Teaching Kids to Eat Healthy with Treats. No-Bake Gluten Free Granola Bites Recipe.

Teaching The Dudes healthy eating habits has always been a priority for me.

Sure, I talk about grubbing cupcakes in my garage, and hoarding chocolate chip cookie dough to eat in in my shower.

But, that’s exactly why I HIDE to eat those things.

Because I don’t want to freakin share my goodies my questionable eating habits to rub off on my children.

Sure, I should probably consider stopping my shady eating enterprises anyway, and I’m working on that, but in the meantime, I need to make sure that The Dudes develop a palate for healthy eats.

I want them to enjoy eating a variety of foods and be conscious of how the things they eat affect their bodies and impact their health.

That’s not to say they aren’t allowed delicious indulgences.  We eat dessert everyday at our house (and by dessert I mean something following dinner that can some nights be fruit smoothies and other nights the best flippin’ chocolate chip cookies ever baked).

We don’t eliminate sugar or processed foods from their diet, we just make sure they get down with that stuff in moderation.

And we always offer healthy options with their meals.

That includes lunch.

To combat the fact that I know they sometimes go to school and chuck my edamame dips and tofu poppers straight into the garbage can, I try to provide them with so-tasty-you-don’t-even-know-it’s-good-for-you snackage whenever possible.

Here are some lunches from this week…

 

The fresh fruit and the Muller yogurt are two of our go-to snack options.  They are healthier than choosing a ho-ho or a Twinkie (people still eat those, right?), but they still provide the sugar kick they often crave in the afternoon.

And I KNOW they don’t chuck it.  Because they beg me for this stuff.

We go to farmer’s market’s and pick-your-own farms frequently to collect in-season fruit.  They generally like to eat it more if they get to pick it, or at least pick it out, themselves.

And the yogurt?  They just like it because it’s sooooo dang good.  We like to dress it up by tossing in some granola to give it an added crunch… 

We use the Udi’s Vanilla one because it’s the best we like it, but I’m sure there are others out there you might enjoy as well.

Know what else we make with our gluten free granola? 

Granola bars bites, duh!

I like this super easy, no bake one that is gluten free and delicious.  Too bad it’s not nut free too so #3 could eat it, but sorry kid, you can’t win ‘em all!

No-Bake Gluten Free Granola Bites

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 cups Udi’s Gluten Free Vanilla Granola

1/2 cup Crasins

1 cup chunky peanut butter

1/2 cup honey

Dump it all in.  Mix it all up.  Make it into bite sized balls using your hands.

Put them in the fridge for an hour.

Wait impatiently.

Pull them out, and you will taste joy.

If you are planning to send them to school for a treat, put them into individual serving containers and freeze.  Then send them to school with your little person to make them love you.

These aren’t the healthiest or lightest snack (so if you’re working on losing weight, maybe skip these), but they are filling and packed with protein, and way better for you than a Twinkie  and, they even sorta taste just as good. 

Need more tips for getting some added healthy into your kids’ lunches?  Or, maybe you just want to win some of this Muller yogurt (and $25 gift cards) I‘ve been going on about?!

Come chat it up with me and my other creative lunch pals (@dumbparent, @sharonmomof6, @mtdlblog, & @elainea) tonight (9:30pm EST) in our #BeyondBologna Twitter party.  We will be discussing how we overcome our biggest lunch struggles, talking about easier lunch prep for going back to school, and sharing some healthy recipes our kids actually like. 

Hope to see you there!