Snack
These high protein snacks for kids {or adults!} pack a whopper of a protein punch, along with great flavor. Perfect for hungry kids or post-workout refueling. Bonus: they’re no bake, gluten free, and dairy free!
I’m a serious, serious snacker. The three {or even four} meals a day thing just does not float my boat. Apparently I’ve passed that trait onto my three year old, who is constantly {constantly} asking for a snack.
I do my best to make sure they’re filling and healthy snacks for kids, in secret hopes it will fill him up enough to stop asking me for a minute. {It doesn’t usually work}. But I do make my best effort to have high protein snacks for kids that meet both of our taste requirements, plus are gluten free and dairy free. {Since clearly I’ll snack on them too.}
High Protein Snack Balls {Gluten Free, Dairy Free}
[Tweet “Need a healthy protein-packed snack? Try these salted caramel snack balls! #glutenfree”]
Healthy snack balls of all kind are on a weekly rotation around here. I typically make a bunch then store them in the freezer for easy snacking. This week we mixed our standard protein ball recipe up a bit by using flavored almonds, and now I want to go make a batch with every flavor offered.
We got these two flavors from Blue Diamond, the Salted Caramel and Blueberry almonds, and they are so good by themselves it was almost a crime to use them in a recipe. But a crime worth committing because my three year old is busy not asking me “why?” for the millionth time because his mouth is full of dense, protein-packed, nutty deliciousness.
To start, we experimented with some Salted Caramel high protein snack balls since I’m obsessed with salted caramel. They are super dense but have a fun flavor. {The almonds make delicious homemade nut butter on their own, by the way. soo good.}
My taste-tester approves.
In order to keep him from eating the entire batch in one sitting, I shoved the bag of blueberry almonds in front of him as a distraction. High protein snacks for the double win.
Now I need to go buy a new bag so I can make some coconut blueberry balls. Mm.
High Protein Snacks for Kids & Beyond
by with a Side of Sneakers
- 1/2 cup almond butter {homemade or otherwise}
- 1 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup vanilla protein powder {gluten free & dairy free if needed}
- 1/8 cup brown rice syrup
- 1 T coconut oil
- 1/2 T cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp each: vanilla extract, butter extract, & fleur de sel
- 1/4 cup Blue Diamond Salted Caramel Almonds, chopped
Combine all ingredients and form into balls.
*Recipe affected heavily by how oily your nut butter is – mix should be crumbly, but stay in ball form when squeezed in your hands. If it doesn’t stick together, add coconut oil or almond milk 1 tsp at a time until balls form.
*Doubly extra good if you use almond butter made with the salted caramel flavored almonds.
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Do you have a favorite high protein snack recipe? I’m inspired to branch out more with these healthy snack ball recipes now that we’ve opened up the door to new flavors.
This post was originally sponsored by Blue Diamond.
Snack
Food allergies can make game day snacking tough, but with a few pantry and fridge staples you can be out of the kitchen and cheering for your favorite team in no time with these no fuss gluten free game day snacks.
[Tweet “No fuss, #glutenfree game day snacks. #gamechangingflavors”]
We are all about some game day over here. If it’s fall and it’s football, it’s on our tv.
Ok perhaps I should clarify. The husband is all about some game day. I, on the other hand, am all about some game day eats. I’d be the first one to say hey let’s have a bunch of people over to watch the game simply so we could snack on a bunch of game day food.
However, since food allergies have come into our lives, it makes simply grabbing a bunch of game-ready food from the store less of a convenience and more of a hassle. We can’t just go to one store and grab everything we need or make last minute plans and pick something up along the way. Instead, we have to plan in advance, which on occasion has made me not want to host a game day celebration at all. If it’s work it’s not fun.
But slowly and surely over the years I’ve figured out how to get around that hold up. I have a few go-to game day recipes up my sleeve that are easy to prepare, but better yet, I’ve figured out how to prepare practically nothing and still have a game-day worthy spread.
The trick is pairing your snacks so they not only complement each other but you cover all your bases. Fruits, veggies, and chips are easy to throw on the counter, but unless I have some homemade meatballs hiding in the freezer, I don’t always have an easy protein option. Or do I…
You know I’m a fan of flavored almonds {the blueberry ones are a staple favorite around here} and these bold, smokey, game changing flavors are perfect for an easy game day treat to help keep you full and satisfied while you munch away and watch the game.
They’d make a great game day pairing on their own with some salami & cheese, or even mixed with something unexpected and sweet like dried fruit. The smokehouse almonds scream manly game day and the wasabi & soy are delightful for something different {and just spicy enough without crossing the line}.
These rounded out our last game day spread nicely along with some of our other gluten-free, dairy-free faves, like spinach artichoke dip with sliced veggies, bean dip with tortilla chips, guacamole, hummus, and meatballs. I may or may not have eaten half the nuts while waiting for the game to start…
What’s your favorite no-fuss game day snack?
This post was originally sponsored by Blue Diamond Almonds. Ditch the chips and grab some Game Changing Flavors this football season!
Beverage, Recipe
We’re not a milk-drinking household. So what do we drink? Put in our coffee? Drown our cereal with?
All kinds of plant milk! Almond and coconut milk top the list, with cashew, hemp, sunflower seed and oat milk not far behind.
A little bit about different types of plant milk:
A Guide to Dairy Free Milk
4 Alternatives to Milk
At any given time there are at least 3 different kinds of milk in our fridge. This is a pretty typical week: almond, coconut, and hemp.
It seems a little absurd, but I like them all and I use them all throughout the week. Recently I’ve started making my own milks in order to keep unnecessary additives out of the toddler’s diet. Homemade almond milk might be my favorite. It sounds like a lot of work, but it really really isn’t, I promise.
I by no means am the first person to make homemade nut milk, but here are 2 pretty typical combos I do each week:
by with a Side of Sneakers
- 1/2 cup almonds + water for soaking
- 2 cups water
- 1 medjool date {optional}
- cinnamon + vanilla {optional}
Place almonds in a bowl and cover with water. Let soak overnight. {I like to toss the date in to soak as well.}
After soaking, drain and rinse almonds.
Combine almonds, date, & water in blender and mix on high until completely blended. I use a high powered blender on the “whole juice” setting.
Pour mixture into a nut milk bag or cheese cloth-lined strainer. Squeeze liquid into glass jar or container.
Here is a great step-by-step visual tutorial for making homemade almond milk, plus a great recipe.
by with a Side of Sneakers
- 1/2 cup hemp seeds
- 2 cups water
- 1 medjool date {optional}
Add hemp seeds and water to blender or food processor. Blend until smooth.
Straining is optional- I usually skip it, but for an extra creamy version, strain through cheesecloth or nut milk bag.
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Even though I promise making these alternative milks is a piece of cake, some of my favorite brands of plant-based milk are Whole Foods 365, So Delicious, Diamond Breeze, and Silk.
Have you tried making your own plant-based milk before? Do you have a favorite recipe?
