Sometimes I feel like all I am doing is preparing the next meal or snack for Seton. And the girl eats slloooooowwwwllllyy. It is not uncommon for her to be in her high chair for a full hour leisurely making her way through her meal. I try so hard not to rush her because she needs to bulk up a bit, so I let her do her thing. But mealtime/snacktime is probably the most frustrating for me. She becomes hungry ALL THE SUDDEN and she must have food RIGHT NOW or she pitches a fit. By the time the veggies have streamed or the meat is cooked she is upset and makes sure I know it throughout the whole meal.

I feel like I’m a server at a restaurant with a really crabby customer.

I’m learning to feed her a lot more often than I would think she needs to be fed in order to avoid these breakdowns. (I have to defend my mom card a LITTLE here and say that she DOES eat well and is great about liking all the healthy foods! She is just fussy on the timing of it all) I had to go on a hunt for quick, healthy toddler snacks and found some gems. Although I let Seton get messy in her high chair because I think a little mess is good for her, I’m a fan of mess-free snacks so she can eat them at other people’s houses, at restaurants, or just at home when I don’t want to clean her high chair tray for the umpteen time.

Here are my favorites:

1. | We get these from Aldi, and I love them because Seton pretty much sucks it like a straw and it is essentially NO MESS (except for that one time she squeezed it on her shirt). She loves that she has complete control over how quickly she can eat it!

2. | Bananas are the easiest fruit to travel with and also don’t create a big mess. Just don’t forget about the one you left in your diaper bag…

3. | Aint no shame in the string cheese game. String cheese used to weird me out a bit because it doesn’t seem like you should be able to pull your food apart like a strings BUT! NO MESS. No clean up. Yes, please.

4. | I craved orange juice when I was pregnant (real bad), so it’s a little whoa to see how much Seton devours oranges. Cuties are easy to pack for a snack on the go.

5. | For a little sweet treat, we let her munch on these graham crackers (Aldi, you have our hearts).

Those are our top 5 on-the-go quick and dirty-free snacks!! Now PLEASE leave a comment with your suggestions for more! Seton is still in the potential-choking phase so we are waiting on the raw hard fruits and veggies!