Snacks throughout the day are part
of a balanced diet.
3 meals and at least 3 snacks a day.
When we are working on getting our eating habits back into balance, 5 snacks a day are ideal.
Processed food is alluring-easy, colorful packaging sometimes even portioned in cute little bags.
First things first: kids always prefer junk food.
Even the kid inside each of us.
When we put junk food in our kitchens,
junk food wins every time and twice on Sunday.
Give healthy snacks a chance.
Don't buy the junk.
Instead, fill the snack drawer with these healthy choices.
Some of these choices are great diversions from candy bars and chips.
There is something to be said about a bowl of pretzels, a handful of chocolate chips, and a glass of milk.
Everyone in the household will find their own favorite snack
and how they put the choices from the drawer together.Show them some ideas and let them have a taste test.
Then there's the know how of more natural choices-no packaging, no fillers like
genetically modified soy,
baked goods with questionable oils
like soybean and canola,
high fructose corn syrup, whey protein,
bleached flour etc.
Snacks give us an opportunity to
rev up our vitamin and mineral intake
naturally from our food; not a bottle of pills.
What is in the ideal snack drawer ?
Here's a list:
Nuts and seeds:
Mixed nuts
Salted cashews
Salted almonds
Pistachios
Sunflower seeds
Dried fruit:
cherries
cranberries
raisins
trail mix of nuts and dried fruit
marshmallows
chocolate chips-milk and dark chocolate
graham crackers
Nutella
pretzels
tortilla chips
Now to put snack ideas together:
nuts and chocolate chips are an amazing substitute for a candy bar
s'mores are fast and
not just for camping
dried cherries and dark chocolate chips
chocolate chips and raisins
cashews and a sliced apple
pretzels and Laughing Cow Cheese triangle
come in great flavors like Swiss, tomato basil, blue cheese and so much more
Tortilla chips and home made salsa
are a great way to get kids to eat
raw veggies like tomatoes,
peppers, and cilantro.
Check out the 'how to make salsa'
video on YouTube :
Pretzels and spinach dip
(The kids ask for it, "Mama, I'm getting a little bowl for 'green dip' and pretzels"
It's a good way to get kids to eat spinach a few times a week.
Check out the 'how to make spinach dip' recipe on YouTube:
Sprinkle dried cherries in a
bowl of cereal in the morning.
Pistachios and grapes
Nutella and strawberries
trail mix
Recipe:
4 cups air popped popcorn
2 cups Cheerios
1/2 cup mixed nuts
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cherries
1 cup chocolate chips
trail mix curbs hunger in the afternoon
and as that last snack in the evening...
great snack for on the 'go' especially
on the commute home...
curbs hunger long enough to find patience
to cook a good dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment