Toddler Dinners: Snacks

Recently I had 2 mamas ask me about Toddler Dinner snack ideas. I immediately tweeted back “I’m sure there is a post”. Then I went looking and, wouldn’t ya know, there wasn’t! I had talked about it in some but never a dedicated post.

One reason for the lack of post is we sometimes don’t do snacks of the weekend. We usually eat breakfast later and just have something quick in my purse at the park. Then Landon sleeps later at nap so it is too close to dinner. BUT with all that said, we used to do them more and I know of the things they do at school. Without further ado, snack ideas.

Dried Fruit – We eat at lot of dried fruit. Raisins, cherries, apricots, blueberries. I have talked about this before because it requires me to keep less fresh fruit on hand to go bad. I can always make a quick trail mix with crackers and nuts when needed. If you are worried about choking hazards for the little ones, try getting fruit leather sticks and letting them gnaw on it. Trader Joes has tons!

Yogurt – Yogurt with a spoon. Gogurt. It all works. Healthy. No choking hazard. Winner winner.

Veggie sticks – Carrots, celery, green peppers, cucumbers. They are all hits at my house. You can add a little dressing as dip (we don’t because he doesn’t like it and allergic to ranch). Peanut butter with celery is one classic. A note for the little ones: every few days I would steam carrot sticks in small batches and leave in tupperware in the fridge. They were mushy enough to not be a chocking hazard but firm enough to stay as stick.

Pretzels/Crackers/Goldfish – I almost always have a baggie of these in my purse mixed with dried fruit. You can’t really go wrong with them. This could also include dry cereal (chex, cherrios, mini wheats). I do have to say I never buy Goldfish anymore since finding Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies. They are divine.

Fruit Puree Pouches – This is a pricier option but great for on the go. When Landon was just starting out on food, they were just starting to ramp up the variety. Now you can get these suckers in every flavor. Hide veggies and great size to throw in a diaper bag. We have a running stock of Trader Joe’s Fruit Crushers in the house since he eats veggies well anyway. I would totally stock up on the veggie ones if he didn’t.

Hummus and Pita – This is a hit here and at school as well. You could also pair with your veggies. I started Landon eating hummus pretty early and now he never bats an eye at it.

Frozen fruit – Of course you can have non-frozen but I wanted to bring this up. I think this was one of the better decisions I made with him at a young age. I gave him frozen fruit. 1) It helped during teething. An ice cold peach slice on those gums was perfect and yummy and 2) He still eats frozen fruit. If I am low of fruits, I slap some frozen pineapple bits on his plate and BOOM. There is no qualms that is too cold. He just chows down. HOORAY FOR LAZY!

String Cheese – Always a tasty option for protein. You can also do just cheese chunks to save on waste obviously.

Plain pasta – Landon is just like his dad and loves plain pasta. Elbows, rotini, penne. Just make a batch and keep in the fridge for a few days of dishing out. Bonus: You can just add to meals for a grain as well!

There is probably more we served when he was just starting out but I can’t remember. He ate a lot and didn’t refuse much.

So what does your toddler enjoy at snack time?

More posts that might help:

The Staples

Dinner on the Go

Daycare Options

Attack of the Leftovers