Healthy snacks take thought–especially when there are so many unhealthy snacks at our fingertips. I try to incorporate protein, vegetables or ideally, both into a snack for me and my kids. Now where this can get tricky is the little ones. We lean towards a baby-led-weaning-ish style and give our children the foods we eat. But snacks without teeth or major chewing function is harder. AND in those first two years especially, I like to incorporate as much healthy fat as possible. (We don’t give our kids milk, so I make up for the fat elsewhere).

My go-to for the bigger kids when I have nothing else and no creativity is nuts and dried cranberries or raisins. Alas, baby with no teeth cannot chop on almonds (or even cashews at this point). When they are on sale and ripe, avocados make a great snack for all ages. My mother-in-law calls them “Nature’s Fast Food.”

But when I tend to always have is bananas. (Seriously, our grocery store was OUT OF bananas tonight? If I had a banana tree and an avocado tree in my backyard I’d be set.) So my brilliant sister-in-law came up with this great idea to take bananas and make them a protein-rich snack.

First, I took almonds, pecans, and cashews and ground them in the coffee grinder. (Don’t grind too much or you’ll end up with some nut butter). Then I chopped up the bananas into bite-size pieces, coated them in the nut dust and it was a BIG HIT. My little guy (and my two older girls actually) loved the snack and it was a great addition to our little routine. Hope it helps your pre-chewing, healthy snack adventure!