Healthy Eating Tips –

Elissa recently started pre-school, so I’ve been on the hunt for new and inspiring snack ideas to send with her each day.

In fact, I tried four new recipes this week.

I was looking for ideas that were a bit more exciting than sandwiches, fruit or dairy foods.

The problem is, I didn’t actually succeed in finding snacks that were all that lunch-box friendly.

However, I’m not too bothered about that because I did find four new recipes that got a big tick of approval from both my girls!

So, while these probably won’t make it into Elissa’s lunchbox, they will definitely be a healthy snack option for all of us when we’re snacking at home.

I wanted to share the recipes I tried out with you today, because I think you’ll love them, too.

1. Cream Cheese Pancakes

I absolutely love pancakes!

And, I’ve tried a few healthfied versions in the past, but they normally don’t come close to the real thing.

This recipe, however, is actually very good!

I can see this one becoming a go-to healthy snack (or breakfast) that I can pull together in no time, with ingredients I always have in my kitchen.

But, I can equally see it as something that could be jazzed up — with a little side of berries and a quick dusting of icing sugar, it would look well put together, even elegant, as dessert! 😉

These are definitely best eaten straight from the pan, and I recommend making them very thin, more like crêpes.

Ingredients
4 ounces cream cheese
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or you could use 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon for an alternative flavor)

Method

1. Put the cream cheese, eggs and vanilla into a blender and whizz until smooth.
2. Heat up a griddle or non stick pan, then melt a little butter or coconut oil and pour out your mixture a little at a time.
3. Cook for a couple minutes until golden, and then flip over and cook on the other side.
4. Eat while they are still warm.

Servings roughly 8 (5″) pancakes.

2. Zucchini Cheese Rounds

This is a recipe loosely based on one by Ellie Krieger.

I’ve tried a few of her recipes already and they are usually good, so I didn’t hesitate to give this one a go, too.

I recommend slicing the zucchini quite thinly, as I made mine a little too think, although the flavor was still good.

These really do need to be served straight from the oven, since this is when they are at their best.

Ingredients
1 medium zucchini
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup freshly grated cheese
1/4 cup wholegrain bread crumbs
Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 230 C.
2. Slice the zucchini into thin rounds, then in a medium bowl toss with the oil to coat. In another bowl, combine the cheese, bread crumbs, and a few turns of pepper.
3. Dip each round into the cheese mixture, coating evenly on both sides. You’ll need to press the coating on to make it stick. Then, place them in a single layer on a baking sheet.
4. Bake the zucchini rounds until browned and crisp, about 15-2o minutes and serve immediately.

3. Apricot Baked Oatmeal

I toyed with the idea of leaving this recipe out.

You see, when I made this one earlier in the week I wasn’t overly “in love” with it.

However, my idea was to find snacks that my children would love and that would also be filling and healthy, and this one really fitted the bill.

In fact, Elissa loved it so much!

The flavor is actually very nice. It’s the texture I’m not so fussed with.

When I think of ‘baked oatmeal’ I imagine a lovely crisp texture, however this is somewhere between a moist fruit cake and bread.

Really, it’s not that bad, just not what I was hoping for.

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup apricots, chopped
1/4 cup butter (melted) or light flavored olive oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Line a square pan with parchment or foil, leaving enough extra to stand up around the sides.
2. Stir all the dry ingredients together, then stir in the butter/oil. Add the eggs then the milk, and stir to combine.
3. Pour the oatmeal mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out mostly clean with just oat crumbs on it.
4. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes. Carefully lift the oatmeal out using the ends of parchment, then slice into bars.

4. Zucchini Muffins

This was my favorite recipe of all.

The taste and texture is close to a quiche, but without the pastry.

And, if you don’t mind eating cold pies etc. you could easily eat these cold too, although I personally liked them best straight from the oven.

One thing I do want to stress is the importance of removing as much moisture as you can from the zucchini and onions. Don’t skip that step, because you’ll end up with something that’s far too wet to enjoy.

Ingredients
1 cup zucchini, grated
1 large egg
1/4 medium onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup cheese, grated
1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
Butter for greasing

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 C. Lightly grease mini muffin tins with butter.
2. Grate the zucchini and onion into a clean tea towel or piece of muslin. Wring all of the excess water out. In a medium bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Fill each muffin section to the top, pushing down on the filling with your spoon so it’s nice and compacted, otherwise they may fall apart when you take them out of the tin.
4. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until the tops are golden.
5. Use a plastic knife or rubber spatula around the edges of each to remove from the muffin tin.

5. Frozen Banana Bites

I  haven’t had a chance to try out this recipe yet, but it’s on my hit-list for later in the week.

Ingredients
2 large bananas
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup natural peanut butter (smooth)
Coconut flakes

Method

1. Line a a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Cut up the bananas into good-sized chunks. Each banana should give you around 5 to 6 pieces.
3. Place the peanut butter and chocolate chips into a small pan and heat on the stove. Keep stirring until smooth.
4. Then, dip the banana pieces into the chocolate mixture and lay them onto the parchment paper. When you’ve covered them all, use any remaining mixture to spoon over the top, and finish by sprinkling the coconut flakes on top.
5. Transfer to the freezer for at least an hour, but preferably overnight.

Recipe edited from here.

So, my recipe testing wasn’t exactly as I’d hoped, but it wasn’t a waste of time either.

I’d love to hear from you, though, what are your favorite healthy kid snacks?

The post Avoid Processed Snacks With These Tried and Tested Recipes appeared first on Healthy Eating Tips.

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