As parents we lead busy lives. We always want our children to eat as healthy as possible but it gets harder to do so as stress builds, we don’t have enough time,  deadlines arise, we’re running late–you get the idea.

So let’s get real here and get some easy snack ideas going. Please just be sure to chose brands of food wisely. Read the labels and make sure the food you’re buying isn’t loaded with sugar and fat. Be smart about what you feed your kids. Common courtesy is common sense. I’ve compiled a list of 10 easy and healthy things I do for our kids to give them snacks that they like because they are fun…and they’re healthy too.

You can pre-prepare these snacks for use on the go–in the car etc. OR make them with your kids–which they will enjoy.

10 Fast and Healthy Snacks For Your Kids–That are “COOL”

10) Chips and Guacamole:
Kids love to dip food. You can either buy pre-prepared guacamole or make your own (here’s an easy recipe from Alton Brown of Food Network - just leave out the hot ingredients). Then just grab some lightly salted or organic tortilla chips and you’re in business with a fast and easy snack you’re kids will love.

9) Fruit Cocktail (in Pear Juice):
Every kid eats fruit cocktail. It’s part of being a kid. BUT today we have fruit cocktail that’s not drenched in high fructose corn syrup. Almost every brand of canned fruit now makes a type of canned fruit in pear juice. Buy this one. It’s fun and yummy and your kids can eat it with a spoon, fork or their hands.

Hard Bolied Eggs:
So easy to make and so fun for your kids to peel and eat. Eggs are high in nutrients– they are a a very good source of selenium, iodine, and vitamin B2 and a goodsource of protein, molybdenum, phosphorous, vitamin B5, vitamin B12 and vitamin D. (If your child is overweight) they are a good food for weight loss as well.

7) Celery and Peanut Butter:
An old school snack that still holds up. If you want to be extra healthy buy organic, natural Peanut Butter with no sugar added. Natural peanut butter is so much better, lower in calories and sugar.

6) Sun Chips:
Let’s face it, kids love chips. So if you’re worried about all the junk the put in a Dorito or a Cheeto, then try Sun Chips. They come in some pretty fun flavors like Cheddar, Salsa and French Onion. And for all you environmentally conscious folks, their bags are compostable.

5) Fruit & Yogurt:
Every kid loves fruit and yogurt. Have fun with this one. You can slice up apples or use whole strawberries to dip in your yogurt or buy yogurt with fruit at the bottom. Kids love interaction with their food and this is an easy one. (but not really travel friendly)

4) Watered Down Fruit Juice:
Getting a  child to drink water is very hard when they have found the taste of juice to be so yummy. Doctors try and steer you away from juice but if your kid goes to daycare, school or even just to a playdate, it’s inevitable that they will be exposed to fruit juice. So how do you get them to drink water AND give them a taste of the juice they love? That’s right, WATER IT DOWN! And water it down by 75% water and 25% juice…they’ll never know!

3) Apple Slices and Almond Butter:
Almond butter is one of the yummiest things on the planet. And when you combine it with apples…BLAM! It’s a yummy explosion of fun that you’re kids will love. AND almond butter is better for you than Peanut butter and is carried in most major super markets nationwide.

2) Baby Carrots in Fat Free Ranch:
YUM! Dipping carrots in ranch is fun stuff for any kid. It’s so easy to do, just pick your brand of ranch wisely.

1) Kid Friendly Trail Mix:
As a parent, everyone is afraid of nuts for fear of choking and allergies. If your kids are old enough, then add nuts if you like but here is an easy trail mix that your kids will love and it’s made from cereal and dried fruit!

Here is the recipe below.

1) Get a couple of boxes of cereal:
You can use either the real brand or the store’s generic version to save money. Our rules we follow here is to try and get something with dried fruit in it, it’s low in sugar, high in fiber is a plus.
Brands are:
Special K ( multiple kids is better – we usually mix strawberry and blueberry)
Cheerios: (Regular, Apple Cinnamon or Honey Nut)

2) Dried Fruit:
Now based on the cereal you chose, pick some dried fruit. Dried apples and raisins go great with apple cinnamon cheerios. Dried blueberries and cranberries go great with strawberry and blueberry Special K. It’s all based on your kids preferences and yours but their are a ton of dried fruit options to chose from like Mango to Coconut–so have fun with it.

3) Nuts:
Sunflower seeds (out of the shell), raw almonds, raw almond slices and raw cashews seem to work best. Buying raw nuts is much better health wise because they are not loaded with salt and when they are roasted the oil in the nut becomes less healthy and fattier.

Enjoy!

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