I don’t know about yours, but my kids are ALWAYS saying “I’m hungry!”. My boys are literally the definition of a bottomless pit. My husband tells me this is just the beginning. “Just wait until they’re teenagers,” he says. But that doesn’t help me solve the problem I face daily to keep my 4 and 5 year-old boys’ tummies full. So, what in the world do I feed them when we have so many restrictions and I just can’t seem to get ahead of their hunger.
Here is a list of foods we keep on hand to help fill empty, snacking, tummies:
- Plantain chips (check to make sure they aren’t made with vegetable oils)
- Larabar
- Apples/Bananas/Blueberries and other fruits
- Misc. nuts
- Olives
- Applesauce pouches (we only buy the kind that are apple/veggie)
Besides these snacks, we make smoothies (preferably made with spinach), muffins, and our new favorite thing is TigerNut Cookie Dough Bites. These cookie dough bites, paired with a glass of fresh almond milk, are a filling snack that will get my boys through at least 2 hours without asking for another snack. That’s one of the reasons I love them. The other reason is because they have helped my littlest one maintain a healthy tummy. They give him the bulk that his body needs to digest food properly. If you’re not sure what tigernut flour is, Mommypotamus states it simply:
Tigernuts are actually tubers, like potatoes, only they’re much sweeter and delicious raw. You can actually snack on them whole like you would almonds or cashews, or make “nut” milk out of them. And as you might have guessed, they’re a good source of resistant starch — the best we know of in fact.
Still not sure about tiger nuts? Here’s a quick video about them that will explain more.
Don’t worry, if you don’t keep tigernut flour around, you should be able to substitute almond flour with a similar result. Make these as a snack for you and/or your kids, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy these as much as we do!
TIGERNUT COOKIE DOUGH BITES
By Mommypotamus
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup tigernut flour
- 1 cup unsweetened cashew or almond butter
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips
- 1–2 tablespoons melted butter or ghee if needed
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place tigernut flour, cashew/almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla and salt in a food processor and blend well. If your cashew butter is on the dry side, add one tablespoon of melted butter (or a little more if needed). You want it to be pretty soft/oily so that the dough doesn’t dry out in the fridge.
- Remove dough from the food processor and place in a bowl. Stir in the chocolate chips, then roll the dough into twelve balls and place in the fridge or freezer to enjoy as desired.