*Hope you were able to attend the general strike yesterday (and thanks for the comments). Now onto a post we shot a few weeks ago for those interested. We appreciate you being here.
Under “things I never thought I’d get this excited about when I was 22”, I’d say “meal preparation” is at the top. And yet, I legitimately enjoy it. Not because I like cooking, I’m still not very good at it. But because I love a project that keeps me home on Sunday afternoons, I can listen to my entertaining podcasts and audiobooks, have some down time, and enter the week with some good meals and non-ultra-processed snacks that my kids will actually eat. I’m sure there’s some kind of neuroscience around the dopamine that’s released when you feel like you have all your stuff together. Like buying new workout clothes makes you feel like you did something good for yourself. Now, I’m all about meal prep (on an ideal Sunday I might roast a chicken for dinner and eat the leftovers, then make broth from the bones, make a big soup for Brian and me, chop veggies for a salad, and make homemade salad dressing) but today I’m showing you three very easy healthy snacks we make for the kids (and us) that they really love.
Here we go – they’re all super easy, each only requires one bowl, and have healthy stuff hidden in them. We’re talking chocolate veggie muffins, no-bake energy bites, and turkey and veggie meatballs (gluten-free). I didn’t develop the recipes, so I’m going to link up with the food creators who created them to make sure they get the love. But I changed them 🙂
Chocolate Veggie Muffins
I’m not a baker at all – too scientific, too specific, too easy to mess up. But for these muffins you just need to put all the ingredients in your blender, blend, and then bake in muffin tins. we have made in Maybe 10 times now, and I modify the vegetables (you can use spinach for kale or add protein powder easily). Sometimes they look more green (to which my kids definitely have an adverse reaction), and sometimes I’ve added more cocoa powder to make sure they’re sweeter.
You can easily use maple syrup in place of honey or almond butter in place of peanut butter. I’m sure most of you are more intuitive bakers than I am, so you probably know this. But I’m a staunch recipe follower, so removing things feels like a real life threat to me.
As far as dry pantry ingredients go, if you buy enough in advance, it may be enough to last you for several batches. I found the recipe here (And I’ve tried doubling the recipe, but they don’t get eaten that quickly). Oh, and you have to refrigerate them, otherwise they’ll go moldy (it went moldy with me last time).
Caitlin always tells me to smile slightly so I don’t look angry in shots, but I know I don’t usually look so pleasant when preparing food alone.
You can also add the nuts during or after the chocolate chips 🙂 Again, original recipe Here.
I didn’t shoot the other two snacks (I made them the night before), but here you go:
Turkey Veggie Meatballs!
I just started making these, and oh my god, these are the best protein snack hack for the whole family. Working from home, I won’t pop less than 8 in my mouth a day. We have a lot of growing 12-year-old boys coming in, and they eat these boys up. And they contain no gluten, dairy or sugar. Just turkey, zucchini, and herbs/spices. We doubled the recipe in a week (made 96 of them, which was aggressive), and I found that adding more seasoning than the recipe calls for helps a lot. I used my Trader Joe’s Ranch flavoring (maybe 2 tablespoons), and it added a lot of flavor (and made it taste a little Mediterranean). big fan. original recipe Here (If you are not adding in any other recipe then just add more salt and seasoning, imho).
No-Bake Energy Bites
These are the snacks my kids ask for most All Among them, possibly because they are adjacent to desserts and are quite sweet and chocolatey. But honestly, anything is better than grabbing a bag of ultra-processed stuff, because at least I know what’s in it. It’s pretty basic, stick to the recipe HereBut you can add hemp seeds, protein powder, nuts, dry fruits, coconut pieces, etc. You have to throw them on a tray in your freezer for at least an hour to harden, and we leave them there until finished instead of transferring them to the fridge (kids like them better this way). Just don’t make them too big or they will be too hard when frozen. (Brian made them as big as golf balls the other day, and they were like jaw-breakers from the freezer). Then, the maple syrup can be replaced with honey and the peanut butter can be replaced with different butters. I can’t imagine these being low in calories, but that’s not the point here – I just want whole foods that they will actually enjoy eating.
If anyone has healthy breakfast recipes, please let them know in the comments! I recently made These other muffins for our kidsAnd they were excellent. But I don’t want my kids to get tired of them, so I’m always looking for new options. And y’all, even though my kids are 10 and 12, they don’t like vegetables, so anything loaded with green vegetables, please share. xx
*by photos Caitlin Green
