11 Homestead Snacks for Kids (and Adults!)

1.3K

Over the years we have been homesteading, we have slowly shifted from processed foods to almost everything homemade and homegrown. It is definitely a shift and often requires creativity especially when it comes to creating homestead snacks.

While it would certainly be easier to grab a pre-packaged granola bar, it saves so much money to make your own food and grow your own food. I also feel like the health benefits far outweigh any inconvenience of taking time to make them.

Our homemade homestead snacks shift based on the seasons. Here are some ideas for 11 homestead snacks for kids (or even adults) that we make often and my kids love.

#1 Popcorn

Popcorn can be homegrown or it can be store bought in kernels, but make sure you get plain kernels if it’s purchased. Corn is a crop that can be genetically modified so I recommend looking for organic if you can afford it, or at the very least, non-GMO. 

Either way, popping it at home is much cheaper. My kids favorite way to prepare it is by using a Whirley Pop. This is an aluminum pan that can be used just about anywhere (even over an open flame fire when camping!) It has a metal wire on the bottom that you turn so the popcorn doesn’t burn. I found mine at a second hand store, but they still sell them new HERE.

Our favorite Simple Whirley Pop popcorn recipe is:

• ½ cup popcorn kernels
• 2 Tablespoons of oil
• 1/2-1 teaspoon of salt depending on preference
• Optional add ons (see below)

A simple add-on that my kids LOVE is 2 Tablespoons of white cheddar cheese powder. If we add on the cheddar cheese powder we only do ½ teaspoon of salt. I got my cheddar cheese powder HERE. Another add on we use is sprinkling on some black pepper after it’s finished.

Place all ingredients in the pop and spin constantly over medium-high heat until you don’t hear pops. Pour in a bowl immediately.

You can do the same thing with an air popper too. Just air pop and spray a little oil on after then sprinkle with super fine salt. If you don’t already have super fine salt put the salt in a high powered blender and blend until powdered.

#2 Fresh Fruits and Vegetables 

As simple as this is, we eat them often for homestead snacks. If the kids get tired of eating them plain here are some ideas for mixing it up.

• Veggie + Hummus, you can check out my favorite homemade hummus recipe HERE. My recipe makes a big batch. What I do is freeze it into individual disposable 1oz containers with lids. This is our snack that we will take if we are out for a while. I grab one or two straight from the freezer and it will be thawed by the time we eat, if it’s summer and warm out. If it’s winter, they don’t always thaw all the way! This is more of a going out snack, but you can also freeze the extra in a big reusable container and let it thaw in the fridge a day before you want to eat it. Making a giant batch of hummus and freezing part of it for later saves so much work and tastes so much better than the store.
• Veggie + Homemade Dressing
• Fruit dipped in a homemade whipped cream, yogurt, or chocolate
• Fruit + Nut butter, my kids favorite is apples and peanut butter

#3 Applesauce

Even if you don’t have an apple tree, I highly recommend purchasing some apples from a local farm and canning some applesauce, the taste of it is far superior that from a store. Applesauce is best with a combination of apple varieties for example, Jonathan and Jonagold. You can make applesauce as high tech or as low tech as you want.

I personally use an apple peeler corer slicer (but usually keep skins on). Put them in a pot with a little water so they don’t stick and cook over medium heat until they are soft. Then I run them through a food mill to remove the skins and make the texture even and smooth. The one I use can be found HERE. 

You can also peel and slice them by hand, then soften them in a pot with a little water, and mash them with a potato masher. Obviously this would add quite a bit more time, but if your on a budget and don’t have all the tools, it still works great!

For more detailed information on how to can applesauce, like headspace and processing times follow THIS GUIDE.

When my kids were little and attended Mother’s Day Out, I would pack homemade applesauce in reusable squeeze pouches. You can find the ones I bought HERE. We still use them all the time if we are on the go!

#4 Freeze Dried or Dried Fruit and Vegetables

Both the dehydrator and freeze drier are great for removing water from food so they can last a long time. The freeze drier is more versatile but expensive. A dehydrator is inexpensive but some fruits and veggies aren’t quite as tasty dehydrated. 

Both tools create homestead snacks which are easy to take places. Dried and freeze dried foods are great for trips because they are light and not as messy as other foods.

