Homemade Snacks

As you all know, I am currently working with families with babies and small kids. Every day I talk with mother and encourage them to cook foods at home, avoid fast food restaurants and try very hard to teach their children the difference between “healthy foods” and “sometimes foods”.

Sometimes I hear some pretty crazy eating habits and sometimes I hear some foods and recipes that I have come home a tried myself. The other day, I came across a website that had a recipe for Homemade Fruit Roll ups. I thought, let me give this one a try, test out the difficulty level because this would be a “sometimes food” for my kids. A snack similar to the junk food they are used to but soooooo much healthier and fresher than the kind you buy at the supermarket.

First I tried strawberries…

1 lb strawberries and 1/8-cup sugar (or less…up to you)

Cut off hulls (green part) of the strawberries. In a blender puree the strawberries and sugar until liquefied. (Do not add any liquid, it will come together on its own)

Pour puree into a saucepan and simmer on low heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Preheat oven to 200^oF, pour thickened strawberries onto a Silicone Pad and place on a cookie sheet (you can use parchment paper but its possible that it will stick to it). Let dry in the warm over for about 3 hours, or until roll up is no longer sticky to touch. Allow cooling, cut into strips and roll.

***the recipe said to strain the puree, I chose not to do this, seeds are our friends, they have vitamins and fiber. I then went on to make it with mango…turned out just as good!

Making your kids snacks and foods is easy and so much healthier; think about it, my fruit roll ups have fruit and a little bit of sugar…what other ingredients do you think are in the store bought roll ups????