Healthy Snacks
It would be great if we had the time everyday to cut up a fruit salad or whip up our own granola to accompany a sandwich for lunch, but that's not always realistic. If you're looking for something healthy to toss into your or your child's lunch or snack bag--other than the standard apple, orange or other fruits-- here is a list of our favorite healthy snacks plus one homemade tip.—courtesy of CBS Los Angeles
Fruit Strips
If you are willing to splurge a bit and do some shopping at Whole Foods, try the 365 Everyday Value Organic Fruit Strips. They aren't glossy with high fructose corn syrup and they don't come on a strip of plastic, but they still taste good and look like real dried fruit.
Fruit Sauce Crushers
Trader Joe's Apple Fruit Sauce Crushers come in a pack of four in either apple or apple/carrot. They don't have any added flavors, colors or sugar and are fortified with Vitamin C.
Snack Bars
Kashi's TLC bars are a great snack for school. The blackberry graham bars have 110 calories, 3 grams of fiber, 9 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein. Compare that to Trader Joe's Blueberry bars that have 140 calories, less than 1 gram of fiber, 16 grams of sugar, and the same amount of protein. The best thing about the Kashi bars is that they taste good, but aren't overly sweet. If you're looking for extra protein, slather on some almond butter and it's delightful after school snack.
Tip: They tend to cost at least $1 less a box at Target as opposed to the grocery store or Whole Foods.
100 Percent Juice
Sometimes it's a nice treat to have a juice box. Kirkland's Hansen's Natural Multivitamin Juice Blast is still just juice in a box, but it has vitamins and is 100 percent juice. Juicy Juice is another popular 100 percent juice brand.
Homemade Tip
One way to spruce up your young child's lunch is to cut their sandwich into their favorite shape with a cookie cutter. It takes just a minute, but when they open up their lunchbox and see a heart, rocket ship, or even a circle-shaped sandwich it will make their day
