Okay here's your big chance...if you've never posted a comment on my blog this is the time to do it (hence the title interactive)! So now that I'm a homeschooler I've decided to have an official "snack time" instead of kids just saying, "We're hungry!" all day long and me waving them off to the pantry to grab something. I think it's better for the budget and for their eating habits if we limit the snacks. However, we are getting a little bored with the usual snacks: Goldfish crackers, pretzels, fruit snacks (which I really don't like anyway because they stick to your teeth), granola bars and the like. So here's where you come in...I need snack ideas! Tell me what you used to eat for snacks or what you give your kiddos now. Healthy is definitely good but it can't be yucky. Most of you already know that I somehow ended up with this strange aversion to healthful food and I don't eat fruits and veggies BUT I don't want my kids to inherit my bad habits so I want to give healthful snacks that taste good. It's a tall order, I know.
8 comments:
How about Ants on a Log? Cut up celery into "logs", spread peanut butter into the log, have the kids count out "ants" (raisins) to put on their log. You can make the log a race car by adding wheels cut from bananas or carrots and skewing on with toothpicks.
Oooh, fun!
Jello instant pudding with food coloring to make it fun--they can even finger paint with it on wax paper if you want to mix snack time with art! Or freeze the pudding for popsicles!
Applesauce with sprinkles on top.
Saltines with butter and jam (this is great for the budget!)
Our favorite: graham crackers with pb and chocolate chips on top! I entered this in a desert contest and totally lost.
Jello knox blox--I'm sure you know this one with all your jello tricks!
Apple marshmallow smiles: fill apple slices with PB and tiny marshmallows so they look like teeth...
Groundhog snacks: cut up carrots and parsnips and tell them they're eating groundhog food.
I like apple slices with peanut butter, or cheddar cheese slices with mustard. Mmm. Oh, and lightly salted rice cakes with peanut butter are a new favorite of mine. Ellie likes the apple cinnamon flavored mini rice cakes without any toppings. We're also big fans of string cheese. And Luke loves triscuits with various toppings (but maybe anchovies count as "yucky", so that's out). Now I'm hungry!
I'm totally with you about not knowing what to do for snacks. (I'm bad about sticking with the same old stuff at lunchtime too) I'm not much help, but here are a few of our snack staples. I'm all about snacks being cheap and simple. Oh, and it needs to be something that I don't absolutely love (ie anything with chocolate) so that I'm not constantly snacking with them. I guarantee that mine will be the most boring response:
animal crackers
goldfish
graham crackers- preferably cinnamon
raisins
dried apricots
if I'm feeling really ambitious (these are usually reserved for the evening hours):
cheese
bananas
applesauce with a dash of sprinkles
yogurt
A friend of mine with a very large family decided that it was worth a little bit of extra money to buy the prepackaged stuff. She has a big basket in the pantry where the kids grab something at snack time. It's filled with peanut butter crackers, fruit snacks, granola bars, etc.
Good post. :)
You could always try bananas with peanut butter. I enjoy that occasionally. And if you put some chocolate syrup on it too...hmmmm....I know, not the healthiest but it's yummy!
Apples topped with peanut butter is a personal favorite of mine. Anna loves tomatoes, slices of green peppers, or pickles(I think she takes after her dad liking EVERYTHING, though - I'm not sure if the cousins would like any of those things).
i think that you should be very firm and tell the kiddos that morning snack time is some kind of fruit - have a few choices so they can still make a choice but be very firm that this is fruit time - then the afternoon can be something more snacky!
We have implemented a new snack routine with the new school year,too. What we do is the kids do an activity while I prepare snack at 10:30- this way they have no input! :)I then serve them on a blanket- it is a "snack picnic". I try to give them a combo of protein and fruit/veggie- like string cheese and apples, or peanut butter and bananas on whole wheat bread- really any combo (any nuts, dairy, fruit or veggies) you want. It has really helped me to not ask what they want or allow them to have anything but what I serve. The first week there was some whining about what they were given, but this week has been no problem. I don't know if you want to do it that way, but we were having too much trouble with different kids wanting different things, then snack time taking forever. Anyway, that's what has worked for us!
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