Ditch the Goldfish: Better Snack Ideas for Kids
When my daughter started a new school, one of my biggest concerns was the food.
They provided breakfast, lunch, and snacks—and while I’m grateful, I knew most of it wouldn’t align with how we eat at home. So I packed her meals… but the first few days, she ate what they served instead.
And I noticed a difference immediately.
She came home ravenous.
Her lunchbox was untouched.
And her skin flared up again…
That told me everything I needed to know.
Either she wasn’t eating much (unlikely)… or what she was eating was causing blood sugar spikes and crashes, leaving her hungry, irritable, and inflamed.
****Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or a healthcare provider, so this is not medical advice. I am a trained health coach with a certification in nutrition.
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Why I Care About Balanced Snacks for Kids
One of the most common questions I get is:
“What do you feed your toddler for snacks?”
My answer is simple: I focus on balanced snacks that support blood sugar.
Because when snacks are mostly carbs (like crackers, pancakes, fruit alone), they can lead to:
energy crashes
constant hunger
irritability
At our house, we don’t do “naked carbs.”
What Is a Balanced Snack?
Every snack or meal should include: Protein + healthy fat + carbs
This helps:
keep kids full longer
stabilize blood sugar
support mood and energy (less tantrums- hallelujah!)
If you’re unfamiliar with how to balance blood sugar for yourself or your kids, I encourage you to look into my blood sugar balancing course. It’s quick, easy to understand and teaches you everything you need to know within an hour!
What a Balanced Meal Looks Like for Us
Instead of carb-heavy breakfasts like:
pancakes + fruit
grits + fruit
biscuits + fruit
We aim for: higher protein, balanced meals
Example:
Yogurt (healthy fat)+ chicken sausage (protein)
This gives her steady energy without the crash!
Ingredients We Avoid
I created a free, easy-to-use list of ingredients we avoid—so you don’t have to Google everything at the store. There’s also an image of snack brands we use and trust!
Click image for clickable version.
Food Items & Balanced Snacks We Eat
Balanced Breakfast Ideas
Yogurt- we get organic, whole milk Greek yogurt (make sure there’s no added sugars). Beware- other yogurts can have a ton of added sugars or gums.
Sausage- we get organic, nitrate free chicken sausage (typically from Aldi or Costco). Always, always, always opt for nitrate free!
Protein Shake- I love having a protein shake every few mornings. BUT, I only use a certain brand and that is Truvani. I like to add collagen from Perfect Supplements to it, too. I typically use about 6 ounces of almond milk (typically Malk brand because it is made of 3 ingredients, no gums and has no added sugar) and then 6 ounces of filtered water and just blend up the protein and collagen in there.
Balanced Lunch Ideas
We typically meal prep lunch for all of us but here's a few ideas that we make for Libby from time to time that are easy and convenient.
Taco Quesadilla- we use Siete brand tortillas (found in the freezer section at the store), grass fed organic block cheese that we shred ourselves (no anti-clumping agents if you shred it yourself), and then premade taco meat (grass fed ground beef and an organic taco seasoning pack). A note about the tortillas: they do have xanthan gum in them that we normally avoid, but this is the cleanest tortilla option I have found so far.
Meatballs- I just recorded a quick video about how I make these that has the recipe in the caption, but these are our GO TO! Libby LOVES these! They reheat really great (we use a stainless steel pan instead of the microwave- you can read why we don't use a microwave in my blog post about EMF here). Amylu brand is also a great meatball brand that you can find at Publix in the freezer section!
Peanut Butter Sandwich- this is probably the least "healthy" thing we will give her for lunch but sometimes convenience is key. If we do this, we use sourdough bread that I made (3 ingredients and organic, so no glyphosate on the grains) and then an organic peanut butter. Note: a lot of peanut butters, even organic ones, can be made with harsh seed oils like palm oil. Don't get those. Get ones that are literally JUST made with peanuts! We will serve this with a meat stick to help balance out the carb content.
Looking for more lunch and snack inspiration that is made of healthy ingredients? Download my FREE guide on Healthy Lunch & Snack Swaps here!
Balanced Snacks for Kids We Eat Regularly
This image is clickable!
Apple + Nut Butter + Hemp Seeds- great balance here and is easy and delicious!
Simple Mills Cheddar Crackers or Pop Mmm's- great substitute for Cheez-Its or Goldfish!
Meat Sticks- We get Chomps brand the most.
Organic Fruit/Veggie Pouches- quick and easy option.
Skout Organics Bars- Libby is obsessed with these things. You can enroll in an autoship thing from their website and it's a reduced price, so we get them sent to us once a month. If we don't need it, we skip the next shipment. Get 20% off your first order!
Simple Mills Bars- great option for a quick, on the go "breakfast bar" kind of deal.
Simple Mills Sweet Thins- great substitute for Teddy Grahams! They have regular or chocolate and they're GOOOOOD.
Solely Fruit Gummies- great substitute for ANY gummies. These have 3 ingredients and are made from mangoes. Libby is OBSESSED with these things and they're delicious!
Organic Fruit- duh. Balance it appropriately!
Chips- we do not typically buy chips... But if we do, it's normally Siete tortilla chips or a chip from Thrive Market that is made with avocado oil instead of harsh seed oils.
Simple Mills Sandwich Cookies- we don't typically buy cookies either, but these are a great alternative to Oreos!
Nuts- Libby loves pumpkin seeds and cashews!
We get most of our snacks from Thrive Market! You can click here to order your first order for 40% off! I love their diapers, too!
That's pretty much all of the quick snacks we keep on hand for our toddler, Libby. If you have a question about whether a snack has toxic ingredients, a good reference is the EWG website or using their app- HealthyLiving.