Healthy Foods & Snacks On The Go

As your little one becomes more apt to various foods and eating more textured items, going out on the town to run errands and what not requires a little more preparation.  When my little guy was just starting to dabble with finger foods we did lots of puffs.  If you haven’t discovered these little gems, you’ve been missing out!  Various companies now make them and their aimed towards the beginner pincher who is working on their fine motor skills and can handle bits and pieces of foods.  The puffs will eventually melt in their mouth so that way the choking hazard is minimal.  I will never forget the first time we gave our little guy some puffs, he kept on getting them stuck on his fingers and the back side of his hand and had some difficulty getting it into his mouth at first.  But soon after that he mastered them and scarfed them right down!  They were like baby crack when you brought out a container during a play date – you were suddenly the life of the party. 🙂

Along with puffs, another food I always brought with was a banana and sometimes an avocado.  Those were simple items that didn’t require much preparation and were easy to administer (and allergy free, in case we were out with other kiddos).  I would just cut up the avocado, put it in a bag and/or wrap it in tin foil (to keep it from changing color) and bring a spoon to feed the little man when he’s hungry.  The other go-to snack item was cheerios!  I know their not the most nutritious but they kept a kid happy and bought you some extra time at the grocery store.  🙂

I found some small to-go containers at a local store and would use them to pack little snacks when I knew we would be gone for a longer period of time.  They were perfect to pack in the diaper bag and easy to access by babies hands as well as mommies.  We also picked up a few of those snack cups that have the easy to access tops but not as easy for the contents to fall out.  One of the best investments we’ve made with regards to food utensils; we still use them!  Their the perfect cup for on the go but watch out because once the top is used a few too many times – good luck keeping anything inside the cup, especially if your little one figures out that when shaken it makes noise (and the contents slowly falls out)!

The best way to cut up finger foods, I found, was by using a pizza cutter!  It’s the easiest, quickest way to cut something up into finger food portion sizes!  I wish I could remember where I read/heard this tip – best tip ever!  As great as a knife works, a pizza cutter is so much quicker, more precise and not as sharp in case your little one is near by.

The other kitchen item I used a BUNCH when I made finger food recipes was the mini muffin tin.  I made so many things using this muffin tin as my mold – quinoa bites, muffins, a snack tin that had various foods in each compartment, and much more!

I also would use measuring cups with handles lots once little man got a little older and was walking around more.  I found them to be the perfect cup that he could transport his snack to where he wanted and munch away.  He now will come into the kitchen and know exactly where the cups are and ask for one.  So, check out what your local dollar store has – their the perfect go-to snack cup when your at home!

There are a gazillion recipes and blogs out there for making delicious, healthy finger foods for your wee ones.  Some of my favorite go-to blogs are wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com and blog.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com.  There are a bunch more places to find some great recipes but these two always had some excellent finger food ideas and recipes!  So check them out and please share any other resources you have found in the comments below too!  🙂

Another favorite way I got my little guy excited about his food was make a smoothie – it’s easy, you can sneak anything you want into it, and they’ll LOVE IT!  I also would take the left over smoothie and pour it into Popsicle molds to save for a cranky, teething day.  It was the perfect go to snack that would help keep him entertained AND help soothe his gums from his pain from teething!  I found some cheap molds at IKEA but I’m sure any local grocery store or dollar store has some Popsicle molds – they don’t have to be anything fancy, they won’t know the difference.  🙂

The biggest thing to remember as your little one(s) becomes a little foodie is that presentation and colors are huge!  So make sure you try to make an attractive presentation out of the meal and your little one will go for it that much more.  The other item to keep in mind is to remember to have FUN!!  Your child is experimenting just as much as you are and nothing is more fun than learning and growing together!  So have fun making and feeding your little one new and different foods because soon they’ll tell you exactly what they want and then everything becomes that much more “fun”.  😉

Please feel free to share your experiences, what’s works for you, tips, tricks, and anything else for other readers to learn from.  Thanks!