When is the best time for kids to be snacking?

            At the right times, snacks can play an important role in managing kids hunger and boosting nutrition. A well-timed snack can even out spikes in hunger and provide a much-needed energy boost between meals. Pay attention to the portion sizes and timing of snacks, so they do not interfere with a child's appetite for the next scheduled meal. A structured meal and snack schedule is one solution. You offer the meals and snacks at the same times each day, and your kids can decide what they want to eat and how much. It really depends on the age of the child as to when the child should be snacking. A very young child may need to snack more often because they do not eat much at mealtimes; this is why it is important that their snack has nutritional value. Toddlers may eat two to three snacks a day. Do not let children have a snack every time they ask. Sometime kids are just bored, so they will ask for a snack for something to do. Most school age kids only need one or two snacks a day. One of those snacks usually comes after school. If you keep snacking to a minimal and keep the snacks healthy their bodies will be healthy and on a good schedule for meals and snacks.

Rainbow Fruit Kabobs:

This is basically fruit salad, but it is on a stick! It is a great, healthy snack for kids or any person who has trouble handling plates or wants something simple to hold. It does take a bit of time to assemble, it will take you around 10 minutes to complete but you can make a couple during this time. You can substitute any fruit you would like. You can also reverse the order in which you put the fruit on the skewer. Have fun!

Ingredients:

Skewers

Strawberries

Orange chunks

Pineapple chunks

Kiwi chunks

Purple Grapes

Feel free to swap fruits in and out as you see fit. You can also make them with; blueberries, raspberries, green grapes, and bananas.

Directions:

 Wash and prepare all of your fruit

Cut the oranges, pineapple, and kiwi into chunks.

Take a skewer and begin adding one piece of fruit at a time.

I like to start with a strawberry, then add an orange, pineapple, kiwi, and finally grapes, but you can choose your own order. This order just makes a cool color pattern.

Getting the Kids Involved

          If kids are involved in the process of making healthy snacks at a young age they will be better prepared to live a healthy lifestyle. We need to teach youth how to be healthy and this includes preparing snacks. If a parent always does it and kids do not learn, when it comes time for them to have to make their own choices they will pick unhealthy snacks. This is because they do not have the information or the ability to make healthy snacks for themselves. Healthy snacking is something that should be taught in schools and practiced in the home. Lead by example as the parent and get your child involved. This way they will be growing by eating healthy, getting daily nutritional needs and by developing the mind. This experience will also give kids a chance to spend time with you and see how much fun healthy eating and cooking can be. This will create lifelong habits for your kids, as well as, for you.

PB and Banana Roll-Ups:

Bored with the classic peanut butter sandwich? Add a twist by rolling up peanut butter and banana in a tortilla instead of using bread. This is a bite-sized snack that is good for kids because the peanut butter provides heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, potassium from the banana, and fiber from the wheat germ.

Since this recipe does not use the stove, children can participate in making the entire snack.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup reduced-fat peanut butter

1/3-cup vanilla low-fat yogurt

1 tablespoon orange juice

2 ripe bananas, sliced

4 (8-inch) fat-free flour tortillas

2 tablespoons honey-crunch wheat germ

1/4-teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation:

Combine peanut butter and yogurt, stirring until smooth.

Drizzle Orange juice over bananas; toss gently to coat.

Spread about 3 tablespoons peanut butter mixture over each tortilla, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge.

Arrange about 1/3 cup banana slices in a single layer over peanut butter mixture. Combine wheat germ and cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over banana slices.

Roll up.

Slice each roll into 6 pieces.

