Favorite Diary Free Snacks

Trying to come up with a variety of nutritious snacks for a toddler is a challenge when you're avoiding major ingredients like the plague. Heck, it's a challenge for any parent.



Here's a list of some of my favorite products. More importantly, they're Mason's favorites too.



*Brothers All Natural Fruit Crisps - A Costco find. A full serving of fruit in each pouch. They're light, sweet & crisp. The snap is so nice, Mason calls them Fruit Crackers.



*Whole Soy & Co. Yogurt - Blueberry seems to be the fan favorite, but all the flavors we've tried, including the plain are a treat. Peach, Strawberry, Raspberry, Straw-Banana, and Vanilla are common in our fridge. The Plain makes a great substitute for Sour Cream in most recipes.



*Bite Sized Veggies - Any veggie that can fit in a paw is perfect dairy free food. Baby Carrots, Cucumber wedges, cool Zucchini spears. If you can dip it in ranch, don't, but try it with your kid & some plain soy yogurt, with a squirt of lemon & a dash of dill for a dip.



*Turtle Mountain Purely Decadent Ice Cream - Really a Mommy favorite. You'd never know it didn't have traditional dairy product in it. So creamy, rich, but not overly sweet. The trick is the use of Coconut Milk. Genius! They've recently launched a line of Coconut Milk Yogurt, and I can only imagine it's just as fabulous.



*Tofutti Cheese Slices & Whole Wheat Crackers - Cheese & crackers is a quintessential snack for a toddler. Having to cut out dairy & find a cheese that's not like rubber in texture is difficult. Tofutti seems to come a close second. Mason enjoys it & I've got no objections. Cheese & crackers is always good followed with fresh fruit. Red Seedless Grapes are wonderful with the American Slices & a crisp White Peach goes wonderful with the Mozzarella version.

*Mac 'n Cheese - Speaking of Tofutti Cheese... some piping hot organic alphabet noodles from Trader Joes, lightly buttered and tossed with a broken up slice of Tofutti is better than no Mac'n Cheese at all.

*Fresh Fruit - We've already talked about Red Seedless Grapes, and White Peaches. Cantaloupe, apples & pears are also favorites in our family. Oh, and I can't forget Blueberries. We try our best to buy organic when the price isn't outrageous & you know we can't knock Frozen. Frozen fruits are great on a hot summer day or to plunk into the blender for a Soy Yogurt smoothie.

If I come across any more great products, because we all know a Grab & Go snack is a must with a toddler, I'll post them here.

A side note about the butter link above. We use Nucoa brand margarine. It's dairy free & has the closest taste & texture to real butter. It bakes well & fries well, not too much spatter, like some other "healthy" brands. I couldn't find a web link for the product, but the picture is exactly what it looks like on the shelf. It's relatively inexpensive & I've found it pretty much everywhere, Safeway, Raleys, Food Maxx, and those high end natural food stores too.