*This post is sponsored by Happy Family at Target but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.
MAKING SNACK TIME HEALTHY
Working opposite shifts with different days off means my husband spends most of the day with our kids while I’m at work. On multiple occasions he’s complained how hard he finds it to make snack time healthy.
My son is almost 2 and will eat anything and everything. He’s even been caught eating pizza out of the garbage. Ewww. Our four year old daughter on the other hand can be a very picky eater.
My husband ends up waving the white flag and gives in by giving her chicken nuggets, pizza, or a pink glazed donuts with sprinkles. I would love nothing more than for our daughter to eat more fruits and veggies.
In this post I’m going to share with you tips I’ve come up with to help my husband and hopefully you to make snack time healthy for your kids!
HAPPY TOTS YOGURT
Target recently launched Happy Family’s Happy Tot Whole Milk Yogurt, which is a line of whole milk organic yogurts that comes in a variety of flavors.
They have:
Apple, Mango, & Carrot
Strawberry, Banana, Oats, & Chia
Apple & Blackberry
Banana, Mango, & Spinach
Apples & Pear
We took the kids to Target to do some grocery shopping and let them pick out the yogurt flavors they wanted.
Before we could even get to the checkout register my kids had basically finished their Happy Tot Yogurt pouches.
When I asked my daughter if she liked her Happy Tot Yogurt pouch she replied “yes, they’re so sweet.”
This made me so happy to hear because Happy Tot Yogurt has no added sweeteners!!
Their yogurts are:
* Great source of Vitamin D
* Made with probiotics for healthy tummies
*Non-GMO
*USDA Organic
A product my kids love AND a super healthy snack, winning!
Because Happy Family Yogurts offers a bunch of fruit and veggie combinations it is a great way to introduce new tastes and textures to your toddler starting at a young age. They also have a line made especially for babies.
Now for my tips to make snack time healthy:
TIP #1 GET THE KIDS INVOLVED
My kids love being involved with everything.
When my daughter cooks with us, whether it’s zucchini bread or fresh vegetables from our garden, she is significantly more likely to eat what she helps make. That’s how we found out she likes to eat clams with a garlic and white wine sauce (she likes peeling garlic) and fava beans with parmesan cheese.
My daughter even helps my husband plant the vegetables in our garden. Kids feel invested when they help. It can be something as simple as letting them cut their sandwiches into fun shapes.
My kids were so excited to get to pick their own Happy Family yogurt flavors at Target and tried flavors I never thought they would have liked, especially the ones with veggies like spinach and carrot.
TIP #2 KEEP HEALTHY SNACKS ON HAND
Stock your fridge with healthy snacks.
Take your fruits and veggies and cut them up into bite-sized pieces, put them in smoothies, or have them in a yogurt.
Make snack time healthy by offering:
*Fruit
*Nuts
*Cheese
*Hard boiled eggs
*Peanut butter, almond butter
*Hummus
*Dried fruit
TIP #3 MAKE IT FUN
Think of foods that can be dunked or eaten while on the go.
I love that the Happy Tot Yogurts come in convenient pouches.
My son who is very much food-obsessed (like his mama) couldn’t wait to get home to try them. To avoid a tantrum we opened up a pouch for each of them.
We were able to try the Happy Tot yogurt cups and pouches. Let’s just say the pouches were gone in 2 days. As a family who is always on the go this is a great healthy snack option.
TIP #4 EAT AS A FAMILY
Lead by example.
Both my kids love clams and mushrooms. Not exactly your typical kid food. Seeing my husband and I eat different foods and helping us make them has made our kids more open to trying new things.
Like I mentioned in my picky eater post, it can take awhile for kids to like something so we have the “one bite” rule in our house. Our kids need to at least try new foods and if they don’t like it they don’t have to eat it.
TIP #5 PLAN AHEAD
Meal prep for the week by using snack bags and fill them up with different healthy options. Let your kids have fun mix and matching bags each day.
When you’re going to be on the go fill a little cooler with pretzels, cheese sticks, yogurt pouches (for less mess), and more. This cuts down on the likelihood that you’ll have to resort to eating fast food or unhealthy options.
TIP #6 CUT BACK ON THE JUNK
Try not to use food as a bribe or give sweets as a reward for eating healthy. This will lead to bad habits.
Eating healthy should not be seen as a punishment, but as a way to be strong and treat our bodies right.
