5 Kidney-Friendly Back-to-School Snacks

Whether you're looking for fun foods to fill a lunch box or after-school snacks that will satisfy your kid's sweet tooth and tide them over until dinner, we have you covered! Here are five recipes that your children and their kidneys will love.

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1. Birthday Popcorn
2. Granola Bars
3. Fruit Crisp
4. Chinese Almond Cookies
5. Pear and Almond Parfait

1. Birthday Popcorn

Bring some whimsy to your child’s day with this sweet, crunchy, and colorful popcorn ball snack. 

Serving size: 1 popcorn ball

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp 2% fat milk
• ¾ cup of miniature marshmallows
• 2 tsp sprinkles
• 4 oz golden yellow cake mix
• 4 cup air-popped popcorn
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Pop popcorn.
2. Remove any kernels.
3. Melt marshmallows, vanilla, and milk in a saucepan over low heat. Stir continuously.
4. Add cake mix and popcorn.
5. Spray non-stick cooking spray on hands.
6. Take 1/2 cup of mixture and form into a ball. Continue with the rest of the mix.
7. Place popcorn balls on waxed paper and top with sprinkles.

Get the full recipe and nutrition information.

2. Granola Bars

Are you worried about artificial ingredients lurking in your store-bought granola bars? Try making them yourself–it's much easier and cheaper than you’d imagine.

Serving size: one bar

Ingredients

• ¾ cup peanut butter, reduced sodium
• ¼ cup honey
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup corn syrup
• 5 tbsp butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3⅓ cups rolled oats
• ¾ cup pretzels, unsalted
• ¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
• Ten caramel candies

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the peanut butter, honey, butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla until smooth.
3. Add all the other ingredients: oats, pretzels, chocolate chips, and caramels. Stir well.
4. Press the mixture into a 13 x 9-inch greased pan.
5. Bake for 20–25 minutes.
6. Let cool on a wire rack before cutting into bars.
7. Cut into 1 x 4 ½ inch bars. This recipe should yield 26 bars.

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3. Fruit Crisp

Trying to sneak more fruit into your child's diet? Try this mouthwatering peach crisp.

Serving size: 1 peach plus topping

Ingredients

• One can (21 ounces) of peaches in their juice (drained)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup white flour
• ¾ cup oats
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ stick cold butter, unsalted

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a buttered muffin tin, put in peaches and sprinkle with lemon juice.
3. Combine brown sugar, flour, oats, and spices.
4. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles wet sand.
5. Sprinkle over the fruit mixture.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

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4. Chinese Almond Cookies

These low-fat, low-cholesterol cookies are perfect for the kid whose hand always finds its way into the cookie jar.

Serving size: 3 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup margarine, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• One egg
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp almond extract

Directions

1. In a medium mixing bowl, cream margarine and sugar.
2. Add egg and beat well.
3. Sift dry ingredients and add to the creamed mixture.
4. Add almond extract and mix well.
5. Roll into balls about 3/4 inch in diameter.
6. Press a small hole in the middle of each cookie.
7. Bake at 400°F for 10 to 12 minutes, until cookies are golden brown around the edges.

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5. Pear & Almond Parfait

These creamy parfaits are the perfect cooling treat for those hot autumn days. You don’t even need to turn on the oven to make them!

Ingredients

• 2 cups rice milk
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ cup All-Purpose flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• Two ripe pears, peeled and diced
• Four tsp of sugar-free strawberry jam

Directions

1. Heat rice milk in a microwaveable bowl for 5 minutes on high.
2. Mix the flour and sugar, and add a few large spoons full of the hot rice milk to the flour and sugar mixture until it becomes a smooth paste.
3. Pour the mixture into the hot rice milk and stir with a whip.
4. Put the rice milk back into the microwave and cook on high for 1 minute and 30 seconds.
5. Stir the mixture with the whip again, and cook for one more minute on high.
6. Remove from the microwave and add the vanilla and almond extract.
7. Pour into a shallow dish and refrigerate until chilled.
8. This can be made up to 2 days ahead of time.

Get the full recipe and nutrition information.

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