Thursday, July 23, 2015

The Paleo Toddler Series: Store Bought Snacks

In my last post I talked about how Baby B was diagnosed with severe leaky gut and massive food sensitivities.  Nowadays it seems as though EVERYTHING that is marketed for babies and toddlers include dairy, gluten, rice and/or oats, and high fructose corn syrup in at least 3 different forms. After realizing I had to get rid of his yogurt pouches, cheesy puffs, GF teething biscuits and could no longer make his favorite dish of fried rice with eggs and pea, I was left in a panic and scratching my head-what to do next?

I started by doing the same thing I did for myself when I had to go Gluten Free; I sought out the ready to eat snack foods first.  By knowing I had store snacks to eat, it bought me some time to make my own snacks, and encouraged me to really get the ball rolling with the rest of the plan.

Off I trotted to Sprouts to get
our weekly produce, and scour around for some ready to eat snacks that contained no grain, dairy, HFCS or soy.  I actually came away with a few things that B loves, and doesn't keep him up all night with gas pains and inflamed intestines.





I intend to start making fruit leather, but until I get around to it, I picked up a few of these bad boys.  Organic, AND Non-GMO!  The kid loves this stuff! Be warned though, they are sticky and will get all over your toddler's face and hands.  Have wipes ready.

My little carnivore loves meat!  I found these meat sticks that look way more nutritious and filling than conventional jerky sticks.  

Shredded coconut is the best stuff ever!  You can eat it plain, make an amazing Paleo chocolate and coconut candy, put it in dinner or breakfast recipes.  It's an all around badass staple to have on hand in your pantry!

Food pouches are the best!  We always stock up on these to have while running errands or at the park, and if he's cranky at the house I can just hand him one while I'm cooking dinner.  Be warned though, both Plum and Gerber have lawsuits against them for misleading information about their ingredients. Go for Earth's Best or Ella's Kitchen.  And if you're ambitious like I am, get some fillable pouches and make your own foods!

These veggie chips are soon freaking good, I had to stop and remind myself that these tasty chips were for the baby!

Since kiddo can't have grains, but can have lentils and quinoa I was looking for a tasty chip/cracker substitute until I make my own. Plenty lentil chips are so crunchy and savory, the kiddo had a hard time putting them down, and kept holding out his hand for more :)

There are plenty of delicious options out there for quick, store bought snacks that don't contain so many of the gross things that many snacks have, and can be grain free friendly.  Most supermarkets are also responding to consumer demand and providing these, so you don't necessarily have to drive a distance to a health food store, which is a bonus!

In the next Paleo Toddler Series post, I'll be doing toddler approved, grain and dairy free breakfast recipes!

Happy Eating!


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