Photo: www.freshhealthyvending.com
Enjoying a healthy after-school snack doesn’t have to involve a lot of preparation or be time consuming. Think in terms of nutritional value and ease. Kids are usually very hungry when they walk in the door and will grab what is easiest and most appealing. Here are ten tasty snacks that will keep your children nourished and meet your need for ease.
Fresh fruit and nuts
Keep a bowl of fresh fruit on your kitchen counter or table and a container of nuts beside it. Apples are filling foods and nuts have the healthy fats and proteins to help keep your little ones going until dinner.
Smoothies
Smoothies are a favorite snack because you can power pack them with nutrition. Use any fruit your kids like (tip: slice your over-ripened bananas and freeze them) including berries, mango, pineapple, grapes and even spinach. For kids who usually turn their noses up at greens, just throw some dark berries in your blender and they won’t see the green. Add in unsweetened yogurt and some raw honey, agave or stevia and voila! You have a nutritious and tasty snack they’ll love everytime.
Veggies and hummus
Keep carrot sticks and/or celery sliced in your fridge along with delicious, healthy hummus. Rice crackers are also yummy scoopers for your hummus snack.
Yogurt topped with granola
Buy yogurts in the large containers. It’s more cost-effective and it allows you to create a serving size that best suits your children. If you’re uncomfortable with the sweetened yogurts, just let your kids squirt some honey on top and add granola with seeds to the top.
Cottage cheese and fruit
Peaches and/or berries are delicious with cottage cheese. This healthy snack is very quick if you keep a freezer bag of peaches or berries in your refrigerator. They will melt and their juices make a nice topper on a bowl of cottage cheese.
Larabars
Larabars are super easy; your kids just have to remove the wrappers. Is this a cheat? No, because here’s what their website has to say about them. ”LÄRABAR is a delicious blend of unsweetened fruits, nuts and spices. Made from whole food, each flavor contains no more than nine ingredients. Pure and simple, just as nature intended.”
Whole grain bagel with cream cheese
The good old fashioned bagel with cream cheese may be overlooked as a snack because it’s usually thought of as a breakfast food. Just make sure it’s whole grain and not bleached.
Whole grain bread spread with peanut butter
Here’s another easy snack that takes only a few minutes to prepare. Make sure the peanut butter is natural/raw. Try a few banana slices on top for variety.
Simple cheesy nachos
Shred some cheese on top of corn chips (the blue chips with flax seeds are particularly yummy) and bake for a few minutes. Even with the added step of baking, this should take ten minutes or less.
B.T. pizzas (b.etter t.han pizza)
This is one of my daughter’s favorites. In fact, she named it. Spread hummus over rice cakes, then top with spinach leaves, sliced tomato and cheese. Then just bake or toast for a few minutes. This is such a simple, nutritious and delicious warm snack. Give it a try!
About Lisa Gale
"She was an artist and her life was her canvas." (Kobi Yamada) When I grow up, I want to be her! For now, it's fun to pretend.
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