and more.

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Snack, Snack Round-Ups

A Month of Packed Lunch Ideas For Kids

October 5, 2021 by Lindsay Leave a Comment

Need kids packed lunch ideas? I’ve got you covered in this guide with a month of packed lunch ideas for kids(with photos). I also include lunchbox recommendations, a lunch packing cheat sheet and nut-free snack ideas if needed.

easy packed lunches for kids

Hi friends!

I am so excited to share my newest resource with you! For years you’ve been asking me for packed lunch ideas and I never really felt qualified because I wasn’t packing lunches every day when my kids were younger. 

Well, now my oldest is in first grade and we’re fully into lunch packing territory so I wanted to help! I put together this PDF to give you lots of ideas and help you quickly and easily pack balanced lunches your kids will love!

Kids Packed Lunch Ideas

lunchbox ideas for kids

Here’s what’s included:

  • Product recommendations – I share my favorite lunch boxes.
  • Prep ahead tips – A few tips for things you can prep ahead of time in the fridge and freezer to make lunch packing easier.
  • Lunch Packing Cheat Sheet – lunch ideas divided into protein, carbs, vegetables, fruits and snacks so you can mix and match from each category to pack a balanced lunch quickly.
  • 24 lunch box photos – full-color photos of bento-style lunch boxes showcasing different lunch item ideas
  • Nut-free product recommendations – If your school is nut-free, here are some peanut/tree nut-free snacks you can pack for your kiddos.

If recipes included are on the blog I’ve included clickable links and we designed this so it could be easily viewed on mobile phones that you can pull it out while you’re packing lunch if you need some inspiration. 

I can’t wait for you to get your hands on it!!

Click here for a month of easy packed lunches for kids

real life lunch boxes

As an update, I’ve added a bonus PDF that’s available to all purchasers! With your purchase, you now receive a PDF that shows real-life photos and descriptions of the first 30 lunches I packed for my first grader this year!

Be sure to pin it for later to help spread the word!

A month of packed lunch ideas for kids, including 24 lunch box photos, tips for adding variety and nut-free ideas!

Let me know what you think!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Lunch

25+ Dinner Salad Ideas

August 17, 2021 by Lindsay 1 Comment

Looking for dinner salad ideas?

If you’re tired of the same boring salads, look no further! This post has 25+ dinner salad ideas by category so you’re sure to find some inspiration for a salad you love.

dinner salad ideas

Hi friends!

Today we’re talking salad ideas. I’ve already given you the Ultimate List of Salad Toppings and showed you What To Put In A Salad if you want to make a healthy, balanced salad of your own…but sometimes you just need the thinking done for you.

Don’t worry, I’ve been there. There are some amazing salad combos out that there that I would never have come up with on my own. So I rounded up 20 dinner salad ideas to help you out! I’ve organized them by category so whether you’re looking for cobb salad ideas, mediterranean salad ideas or salad ideas with chicken, i’ve got you covered!

Check out the list below and lemme know your favorite!

Salad Ideas

cobb salad ideas

Cobb Salad Ideas

Summer Chipotle Chicken Cobb Salad via Muy Bueno
Greek Cobb Salad via Foodie Crush
Classic Cobb Salad via Bellyfull (if you’re looking for ketogenic salad ideas!)
Vegan Cobb Salad
via Happy Food Healthy Life

seafood salad ideas

Seafood & Shrimp Salad Ideas

Mexican Shrimp Salad via Flavor Mosaic
Grilled Kale Caesar Salad with Spicy Shrimp via The Healthy Maven
Key Lime Mango Crabcake Salad via Garlic & Zest 
Salmon Nicoise Salad via The Lean Green Bean

mediterranean salad ideas

Mediterranean Salad Ideas

Greek Tortellini Salad via Peas and Crayons
Mediterranean Salmon Salad via The Real Food RDs
Antipasto Chicken Salad
via Show Me The Yummy
Greek Salmon Salad via All The Healthy Things

summer salad ideas

Summer Salad Ideas

The Ultimate Summer Salad via The Kitchn
7 Easy Salads for Summer via The Lean Green Bean
Summer Chickpea Salad via Recipe Runner
Grilled Chicken & Vegetable Orzo Salad via Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

fall salad ideas

Fall Salad Ideas

Roasted Squash Fall Salad via The Lean Green Bean
Harvest Bounty Salad via Cait’s Plate
Fall Breakfast Salad via Eating Bird Food
Warm Kale Apple Sweet Potato Salad via Chelsea Joy Eats

salad ideas with chicken

Chicken Salad Ideas (Salad Ideas with Chicken)

Pretzel Chicken & Avocado Bacon Salad via Half Baked Harvest
Crunchy Kale Salad with Couscous via The Lean Green Bean
Cashew Crunch Salad with Sesame Dressing via Pinch of Yum
Grilled Chicken Salad via Fit Foodie Finds

See anything you like? Be sure to pin this post for later!

If you're tired of the same boring salads, look no further! This post has 25+ dinner salad ideas by category so you're sure to find some inspiration for a salad you love.

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Dinner, Ingredient Round-Ups, Lunch

What To Put In A Salad

August 16, 2021 by Lindsay Leave a Comment

Wondering what to put in a salad?

Use this list of things to put in a salad to choose a combination of vegetables, protein and healthy carbs and fats and make a salad you love!

what to put in a salad

Hi friends!

You’ve heard over and over again to eat more salad, but where is this magical list of things to put in a salad? I’ve got it for you! I’ve already shared The Ultimate List of Salad Topping Ideas. In this post I’m going to break the toppings into categories to teach you how to make a healthy, balanced salad that actually tastes good! A good salad has a variety of different flavors and textures. I always aim to include vegetables, protein and healthy carbs and fat. 

What goes in a salad

There’s no denying that when most people think salad, they think of leafy greens and vegetables. So let’s start there! Salads can be an effective way to increase your veggie intake as long as you put a little time and effort into making them taste good so that you actually want to eat them!

What to put in a mediterranean chop salad from The Lean Green Bean

If you’re going tradition, you would start with a base of leafy greens:

  • Lettuce
  • Spinach
  • Kale
  • Mixed greens
  • Arugula
  • Mustard greens
  • Swiss chard

If you don’t love leafy greens, but still want a vegetable base, consider coleslaw, broccoli slaw or shredded brussels sprouts!

Salad add-ins

Vegetables to put in a salad

Once you have your base, add even more vegetables. Remember that they can take many different forms. Try adding roasted veggies for sweeter flavor, raw vegetables for crunch and marinated or pickled veggies for flavor.

Some ideas for you

  • Roasted beets, asparagus or brussels sprouts
  • Diced or sliced cucumbers, peppers, carrots, broccoli, onion, celery, mushrooms and radishes. 
  • Pickled onions, kimchi or sauerkraut.

Carbohydrates to put in a salad

Once you’ve covered the vegetables, let’s add some carbohydrates to give us energy.

