Healthy and Convenient Snack Products

Finding healthy foods your family actually enjoys can be a challenge. You may stock your fridge with fresh fruits and vegetables and fill your pantry with whole grains. When snack time rolls around, though, your kids, spouse or even you tend to reach for something that is salty, sugary or otherwise less than healthy.

Fortunately, there are snack foods you can keep on hand that will satisfy your family's cravings without being detrimental to their diets. In fact, there are munchies that actually provide nutrients and health benefits, so you can feel good about serving them to your loved ones.

Whole, canned or cut-up pieces of fruit always make a healthy snack, but there are times when you simply want something that is a little more fun. FrutziO is a line of freeze-dried fruit snacks that provide a crunchy, sweet treat. Flavors include apples & strawberries, apricots, kiwi, peaches and strawberries. The all-natural fruit slices have no fat, loads of fiber and come in a convenient 100-calorie resealable pouch.

Sometimes nothing but crisp, salty chips will satiate a craving. When this is the case, you might want to reach for a bag of Savory Balance Tortilla Chips. These are not your ordinary fried and salted corn tortillas. These chips are made from organic, kosher, gluten-free ingredients. Not only that, but a serving of 10 to 12 tortilla chips also contains a full serving of fruits and vegetables. These satisfying chips contain powdered apples, broccoli, carrots, cranberries, oranges and tomatoes, but you would never know it and neither will your kids, unless you let them in on this secret. Ingredients also include non-genetically modified corn, non-hydrogenated oil and sea salt. Whip up a batch of fresh salsa or hummus and dig in without feeling guilty.

Of course, everyone needs chocolate now and again. That does not mean you need to give in to a sugar-laden candy bar to get your fix when snacks such as Sweetriot's all-natural chocolate "peaces" exist. These bits of shelled cacao covered in premium, fair trade, all natural dark chocolate are completely gratifying. Your sweet tooth will be tamed and you will feel as though you overindulged, even though you can enjoy an entire tin of the sweets for just 140 calories.

To find more healthful snack options that will cure your family's cravings, check out the organic section of your grocery store or head to the nearest natural or health food store. Be sure to read the ingredients on any snack before tossing it in your cart, though. Just because something is labeled organic, natural or healthy does not mean it is truly good for you. A good rule of thumb to shop by is the fewer ingredients a product contains, the better it will be for your family's health.