Summer Time Snacks for the Kids

Yippee-yi-yea, we are past the week o' sick.  Now that things are nuts resembling normal around here, we seem to be leaving the house.  A lot.  There are a few reasons for this:

1. I am a stay-at-home mom who doesn't like being at home all the time.  I get cabin fever.
2. My kids just trash the house when we are home all day.  We might as well leave and give the house a chance.
3. My kids get along better when we are active and out.  
4. It is so stinking hot outside, we've got to swim at least once a day if not more.
5. This is how my mom did it.  I'm a clone of her, I swear.

Each day brings another outing and another reason to pack up snacks since we won't be back until the next meal.  Now, ideally, I prefer baking my healthy cookies, muffins, and breads for my kids and still do that regularly.  However, recently convenience has been trumping my best of intentions and I've found I find myself throwing a few boxes and bags of pre-packaged snacks in my cart each week when I shop.

Here are my highly scientific (not really) requirements:

It needs to be pretty nutritious.  On a scale of 1 - 10 it should be at least a 6 or higher.

Low in sugar.

 Has some sort of fiber.  

No high fructose corn syrup.

Very low or no saturated fats.

This is very important: it has got to survive the backpack!  Most of the time, I have a "Mom Backpack" on my back where all the snacks safely are stored.  When I take out the baggie of _____________(fill the blank), it can't be crumbs or smooshy (their word).  My kids won't have anything to do with that.

The snacks have to be able to survive without needing to be cool.  On long, day trips I will bring an ice chest or something similar, however for the hours at the pool, that typically doesn't happen.

I'm feeding a lot of kids.  Most of them need to like what I bring.

Now before you read on, I realize that we won't agree 100% about what is nutritious or not.  For our family, this is where we are right now.  It is way better from where we were (fruit snacks, crackers, granola bars) and much better from where we could be (Cheetos, donuts, candy, etc.).

So, what am I throwing in the cart?  It is definitely not complete and not 100% awesome-- but good enough:

Fresh stuff is always the first thing packed:

apples

oranges

grapes (if we aren't gone too long, I don't need to keep them cold)

dried fruit

Kashi Cereal Bars (This brand has no HFCS.  Yes, Nutri-Grain bars have HFCS and are high in sugar.)

Kashi crackers (I love the higher fiber and no HFCS in their foods)

Pretzels (not a 10 on the nutrition scale, I know)

Flavored rice cakes

MultiGrain Cheerios (in a bag, no milk required :)

Pirate's Booty (our version of Cheetos)

Applesauce, unsweetened (that's IF I remember the spoons)

Another homerun snack not pictured:  Clif Z Bars

And as for drinks:

WATER.  

Period.

Nope, no fruit juice, no Caprisun, no Sunni-D, no Gatorade, or sugar water.

So, there you have it.  The good, the bad, and the ugly. Sure, it would be great if my kids were eating ultra healthy snacks like raw asparagus with smoked salmon on rye bread and quinoa for dessert -- but that ain't happening 'round these parts.  We're just a bit too typical for that.

What about you, Fit Mommas?  What on-the-go snacks that lean towards the healthy side do your kids love?  Or tolerate?  Comment below and tell us WHAT WORKS!  

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