What to put in a Crunchy Kale Salad with couscous from the Lean Green Bean

Here are some healthy carbohydrate sources for your salads:

  • Whole grains like quinoa, barley, couscous, farro and rice.
  • Starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes, peas and corn.
  • Vegetarian protein sources like beans (black, great northern, kidney, garbanzo, etc) are an easy way to add both carbohydrates and protein (plus fiber!)
  • Fruit! Both fresh fruit like berries, mandarin oranges, tomatoes and apples and dried fruit like raisins, dried cranberries and cherries add sweetness.

And don’t forget about the crunchy carb toppings – tortilla chips/strips, pita chips, croutons and crispy noodles all add a bit of crunch!

This Steak Cobb Salad Recipe is packed with protein and nutrients, easy to assemble and makes a great lunch or dinner option as the weather gets warmer.

Proteins to put in a salad

To make your salad more filling, always add protein. Some ideas:

  • Chicken
  • Steak
  • Hard-boiled eggs
  • Tofu
  • Edamame
  • Deli meat
  • Salmon
  • Tuna
  • Crab cakes
  • Shrimp

Cooking or grilling protein ahead of time makes it easy to throw together a salad quickly.

What to put in a salad? Loaded strawberry spinach salad from the Lean Green Bean.

Healthy fats to put in a salad

One of the best ways to add some staying power to your salads AND amp up the flavor is to add some healthy fats!

  • Olives
  • Nuts  (toasted, sliced, slivered, raw, candied)
    • Almonds, Pecans, Walnuts, Peanuts, Pine nuts
  • Seeds
    • pepitas, sunflower seeds, chia
  • Avocado/guacamole
  • Cheese (crumbled, grated, sliced)
    • Goat cheese, Mozzarella, Parmesan, Feta, Gorgonzola

Homemade Salad Dressing

Salad dressings can also be a great source of healthy fats. Don’t forget how easy they are to make at home! My favorite is is a combo of avocado oil, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard and a little honey. Dressings are also a great place to add fresh herbs for maximum flavor! 

And if you don’t love traditional salad dressings, things like guacamole, salsa mixed with greek yogurt and even hummus are good substitutes. 

What’s your favorite salad combo? Need more ideas:

  • 15 Non-Traditional Salads
  • Salad Recipes For Lunch or Dinner
  • 7 Easy Salads For Summer

Use this list of things to put in a salad to choose a combination of vegetables, protein and healthy carbs and fats and make a salad you love!

–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Dinner, Ingredient Round-Ups, Lunch

Peanut-Free & Tree Nut-Free Packaged Snacks

July 13, 2022 by Lindsay 5 Comments

This list of Peanut-Free and Tree Nut-Free Packaged Snacks is designed to help parents and caretakers who need to provide allergy-friendly snacks for their own kids or to an entire school class or daycare.

Peanut-free and Tree Nut-free Packaged Snacks for School

*Originally published August 2019. Updated August 2021*

Hi friends!

This roundup of Peanut Free & Tree Nut Free Packaged Snacks for School has been a long time coming. You guys have been asking me for nut-free ideas for YEARS, literally…and to be honest, I’ve been putting it off. I’m not an allergy mama. My kids don’t have allergies and up until recently, they haven’t been in schools that require things to be nut-free so I selfishly haven’t had a whole lot of reason to write this post. But I finally sat down and did it!

Note that all of these snack ideas would also be great in lunch boxes. If you need help with packed lunch ideas, check out my guide: A Month of Easy Packed Lunches For Kids.

A few things to note before we go further:

  • This is not an all-inclusive list. There are a lot of options out there. Some of which are not the healthiest. It would be impossible to include them all, and as an RD I approached this list as still wanting it to be filled with snacks that have some nutritional value and not just full of pretzels and potato chips (both of which are fine but not something I give my own kids every day, especially when not paired with a protein or healthy fat, etc. Just know that I did my best to include items that are somewhat healthy, that I would feel good about giving my own kids.
  • It’s still your responsibility to do your research. I spent a lot of time on websites and looking at packaging but things can change quickly in the manufacturing process so you still need to check all the labels yourself and check them every time you buy them..not just the first time.
  • I haven’t tried them all. Like i said, I’m not an allergy mama so we haven’t had the occasion to buy a lot of these products and therefore neither I nor my kids have tasted a lot of them.
  • Some wouldn’t be my first choice nutritionally. But most on this list are things I feel are good choices when packaged snacks are needed.

Peanut Free Snacks + Nut Free Snacks

The best way to determine if foods are allergy-free snacks is to read the label since brands should have a warning statement or allergen list. Be aware of phrases like this:

“May Contain Peanut or Tree Nuts.”

“Processed on shared equipment with Peanuts or Tree Nuts.”

“Manufactured in a plant with Peanut or Tree Nuts.”

“Contains Peanut or Tree Nut Ingredients.”

You can also check the FAQs on the website but packaging should have the most updated info.

Some schools give guidelines that foods must not contain peanut or tree nuts but don’t require them to be from nut-free facilities. Some do. Be familiar with the rules for wherever you’re sending food so you can make sure to choose snacks that comply with their guidelines. And remember that although choosing allergy-friendly options like this can be a pain if your family does not have allergies, it’s important for the safety of a lot of kids and allergy families appreciate you putting in the time and effort to keep their kids safe. My hope is that this list will make your job just a little bit easier.

Nut Free Snacks For School

Here’s my list of peanut-free and tree nut-free packaged snacks from several allergy-friendly brands, many of which are known for keeping their facilities free of the top 8 allergens. You can click the hyperlinked brand name below each image to be taken to their website, use their store locator etc. I’ve also listed some of their products that might make good snacks. Most brands offer more products than the ones I’ve listed and you can use your discretion to choose those as well! And remember that some brands may have some products made in nut-free facilities and other products that are not so read carefully! I hope it gives you some new ideas if you need them for school and daycare lunches especially!

made good strawberry granola bars

Made Good

Granola Bars
Granola Minis

safe and fair popcorn quinoa chips

Safe + Fair

Popcorn Quinoa Chips
Pea Protein Chips
Remy’s Honey Grahams
Granola (add to yogurt)

enjoy life grain and seed bars

Enjoy Life

Chewy Bars
Lentil Chips
Seed & Fruit Mix
Breakfast Ovals
Protein Bites (not my first choice)

zego fruit and chia bars

ZEGO Foods

Fruit + Chia Bars
Just Fruit Bars
Decadent Bars
Seed & Fruit Bars (slightly high in added sugar but still decent)
Mix-ins (mix with cereal to make trail mix, add to yogurt)

88 acres seed bars

 88 Acres

Seed Bars
Protein Bars
Seed’Nola
Seed Butter

somersaults crunchy bites

Somersaults Snacks

Crunches
Crunchy Bites

this bar saves lives

This Saves Lives

This Bar Saves Lives Kids Bars

zeezees roasted sunflower seeds

Zee Zees

Roasted Sunflower Kernels
Applesauce
Fruit Cups
Mixzees Dried Fruit
Soft Baked Bars
Nutrition bars (higher in calories and added sugar than I’d like for kids)

rw garcia crackers

RW Garcia (peanut-free facility)

Crackers – Lentil Turmeric, Chickpea, Sweet Beet, Sweet Potato
Corn Chips
Tortilla Chips

popchips

Pop Chips

Pop Chips
Yes Peas

lundberg rice cakes thin stackers

Lundberg Family Farms
(Website says the facility that makes rice cakes is free from peanuts and tree nuts)

