Eco-Friendly Toddler Snack Ideas

One of my goals this year is to make simple swaps to become more sustainable. If you haven’t already, head over to check out my 2021 Homesteading Goals post to learn more (there’s even a free planning printable!). I wanted to find a way to make more sustainable toddler snacks.

Kitchen swaps are often the first place we go when looking to become more sustainable and can often make the greatest impact. We live in the kitchen, and it brings us life! Whether its food, drinks, or even cleaning supplies, kitchen swaps are easy to make!

As I have moved toward sustainability, my kitchen has SLOWLY become plastic-free aside from a few specific areas. We are great at sustainable meals, but snacks are another story. After cooking three meals a day, having to handmake snacks can feel daunting.

I have been avoiding this task for too long. My son eats a toddler granola bar and a baby “squeezy pouch” every single day. I buy these from the store, and they are all individually packaged. Woof. That’s a lot of unnecessary trash. I know I can do better!

How can I make more sustainable toddler snacks?

Here are two EASY recipes for toddler snack swaps to rid your kitchen of some unnecessary waste. I would be lying if I said I won’t still buy the other things from time to time, but that’s just mom life.

Overall, these recipes do not take a ton of time and could be made in large batches. I hope to incorporate this into my weekly routine to not only have a more sustainable snack option for my toddler, but a healthier and cheaper one too! It’s a win-win-win.

Make Sustainable Toddler Snacks With Me!

Sustainable Toddler Granola Bars

As I said, my toddler eats a granola bar every single day. Sometimes two! My little dude can eat. Baby granola bars tend to be very chewy, so I had to make sure I could come up with the right consistency, and I think I succeeded!

Banana-Strawberry Toddler Granola Bar Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped strawberries
• 1 banana, mashed
• 2 1/2 cup quick oats or rolled oats (in blender). I am using these because I have a ton on hand from making my own oat milk.
• 1 tsp melted coconut oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tbsp honey
• non stick cooking spray
• 9×9 baking pan

Banana-Strawberry Toddler Granola Bar Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 300. Spray baking pan with cooking spray or butter.
2. Combine the coconut oil, banana, milk and honey in a bowl. Stir until blended.
3. Add the oats (make sure to blend them first if you are using rolled oats) and mix. Fold in strawberries.
4. Press mixture into pan. Bake for 60 minutes.
5. Cool before slicing.
6. Store in a Stasher bag or glass storage container. Use within a week or freeze.

Sustainable Toddler Squeeze Pouches

I was a baby-led weaning mom. I never wanted to use these things. But here we are. Jack eats regular food too, don’t worry. But these snacks are so easy and are often filled with good stuff. There are tons and tons of recipes for these on Pinterest, but I am just going to take things slow and start with one that contains things he probably wouldn’t eat in solid form (yet).

There are a lot of baby food contraptions with pouches that look just like the ones you buy premade from the store. I kept looking at these and I am like… NOPE! No way am I going to be washing these out. Instead, I purchased a silicone squeeze tube that fits a bottle brush inside easily. I plan to keep the batch in a glass jar and just refill this “pouch” each day.

I am making a small test batch today, but you could make a ton of these at once and freeze to have all month.

Pea-Pear-Spinach Pouch Ingredients

• 2 ripe pears
• 1 cup cooked peas
• 2 cup raw spinach
• 2 tsp honey
• Juice of 1 lemon

Makes about 5 pouches.

Pea-Pear-Spinach Pouch Recipe

1. Cook your peas according to recipe. I am using a bag of frozen steam peas (yep- there’s packaging involved here. You can’t be perfect).
2. Combine all ingredients in a blender or immersion blender and blend until it’s a smooth and will come out of the tube. I don’t want to over-blend, as my spirited child will squeeze it all over the walls if it’s too runny.
3. Fill up your pouch and put the extra in a glass storage container in the fridge (or freezer!).
4. Store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
5. Let the little one enjoy!

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