Three Kid-Approved, Better-For-You Snacks

Holistic Health Coach Kelly LeVeque shares three snacks she serves up to her boys on the regular because they’re packed with better-for-you ingredients and big on taste.

Chunky Chocolate Bark

Your kids will be eating protein and thinking it’s dessert. This frozen yogurt bark is loaded with protein, fat, and fiber for a blood sugar-balancing snack to serve to your kids between meals or for dessert.

1½ cups plain Greek yogurt or non-dairy coconut yogurt

½ medium banana sliced into ¹⁄₈ inch pieces

4 tablespoons Walnuts, Organic, Raw & Unsalted

2 tablespoons Cacao Nibs, Organic & Raw

2 tablespoons soft peanut butter

2 tablespoons chocolate chips

1 scoop

Directions:

Blend yogurt and vanilla protein together, and spread the mixture on a parchment-lined cookie sheet until about ¼-inch thick.
Add sliced bananas, chopped walnuts, cacao nibs, and chocolate chips, and drizzle peanut butter all over the yogurt.
Place in the freezer overnight.
Once frozen, break apart into large pieces. Can be stored in an airtight container for up to two weeks

Homemade Granola Bars

These homemade granola bars skip the fillers, seed oils, and rice syrups normally found in store-bought varieties and offer a lower glycemic impact by adding only a small amount of honey, more nuts, and less oats.

2 cups Rolled Oats, Organic

½ cup Coconut, Organic, Unsweetened & Shredded

1 ¼ cup Almonds, Organic, Raw & Unsalted

¼ cup Hemp Seed Hearts, Organic

½ cup almond or peanut butter

⅓ cup Manuka Honey

½ teaspoon coarse sea salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ cup Virgin Coconut Oil in Glass Jar, Organic

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup dried fruit

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Toast the nuts, oats, and coconut for 15 minutes, stirring to prevent burning.
In a pan on medium heat, whisk the coconut oil, nut butter, honey, sea salt, and cinnamon until thin and melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
Mix the nut butter mixture with the toasted ingredients, dried fruit, and hemp hearts and pour them into a parchment-lined baking pan. Firmly press down to create bars and bake for 15 minutes.
Cool completely before cutting. Store in an airtight container for up to seven days.

Homemade Gummies

Derived from collagen, gelatin is made of 98–99 percent protein. The remaining 1–2 percent is water and small amounts of vitamins and minerals. Our bodies do not make glycine, and studies have shown we don’t consume enough. This is a fun way to enjoy consuming the most abundant amino acid in our body! Adding apple cider vinegar to these gummies makes them a great pre-meal treat to support blood sugar balance and blunt the glycemic reaction to carbohydrates.* Adding elderberry to these gummies makes it fun and easy for kids to consume the immune-boosting goodness of elderberry.*

1 ½ cups Elderberry Liquid for Kids

4 tablespoons Beef Gelatin Powder

1-3 drops Monk Fruit Liquid, Organic

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

Directions:

In a saucepan, stir ingredients continuously over low heat until the gelatin dissolves. Pour mixture into silicone molds. Refrigerate until hardened.
Cut into bite-sized pieces (I used small round cookie cutters) and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.