Rice Cakes
Thin Stackers
(use a peanut butter alternative for topping)

bitsys

Bitsy’s 

Smart Crackers

gogosqueez fruit and veggie

GoGoSqueez

Applesauce
Fruit & Veggie Squeez
Pudding
Yogurtz

nature's bakery baked ins

Nature’s Bakery 

Baked Ins
Lots of people ask about the fig bars but they’re too high in added sugar for my liking

skinny pop

SkinnyPop

Popcorn
Popcorn Cakes
Popcorn Mini Cakes
Popcorn Puffs
SkinnyPop Chips

my superfoods granola bar

MySuperFoods

Granola Bars
Granola Bites
Super Cookies
Super Pops

garden lites muffins

GardenLites 

Muffins
Veggie Cakes

hillary's breakfast sausage

Hilary’s 

Sunny Sau’sage Sandwich
Meatless Sausages

beanfields chips

Beanfields

Chips
Cracklin’s

biena

Biena

Roasted Chickpeas
*note they’re peanut/tree nut free and facility is peanut free but not tree nut free*

A few other ideas
That’s It Fruit Bars

rule breaker blondies

A few ideas for allergy-friendly treats:
Rule Breaker Blondies
Free2b Sun Cups & Snack Breaks
Made Good Soft Baked Mini Cookies & Crispy Squares
Enjoy Life Crunchy & Soft Baked Cookies

nut-free peanut butter alternatives

Peanut Butter Replacements
(Pair with pretzels, fruit, celery, put on sandwiches etc)

SunButter
(Made with sunflower seeds)
WowButter
(Made with soy)
88 Acres Seed Butter
(Made with pumpkin, sunflower or watermelon seeds)
Don’t Go Nuts Spreads
(Made with roasted soybeans)
Oat Haus Granola Butter
(Made with oats and flax)

Peanut-free and tree nut-free packaged snacks for schools

There are also some other packaged snacks that I frequently see mentioned on allergy-friendly lists. Some of their websites say the snacks themselves are peanut/tree nut free but the facilities are not. Others I couldn’t find specific info about the facilities so you’ll need to do your own research based on how strict the guidelines are at your school/facility:

  • Quaker Rice Cakes
  • Triscuits
  • Wheat Thins
  • Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies
  • SunChips

And a few other packaged snack ideas:
(DO YOUR RESEARCH AND CHECK THE LABELS)

  • String cheese
  • Fruit: fresh, dried, freeze-dried, fruit leathers, dried fruit bars, fruit cups
  • Individual guacamole and hummus cups
  • Hard-boiled eggs
  • Yogurt cups/tubes
  • Cottage cheese + fruit cups
  • Meat sticks/jerky
  • 8oz Lifeway kefir

So there you go! Hope that was helpful.

Please remember – I spent a lot of time and energy on this post, but things change. You are responsible for checking the labels and doing research on the things you choose to buy!

And if you’re looking for more snack ideas check out these posts:

  • 60+ Healthy Packaged Snacks for Kids
  • Healthy Snacks At Costco For The Whole Family
  • Best Healthy Walmart Snacks
  • Best Trader Joe’s Snacks
  • Healthy Amazon Snacks
  • After School Healthy Snacks
  • Low Mess Car Snacks for Kids
  • Low Sugar Cereals for Kids
  • Healthy Store Bought Granola Bars for Kids

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Snack, Snack Round-Ups

Cilantro Lime Chicken {Slow Cooker or Instant Pot}

July 13, 2022 by Lindsay

This Cilantro Lime Chicken is the perfect healthy dinner recipe and can be made in the slow cooker or the Instant Pot. Serve it over rice or as a filling for tacos. You can even prep it ahead of time and freeze until you need it.

This Cilantro Lime Chicken is the perfect healthy dinner recipe and can be made in the slow cooker or the Instant Pot. Serve it over rice or as a filling for tacos. You can even prep it ahead of time and freeze until you need it.

*Originally published 2014. Updated 2017 & 2021*

Hi Friends!

I shared this Crockpot Cilantro Lime Chicken recipe over 7 years ago and still make it fairly often. It’s one of my favorite crockpot dump meals. I love it because it’s super forgiving – you don’t need exact measurements you can prep several batches ahead of time, freeze in ziploc bags and then just pull one out to thaw and cook during a busy week. It’s perfect for giving to a family after a new baby, in a time of need, etc because it’s so easy to prepare and they can just toss it into the crockpot whenever they need it most.

This meal is also perfect for sunday meal prep. If you want to learn more about meal prep and how it can help you eat healthy during busy weeks, check out my course: Mastering Food Prep.

Cilantro Lime Chicken in the crockpot or instant pot

Cilantro Lime Chicken Crockpot Recipe

It’s also super versatile. You can serve it on its own over rice, or use it as the filling for tacos or burritos. I’ve even served it over chips topped with cheese for some easy nachos!

I’ve tested this cilantro lime chicken in both the crockpot and the instant pot. Here’s how you make it:

Print

Cilantro Lime Chicken

This Cilantro Lime Chicken is the perfect healthy dinner recipe and can be made in the slow cooker or the Instant Pot. Serve it over rice or as a filling for tacos. You can even prep it ahead of time and freeze until you need it.
Print Recipe

★★★★★

4.5 from 2 reviews

This Cilantro Lime Chicken is the perfect healthy dinner recipe and can be made in the slow cooker or the Instant Pot. Serve it over rice or as a filling for tacos. You can even prep it ahead of time and freeze until you need it.

  • Author: Lindsay
  • Prep Time: 5 min
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: serves 4-6 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 – 1.5 pounds chicken breasts
  • 1 (15 oz) can no salt added black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (15 oz) can corn (or 1.5 cups frozen or fresh)
  • 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
  • 1/2 cup onion, diced
  • 1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice (I use the juice from one lime)
  • 2 serrano (or jalapeno) peppers, minced (optional)
  • 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 Tbsp cumin (You could also use taco seasoning)
  • Optional toppings for serving: salsa, cheese, avocado

Instructions

  1. Add all ingredients to slow cooker.
  2. Stir to combine and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
  3. Remove chicken, shred, return to pot, stir and serve over rice, as is or in tortillas. Top with a squeeze of fresh lime juice and cilantro before serving if desired.

Notes

To prep for freezer: Combine all ingedients in a ziploc bag and freeze flat. Thaw in the fridge the night before cooking. Pour contents into crockpot and cook according to directions.

You may need to add a little water to the ziploc bag and swirl it around to get cilantro out if it sticks to the sides of the bag.

To cook in the Instant Pot: Add all ingredients to the Instant Pot. Seal, press the manual button and set time for 10 minutes. If your chicken breasts are thick, cut them in half before cooking. Shred chicken and serve.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @theleangreenbean on Instagram

Keep in mind you can use 90 second rice or even make your rice ahead of time and freeze it to make this dinner even easier.

Top will all sorts of goodness like salsa, avocado, cheese etc and dig in!

