When we were growing up, we had strong opinions about what we wanted in our lunches. If we weren’t begging for Lunchables, we’d cry for Capri-Suns, Oreo cookies, or regular, normal peanut butter (our mom did not like Jif!!).
It’s a struggle for every parent to teach their kids healthy eating habits because every child is different! Some may love everything you give them, others will clearly let you know they hate it. And it’s getting harder everyday. Chocolate NutterButters? Pringle’s in Lunchables? Megastufted Oreos? How are these companies doing it?!
Sometimes we have successful healthy days, and other times, not so much. The point is to try filling most days with healthy habits. That way, it’s not a big deal when your child comes home from the school bake sale with a triple layer brownie. You know they eat well most other times.
For most other days, we’ve come up with some great healthy snacks for our families that are a lot healthier than the average American diet. All these healthy kid snacks are ones our kids love! Healthy ways of eating taught by good examples, creativity and consistency will eventually help your family learn to love good food and stay healthy throughout the school year!
Kid-Approved Naturally Sweetened Treat Recipes:
Super Easy Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Cinnamon Protein Breakfast Bars
Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pretzel Granola Bars
Oatmeal Cinnamon Cookie Dough Truffles
Skinny Mini Lemony poppy Seed Muffins
When you don’t have time to be in the kitchen, check out our favorite prepackaged, store-bought goodies in this post for healthier alternatives.
All of these healthy treats are great for a couple reasons. First, they are sweet enough to feed your child’s cry for sugar. Second, most of them are really easy to pack and take for lunches. Third, they are easy to make, many are freezable and all can be made a few nights in advance for busy school weeks. That makes all these recipes kid-approved and mama-approved! We wish you a very happy new school year!
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Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
First of all, that family photo is cracking me up-the look on your little girl’s face is PRICELESS!
I completely agree about the difficulty but necessity to make healthier options for kids, when I have the children I will eventually have I’m def. going to embrace the same philosophy (very diff. from how I was raised, with constant lunchables, only Jif, and so many oreo’s lol)
Annie says
Thanks, Kayle! She cracks us up too! That little girl is the actress of the family. :) We agree, that’s how we grew up! It just doesn’t make sense that we’d feed little growing, developing bodies fake food! Thanks for the comment!
Randi (laughfrodisiac) says
Aw how sweet is she? Good luck in first grade!
These recipes look great. I must start with the chocolate chip banana bread, one of my faves.
Chelsea says
Thank you! That banana bread is one of our favorites too! :)
Tina says
My kids love your almond butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. I know they would love all these!! These are great!
Chelsea says
Thanks, Tina! So happy to hear that! :)
Traci says
I love all these healthy recipes for school. I’m going to have to try a bunch. Lunch time gets boring and the kids love trying new things.
Chelsea says
Thanks, Traci! Everyone loves new treats once in awhile. :)
Sarah/appifanie says
I’ll have to try some of these, thanks! My daughter’s a first grader now too! They grow up so fast.
Chelsea says
They do grow up fast! Hope you guys enjoy first grade! :)
Sandra Lewis says
These are fantastic and I would definitely use them at home. Adorable picture by the way. I love it. There’s a bigger challenge is in school though. So many children have allergies. My daughter, also a first grader, is in a nut free classroom this year because of classroom allergies. Do you have any more nut free suggestions? Once you cut out the nuts it seems to cut your options in half.
Chelsea says
Sandra, thanks for mentioning that. Yes, nut allergies are a big deal and very common.
Here are some nut-free ideas:
http://www.naturalsweetrecipes.com/deliciously-healthy-chocolate-chip-cookies/
http://www.naturalsweetrecipes.com/baked-sweet-potato-fries/
http://www.naturalsweetrecipes.com/mini-donut-holes/
http://www.naturalsweetrecipes.com/cucumber-hummus-bites/
http://www.naturalsweetrecipes.com/apple-pie-cookies/
http://www.naturalsweetrecipes.com/tall-blondies/
http://www.naturalsweetrecipes.com/cinnamon-tortilla-chips/
http://www.naturalsweetrecipes.com/raw-dark-chocolate-coconut-truffles/
http://www.naturalsweetrecipes.com/oatmeal-pineapple-cookies/
You can also omit the nuts in our mom’s carrot cookies and replace the almond flour with another flour in the almond flour pancakes.
For a list of all our nut-free recipes, check out this page: http://www.naturalsweetrecipes.com/nut-free-recipes/
Thank you!