45 // Dairy-free snacks for playdates
Dairy-free snacks for playdates:
Healthy snack ideas to pack for a child who realizes her foods are different but still wants a snack that feels as fun as everyone else’s
Recently, a mom asked me to share some “competitive” dairy free snack options that Owen likes. She shared how her daughter was newly dairy-free, and how the family was struggling to find snacks the little girl loves that also stand up to her friend's snacks at play dates etc.
While I will do another episode on how to handle this in a school setting, in this episode I teased out some of my family's favorite dairy-free snack ideas. These are options that are fun for anyone, including the child with food allergies or intolerances as well as siblings, friends, or the mama who often plans to share their snack (like me!). And while my goal is always to provide you with nutritious options, I also touch on how finding options such as these are important to more than just the child's physical health but also that of her social and emotional well-being in adjusting to life after being diagnosed with a food intolerance.
So beyond the basics of goldfish crackers or a string cheese, this episode highlights some easy dairy-free snack ideas for playdates. Each of these items are shown on my Combination Cards too (if you would like visual reference for the items mentioned). You can get the snack deck for 20% off right now, or the breakfast, lunch, and snack deck bundle for 30% off now through the end of August.
Listen to this episode of The Veggies & Virtue Podcast now!
Full Episode Transcription
Please note this a raw transcription. If something doesn’t read correctly, toggle to that timestamp in the show so that you can listen in on what was actually being said!
[00:00:00] recently, I got a message from a mom and I'm gonna go ahead and just read it to you guys here. And it said, Hey, Ashley, I love your content. I would love whenever you have a chance for you to share some competitive dairy free snack options that Owen likes. My daughter is newly diagnosed, lactose intolerant, and we are struggling to find snacks that she loves, that she also feels stand up to her friend's snacks at.
[00:00:21] And I can totally relate with this mom's struggle. I remember when Owen was an infant and for those of you who weren't around then he had really severe eczema and it was a big challenge and we decided to handle it in a variety of ways, one of which being through his diet and that's a different episode for a different day, but as he got older and as he got more aware of some of the foods that say, like my daughters were eating or that others were having at play dates, he became more in tune with the fact that his foods were D.
[00:00:49] And because this is what he was born and raised with. He really didn't know any different. And honestly, I was quite surprised that especially for a third child, he was as willing as he was to eat different foods and not kind of be you know, jealous or triggered or upset about these kind kind of as this mom calls it, quote unquote competitive.
[00:01:07] Snacks that friends were having, you know, he couldn't have the goldfish crackers. He couldn't have a lot of like the cookies or granola bars, or just different things that his friends were having. And his snacks were always different. And obviously if you have a child with a food, This is just a reality that you and your child and your family as a whole face, but for this mom, I totally understand the struggle of when your kid becomes more aware that their snacks are different and they want to feel included on like, they're a part of some of these social events, whether it be a play date or a birthday party or whatever it may be.
[00:01:38] We wanna have things on hand that we can offer them that they're also excited about. That may not be just kind of the everyday snacks that we're relying on as our staples in this case, a dairy free staple. So I wanna go ahead and just dive into this today and talk with you guys about some of my family's favorite dairy, free snacks and ones that you and your family might wanna try as well.
[00:01:58] Mom, are you struggling with how to feed your kids? Do you wish that there was a way to help your child try new foods? Do you look at a pantry cluttered with pirate, booty and a fridge full of the same foods every week and wonder how you're gonna get your family's meals off the hot mess express. I know what it feels like to scroll through all the feeding and counts on Instagram and to see a bunch of Boje foods that my family would never eat.
[00:02:19] And I too have pinned all the healthy recipes with good intention. But zero execution. I understand as a busy mom of three, that it can feel really unattainable, especially on the days when I'm exhausted. I have a short fuse and I really just want an easy win to end the day with, well, that's where these meals made.
[00:02:37] Easy episode ideas come from with everyday ingredients that you already have on hand, I give you one meal or snack idea a week that's dietician mom approved and is gonna fit in your family's busy life. So get ready to press, add to cart and to make meals. Easy again. So whether your child has dietary restrictions or not the best place to start when you're trying to come up with what are some snack options in general would be to go to my combination cards and for the next month, until my meal times made easy method.
