Healthy Kid Snacks?!
Healthy Kid Snacks?
I am totally revamping my kids snacks. Right now I buy Cookies, Debbie Cakes, fruit snacks, chips, popcorn, etc. My kids are not overweight, if anything they are underweight. They are always outside playing. Give me some healthy "grab-and-go" snack ideas.
Answers:
Trail mix is great.
apples with peanut butter, celery with cream cheese, freeze orange juice and its like a slushy, grain crackers with cheese and ham or turkey, just some ideas off top of my head.
Celery sticks with peanut butter are great for kids. Fresh fruit is easy too or u can make fruit salad. Microwave popcorn isnt so bad as far as snacks go, its high fibre & if u just get a plain salted variety its not too high in saturated fats or anything. In summer u can get banannas put a stick in one end & dip the other end in melted chocolate then freeze them. Also jelly (or if ur American - jello) with fruit peices in it.
Another good idea is to get the kids involved with cooking their own snacks... make chips by cutting potato into thin slices then spread the slices out on a baking tray, sprinkle with salt & bake until crispy.
Honestly, I would not eliminate all those snacks from your kids' diet. They deserve a few "guilty pleasure" snacks every now and then, too. Good to hear that they like to play outside--it's a natural form of exercise.
But these are snacks that I think worked pretty well for me when I was a kid:
1. Finger Fruits: Chop honeydew melons, cantaloupes, pears, apples into cubes, toss in with strawberries (or other berries), grapes, sliced bananas, and diced pineapples. You can let your kids pick what fruits they'd like in the mix or change the combinations to keep them from getting bored. You don't have to put all the fruits suggested in each batch, maybe one day a strawberry-honeydew-pineapple mix is fine, and another day a pineapple-apple-grape mix is better. Just a note, buy fruits in season and save some dough there.
2. Carrots sticks and Peanut butter: Okay, sounds strange, but I loved these. Don't believe me? Just try it once. Take baby carrots and dip 'em in peanut butter.
3. Baby carrots: All time snack fave of mine. They're sweet, crunchy, and great for little fingers to hold. Resembles cheese poofs, too...you can also give your kids dip to go with them if they prefer that.
4. Popcorn: I know you're not into giving them this, but they're actually not that bad. They contain some fiber. However, use an air popcorn machine--one of those that use hot air to pop them instead of the instant microwave popcorn packs. Air popped popcorn has almost no grease other than the oils that naturally exist in the kernels, and your kids can still enjoy them minus the fat. Just don't ruin it by adding butter. Lightly salting them is okay.
5. Nuts: I hope your kids are not allergic to them, if they're not, this is a wonderful and simple snack. Nuts are great because they contain lots of nutrients like protein for their growing bodies and are great on the go. I recommend going to Costco or some other wholesaler and getting them in bulk as they are cheaper that way. My faves are almonds, peanuts, and cashews.
6. Cereal: Not the sugary ones. Honey-Nut Cheerios, Honey Bunches of Oat, Life, Chex, and Kix were favorites of mine then, and are still favorites of mine now. They are simple, yet nutritious. Frosted Flakes are okay, I personally think they're better than your kids downing snacks with no nutrients. You can jazz it up a little by adding nuts to 'em if your kids like that. They're great in little baggies.
7. Chex Mix: Make your own batch of Chex Mix and add raisins and other dried fruit, nuts, pretzels, etc. Ask them what they like in them. Get them to help you make the mix, makes it more fun.
8. Fruit Cups: If you're really busy, then maybe fruit cups are the way to go. They usually have mandarin oranges, peaches, pears, and other fruits in little cups that are great for tossing into the lunchbox. There's also applesauce if they like it. If you're like me and don't have a lot of money to toss around, you can buy store brands. From my experience, there's really no big difference in quality and taste. If you have a little more time, then canned fruits are good for packing for their lunch dessert or for serving them while they watch TV. Great fiber source there.
9. Cheese/Peanut Butter and crackers: Crackers topped with a square piece of cheese gives them carbs, protein, and calcium. If they like a certain type of cheese, then you can use that. If not, mix it up a little--ones that work best are mild cheddar, colby-jack, pepper jack, colby. If they have a preference for other cheeses like mozarella or muenster, why not! Crackers and peanut butter are great, too. Once again, store brand cheeses are just fine, especially if your kids start to like this snack and deplete the cheese really well. If you can find low salt crackers, that would be good. But please, none of that canned spray cheese stuff!
10. Yogurt: Yogurt comes in dizzying variety now, so you can let them pick them out. I don't now how old your kids are, but if they are a little older, they should be able to finish a whole cup. If not, pick out the "kid size" cups. I first had mom give me yogurt when I was 10, loved it since. Brand doesn't matter, as your kids may have a palate for different brands. Yoplait has a lot of different textures, too--like whipped, mousse, creamy custard style, and normal yogurt. Just browse and see what they like.
11. Granola bars: There are many varieties out there, and they are packed with fiber, vitamins, minerals. Let them pick the ones they like! Sunbelt, Quaker Oats, Nature Valley, Kudos are all great picks. Just a note, Nature Valley brand tends to have two bars in each pack, and this may be too much for one kid to eat. Consider serving one pack to two kids--one bar each.
Well, those are some ideas! I hope they're of use. Just don't force them into anything as that's a great way to make them loath anything healthy. Let them pick what they like. Also, alternate with the "guilty pleasure" snacks like cookies and chips. Last, even though the ideas are for healthy snacks, you still need to control the portions--too much of a good thing can be bad, too! Good luck and have fun trying out the foods!
You should give your kids some healthy food including for breakfast, egg omelets and milk.For lunch , just give some simple dishes like fish , chicken , vegetable soup and others.For dinner, you would like to make your kids some cabbage, chicken, fish and soup that's all.
Nature valley Snacks