I am happy to report that, since the girls have been in school for almost a full month now, we’ve been sticking very tightly to our goal of packing unique lunches and snacks. What I’ve found to be the key to including something fun and tasty each and every day is simply this:
Have plenty of things that meet that criteria on hand!
That does take some planning, for sure. But it is so worth the effort. The kids feel better about their food choices and themselves. And I feel better sending them out the door for the day, knowing their energy for body and mind is coming from good stuff.
Besides purchasing a variety of fresh fruits and veggies each week, I make sure to have plenty of fun snack choices in the pantry, too.
Do you know about NatureBox?
For a long time, I had been hearing alot of praise for NatureBox snacks. But it wasn’t until this past summer that I actually got to munch on them, when I stopped by the NatureBox booth at the BlogHer conference in Chicago. Everything I tried there, plus the items they sent home with me for later, was very fresh and very tasty. And I got seriously excited about the variety of snacks available. There are so many awesome sounding choices; I want to try them all!!
NatureBox snacks are made from wholesome ingredients that are minimally processed, if at all. They are delivered right to your door, in easy to use resealable bags, and promise to have:
- No high fructose corn syrup
- No partially hydrogenated oils
- No artificial sweeteners
- No artificial flavors
- No trans fats
NatureBox’s snacks are a perfect choice for easy snacking, but they are also great for using in recipes like this one for Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins with Honeycomb Sunflower Kernels. I’ve always had a thing for sunflower seeds, and was immediately drawn to this snack bag. As I was baking up pumpkin muffins this past week, I knew I wanted to try adding a little crunch to them. The sunflower kernels, just slightly sweetened, did the trick beautifully.
These muffins have served our family as breakfast, a lunch box snack, and an after school treat. They are moist and delicious with fall spiced pumpkin, and the honeycomb sunflower kernels make them extra tasty and a more than just a little bit fun.
Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins with Honeycomb Sunflower Kernels
Ingredients
- 1-2/3 c. white whole wheat flour
- 1 c. packed brown sugar
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp. allspice
- ⅛ tsp. ground cloves
- 1 cup canned pumpkin not pre-spiced
- ½ c. butter melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- ½ c. NatureBox Honeycomb Sunflower Kernels
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Spray a standard muffin pan with cooking spray or line with paper baking liners. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and set aside.
- In another medium bowl, combine the pumpkin, butter, and eggs. Then stir in the vanilla. Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just moistened. Divide batter between the 12 prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle tops of muffins with NatureBox Honeycomb Sunflower Kernels, pressing them into the batter just a bit. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, or just until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not over bake. Remove muffins from pan to cool on a wire rack.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by NatureBox. All opinions are my own.
all of the above?? right now i’m craving something sweet with a bit of salty in there too – like this salted pumpkin seed dark chocolate bark i’m snacking on :)
I like crunchy, salty snacks.
I like anything with the word snack in it. Doesn’t matter if it’s chewy, crunchy, purple and pink. I like it all!!
I love my snacks chewy and sweet!!
I love salty followed by sweet, it’s a vicious cycle!
I love my snacks both sweet and savory …especially love chips when i have a salty craving and then chocolate chip cookies when i want sweet !
yuuuummm! I love pumpkin season!
Salty, sweet, crunchy.
The muffins look lovely, and I love the idea of those kernels. I send seeds at least 3x a week with my kids, and I’m sure they’d love a change from the plain ol’ roasted ones. I am a sweet and salty snacker, personally.
Sweet and Salty combined… nothing better!
I love my snacks chewy and sweet! Or salty and crunchy! It is really hard to choose!!!
I only want my snacks SWEET!
I have to CHOOSE how I want my treats?? I like them all ways! If I had to choose, I like them a little sweet, a little salty, and chewy.
Savory and crunchy for me!!
I love my snacks crunchy, chewy and sweet. Thanks for the giveaway.
I’d go with crunchy and savory! Always a winning combo in my book!
Definitely Chewy and crunchy.
I love chewy, sweet and salty!
Love the sound of this recipe. I will have to try it. I too struggle with packing healthy lunches and snacks for my busy children. They hate school lunches and I prefer they not eat them anyway. Sack lunch can get boring quickly. Thanks for the tip.
Crunchy, sweet and savory!