[00:03:10] Rolls out. I am discounting my combination card. You guys can buy the digital download. So you have it on your phone. You can take it with you to look at the pictures of what the snacks are and kind of scroll through all those visuals while you're at the store. My son really likes being able to do that since he isn't often able to get to play on my phone and it kind of involves him in grocery shopping, but also you can buy all three decks for 30% off.
[00:03:34] So right now individual decks are 20% off. If you wanna buy all three, you can get all three for $20 right now. And that would be a breakfast lunch and the snack deck. So that is gonna be where I'm kind of like referencing a lot of these options from, and one of the things I'm gonna do within my meal times made easy method is create collective lists of say dairy free snacks, gluten free snacks, net free snacks and different things like that.
[00:03:57] Knowing that that's something that. A lot of families like my own and this mom, Rachel, her and her family are also experiencing. So Rachel, thanks so much for taking the time to submit this question. So we could go ahead and cover dairy free snacks, but specifically here. We're not talking about, you know, filling the nutritional gaps with these diet or with these dairy free snacks, quite as much as we are, what are some dairy free snacks that just feel fun and inclusive and a little more exciting to the child who may be kind of grieving this reality that they can't eat the foods that they once work.
[00:04:29] So if you have a child who is aware of some of these other foods, again, I said, we with Owen, we had the privilege that because he was so young when we had to do some of the elimination diets with him, He had never tasted a goldfish cracker. He didn't know any different, but in this situation and with this little girl being newly diagnosed, lactose intolerant, and already more socially aware of some of the snacks that her friends are eating, we wanna think of course about the nutrition, but we also wanna think about.
[00:04:54] The other aspects of food and what it provides to our bodies and to our lives and what that looks like from a social perspective. And just be part of feeling included even at a young age of, you know, this little girl at play dates. So that's kind of the premise that I'm gonna be sharing these suggestions from today.
[00:05:15] So obviously there's a whole bunch of different options that I could suggest. And again, I'd encourage you to reference the combination cards. If you wanna see. Whole host of these, but I'm gonna go through some and again, this is specific for children who are limiting or avoiding dairy in their diet. So if you're avoiding other things like gluten or nuts or other things, this will not necessarily provide you with a complete list, but I wanted to be sure to answer this mom's question specifically.
[00:05:43] So when we think about it, first and foremost, you wanna think of how can you make. A little more novel, whatever it is because we do still wanna make it nutritious, but we also wanna make it feel fun and exciting to them. And that often brings little ones in to say, oh, what do you have? So one of the things that I know I did with Owen very early on.
[00:06:03] was using like a snack box or like a mini bento box, because then I could put a lot of variety in there and it felt a little more exciting than, you know, just kind of like a random package of snacks that was clearly different than the ones his friends were having. And so this way I could include a lot of the things that I knew were safe for him to eat, but it still felt a little more.
[00:06:22] Exciting and inviting than, you know, just kind of your standard old you know, reusable bag or even if it was a prepackaged things on this note, prepackaged snack in general, but especially when you have specific dietary needs can be really expensive. So that would also be a reason why I would encourage you to kind of find some containers that are really fun to your child.
[00:06:44] And inviting to them. I know we had this one that was like this little snack box and I was actually sent it as a sample. I'll link it in the show notes, but I was sent it as a sample and we only had one, but I just saved it for Owen. And it was like this coveted little snack in a box I believe is what it was called.
[00:06:59] And he loved it. And oftentimes I would just put dry cheers in one side and like raisins are cut up dried fruit in the other side, but because it was the only one we had and it was novel and new. He found that snack a lot more fun when he was gonna be having it say around those who had kind of other snacks that he may have wanted.
[00:07:18] When we look at the food groups that are going to be. Easier or more challenging to work with in terms of dairy free, the obvious is fruit and vegetables. If they're in their more pure form will be dairy free in and of themselves that said, I know at least with my, my own kids, vegetables are rarely what they would consider a competitive snack compared to what their friends have.
[00:07:39] And trust me, I've tried it a million times in a million ways. I do put veggies and muffins and that often tends to be a. But those two food groups in general, you know, offer a lot of opportunity. And so you could offer, you know, different options with like you know, depending on the age of the child and how you need to modify these for choking hazards, but you could offer veggies with like a dairy free dressing.
