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There are plenty of healthy snack ideas. Stuffed peppers, spiced nuts and fruit platters are great examples to feed us and give us energy.
However, they can be expensive when you don’t have time to prepare. The price you pay at the grocery store for simply slicing the fruit, placing it in a plastic case and throwing in some fruit dip isn’t always practical. Let’s change this for good.
Quick healthy snacks are abundant if you make them when you have time. The healthy snack recipes in this article will hopefully inspire you when you’re thinking of what to feed yourself and your family over the following weeks or months.
Snacks for kids
Fruit gummies
These fruit snacks are essentially a healthy version of Jello. As you’d imagine, we also recommend the use of homemade gelatin, which can be made from bone broth and chicken feet, among other sources. Store-bought powdered gelatin works just fine, as well.
6 cups fruit juice
3 cups pureed fruit
1 ½ cup gelatin powder
¾ cup sugar, honey or maple syrup
Stir together the fruit juice and sweetener of choice in a pot. Bring to a gentle simmer before adding the fruit puree (using any kind of fruit, based on nutrition, flavor and dietary restricitons).
Using a whisk, slowly stir in the powdered gelatin. You’ll notice it gets harder to work with unless you take your time, allowing the ingredients to blend naturally and continuously.
Finally, pour the mixture into sections of a non-stick container or simply a large bowl, like you would with classic Jello. Once cooled off, place it in the refrigerator until your fruit gummies begin to take shape!
Healthy fruit snacks
Conventional fruit snacks like fruit roll ups often aren’t as healthy or cost-efficient as we’d like. Like it or not, our kids love them for their flavor and convenience. They’re essentially a fruit leather that’s made of a variety of pureed and dehydrated fruit.
The beauty of fruit leather is that you don’t really need a specific recipe. If you have some pears, apples, oranges, strawberries, bananas, or virtually any kind of fruit, you’re all set. Specifically, we recommend the following ingredients.
10 cups raw fruit
1 ¼ cup sugar, honey or maple syrup (optional)
1/3 cup lemon juice
The purpose of lemon juice in this fruit leather recipe isn’t flavor. The citrus is able to keep the fruit from browning during the drying process, which occurs at low heat.
This snack idea is much easier if you have a fruit dryer. Many recipes call for the use of parchment paper and heat settings that are too low for most ovens. Avoid the mess and wasted electricity by using specially designed fruit roll sheets, instead.
How to make fruit leather in a fruit dryer machine
Start by blending up a fruit puree. In our example, we use 10 cups of raw fruit so that we can make a large batch that’ll last throughout the month. Blend in a fruit processor, adding honey, maple syrup, fruit juice and/or water to sweeten and liquefy the results.
Set your fruit jerky dehydrator to 135 degrees. Pour the lemon-treated fruit puree ¼” thick onto your non-stick dehydrator trays and dry until the sticky fruit texture has subsided.
Fruit leather is often a term that’s misapplied. It doesn’t have to be hard to chew at all, and the easiest way to keep it soft is to remove it from the dehydrator as soon as you can peel it off the tray without resistance.
Finally, we’d recommend planning a storage option. Generally, it won’t keep much longer than a few weeks in the cupboard unless it’s packaged in a vacuum-sealed container. However, it’ll easily last for at least a month in the refrigerator, contained with zip lock bags.
A fruit leather dehydrator is a great way to make quick, healthy snacks!
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Source by Kevin Jansen