GFCF Snack Ideas

Also see my 50 GFCFSF Snacks list HERE.

Finding gluten-free, casein-free (GFCF) -- and soy-free (GFCFSF) for us -- snacks that are kid-friendly can be VERY frustrating. I say this from experience! We are 3 months into the GFCF diet, and I am STILL trying new things almost every week. My goal is to build up a nice, long list of suitable GFCFSF snacks that my son likes, are easy to get/make, are easy to transport to school, and don't need any major preparation or special storage.

My son has been at a Montessori pre-school since October, and I have to provide GFCFSF snacks for him every day. There are 2 snack times each day that I have to worry about. Morning snacks for the "regular" kids are usually on the lighter side (goldfish crackers and apple slices); afternoon snacks are usually more hearty (bagels and cream cheese, pita bread with hummus, cheese & crackers, cereal and milk).

What I Do
I prepare a small Tupperware-type container each day for the morning snack, plus they always have some sort of fruit or veggie available at school (although I'm not sure he eats it). And then for afternoon stuff, I brought in a bunch of stuff and they keep it in a special bin for him in the kitchen. (I also replenish this every now and then as I find new things he likes.) I wrote up a sign for the school kitchen, too, with all the basic types of things he can and can't have, as well as a side-by-side table of "Instead of xxx, try yyy."

I'm slowly figuring out what my son likes and doesn't like...I'm sure it's different for every kid, but, so far...

The GFCF snacks my son likes are:
1. Tings (like Cheetos; I found out more recently that these have cross-contamination issues. Read more HERE.)
2. Garden of Eatin' Blue Chips (sometimes)
3. GFCFSF crackers with peanut butter (although he usually licks off the peanut butter and leaves most of the crackers!)
4. Ener-G Wylde Pretzels (note: other Ener-G pretzels I've seen contain soy)
5. Miss Roben's mock graham crackers (just tried that today and it was a hit!)
6. Homemade muffins with baby food veggies snuck in (more HERE). I keep a bunch of muffins in the freezer at school.
7. Enjoy Life Snickerdoodle cookies
8. Glutino GF breakfast bars (although these could have soy cross contamination) -- Blueberry, Apple, and Cranberry. [UPDATE! I have determined this week that my son DOES react to these breakfast bars and the "trace amounts of soy" that the package says "may" be contained therein. We won't be giving him these anymore. I'll leave them on the list, though, because they were tasty, but if your child reacts to traces of soy, leave these off your grocery list! And if you don't know yet whether or not your child reacts, give it a try and then track how your child does for the rest of the week. My son, for example, got very aggressive/mean and just plain out of control!]
9. Ener-G cinnamon crackers

GFCF snacks my son hasn't liked are:
1. Nut mixes (cashews, raisins, almonds, sunflower seeds, etc)
2. Glutino Breadsticks with pasta sauce to dip (I think these are yummy though!)
3. Raisins (I've heard the small boxes only are GF because larger containers have flour to keep raisins from sticking)
4. Rice cakes

I hope this information helps somebody! Good luck!!