[00:08:00] Or you know, little cucumber slices or things like those little P crisps you could offer those, like with hummus or you know, some of the Tara chips that are like the different colors of potatoes and root veggies and things like that. You can also do things like seaweed snacks. Or, you know, when we look at fruit, I mentioned dried fruit, freeze, freeze, dried fruit was a huge one for my son because it's more expensive.
[00:08:23] And so I don't buy it very often because with three kids, we could just go through one of those bags and it like, it's basically like air. And so it doesn't really fill the kids, but as soon as we added it or made it into like a homemade trail mix or something like that, that was really fun. My family also loves things like Dino bars.
[00:08:40] Those are those little fruit bars that I've shared before, but they have some added nutritional benefit. But they're still dairy free or you might reserve pouches. If your child is a fan of pouches, you might reserve some of those more specialty pouches for some of these play dates, rather than like as an everyday snack option.
[00:08:58] But where we look at dairy coming in and kind of less obvious ways would be in the fruit food groups of proteins and fats, but also it can be grains as well because when we look at different snack crackers or. you know, different granola bar products or different baked goods and things like that.
[00:09:14] There can often be dairy included. So first and foremost, if this is new to you, you wanna make sure that you become familiar with how to label read and identify allergens. And in this case, if you're trying to identify. Milk in the ingredient list. You wanna make sure that you're looking for the ingredients list first and foremost, especially because this can vary from flavor to flavor.
[00:09:34] You know, if you have a fruit based flavor versus like a chocolate based flavor, there may be milk in one flavor versus the other. So make sure you're always checking the ingredient list, but in general, some of the brands and items that I love that I think would be really fun options that you could include in some of.
[00:09:53] Situations where you want something that's a little more fun. And again, of course you can offer them at home as well. But these are ones that I think add kind of like an El added element of excitement for your kid, so that they're more inclined to want to eat them when they're outta social situation and others maybe have different foods than them.
[00:10:10] When we look at things like a cheese based cracker, obviously things like Annie's bunnies or goldfish, crackers, or cheese, it crackers. Those are all really popular with little kids. So there are some dairy free options. All of which we tried with my son, I will say personally, not all of them are my favorite.
[00:10:25] I don't have to be dairy free, but I did still try them. And I personally didn't prefer some of these, but my son, again, he didn't know any different and he loved them. And I think he loved that. They looked similar to some of the options his friends may have, or that people may have. You know, around him, be sure to, again, check the ingredient list.
[00:10:41] If you are looking for dairy free products, that may include nuts because I know that was a challenge we ran into with my son because his school was net free, but he was gluten and dairy free. So we had to be really careful about what things we were substituting for him that were still safe for school.
[00:10:57] So just that as a disclaimer, if you're looking to offer. At a play date where there is a nut allergy you need to be aware of, or if you're sending them in school, as we get back into the school year, but some of the ones that are the cheese based crackers that my son enjoyed were ones like the ones that are the cauliflower crackers from, from the ground up.
[00:11:14] Also he liked the back to nature plant-based snacks. They have some like cheddar delicious squares that he enjoyed and also earth balance has some vegan cheddar squares. And so vegan products are going to be dairy free. And so that's another good thing to be able to look for. And last but not least was some little star.
[00:11:35] Crackers. They're these little tiny stars from made good. And those are also dairy free and some that are really fun. Just about the size of a Cheerio that kind of resemble like a puff. So if that's something. You know, especially with younger child, that's familiar, that might be an option to try as well.
[00:11:50] Another great option. If your children are over the age of four and can safely eat, it is popcorn. This is something that you could send in an individual snack bag, or it's a really economical option. If you want to say pop, pop at home, obviously omitting the butter or making sure you buy one that doesn't have butter added to.
[00:12:08] As the flavor, but this is one that you could also extend to like a group. If you wanted your child, to be able to feel like they were having the same snack as their friend, or having a safe snack to offer everyone at a given play date, other really portable options that are often ones you may see other kids have are things like bars.
[00:12:26] And so some of the ones that my son has eaten and enjoyed over the years as dairy free options are those by Elli they're smart bars. Also made good is great for those who are dealing with food allergens, some of the flavors by kind bars are dairy free as well. And then also we like those by simple mills and purely Elizabeth and all of these are listed on the snack deck of combination cards, but those are some of our favorites as well as things like energy balls or energy.