Hope you enjoyed my tips to make snack time healthy. If you have any more tips that work for you please share 🙂
And if you’re looking to add a healthy snack to your arsenal that your kids will love, head to Target and look for Happy Family Yogurts!
P.S. They currently have a $1 off coupon online and if you join my iBotta team you’ll score a $10 welcome bonus and $0.25 off any item at Target.
I love that there are no added sweeteners in the yogurt. When mine were young I had to make my own if I wanted that option. Eating together is always wonderful. I was super sneaky and used to blend carrots and squash in spaghetti sauce, too. Lol.
ohh that’s a great idea. I’ve done cauliflower rice for us that comes out good too.
I agree! Planning ahead makes a big difference! Also my kids want whatever I am eating, so I agree… lead by example!
With kids it can be heard to plan so a snack that you can grab and go helps us a lot.
What a great find! I’m always on the hunt for new, easy, and yummy snacks for the kids. My kids would love these, too! Also, great tips for helping picky eaters!
Us too! They also have other healthy snacks on their site other than yogurt.
Cute pics! I agree that planning is KEY in feeding your family well.
thank you!
Why did you serve the pizza in the garbage? A plate might have been easier for the boy. Haha. Our son enjoys cooking with us and is getting pretty good at some dishes. I also think that eating meals together is important because sharing time and conversation can be so good for family bonding.
Lol I know he was probably thinking, why would they dump out such a nice slice of pizza, it’s still good lol 🙂
These are great tips! I love that some of the flavors include vegetables!
Me too, only way I can sneak in extra veggies for the kids
Your kiddos are adorable! Thanks for the recipe.
thanks, they’re little troublemakers lol
Great tips for the whole family to eat healthier. My grandson loves his yogurt pouches, I’ll tell my kids about Happytot 🙂
Yea and they have a coupon on their site!
Great tips in this post! My daughter loves yogurt, so I will check this one out!
Thanks! They have great flavors and the one that has chia and oats is so good for them. In the pouch they don’t see it so it gets sneaked it lol
I’m so glad they have whole milk yogurt available now. I started making my own yogurt because none of the grocery stores here carry anything but low/no fat yogurt.
I know exactly what you mean. When we were trying to get our daughter to gain weight we had to search for whole milk yogurt and it was hard to find them
I’d never heard of the Happy Tot yogurt and will have to look for it now. We normally buy applesauce pouches, and my daughters will eat those so much better than the cups, so it’s a win-win situation for all. I think the yogurts would be the same way!
I would make my own yogurt with my Instant Pot, but these are healthy and so much easier for on the go!
It is great for kids that don’t have dairy allergy, but it says no sweetener on it, that is great!
My kids are big yogurt fans! We will definitely have to try the pouch ones out for when we are on the road. We eat a lot of snacks on the road between dance and theatre practices!
I like that Happy Family Yogurts have no added sugar and are made with probiotics. Will try them.
Great tips! I generally stick to my coconut yogurt- so lightweight and delicious!
ohh, that sounds delicious. My husband loves coconut.
yum! we are an on-the-go family too and love snacks like this!
Those snacks look yummy! I’m sure the kids love them!
My toddler likes to help in the kitchen when we are making food, I think that it gives her a sense of ownership and helps her to understand where her food comes from. She also loves helping in the garden! Thanks for sharing some great tips!
That’s wonderful! Start them young. Cooking teaches them so much, like you said, ownership, motor skills, independence.
Really good healthy snacks they have become so creative now for snacks for kids
Yea I wish they had some of these things when we were kids
These are great tips, we love yogurt. I’ve made popsicles out of the cups a lot this year, helps me avoid the sugary popsicles.
That’s a great alternative to ice cream. I’ll have to try it!
So glad there are such great healthy yogurt options out there these days! Thanks for sharing!
I know, I never realized how much sugar a lot of them have added.
My littles can be picky eaters, too. But having healthy options on hand means they can select great options. Yogurt’s always a slam dunk!
I didn’t even realize these were organic. For a long time yogurt was all my daughter would eat, and I love that these are designed with babies in mind.
Thanks, for sharing this useful post. Every day my son demand different snacks after coming home from playing and this yogurt seems to be very yummy as it is in different flavors. Keep sharing such yummy snack ideas.
So glad you liked it 🙂 My kids devoured the pouches.