There are many ideas for healthy snacks. Stuffed peppers, spiced nuts,
and fruit platters are all great ways to feed us and give us energy.
But
if you don’t have time to prepare, they can be pricey. The price you pay at
the grocery store for slicing fruit, putting it in a plastic case, and adding
fruit dip isn’t always reasonable. Let’s fix this once and for all.
There
are lots of quick, healthy snacks you can make when you have time. This
article gives you some ideas for healthy snacks that you can make for yourself
and your family over the next few weeks or months.
Snacks for kids</b >
Fruit gummies
Basically, these fruit snacks are a healthier version of Jello. As you
might expect, we also suggest using homemade gelatin, which can be made from
things like chicken feet and bone broth. Gelatin powder from the store works
just as well.
- 6 cups fruit juice
- half cup gelatin powder
- 3 cups of fruit puree
- ¾ cup of honey, sugar, or maple syrup
Mix the fruit juice and your choice of sweetener in a pot. Before adding
the fruit puree, bring to a low simmer (using any kind of fruit, based on
nutrition, flavor and dietary restricitons).
Slowly stir in the
gelatin powder with a whisk. You’ll notice that it gets harder to work with if
you don’t take your time and let the ingredients mix on their own.
Lastly,
pour the mixture into sections of a container that won’t stick or a large
bowl, just like you would with regular Jello. Once it’s cool, put it in the
fridge until your fruit gummies start to form.
Good-for-you fruit snacks</b >
Typical fruit snacks like Fruit Roll-Ups aren’t always as healthy
or cheap as we’d like. Whether we like it or not, our kids love them because
they taste good and are easy. They are basically fruit leather made from
different kinds of pureed and dried fruit.
Fruit leather is great
because you don’t really need a recipe to make it. You’re good to go if you
have pears, apples, oranges, strawberries, bananas, or almost any other kind
of fruit. In particular, we recommend the items below.
- 10 cups raw fruit
- quarter cup of honey, sugar, or maple syrup (optional)
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
In this recipe for fruit leather, the lemon juice isn’t there to add
flavor. During the low-temperature drying process, the citrus keeps the fruit
from turning brown.
If you have a fruit dryer, this idea for a
snack is much easier. Many recipes call for parchment paper and temperatures
that most ovens can’t reach. Use specially made fruit roll sheets instead to
avoid the mess and wasted electricity.
How to use a fruit dryer machine to make fruit leather
Start by making a fruit puree in a blender. In this example, we use 10
cups of raw fruit to make a big batch that will last all month. Blend the
ingredients in a food processor and add honey, maple syrup, fruit juice,
and/or water to make them sweeter and smoother.
Set your fruit
jerky dehydrator to 135 degrees. Pour the fruit puree that has been treated
with lemon juice in a 14″ layer on your non-stick dehydrator trays and let it
dry until the sticky texture of the fruit has gone away.
Many
people’s conceptions of “fruit leather” are inaccurate. It doesn’t have to be
hard to chew at all, and the easiest way to keep it soft is to take it out of
the dehydrator as soon as you can peel it off the tray without much effort.
Lastly,
we’d suggest making a plan for storage. Unless it’s in a vacuum-sealed
container, it won’t usually last more than a few weeks in the cupboard. But if
you put it in zip lock bags and put it in the fridge, it should last at least
a month.