In the comfort of our kitchens, it can be easy to serve an assortment of veggies with dips and homemade snacks. On the go, it is slightly more daunting. While running from school, to sports practices, and to other enrichment activities, we are constantly bombarded with flashy boxes and bags that call our kids’ names. To keep temptation and non-nutritious choices at bay, teach your little ones to be savvy snackers with these tips.
Find the ‘yes’ snacks
Point out all the beautiful colors of fruit at the farmers’ market, let kids choose their favorite nuts to make their own creamy spreads, or let them determine if they like hard or soft cheeses.
By encouraging your kids to make their own decisions about what to eat from an assortment of healthy options, they start learning to take responsibility for their nutrition.
Teach them to be label detectives
Even before kids can read, you can have them compare labels to find the one with the fewest ingredients. And when they can identify words, have them detect the sugar grams, or the ingredients with the hard-to-pronounce names.
Educate them on what foods are good for their bodies. Pick a plain yogurt, and toss in some dried fruit. Or go to the bulk section of a grocery store and make your own trail mix. Make friends with the people at the deli counter, and ask them to roll up a couple of turkey slices. Even Starbucks is touting a snack box with a hard-boiled egg and nitrate-free jerky. Also, stick to drinks such as water, herbal teas, and unsweetened milks of choice.
Don’t ban sweets
Having a no-sweets rule is an invitation for cravings and overindulging when given the chance. Instead, have a weekly outing to a delicious bakery or a local ice cream parlor. Make these days extra special and differentiate a special treat from a snack.
And at home, bake muffins and cookies with superfoods like flax seeds and chia seeds, or try making your own candy with organic dark chocolate, protein-rich almond butter, and fiber-filled oats.
Snacking provides needed fuel between meals, both super charging kids’ immune systems and stabilizing their moods. Involving children in the shopping and cooking not only helps to create smart snackers, but it also helps increase self-esteem and math and reading skills. It also fosters a sophisticated palate, so you will not have to be a short-order cook.
Dawn Lerman, also known as the Snacking Mama, is a top Manhattan nutritionist, founder of Magnificent Mommies, and the author of the best selling book, “My Fat Dad: A Memoir of Food, Love, and Family, With Recipes.” Follow her on Twitter@DawnLerman
Chocolate-covered peanut butter truffles
Yield: 8 truffles
INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup of unsweetened peanut butter, almond butter, or sunflower butter
1/4 cup of oats
1 tbs of maple syrup
1 tbsº of nutritional yeast
1/4 bag dark chocolate chips
Splash of almond, soy, or coconut milk
DIRECTIONS: Place first four ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
Take a spoon and scoop mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or a microwave safe bowl.
When the chocolate starts melting a little, add the milk of choice to thin the chocolate. Remove from heat, stirring rapidly.
Take your nut butterballs out of the freezer and carefully dip each one in the chocolate until they are fully coated. Then place them back onto the parchment paper and place in the refrigerator.
