3 Pre-Dinner Snacks in Under 30 Seconds

I’ve made it through the door, ditched my work shoes, and collapsed onto the couch.

“Mommy, can I have a snack?”

Sure! I walk into the kitchen and throw a fruit snack/cookie/dry cereal into a bowl.

5 minutes later …

“Mommy, can I have a snack?”

After several trips to the pantry, I quickly realized these sugary treats are not going to be enough to hold my son over until dinner time. So, what did I do? I did what any good mother does — I turned to Pinterest. I searched for “after school snacks” and “healthy snacks for toddlers” which presented me with hundreds of snack ideas. I looked through several links, but there seemed to be one glaring problem.

They all required baking, extensive assembling, or more than 20-minutes prep time.

Let’s be real — if I’m going to be spending that much time in the kitchen, it’s to make dinner, not a snack. Pinterest-worthy snack = too much time in the kitchen. Fast snack = too much sugar and not filling. It was really a conundrum. With some trial-and-error, I now have three fairly healthy snack ideas that I can whip together in *literally* 30 seconds. My Oreo-loving four-year-old actually eats them, and they keep him satisfied for longer than 5 minutes (win-win!).

Yogurt and Granola

Since we buy individually-packed yogurt, I usually open the yogurt and put the granola in a bowl. Sometimes my son wants to put the yogurt in the bowl, other times he puts the granola in the yogurt, but mostly he eats the yogurt and granola separately. I put the two together for him ONCE and that was a disaster. In case you’re wondering, yes, that is chocolate and mini marshmallows in the granola. Every journey into the granola world has to start somewhere, right?

Apple Slices and Nut Butter

This snack took more trial-and-error than the others. At first I put apple slices next to Nutella. My kid ate all the Nutella — licked the bowl clean — but completely disregarded the apples. Looked at the sugar amount in Nutella and YIKES. No wonder why he loved it.

I tried nut butter (cashew butter specifically) and put next to apple slices. He ate the apples, but didn’t touch the nut butter. So, I dipped each slice into the nut butter before throwing them into the bowl. Bonus: no dirty spoon! Also, go ahead and grab pre-sliced apples. It might cost a little more, but bags of sliced apples are a time saver!

Deli Slices and Cheese (Maybe Crackers, Too)

This snack was inspired by Lunchables (confession: my kid has eaten them and will likely eat them in the future). A mozzarella stick or cheese cubes and a couple pieces of turkey or ham — voila! Sometimes I add in a few whole grain crackers, sometimes I don’t. This seems to be the most filling snack out of the three, so I try to limit how often I make it.

Jaime Mackey
Originally from Florida, Jaime has lived in Southern Louisiana for most of her life (so, that makes her a local, right?). She currently resides on the Northshore with her husband and son and teaches high school English. An enneagram 5, you'll most likely find her doing hot yoga solo, on her phone researching a random topic or sitting in the comfort of her home with coffee and a book within an arm's reach.

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