The Importance of healthy snacks for your child

           Snacking is an effective way to fit extra nutrients into your child’s diet and prevent them from overeating at mealtimes. However, you do not want snacks to fill all their calories for the day and want them to provide nutrients. Too many kids in the United States are obese and this starts with snacking. Some kids just snack with no limits and eat whatever they want. This is why it is important as a parent to educate yourself and your child to eat healthy, so they can be fit and healthy. A child’s body needs nutrition, not just food. For children snacks are important because children have a higher metabolic rate, requiring more caloric intake than adults, but it's important that the calories they consume be nutritious. Healthy snacks will provide your child will have stable energy that will last. Helping them perform physical activities and mental activities better, staying focused more. Snacking will help your child grow, but only if they are eating the right snacks. Snacks you give your kids should be limited on sugar and fit into their daily nutritional needs, which are proteins, carbohydrates, unsaturated fats, vitamins, and minerals. When considering a snack for your kids always thing healthy, they may take a little longer to prepare or think about but in the end your child will benefit extremely. To review, healthy snacks can satisfy nutrient gaps and provide up to one quarter of a child's daily energy needs. They also satisfy hunger between meals, improve concentration, and prevent overeating at mealtime.

Ants on a log:

This is a favorite of a lot of people I know. I heard many parents and kids love this quick snack that is healthy as well. It gets kids eating vegetables, which can be hard for parents to get their kids to do. It is a snack that takes about five minutes to prepare and everyone of all ages will love, not just the kids.

What You Need:

4 pre-cut celery sticks

Peanut butter

Raisins

Small bowl

Spoon

How to Make Ants on a Log:

1.     Wash the celery and dry.

2.     Open the peanut butter.

3.     Open the raisins. Put some raisins in a small bowl.

4.     Use a spoon to get a little peanut butter.

5.     Spread the peanut butter into the celery. This will help your raisins stick to the celery.

6.     Push raisins into the peanut butter.

Does it look like the raisins are ants crawling on a celery log? Great! Eat your healthy ants on a log.

Why Ants on a Log Are Healthy for You:

•   Celery is a vegetable. Celery has vitamins and minerals to help keep you strong.

•   Raisins are dried grapes. That makes raisins fruit. Fruit has fiber that helps you digest.

•   Peanut butter has protein. Protein builds muscles to make you strong.

Welcome

      I know as a kid the first thing on my mind when I got home from school was I am hungry, and I was needing to get a snack.  My mom was always trying to find snacks that would be good for my brother and I that would not ruin our dinner, but that would also give us energy to get through soccer practice.  I was also a picky eater, which made finding a simple quick healthy snack very hard. I want to extend what I have learned and found from what my mom gave me and pass it along to others. On this blog, I would like to introduce parents and kids to some of my favorite healthy snacks that my mom gave me as a kid. I loved them then, and still do now.  I hope as you read these different recipes you can find healthy filling snacks for your kids that are good for anytime of the day.

Yogurt Popsicle:

            

         My all time favorite after school snack was what my family called a Yogurt Popsicle. Yogurt is a nutritional powerhouse with a lot of calcium and phosphorus, which are a great ingredients for a healthy snack.  To make this snack even better for your child, you can switch in low fat or fat free yogurt, instead of using high calorie yogurts.

This is a quick and easy snack that parents can prepare quickly. What would be even better is to include your child in the process of making this snack and teaching them how to make it and themselves and teach them the importance of eating healthy, (which will be talked about in the next post).  The time it takes to prepare this snack is about 15 minutes, but it will take 5 hours for the snack to be ready. This means you would want to make it the day before you eat it. This recipe will make 8 popsicles at one time.

What you will need:

·      2 cups of some type of fresh fruit. (Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, or sliced bananas) You could use more than one fruit or just one it is all up to you.
·      2 cups of plain or vanilla yogurt
·      ¼ cup white sugar
·      8 small paper cups
·      8 Popsicle sticks or you could use pretzel rods.

Directions:

Place the fruit of your choice, yogurt, and sugar into a blender. Cover, and blend until fruit is chunky or smooth, as desired.

Fill paper cups 3/4 full with fruit mixture. Cover the top of each cup with a strip of aluminum foil. Poke a Popsicle stick or pretzel rod through the center of the foil on each cup.

Place the cups in the freezer for at least 5 hours. To serve, remove foil and peel off the paper cup.

You now have a nice healthy snack and because this recipe makes 8 severing you have enough for more than one day. You just have to keep them frozen in the freezer.

                                            Hope you and your child enjoy this snack!