Homemade snacks

Here's a gathering of our favorite snacks right now.   I hate to buy snacks in the store, both due to cost and the presence of mysterious ingredients, plus often times making something in the kitchen is actually easier than packing up my kids and going to the store.


Homemade Crackers

I have tried a few cracker recipes, and some of them are just kind of, well, yucky!  But this one from Passionate Homemaking turns out great and lends itself to different flavors.  I added ground up basil and garlic salt to one batch and really liked it.  I think cinnamon sugar would work well too.  Kids munched these right up, and the baked crackers held together without being hard.




Sesame-Honey Candy

photo credit


These were so darn easy and as tasty as candy.  I cut mine in longish bars (more like the crackers).  Soft and not too chewy due to the use of honey instead of white sugar.  I might just drizzle chocolate on top next time, how good would that be!


Mudballs

photo credit

This recipe and photo are from Heavenly Homemakers.  Ava and I make these all the time.  Pretty healthy, filling, and scrumptious.  My kids come in and dance around my feet if they catch me making mudballs.  Good thing the recipe only takes about 7 1/2 minutes!


Fruit and Kefir Smoothies

If you don't know about kefir, check out Tammy's Recpies.  Kefir is nutritious like yogurt, but even better!  I don't care for it plain, but it works wonderfully in smoothies.  Smoothies don't really need a recipe, but here's what I do most of the time:  about 3/4 of a quart of kefir in the blender, plus two-ish cups of frozen berries, plus a banana or some oj, plus a generous glug of honey and maybe a teaspoon of vanilla.  Done!  Here's my favorite: Mango Kefir.  Super quick to make, great for summer, good for you, and you can make any leftovers into popsicles.  My kids slurp these up and ask for more.  I often whip up a batch about 4:30pm and then the kids walk around stuck to their straws while I make dinner.  Maybe it's the honey. . .







photo credit



Healthy Snacks to Go Ebook

Written by the author of the blog Kitchen Stewardship, pretty much anything from this ebook makes for a yummy snack.  The book includes some more typical ideas (with a Kitchen Stewarship twist), including banana muffins, granola bars, and crackers, but also some great things you might not have thought of, like powerbars and spelt biscuits, which are currently cooling on my counter.  The powerbars in particular are so. darn. good.  With this link you can look at the table of contents, and I think you can also see a few sample recipes.  This ebook is well worth the money for all the tips that are included along with the recipes.