This Cilantro Lime Chicken is the perfect healthy dinner recipe and can be made in the slow cooker or the Instant Pot. Serve it over rice or as a filling for tacos. You can even prep it ahead of time and freeze until you need it.

Let’s chat: What’s your favorite make-ahead crockpot meal?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Dinner, Instant Pot, Slow Cooker Tagged With: Bell Pepper, Black Bean, Chicken, Chicken Broth, Corn, Onion

Sweet Potato Banana Muffins

March 18, 2022 by Lindsay 335 Comments

These gluten-free Sweet Potato Banana Muffins have just four main ingredients and make a great snack for both kids and adults! 

sweet potato muffins for baby

*Originally published 2/2013. Updated 2019 & 2021*

Hi Friends!

I first developed the recipe for these Sweet Potato Banana Muffins way back in 2013. I previously called them Sweet Potato Banana Bites. They’re one of the first homemade snacks I made for all three of my kids when they first started eating solids and they’ve been a favorite each time. Now my kids are 6, 4 and 2 and I still make them several times a month! Watch my younger two make some to see how easy it is. 

Sweet Potato Muffins for Babies

All you need are four simple ingredients that you probably already have on hand – sweet potato, banana, peanut butter (or your favorite nut butter) and eggs. Then you can add your favorite mix-ins if you’d like – cinnamon and vanilla, chocolate chips, frozen blueberries etc. The thing I love most is that you don’t really even need to measure. I never do.

I grab a medium-large sweet potato, stab it a few times with a knife and throw it in the microwave for 5 minutes. Once it’s cooked, I slice it open, scoop the insides out into a bowl, add a medium banana and a couple spoonfuls of peanut butter and mash it all up. Mix in two eggs, a few shakes of cinnamon and a handful of chocolate chips and you’re done!

If you leave out the chocolate chips, there’s no added sugar so these moist mini muffins are perfect for baby-led weaning. I served them to my kids starting around 6 months. They’re a great way to introduce peanut butter and/or eggs- two common allergens. 

Sweet Potato Recipes For Toddlers

I always make these as mini muffins which makes them perfect for toddlers. If you don’t have a mini muffin tin, use a regular one but don’t fill more than half full. There’s no baking soda like in most muffins. If you’re making for babyled weaning, I actually prefer a regular muffin tin filled just slightly because it makes them a little wider and flatter, easier for young hands to grab.

I find my silicone muffin tin works best. If you use a metal pan, be sure each mini-muffin hole is well greased! I store these in the fridge because they are pretty moist and my kids and I eat them cold at snack time. (If you need them to be nut-free you can try sunflower seed butter.)

Want more sweet potato recipes? Here are 20+ Baked Sweet Potato Recipes.

Sweet Potato Banana Muffins

Gluten-free Sweet Potato Banana Bites

 

They’re even easy enough for toddlers to make themselves and perfect for getting kids in the kitchen since the recipe is so forgiving. Here’s a video of my oldest making them as a toddler!

 

Sweet Potato Bites

A few notes:

  • They’re not super sweet. There’s no added sugar except from the chocolate chips so make sure you use really ripe bananas
  • They’re gluten-free and dairy-free (as long as you use dairy-free chocolate chips if needed!
  • You can eat them for dessert, for an afternoon snack or before a workout
  • The recipe is very forgiving so your measurements don’t have to be exact. I never measure. I just eyeball it.

Sweet Potato Banana Recipes

This is my favorite way to combine sweet potato and banana, but you could also sub banana for maple syrup in my Sweet Potato White Bean Bars or Healthy Sweet Potato Cookies.

Here’s how you make them:

Print

Sweet Potato Banana Muffins

gluten-free sweet potato banana bites
Print Recipe

★★★★★

4.9 from 13 reviews

These gluten-free Sweet Potato Banana Bites have just four main ingredients and make a great snack for both kids and adults! 

  • Author: Lindsay L
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 14-16 mini muffins 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/2 c cooked, mashed sweet potato (approx 1 medium)
  • 1/2 cup mashed banana (approx 1 medium)
  • 1/4 c nut butter
  • 2 eggs
  • cinnamon, to taste
  • Optional mix-ins: dark chocolate chips, fruit, chia seeds, etc

Instructions

  1. Smash the sweet potato and banana together in a small bowl.
  2. Add the peanut butter, eggs and cinnamon & mix well.
  3. Stir in any additional mix-ins and spoon into greased mini muffin tins.
  4. Bake at 375 degrees for 18 minutes.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @theleangreenbean on Instagram

Feel free to customize by using your favorite nut butter. I’ve made them with peanut butter, almond butter and sunflower seed butter- all delicious.

These gluten-free Sweet Potato Banana Muffins have just four main ingredients and make a great snack for both kids and adults! 

You can also mix-in things like chia seeds or fruit instead of chocolate chips- I love mixing in frozen blueberries or fresh cranberries!

These Healthy Brownie Bites require just six ingredients, are healthy enough for a snack and also make a great dessert recipe!

And If you’re looking for something like this that’s a little bit sweeter, you should definitely try my Healthy Brownie Bites! With just two extra ingredients, I transformed my sweet potato bites into a healthy, bite-sized chocolate dessert!

Looking for more healthy snack ideas? Check out some of my favorites:

These Healthy Sweet Potato Cookies are packed with protein! They're gluten-free, made with real food ingredients and packed with protein and fiber. Enjoy them for breakfast or an afternoon snack!

  • Sweet Potato Protein Cookies
  • Lemon Energy Balls
  • Carrot Oat Bars
  • Chocolate Lentil Bars

See all my snack recipes here.

These bites are a staple in my weekly food prep routine because they make a great healthy snack for my kids. If you liked this post, you’ll love my ebook – The Ultimate Guide To Food Prep. It dives into even more detail about how to food prep, troubleshoots common problems and provides tons of tips to make it easier! (I’ve also got a Freezer Food Prep ebook if you need help with that!)

 

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Snack, Baking, Breakfast, Healthy Muffins & Bars Tagged With: Banana, Egg, Peanut Butter, Sweet Potato

Kitchen Tools For Kids

October 20, 2021 by Lindsay 6 Comments

These Kitchen Tools For Kids are perfect for introducing children to the kitchen. Let them get creative, have fun and develop healthy eating habits from a young age!

These Kitchen Tools For Kids are the perfect way to introduce children to the kitchen and teach them about healthy eating.

*Originally published 11/2017. Updated 6/2021*

Hi friends!

Today I’m sharing my favorite kids cooking utensils! As most of you know, spending time in the kitchen with my kids is one of my favorite things to do. I started bringing both my kids into the kitchen with me at a very young age. They were both up on their learning tower helping me from about 14 months on.

Lots of you ask me what tools I use in the kitchen with my kids so I thought I’d put together a guide with some kids cooking tools that are nice to have on hand for your little helpers! Some of these are brands I love while others are just general ideas and many brands make similar products.

Teaching Kids to Cook

Once you have the tools, the next step is checking out my Ultimate Guide to Teaching Kids to Cook! I have a huge list of kitchen tasks for toddlers, everything from dumping and stirring to using the salad spinner! Don’t underestimate how much kids can do in the kitchen from a young age. Every chance to practice builds their confidence and soon they’ll be cooking full meals like my six-year-old does!

