Cool and Healthy Summertime Snacks for Kids

Have fun and stay cool with these healthy, kid friendly treats:

Shave ice, popsicles, or frozen fruit. I recommend putting a wet towel or a plastic non-skid mat under the Machine so it doesn’t slide away while you’re turning the crank to shave your chosen treat. Flavor shaved ice with your favorite juice or lemonade. It’s easy, fun, healthy, and keeps kids cool and busy.

Are your kids into Pirates? While your kids are in another room, pour some fresh blueberries into an opaque bowl. Then pour applesauce over the berries so they’re completely covered. Sprinkle a little cinnamon on the applesauce so the applesauce and the cinnamon take on the appearance of sand. Then grab some spoons and go find your kiddos. Conjuring your best pirate voice, announce that you’re giving them their shovels (the spoons!) and that they have some buried treasure to dig up at the kitchen table. Super fun, super healthy, super easy.

Smoothies are easy, fun, healthy, and can be made in a million different flavors for different tastes. For a smoothie you can make with whatever is in your kitchen at the moment, follow these easy steps and include 1/3 part of each of the three following ingredient categories:

Step 1: Select frozen or fresh fruit. On a weekly basis I take any fresh fruit that is not looking super yummy anymore, and I clean and cut it and put it in baggies in the freezer to be used in smoothies. The fruit is usually super sweet from being a little overly ripe, but the mushy texture is a turn-off for my hubby and kids. You can use frozen fruit from the store as well. Or fresh fruit works great in smoothies.

Step 2: Select something with a creamy texture. Many recipes will suggest yogurt. My kids are allergic to dairy, so I opt for sorbet or soy ice cream. I also sometimes use the half-eaten fruit popsicles that accumulate in my freezer.

Step 3: Select a liquid to help your blender whir the other ingredients. For my kiddos I used soy milk, but there are lots of other great options.

When I make smoothies with my kids, I put the blender carafe on the kitchen table where we will be working so they can help to dump all the ingredients inside. One of our favorites is to put in frozen or fresh strawberries and blueberries, plus at least ½ a frozen banana from our freezer. Frozen bananas can be cut with a dull butter knife. I give my kids a cutting board and let them cut the fresh and frozen fruit and put it in the blender. Add some vanilla soy ice cream, soy milk, honey and a little cinnamon. When the ingredients are ready to be blended, I take the blender carafe and put it on the blender base up on the kitchen counter for the final mixing. I then perform my “Silly Dance” to distract the kids from the noise of the blender. The result is a cool, creamy, mostly healthy treat that puts a smile on every face.

Have kiddos pour organic, unsweetened applesauce into a glass bowl, stir in a few shakes of cinnamon and put in the freezer for approximately 30 to 40 minutes – until the applesauce is mostly frozen but not entirely solid. Then shave the applesauce with a fork, scoop into bowls, and top with sugar free maple syrup for a cool, healthy treat.