Parentella

My kids are always hungry when I pick them up from school or day care. Almost as soon as we get in the door–and sometimes as soon as we get in the car–they start begging me for snacks. I’m happy to oblige, of course, but I also have a few criteria that I try to meet when serving them snacks: I want to give my kids something healthy. I want it to fill them up enough to keep them happy until dinner is ready. But I don’t want it to be so filling that they don’t actually eat the dinner I’m making. And it doesn’t hurt if it’s kind of fun, too.

Hmmm…it sounds like kind of a tall order, doesn’t it?

In an effort to help myself out when everyone is tired and starving, I made up a list of snack ideas.

Apple slices – Pair with peanut butter or a slice of cheddar cheese

Applesauce – Choose natural or unsweetened varieties. Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg or heat some frozen berries in the microwave then stir into applesauce.

Bananas – Spread with a little peanut butter and then sprinkle raisins on top. You can also go all out and serve a banana in a hot dog bun with a small squirt of jelly on top. My kids think these banana “hot dogs” are hilarious.

Berries – My children could live on fresh berries. Serve strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, or a mixture of all of them.

Carrot sticks – Serve with your child’s favorite dippers: bean dip, hummus or the ubiquitous ranch dressing.

Celery – Stuff celery sticks with peanut butter or cream cheese. You can also add a sprinkle of raisins for “ants on a log”.

Cereal – My children are delighted to get a bowl of cereal as an afterschool snack. Choose low sugar and higher fiber varieties to keep this a healthy snack.

Cheese – There are a ton of ways to serve cheese, of course: slices, cubes, wedges. Cut slices into shapes with cookie cutters for a little fun, or just serve them with a little fruit or whole grain crackers.

Cucumber slices – Slice cucumbers into rounds then serve with yogurt or ranch dressing for dipping. One of my sons loves cucumbers in vinegar: dice a cucumber, then toss with a little bit of rice vinegar and a touch of sesame oil.

Eggs – Make a pot of hard boiled eggs early in the week and have them on hand for fast snacks. You can also scramble an egg in just a few minutes.

Granola bars – Granola bars can be a great snack if you watch the ingredient list – look for lower sugar, higher fiber options. Or make your own! My family enjoys this recipe from Joyful Abode.

Grapes – I’d like to tell you I have creative ideas for serving grapes, but my kids just gobble them down plain before I can do anything interesting with them.

Melon – Serve chunks of melon for fussy eaters who like to keep their hands and faces clean, wedges for kids who have fun getting a little messy. Try different kinds of melons, too. Watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew are the old standbys, but you can often find more unique varieties at farmer’s markets and grocery stores. Older kids are intrigued when you cut into a watermelon and the flesh inside is yellow.

Here are ten more snack ideas!

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Wendy Copley writes about cooking, crafts, parenting and her obsession with lunch boxes at Wendolonia.

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Tags: healthy snack foods

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 7th, 2010 at 12:01 am and is filed under Food, Wendy Copley. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.