What To Bake With Kids

If you’re not sure what to make, I’ve got you covered there too! Here are some of my favorite Kid-Friendly Baking Recipes. Most of them use a food processor which is easy for kids to use and they’re all healthy muffins and bars that will help your kids make nutritious snacks they love!

Kids Cooking Tools

All of the links in this post are Amazon affiliate links. That means if you choose to purchase something by clicking my link, I get to keep a small portion of the sale at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting The Lean Green Bean!

learning tower

Learning Tower

Once kids can stand comfortably for a while, a learning tower is great to have! They can stand right at the counter to help but are a bit more secure than being on just a chair or barstool. Just watch the younger ones closely though because if they sit or fall down they can definitely fall out through the sides or back. You can buy add-ons as well. We bought the easel to add to the back of ours. It not only makes the back solid, it also adds a magnetic dry erase board and a felt board. Little Partners also makes activity boards for the back!

  • Little Partners Learning Tower
  • Learning Tower Easel
  • Explore and Store Learning Tower (smaller option)

kids kitchen knives

 

Knives

I get asked all the time about what knives my kids use. We have used three different types and liked all of them. I start all my kids with Curious Chef. Next, we moved to the smaller serrated ones. I love Foost. It’s basically like a pumpkin carving knife and is smaller and I think it’s easier for them to handle as they start to cut firmer fruits and vegetables. The last one we use is Opinel. It’s basically a real chef knife but the right size for kid hands. Around this same time, I also started letting my oldest use paring knives and some of our normal kitchen knives.

  • Curious Chef
  • Foost
  • Opinel

kids in the kitchen baking set

Kitchen Gift Set

If they’re really excited about cooking and you’re looking to get several tools all at once, a gift set might be a great solution.

  • Tovla Kitchen and Baking Kids Set

palm veggie peeler

Peeler

My son started out using a regular peeler and never had any issues but some people like the palm peeler better because it fits better in little hands. It’s up to you!

  • Regular Peeler
  • Palm Peeler

measuring cups

Measuring Cups

There are lots of fun sets out there, stainless steel or plastic, at a variety of price points but my kids have always enjoyed having their own measuring cups and spoons! Fun colors are an added bonus. 

  • Measuring Cups 

 

cookie scoop

Cookie Scoop

Definitely one of our most used tools. Cookie baking is a great way to introduce kids to the kitchen. This tool also helps them work on their coordination and grip strength. You can also use it to scoop batter into muffin tins.

  • OXO Cookie Scoop

mixing bowls

Mixing Bowls with Non-Slip Base

Having bowls with a non-slip bottom is crucial! This set actually has accompanying lids which is nice because some kitchen projects may need to get put on hold for tantrums, naps, etc. I actually prefer a glass mixing bowl but it took me a while to work up the courage to trust my kids with my favorite. However once they’re a little older, a glass mixing bowl with a handle it my favorite!

  • Metal mixing bowls
  • Plastic mixing bowls
  • Glass mixing bowl

utensils

 

Mixing Utensils

Things like stirring, whisking and brushing are perfect beginner kitchen tasks.

  • Silicone kitchen utensils

 

inspiralizer

Spiralizer

A spiralizer is a fun way to get kids exciting about veggies! Let them pick the veggie and choose what thickness to cut them. The Inspiralzer brand is my favorite because it suctions really well to the counter so the kiddos can focus on spinning the handle. However I don’t think it’s being made anymore so you could try this OXO one!

  • OXO Spiralizer

grater

Grater

These are fairly sharp so watch kids closely when using them. Ones like this with a built-in box can help minimize the mess. It also has non-slip feet which is nice!

  • OXO Box Grater

non-slip cutting board

Small Non-Slip Cutting Board

Are you sensing a theme here with the non-slip idea? Get them their own small cutting board so they can chop right alongside you!

  • Cutting Board

veggie scrubber

Veggie Scrubber

Another great tool for simple kitchen task that even young toddlers can handle!

  • Veggie Scrubber

salad spinner

Salad Spinner 

Making salads is a great task for kids. They can tear the lettuce, spin it dry, and peel and chop some veggies all by themselves

  • Large Salad Spinner
  • Small Salad Spinner

cookie cutters

Cookie Cutters

Cookie cutters make baking more fun and are good to have on hand for rainy days, holiday baking, etc!

  • Cookie Cutters

salad shaker

Salad dressing shaker

If you like to make your own sauces or dressings, these are handy to have! Let the kids help add all the ingredients and then have fun shaking them up!

  • Salad Dressing Maker

ziploc bag holder

Ziploc Bag Holder

If you make freezer meals, especially chop and dump style meals to stock your freezer for the slow cooker, these are handy. They hold a ziploc bag upright and open so kids can help add stuff to the bag.

  • Ziploc Bag Holder

silpat

Silpat

These are great for baking but can also be great to use on the counter when rolling out various doughs, kneading bread dough etc.

  • Silpat

mini rolling pin

Mini Rolling Pin

Full-size rolling pins can be tough for kids to manage. Get them a mini one and give them their own section of dough to work with.

  • Mini Rolling Pin

crinkle cutter

Crinkle Cutter

Anything to make veggies more fun! Let kids cut veggies like potatoes, zucchini, cucumbers and carrots into fun crinkle strips.

  • Crinkle Cutter

 

Silicone Muffin Tins

I also love these silicone muffin tins for easy, no-stick baking!

————

That’s all for now! I’m sure there are some things I forgot.

Any of these would make a great gift! Want more gift ideas? Check out my Gift Guide for Toddlers (Ages 1-3) or Kid Gift Ideas {Ages 4-7}.

These Kitchen Tools For Kids are perfect for introducing children to the kitchen. Let them get creative, have fun and develop healthy eating habits from a young age!

Let’s chat!

Do you cook with your kids? What are your favorite tools?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

 

Filed Under: Kids, Ingredient Round-Ups

Lentil Banana Muffins

July 13, 2022 by Lindsay 144 Comments

These Lentil Banana Muffins are the perfect on-the-go breakfast. They’re kid-friendly and packed with fiber and protein. Plus you can’t even taste the lentils! 

Lentil Banana Muffins - perfect for breakfast or snack

{Originally published 12/2012. Update 6/2018 and 6/2021}

Hi Friends!

I first shared this recipe for Lentil Banana Muffins way back in 2012 and I’m still making it! If you were to ask my kids for their favorite banana muffins recipe, this would be it. In fact, it’s their favorite muffin recipe of all time. I make them weekly- sometimes multiple times per week. I also often put them in their  lunch boxes! If you need lunch box ideas, I have a whole guide- A Month of Easy Packed Lunch Ideas For Kids!

You may be thinking that these banana lentil muffins sound pretty gross, but I promise you don’t taste the lentils. If I’ve learned one thing about bananas it’s that they do a great job covering the taste of other things. So this is an easy way to boost the fiber and protein content of your muffins.

