Fall into healthy snacking easily with these tips.  A MomTini thanks goes to guest blogger Vanessa Morley for some creative and simple ideas for healthy fall-friendly snacks.  Vanessa is a registered dietetic technician and writes health and nutrition blogs for Everyday Health.

With kids back in school, what better time to start incorporating healthy snacks into your kid’s lunchbox than today!  Now that the summer is over, it may be hard to find juicy melon, delicious berries and crisp cucumbers to snack on, but there are still plenty of great fruits and vegetables available to take advantage of before the first frost.

Apples

Apples are the most delicious in the fall, when they are practically falling off the trees. Apples are a healthy snack because they are full of fiber, which will help keep your kids feeling full for longer, compared to fruit snacks. Apples are also a great take-along snack, especially for kids. They can be used as dippers to dip into plain yogurt or peanut butter; they can be eaten all by themselves; or, one my favorite things to do is make them into applesauce.

If you’ve never made applesauce before don’t be scared; this is a super easy and quick way to prepare a week long snack on a chilly Sunday afternoon. All that’s usually needed is a little bit of brown or white sugar, water, peeled and cored apples and cinnamon. The best part is you have control over how much sugar goes into your recipe, which is important to limit when keeping snacks healthy. A great way to involve your kids is to bring them apple picking, where they can see where apples come from and then make a delicious snack with the fruits of their labor.

Editor’s Note:  I found a yummy applesauce recipe online here.

Pumpkins

Pumpkins are one of the first things I think of when I think of fall, and what’s Halloween without a carved pumpkin? When you’re scraping out the slimy pumpkin guts, think twice before throwing them away because in that slime is a delicious snack: pumpkin seeds! These are very easy to make at home. All you have to do is dry them out and then bake them with whatever seasonings you would like. The great thing about making pumpkin seeds at home is that you can limit the amount of salt you put on them. Pumpkin seeds are a great snack because they can easily be a snack on the go; they are also a great addition to trail mix, especially if you make the mix at home!

Editor’s Note:  Here’s a recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds – you could substitute cooking spray for butter as well.

When choosing other healthy snacks for your kids make sure to stay away from sugary treats and highly processed foods, since they only feed your kids empty calories and have no nutritional value.

Happy snacking!