Creative snack ideas are not exactly plentiful this time of year (we’re looking at you, #pinterestburnout), so the Sweets& Snacks Expo held earlier this summer in Chicago brought new inspiration.
Here are five new snacks that you can bet will be filling our kids’ lunch boxes.
Zollipops
Best.invention.ever. Our daughter isn’t allowed to eat lollipops because her 7-year-old mouth contains seven cavities. So when we handed her a bag of lollipops after the show and told her to eat them all, she nearly cried with joy. These are sugar free and they raise the PH in your mouth, neutralizing the acid post-meals to reduce the risk of tooth decay. Bonus: they were created by a 9-year-old kidpreneur.
Available in many area Whole Foods stores
Fru-licious
Second-only to real fruit, Fru-licious freeze-dried and twisty treats are made with 99 percent real fruit. The first ingredient is concentrated apple puree. They are available now, but later this summer, they’ll have an organic version.
$16 for four boxes at fru-licious.com.
Simply Protein Kids Bars
Finally, a granola bar that’s not loaded with sugar. These bars have 2 grams of sugar and 70 calories each. Yes, they’re created by a protein bar company, but these aren’t for mini-weight lifters. With 4 grams of protein per bar, they’re meant to be snacks for kids, so use them as you would a granola bar.
$18 for a 12-bar box at simplyprotein.com.
Vegetable Crisps
These aren’t just pretending to pack in the veggies. Here are the ingredients: sweet potato, purple sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot, green bean, onion, okra, vegetable oil, dextrin and sea salt. It’s practically a salad.
$5 on amazon.com.
Hungry Buddha Cheeky Chocolate Coconut Chips
Dig into these for dessert. They’re dairy free and only have 5 grams of sugar per bag, though they taste super sweet. They also only have four ingredients: coconut, cane sugar, organic cocoa powder and salt.
Available in major retailers by the end of the summer.