Ingredients to make lentil banana muffins:

  • Lentils – I use brown or green in these muffins but I’ve also had people tell me red lentils work fine!
  • Bananas – The riper the better to help add sweetness.
  • Oil – I use avocado oil but any mild-flavored oil will work.
  • Egg – You can sub a flax egg very easily for a vegan version.
  • Sugar – You can use white sugar or sub maple syrup in this recipe.
  • Oats- Rolled oats work perfectly!
  • Flour – I use white whole wheat flour. AP flour will also work.
  • Baking soda, vanilla and cinnamon
  • Chocolate chips – optional but encouraged 🙂

How do you cook lentils?

The good thing about lentils is that they freeze really well! I often cook an entire bag of lentils at once and then portion into one cup portions and freeze. Then i can just defrost in the fridge or microwave as needed.

To cook my lentils I just put in a pot with a lot of water (they will expand when cooked so use plenty of water). Cover the pot, bring to a boil, then turn the heat down, crack the lid and simmer for 12-14 minutes. Then drain the water and use as needed!

More details:

So when should you enjoy these banana lentil muffins? Anytime! They’re great breakfast muffins for kids or adults because they’re full of protein and fiber! If you want to serve them to babies, you can leave out the sugar or swap in some baby food prunes for added sweetness! In addition, they freeze well so you can easily make a double batch and pull them out later!

Lentil Banana Muffins

Banana muffins made with lentils

Here’s the full recipe.

Print

Lentil Banana Muffins

Lentil Banana Muffins - perfect for breakfast or snack
Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 51 reviews

These Lentil Banana Muffins make a healthy, high-fiber breakfast or snack. They’re kid-friendly and freeze well. And I promise you can’t even taste the lentils!

  • Author: Lindsay
  • Prep Time: 10 min
  • Cook Time: 20 min
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: Makes 12 large muffins 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup cooked green or brown lentils (approx 1/3 cup dry)
  • 3/4 cup mashed banana (2–3 medium)
  • 1/4 cup oil (i used avocado oil)
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 c sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2/3 c oats
  • 2/3 c white whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Add cooked lentils, oil, banana, egg, sugar and vanilla to a food processor and process until smooth.
  3. Add oats, flour, baking soda, and cinnamon and process until just mixed.
  4. Add chocolate chips and pulse a couple of times to combine.
  5. Scoop into greased muffin tins and bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Notes

  • You can leave out the sugar for babies under one, or swap in baby food prunes or a couple of dates for sweetness.
  • Red lentils should also work fine in this recipe.
  • To freeze, cool completely, wrap in plastic wrap and put in a freezer safe bag.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @theleangreenbean on Instagram

These muffins freeze well so feel free to make a double batch. Like chocolate? Try these Chocolate Lentil Bars!

These Lentil Banana Muffins are the perfect on-the-go breakfast. They're kid-friendly and packed with fiber and protein. Plus you can't even taste the lentils! 

Want more muffin and bar recipes we love?

  • Kid-Friendly Baking Recipes (this is a big roundup of all my fav muffins and bars)
  • Sweet Potato White Bean Bars
  • Carrot Oat Bars
  • Carrot Applesauce Muffins
  • Zucchini Carrot Apple Muffins

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Baking, Breakfast, Healthy Muffins & Bars, Snack Tagged With: Banana, Chocolate Chips, Lentils, Oats, Oil, Sugar, White Whole Wheat Flour

12 Kid-Friendly Energy Ball Recipes Made Without Protein Powder

March 14, 2022 by Lindsay 19 Comments

Looking for a quick, healthy snack made with real food ingredients? Here are 12 kid-friendly energy ball recipes made without protein powder. 

Looking for a quick, healthy snack made with real food ingredients? Here are 12 kid-friendly energy ball recipes made without protein powder.

Hi friends!

Let’s talk about snacks for a minute, shall we? More specifically, snacks for kids. Because lord knows my kids eat a lot of them- pretty much every 2 hours all day long, am I right?!

These aren’t giant snacks by any means, but they do occur multiple times per day, so I do my best to make sure they’re healthy and full of nutrients.  Some of our favorites include:

  • Muffins and Bars
  • String cheese with crackers
  • Hard-boiled eggs with fruit
  • Avocado or peanut butter toast
  • Smoothies or smoothie popsicles
  • Veggies and crackers with hummus
  • Energy balls
  • Frozen yogurt tubes
  • PB&J Waffles

If you need packaged snacks, check out my list of 60+ Healthy Packaged Snacks for Kids and check out my latest resource The Snack Spark for tons more ideas.

Protein Balls without Protein Powder

I try to rotate through snacks to avoid burnout, but if I had to name one thing I make sure to prep every single week to have on hand, it’s energy balls. My oldest absolutely loves my Lemon Energy Balls and the younger two are fans of my no-bake mint chocolate version (i make them without the crushed peppermint when it’s not Christmas time!)

When I look for protein balls for kids, I look for recipes without protein powder. Many parents are surprised by how little food it takes to meet the daily protein requirements for kids so there’s usually no need for extra protein powder. I choose nutrient-dense recipes that are full of protein thanks to nuts, seeds etc!

Protein balls for kids make a great snack. I love that you can prep a big batch ahead of time and store them in the freezer for a quick and easy snack time. I rounded up a few recipes for you to try!

Energy Balls for Kids

Looking for a quick, healthy snack made with real food ingredients? Here are 12 kid-friendly energy ball recipes made without protein powder.

I love them because it’s so easy to make a batch ahead of time and pop them in the freezer and just pull them out whenever we need a quick snack. I’ve decided that since we’re eating them weekly, it’s about time I start branching out a little bit and trying some new flavor combos. Instead of doing all the work myself, I turned to some of my blogger friends and asked them to share their favorite energy balls and bites!

Note that while a lot of energy balls are made with protein powder, for this roundup, I chose only recipes that do not include protein powder. You guys know I’m not a huge protein powder user myself (although I do use it to make my No Bake Protein Bars), but I don’t feel it’s something Squish needs to be eating at his age.

So here’s the list I came up with, including a few of my favorites from The Bean archives:

Bursting with citrus flavor, these Lemon Energy balls make the perfect snack. Made with just 5 ingredients, they're gluten-free, paleo-friendly and perfect for stashing in the fridge or freezer!

Lemon Energy Balls

These No-Bake Peppermint Chocolate Bites are simple, healthy and ready in minutes. This gluten-free recipe would make a great addition to your holiday cookie tray!

No-Bake Mint Chocolate Bites

Apple Cinnamon Cookie Energy Bites

Apple Cinnamon Cookie Energy Bites via Kristine’s Kitchen Blog

Dark Chocolate Blueberry Energy Bites

Dark Chocolate & Blueberry Energy Bites via The Creative Bite

Cherry Larabar Balls

Cherry Larabar Balls via Eating Bird Food

Key Lime Pie Energy Bites

Key Lime Pie Energy Bites via Peas and Crayons

Chocolate Pistachio Coconut Energy Balls

Chocolate Coconut Pistachio Bites via Cotter Crunch

Raw Vegan Brownie Bites

Raw Vegan Brownie Bites via Happy, Healthy Motivated

No Bake Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Energy Bites

Dark Chocolate Coconut Almond Butter Energy Bites via Joyful Healthy Eats

Strawberry Cheesecake Swirl Energy Bites

Strawberry Cheesecake Swirl Energy Balls via The Healthy Maven

PB&J Swirl Energy Bites

PB & J Swirl Energy Bites via Fit Foodie Finds

carrot cake energy bites

Carrot Cake Energy Bites via Cookin’ Canuck

 

More ideas:

  • Cranberry Chocolate Almond Energy Bites via Iowa Girl Eats
  • Peanut Butter Oatmeal Balls via Meal Planning Magic

So if you need me, I’ll be in the kitchen working my way through this list with my little assistant. Which should we try first?!