Favorites for the Dehydrator:

• Apple slices (optional add cinnamon)
• Strawberry slices
• Pear slices

Favorites for the Freeze Drier:

• Apple slices
• Strawberry slices
• Pear slices
• Sweet potato sliced very thin (like a chip)
• Peach slices
• Raspberries and blackberries
• Zucchini

The sky’s the limit here but these are some that we personally make and enjoy.

#5 Fruit leather

This is one item that works best in a dehydrator! My kids LOVE fruit leather but they go through it so fast, it’s that good.

You can find my raw grape fruit leather method HERE.

Other fruit leathers that we like are peach, pear, and apple. You can find my recipe for peach fruit leather HERE.

#6 Homemade Baked Goods

Homemade baked goods are a staple homestead snacks around our house! Here are some ideas of things we love to make and freeze, or make on the spot.  During summer if we have a lot of zucchini or squash, I will make a huge bulk batch 5 dozen+ of zucchini muffins and put them in the freezer.

• Zucchini muffins
• SOURDOUGH ENGLISH MUFFINS
• SOURDOUGH BREAD
• Pumpkin bread (we often substitute sweet potatoes for pumpkin) I recently found a recipe by my friend Crystal from Whole Fed Homestead that is out of this world delicious! It’s found in her NEW BOOK.
• Cornbread
• Cheesy breadsticks, favorite recipe is in THIS BOOK

Side note: You’ll notice I’m referring a lot to my favorite recipes and I haven’t created all of them. It is not an effort to get you to buy every book I have, but more so to be honest with where I find my favorite recipes. Those who write and publish recipes put a lot of effort into creating the recipe and deserve the credit and the monetary reward.

#7 Homemade Granola Bars or Granola

Homemade granola bars are easy to make and much cheaper than store bought. They are more filling than plain fruits and vegetables even if they aren’t quite as healthy. Granola bars have a huge variance in types, from sweet, to nutty, soft and crunchy.

I’ve been testing out different granola bars to find a favorite but haven’t quite landed on an amazing one yet. As a result I decided to create my own! I am still in the recipe development phase but hope to have it out in the next few weeks!

The kids occasionally will have granola with almond milk and fruit as a snack. We don’t eat cereal anymore (except for special occasions, like Christmas! Or occasionally if Grandparents buy it for the kids as a treat.) So the granola and milk the alternative we use instead. If you have a dairy source on your homestead, yogurt and granola is also a great option.

I stumbled on a tasty homemade granola in my attempts to create granola bars. In my personal opinion, granola shouldn’t be a dessert. Mine does have sugar, but it is less sweet than what you would find at the store. You can find the recipe HERE.

#8 Homemade Fruit Popsicles, Ice Cream, or Sorbet

Ice cream is usually categorized as a dessert but if you make your own homemade ice cream you can add a lot less sugar, or even use honey or maple syrup instead.

We got an ice cream maker and ice cream recipe book for Christmas a few years ago and it gets used often! I have thoughts of having some stocked in the freezer for later but it usually all gets eaten within a day.

Sorbet uses more fruit and no cream and freezes up for a delicious tasting dessert and in my mind is still in the realm of “homestead snacks” 🙂 My recipe for strawberry rhubarb sorbet can be found HERE.

A basic all purpose popsicle recipe:

• A can of coconut milk (1¾ cup) or half and half
• 1 cup berries
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons maple syrup

 Blend in a blender and pour into molds. Freeze. Sugar can be adjusted to taste, especially since the berries vary in sweetness.

#9 Canned Soups

This is not exactly a snack, but when I asked my kids what their favorite snack was the reply was “Cajun Cowpea Soup”. The recipe for that comes from THIS BOOK and is titled “Cajun Cowpeas”. They love canned soups of all kinds because they are easy and filling but this one is always the first we all grab.

#10 Homemade Crackers

Homemade crackers are so flavorful and delicious. However, there is one downside and that is they don’t last long. Usually about a week or sometimes two weeks. 

We don’t make them often, because of all the things listed, I consider them the most time intensive for the little food it makes. We’ve done mock goldfish crackers, and salted whole wheat. Here is my favorite BOOK for from scratch crackers.

#11 Chips and Salsa

Homemade salsa and tortilla chips are a snack that is fast and easy! You can make your own tortilla chips or purchase some from the store. Most tortilla chips have just three ingredients and are minimally processed even when store bought.

Sometimes we make fresh pico de gallo but most of the time we use salsa that we canned over the summer. My favorite recipe for canned salsa comes from THIS BOOK. I made a few tweaks to it and those can be found in HERE.