My 22-month-old, Hudson, is a great eater as far as I’m concerned. But that doesn’t mean he won’t dive into a bag of Goldfish crackers and devour them all. It takes a certain amount of effort to offer our little ones snacks that are nutrient rich and likeable.  Sure, its easy to fall into the rut of Cheerios, cookies and crackers and there is a place for all of this in a balanced diet. I also believe our kids learn to like the foods we give them regularly. So try these healthy snacks out for size and your little one will benefit from the added nutrition a cracker doesn’t always have.

• Beans: Like a Cheerio, beans are a great, packable, finger food. Having a cabinet full of canned beans like chickpeas and black beans is as simple as being stocked up on cereal. Pop open a can, rinse the beans and offer them as part of a meal or packaged in a baggie as a snack for on-the-go. Packed with fiber, protein and lots of nutrients this is a no-brainer. Plus, soft beans like cannellini are easy on gums.
• Dried Fruit: A great alternative to fruit snacks, dried fruits like apples and cherries are a tasty finger food that have a good shelf life, pack easily and of source are loaded with antioxidants and nutrition. Look for no or low-sugar options. Read more »

There are so many brands of this lunch-box classic. Which is best for snacking?

Nutrition
There’s a wide range of granola bar options and an even broader range of ingredients. Some brands do a much better job of making their bars with quality stuff. They all contain some form of sugar (they wouldn’t taste very good without it), but we looked at all the ingredients very carefully to evaluate the best options.

The Criteria
For this taste test, we rated chewy chocolate chip bars on taste, ingredients and nutritional information—focusing on calories, fat and sugar. We rated each on a 5-point scale (5 being the highest).

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