My children aren't big snackers most days (they eat very well at meals!) but I do like to offer a mid-morning snack most of the time, and on some occasions we need an afternoon or evening snack also--typically if we have an evening activity like ballet or our scouting group, and our dinner is either unusually early or a little late. I'm trying to come up with a few more snack ideas. Our requirements are preferably gluten-free (Finn eats some gluten now and I can't even tell you how much easier my life is because of that), whole foods, and reasonably healthy. Here are the snacks we typically have:
*cheese slices
*nuts (sometimes nuts mixed with rice chex--not really a whole food!)
*popcorn (always with a side of cheese or nuts)
*apple slices with peanut butter
*banana boats--half a banana, sliced lengthwise, spread with a nut butter and topped with a few mini chocolate chips
*Larabars (on grocery shopping days I usually allow a Clif or Luna bar)
*gluten-free pumpkin-chocolate chip muffins
*on occasion, smoothies (w/ peanut butter/banana/almond milk/spinach)
*gluten-free gingerbread (yum, more like dessert) topped with nut butter or yogurt, depending on the child
I'd like to try homemade granola. I don't think Finn will eat it, but Annie would. Annie likes yogurt; Finn does not. And I have yet to find a good homemade granola-ish bar recipe that suits Finn. I know this makes him sound very picky, He is a little picky, but I roll with it because he eats so well of so many healthy foods (fish, chicken, broccoli, oatmeal, eggs). I think his issues are texture-related. In any case, I don't make a big deal out of it because in all honesty I think I'm fairly particular myself. (I never thought this until I visited a friend and she was amazed at my eating habits. Ha!)
So I'm casting about for some new snack ideas to freshen up the list. Fresh fruit is always nice, but this time of year all we can get are bananas, apples, and citrus--everything else is pretty yucky. And Finn and I don't really eat citrus....wait, did I mention we're the picky ones?
If you have any favorite snack ideas to share, I'm all ears!
*cheese slices
*nuts (sometimes nuts mixed with rice chex--not really a whole food!)
*popcorn (always with a side of cheese or nuts)
*apple slices with peanut butter
*banana boats--half a banana, sliced lengthwise, spread with a nut butter and topped with a few mini chocolate chips
*Larabars (on grocery shopping days I usually allow a Clif or Luna bar)
*gluten-free pumpkin-chocolate chip muffins
*on occasion, smoothies (w/ peanut butter/banana/almond milk/spinach)
*gluten-free gingerbread (yum, more like dessert) topped with nut butter or yogurt, depending on the child
I'd like to try homemade granola. I don't think Finn will eat it, but Annie would. Annie likes yogurt; Finn does not. And I have yet to find a good homemade granola-ish bar recipe that suits Finn. I know this makes him sound very picky, He is a little picky, but I roll with it because he eats so well of so many healthy foods (fish, chicken, broccoli, oatmeal, eggs). I think his issues are texture-related. In any case, I don't make a big deal out of it because in all honesty I think I'm fairly particular myself. (I never thought this until I visited a friend and she was amazed at my eating habits. Ha!)
So I'm casting about for some new snack ideas to freshen up the list. Fresh fruit is always nice, but this time of year all we can get are bananas, apples, and citrus--everything else is pretty yucky. And Finn and I don't really eat citrus....wait, did I mention we're the picky ones?
If you have any favorite snack ideas to share, I'm all ears!
We eat pretty healthy. My kids don't drink soda or eat junky snacks, and there's not a picky one in the group. (Caiden actually doesn't like fruit or anything white/creamy, but since he'll eat every vegetable, I consider that non-picky, just sort of particular.) BUT--now that my boys are growing like weeds and play sports (water polo burns massive amounts of calories), I have to let them eat much more widely. As in, I buy Ramen noodles in mass quantities and make them promise to go lightly on the (terrible for you) seasoning packet. I literally cannot keep our pantry/fridge stocked between the two boys, and that's with spending $1200 a month on groceries. They eat a ton of peanut butter sandwiches, as well as frozen burritos I buy in bulk (again bad for you, but I'm getting desperate). I'm finding that as pure as my desires are toward food, it's impossible to feed a teenage boy on a budget, if I only buy healthy food. My current method is to make sure I serve big carbs at every meal for them--bread, potatoes, rice, pasta--so that they can feel relatively full after their meals. Still, they eat like a plague of locusts. I'm pretty sure this will get worse before it gets better, and when it does, I'll miss them like crazy and wish I had a raided fridge and boys to hug a lot. ;)
ReplyDeletePolly, I enjoyed reading your post about snacks. There are some great ideas there.
ReplyDeleteSarah, oh my goodness, my older boy isn't even 12 yet, and he's really starting to eat a lot. I've had to adjust the quantities in everything I make, especially now that my toddler is eating right along with us all. And I have resorted to purchasing not so healthy foods just to keep him happy. He has never been a boredom eater, so I know what this is! People warned me about the teenage boy, but I was not prepared for the tweenage boy yet!