Snack time on the go!

Snack time on the go!

A busy family really needs a snack plan when living with dietary restrictions! Seasonal fresh fruit is always a nice choice but it can be really messy too. Snacks like pretzels, bars, and fruit jellys are usually well liked by kids but mainstream versions of these are also allergy prohibiting. Well fear not faithful Mom, we have answers!

An excellent choice for pretzels are the Glutino brand which comes both in small sticks and traditional knots. They are very tasty. Their weak point is that they need to be stored in an air tight container once opened. Otherwise, they go stale very quickly. These are pretty easy to purchase as we found them in Walmart, Whole Foods, and the Natural Grocer. It is very possible that they are also in your local market. Although I have tried others, these are the only pretzels we use. 

Fun Idea: Lay out some wax paper and melt some chocolate that is safe for your family. Dip the Glutino Pretzel Sticks in the hot melty chocolate and lay on the wax paper to solidify. Once congealed, gently roll the wax paper up with the chocolaty pretzels inside and place in your refrigerator. I take out a few at a time to add to childrens lunch or for a special treat. My kids really enjoy these chocolate covered pretzels.

The Glutino bars (which star in my video this week) are also portable and delicious. They are individually wrapped so they really make mobile snacking easy! I got a fun idea for that too - but you'll have to watch my fun video ;)

There are many other bars on the market as well that are really great. Enjoy Life brand makes some marvelous products! In fact their new line is the best yet! We have long been fans of the Coco Loco and the Sunbutter Crunch bars - but now they have added some new flavored and textured bars! (We discovered these in the Breadroot Natural Foods Co-Op in Rapid City, SD.) The amazing Enjoy Life S’mores, Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate SunButter, and Cinnamon Bun bars knocked our socks off! These are all individually wrapped. I can not yet find these new bars in my local market or local big chain stores so I have ordered them online. Perhpas, check Amazon if you want to try these and can't find them locally. 

There are a few styles of jellies that we like. The roll-up variety called Fruitabu  is a real treat. It is stretchy and sticky - but not drippy! They are packed with flavor. The rope style Zfruit Rope is also quite fun. They are flavorful, bendable and a little bit slick. Then there are the Gummy Bunnies. They are dime sized leaping bunny shapes. Each Bunny packet fits in the palm of a child's hand. These jelly snacks are all individually wrapped and total kid pleasers! My children take them for snack often.

Fun Ideas: Break out your creativity in a paper piecing type way for cakes and cupcake design. Fruitabu can be unrolled in small sections and an adult can use very small cookie cutters or a knife to cut small shapes. Uses would include faces on kawaii bento creations. (Bento and kawaii itself will be a post of its own at a later date - aren't you glad your here?)  Zfruit Rope can be coined to make small flowers and long sliced for stripes and stems. Bunnies that are gummy - well use them anywhere you need a little bunny! 

Read up on these pretzels, bars, and fruit jellies ahead of time to be sure they will meet your safe snacking needs. I would love to hear what you choose to try. Let me know what you think and how you decide to get creative with them! 

-Mom