 

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Snack, Snack Round-Ups

Healthy Crunchy Snacks

March 14, 2022 by Lindsay 5 Comments

Crunchy Snack Ideas

These 9 Healthy Crunchy Snacks are a helpful way to power through the afternoon slump. The recipes are packed with protein and healthy fats and are easy to eat on-the-go!

Hi Friends!

Today we’re chatting about crispy crunch snacks. I don’t know about you, but I find crunchy snacks to be supremely satisfying. I love that they tend to take longer to eat because you have to do a lot of chewing!

There are tons of great crunchy snack options out there that are both healthy for you and delicious! I rounded up some crunchy snacks to share with you today. They’re all great options to have on hand when looking for a little burst of energy to power through your afternoon slump!

If you’re looking for more snack ideas, check out these posts:

  • 60+ Healthy Packaged Snacks For Kids
  • Healthy Costco Snacks
  • Healthy Walmart Snacks
  • Best Trader Joe’s Snacks
  • Healthy Amazon Snacks
  • Peanut & Tree Nut Free Packaged Snacks
  • Healthy After School Snacks
  • Healthy Toddler Snacks

Healthy Crunchy Snacks

roasted chickpea snack mix 2

Roasted Chickpea Snack Mix
Make the chickpeas in the air fryer or use my method for Perfectly Roasted Chickpeas 

"cheesy" kale chips

An alternative to potato chips!
“Cheese” Pizza Kale Chips via The Real Food Dietitians

apple cinnamon roasted cashews

Swap out your favorite nut if you don’t like cashews.
Apple Cinnamon Roasted Cashews via Diary of an Ex-Sloth

everything crackers 3 768x1152 1 e1621348562498

Homemade crackers are so easy & fresher than store-bought!
Everything But The Bagel Crackers via Eating Bird Food

cinnamon pepitas in a bowl

A great option if you’re allergic to nuts!
Cinnamon Pepitas via Spoonful of Flavor
Use them in this Pepitas trail mix!

Veggie Rollups with Avocado Hummus

Try with your favorite store-bought hummus to save time!
Veggie Rolls with Avocado Hummus via The Glowing Fridge

plantain chip trailmix

Not your traditional trail mix!
Plantain Chip Trail Mix via Midlife Croissant

crunchy edamame

Easy to make and packed with protein!
Crunchy Roasted Edamame via Bam’s Kitchen

coconut chip trailmix

Lots of spice may help you eat slower!
Rosemary & Cayenne Toasted Coconut Chip Trail Mix via The WorkTop

plantain chips

Making your own chips is easy and can save money!
Try these Baked Plantain Chips from Cooktoria or pull out the air fryer for these Air Fryer Sweet Potato Chips from Budget Delicious.

These 9 Healthy Crunchy Snacks are a helpful way to power through the afternoon slump. The recipes are packed with protein and healthy fats and are easy to eat on-the-go!

 

Looking for more crunchy healthy snacks? Check out these:

  • Garlic Ranch Pretzels
  • Chipotle Lime Peanuts
  • Homemade Pita Chips
  • Cereal Granola

Remember that kids love crunchy snacks too! Just be mindful of choking hazards if they’re younger!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Filed Under: Snack, Snack Round-Ups

Top 10 Foods for Sunday Food Prep

June 12, 2022 by Lindsay 121 Comments

Here are the Top 10 Foods For Sunday Food Prep! These are the best foods to meal prep ahead of time. Combine them throughout the week into quick healthy meals your family will love.

Sunday Meal Prep Ideas

Here are the Top 10 Foods For Sunday Food Prep! Prep these individual meal components ahead of time and combine them throughout the week into quick healthy meals your family will love.

*Originally published in Feb 2014. Updated Mar 2019 & May 2021*

Hi Friends!

Let’s talk about Sunday meal prep ideas, shall we? If you’ve been around for any length of time, you know I’m a huge fan of food prep and rely heavily on meal prep Sunday each week. If you like the idea of food prep but you’re not sure how to start, check out these 5 Steps to Food Prep. Over the past eight years, I’ve refined my personal food prep process and it’s definitely become a habit to head to the kitchen every weekend and get our fridge stocked and ready for the week.

I love that food prep has gained popularity.I also love that it doesn’t have to look the same for everyone. Some people prefer to prep full meals while others, like me, prefer to prep components that can be thrown together to make quick, healthy meals during the week. Here’s an example of a week of component food prep and how to use it. And if you find yourself avoiding food prep because it seems overwhelming, here’s How to Find Your Food Prep Focus Area.

If you love the idea of food prep but aren’t sure where to start, check out my Mastering Food Prep course. I cover these five steps in even more detail, plus I talk about food prep beyond dinner, give you tips for adding variety, talk about flexible food prep and food safety and cover some of the most common roadblocks to food prep.  I also have an ebook called Ultimate Guide to Food Prep.

Lately, I’ve really zoned in on my love for component food prep because I think it can be a simple, yet effective approach to food prep that lots of people can embrace. I thought it would be helpful to round up some of my favorite component foods (ie the ones you see me prep every weekend) and share some ways to use them. So here are my Top 10 Foods For Sunday Food Prep:

Top 10 Foods For Sunday Food Prep

Here are the Top 10 Foods For Sunday Food Prep! Prep these individual meal components ahead of time and combine them throughout the week into quick healthy meals your family will love.

1) Snacking veggies– Raw veggies make a great snack. They’re easy to prep ahead of time and you can throw them in your lunch box, the kids from munch on them after school or you can enjoy some while making dinner! I prep a container of snacking veggies every weekend and pull it out every day while prepping lunch and dinner. I’ve found myself eating more of them just because they’re there and even my four-year-old will grab a few carrots if he’s in the mood. I refill this container several times throughout the week.

  • Some of our favorites are carrots, bell peppers and cucumbers. You could also try broccoli, snap peas, celery, radishes, etc. They’re great with hummus, yogurt ranch dip, or Italian dressing.
  • If your veggies start to look a little dried out, fill the container with water and drain it out to refresh them!

This recipe for Gluten-Free Pumpkin Yogurt Bars makes a quick, healthy breakfast or snack. They're kid-friendly and don't need to be flipped like pancakes.

2) Breakfast Foods– There are tons of great breakfast options that you can make ahead of time so you don’t have to spend time cooking in the morning. This also gives you no excuse to skip breakfast!