[00:12:53] So Laura bar is a very common brand of these. You can also make your own, but this is one of our go-to standbys that we pretty much always have in the car or in the diaper bag. Even now as we don't limit dairy as much, some other options for a bar that would be a dairy free, good option would be something like a scout bar that can be a great option.
[00:13:14] That's sweetened with fruit. and yet doesn't have any dairy. Additionally, maiden nature makes some great dried fruit products and things like that, but they also have these little Figgy pops that are like these little energy balls that are pre-made. So they're great to just keep in the diaper bag again, they are a nut based, but they're one that, you know, I really enjoy.
[00:13:33] So sometimes if I just wanna grab a snack that my son and I can both have, even though I don't particularly need dairy free, it's a really great fruit and nut based item that is easy for sharing as well. As we wrap up, I wanna share a few more ideas that are really shareable. Again, with three kids. I like to just pack one bag or option of something that all four of us can eat off of if we're at a play date, but even if it was just my son and I, or in this mom's case, just her and her daughter.
[00:14:00] And they maybe wanted to have something that they could offer to the daughter's friends to make it more engaging in social, that there were shared snacks. And, you know, the specific daughter didn't feel necessarily isolated out by the snacks. She was bringing some of the things that we love just taking a bag of are I mentioned those P crisp.
[00:14:17] Those harvest snap ones, the same type of ones that they have at trader Joe's. I think they're called inner PS at trader Joe's also hippies. They're kind of like a glorified Cheeto, I guess, is the best way to say it, but it's a chick P based vegan grain-free puff. And so hits a lot of the criteria for different allergens that maybe of concern, but they're not gonna have dairy, but they're gonna still kind of give that cheesy flavor.
[00:14:39] Additionally, we might do something like. You know, a Benito or a tortilla chip with like guacamole or something for a little bit more substantial of a snack. Again, being careful that tortilla chips wouldn't be a hazard, a choking hazard for your child, but just bringing some of these bags. Bomba is another one.
[00:14:54] You can also get those at trader Joe's. It's just a peanut based puff and something that. All of us really just enjoy as an easy snack. Quinn snacks has some peanut butter filled pretzels that we love, but any of these options, I can just kind of throw in a bag of. And they're just a little bit more substantial, meaning that they're gonna have a little more protein, a little more fat and a little bit more fiber, but they're gonna be something that really anyone can enjoy.
[00:15:17] It's not as specialty of a dairy free snack option. Another thing I will often do is make muffins. That are dairy free. I'll use dairy free yogurt in them, or if it calls for, you know, milk as part of the liquid, I'll use the dairy free milk if needed. And it has like a chocolate chip in it. You can use the enjoy life, dairy free chocolate chips, and I'll make a batch of those.
[00:15:38] Cuz those are super easy to either bring to a play date or to offer if you're hosting a play date at your house and you wanna have something that. that you can share, you know, with other kids that they're not gonna necessarily see as, oh, this is a really, you know, quote unquote different snack. So again, there's so many options for different dairy free snacks, especially those, when you have the availability of just anything in your house, a lot of great snack cracker options, or you know, just kind of alternatives that are just naturally dairy free, not necessarily like a specifically dairy free cheese, alternative cracker or something.
[00:16:13] And all of these are shown. They're talked about, but they're also shown visually for the packaging and recognition there on my combination cards. So if you want to get the digital deck at 20% off, you can get just the snack deck for 7 97 right now through probably about the end of August. I'm gonna grandfather these all in to the meal times made easy method, but they will otherwise not be available for sale.
[00:16:36] After I launch the course, you'll only have access to these through being a member of my meal times made easy method. So make sure to get that deck. It's a great deal for $8. And also if you wanna get all three decks, especially as we kind of get our brains thinking in, in gear again, with back to school and breakfast, lunch, and snack decks, you can get all three of those combination card decks for under a $20.
[00:16:58] So hop on over to my store, make sure you get those. And. If you have any questions like this, mom's make sure that you're leaving me a seek pipe message on veggies and virtue.com/ask hyphen Ashley. And I would love to answer your questions on an upcoming episode. Otherwise, thanks for being here today.
[00:17:16] And I'll talk to you again on Wednesday.