  • Make a batch of GF Pumpkin Yogurt Bars or Sweet Potato Protein Cookies and pre-portion them into bags so you can just grab one on the way to work.
  • Pancakes and waffles can be made ahead of time and easily reheated. Try Banana Flax Waffles or  Sweet Potato Waffles.
  • If you like eggs, try making some Egg Wraps or Egg Waffles that are easy to customize.
  • If you like baked goods, make a batch of these Lentil Banana Muffins or these Zucchini Carrot Apple Muffins. You can find all my kid-friendly baked goods here.
  • Check out all the breakfast recipes on the blog for more ideas!)

Made with just 4 ingredients, this recipe for Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas is easy to make and tastes way better than store-bought!

3) Whole Grains – It’s easy to cook up a big batch of your favorite grain to have on hand. Cook it on Sunday and add to meals during the week.

  • Try brown rice, quinoa, farro, amaranth, wheatberries, etc. You can use them as the base for power bowls, add them to soups, casseroles, burritos, stirfry and more.
  • Also, don’t be afraid to make your own bread and tortillas. It’s easy to do and you know exactly what’s going into them. Try these Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas or some Dutch Oven Bread!
  • If you’re looking for more homemade bread recipes, I highly recommend the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes Per Day cookbooks (aff link).

Go-To Energy Ball Recipe great for kids or snack for breastfeeding moms

Best Foods To Meal Prep

4) Snacks – Having healthy snacks on hand is crucial with two toddlers running around. When they want to eat, they want to eat NOW.

  • Some of my son’s favorites include Sweet Potato Bites, My Go-To Energy Balls or a Silken Tofu Berry Smoothie. You can make smoothie packs to stock your freezer so all you have to do is dump and blend.
  • Muffins and bars make great snacks and are easy to make in bulk!
  • Check out all my snack recipes and for more ideas here are 25 Healthy After Work Snacks and 10 Healthy Toddler Snacks.
  • I love snacks so much I created a whole resource filled with snack ideas called The Snack Spark!

Pulled Pork Salad 3

5) Greens for Salad– Prepping greens ahead of time makes it easy to throw together a side salad with meals or use greens as a base for a power bowl. You can use leaf lettuce, spinach, kale etc.

  • To prepare my greens, I cut them, wash them well, spin them dry and store in a Ziploc bag with a paper towel. Make sure to press out as much air as possible each time you open the bag.
  • If you’re prepping kale, wash and dry it, then rub it with some oil (and lemon juice if desired) and store in a bag or airtight container. Then you can quickly make this  Kale Panzanella Salad to enjoy for several days.
  • Use your greens as a base for loaded salads during the week. Here’s The Ultimate List of Salad Topping Ideas. Or try this Salmon Nicoise Salad or these 7 Easy Salads for Summer.

This recipe for Maple Bacon Roasted Carrots is made with just three ingredients and makes the perfect dinner side dish.

6) Baked/Roasted Veggies – Having veggies cooked and ready to eat makes it much more likely that I’ll add them to my meals during the week. Chop up some broccoli, potatoes, sweet potatoes or green beans and toss them on a pan. Spray with oil, season as desired and roast at 400/425 degrees for 10-25 minutes depending on the veggies. You can also toss in whole potatoes or sweet potatoes to roast.  Other veggies like parsnips, carrots, peppers and more can also be roasted!

  • You can use the potatoes for side dishes or a quick dinner like these Mexican Loaded Sweet Potatoes.
  • Try roasting your veggies with a little bacon for extra flavor! Add them to main dishes, salads, etc during the week!
  • Or try these Maple Bacon Roasted Carrots or Roasted Green Beans with Ginger and Cranberries.

These Thai Chicken Meatballs are bursting with fresh Asian flavors and are perfect for a quick, easy lunch or dinner. Make a batch during your next food prep session and enjoy them warm or cold!

7) Lean Proteins – If you’re a meat-eater, why not cook some of your meat ahead of time for less weeknight cooking?

  • Choose your favorites like chicken, salmon, meatloaf, burgers (meat or veggie) and try baking, roasted or grilling them.
  • Try making a batch of burgers/cakes like these Avocado Chicken Burgers or some Thai Chicken Meatballs or Paleo Turkey Sweet Potato Meatballs.
  • Put your crockpot or instant pot to good use and make some shredded chicken or try Persian Pulled Chicken or Slow Cooker Barbacoa.
  • Use these cooked proteins during the week in sandwich wraps, on salads, in casseroles, etc! You could also make those casseroles ahead of time and reheat during the week.
  • Grill some steak and use the leftovers to make a Steak Cobb Salad.

Lentil Vegetable Curry 1

8) Beans & Legumes – Even if you’re not a completely plant-based eater, it’s still a great idea to add some plant-based proteins to your diet. I buy dried beans, cook a whole bag at a time and freeze the extras. (Learn How To Cook & Freeze Beans here). You can do the same thing with lentils! Then just pull them out when you need them and add them to whatever you’re cooking.

  • You can add beans and legumes to casseroles and salads or use them to replace meat in your favorite dishes like Lentil Sloppy Joes or Lentil Veggie Curry. 
  • Try these Asian Black Bean Burgers for an easy weeknight dinner that you can make ahead of time or learn how to add beans to breakfast.
  • You can even use them in baked goods. Try Lentil Banana Muffins, Chocolate Lentil Bars or Peanut Butter Chickpea Bars.

Instant Pot Chicken and Sweet Potato Soup

9) Soup – Soup is a great way to pack tons of nutrients into one easy meal.

  • Choose low-sodium broth, or better yet- make your own. You can always make extra and freeze. Just defrost when needed!
  • Add tons of veggies! Frozen veggies work great in soup and are packed with nutrients.
  • Add some protein- choose your favorite meat or opt for some high-fiber beans or lentils
  • Add some whole grains if you’d like!
  • This Instant Pot Sweet Potato Chicken Soup, Curried Sweet Potato Soup and Sweet Potato Chicken Chili are some of our favs!

These Easy Egg Wraps are perfect for a low-carb, high-protein snack. Make several ahead of time and fill with things like turkey, avocado, cheese, hummus and more.

10) Eggs – These are great for almost any meal. Cook them on the stove or use the instant pot.

  • Eat them for breakfast with some peanut butter toast.
  • Grab a couple for an afternoon snack.
  • Slice them up and add to salads for lunch or dinner!
  • You can also prep Egg Wraps or Egg Waffles for grab and go snacks.

Of course, there are tons of other foods that can be prepped ahead of time for a healthy week…these are just some of my staples that I turn to week after week!

Freezer Magic and Food Prep Bundle

If you want to learn more about food prep, check out my ebooks: The Ultimate Guide to Food Prep and Freezer Magic!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

 

Filed Under: Food Prep, Ingredient Round-Ups

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Lindsay Livingston The Lean Green Bean Healthy Living Tips and Tricks

I'm a Registered Dietitian and mom of three from Columbus, Ohio. I use this blog to share simple, healthy recipes, nutrition tips, and an honest glimpse of motherhood!

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Questions? Comments? Email me: [email protected]

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Recipes

Breakfast
Dinner
Snack
Slow Cooker

Kids

Cooking With Kids
Favorite Gifts
Toddler Meals
Indoor Activities

Resources

Easy Packed Lunches for Kids
Dinner Spark
Snack Spark
Ultimate Guide to Food Prep

About

Meet Lindsay
Become an RD
Work with Me

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