- Part-skim mozzerella stick or 1 oz low-fat cheddar with a medium apple
- Cubed Swiss cheese with berries or small handful dried fruit
- Apple or pear slices with nut butter
- Cottage cheese mixed with equal part lightly sweetened yogurt and cinnamon
- Cottage cheese with berries, apples, peaches, etc, sliced almonds and cinnamon, nutmeg or cardamom
- Rice/almond/soy/low fat cow milk and high fiber cereal or oatmeal with sliced almonds
- Plain yogurt sweetened with agave nectar, xylitol, or 1 t natural pudding mix: add granola, almonds, berries, peaches, dried fruit, wheat germ, or any high fiber cereal
- Smoothies: combine rice/almond/soy/low fat cow milk with protein powder and fresh or frozen fruit or canned pumpkin ~ can also include raw oats, wheat germ, small amount nut butter or cocoa powder
- See Breakfast category for more on smoothies!
- Snack Bars: look for all natural ingredients, low sugar, high fiber and high protein content. We don’t love soy protein isolates. We prefer simple fruit and nut bars like Larabar or Oskri.
Best Snacks
Quality snacks with staying power are more like mini-meals than just ‘temporary fillers’. The highly refined “snack foods” on your grocery shelves are pretty much a high-calorie, low-nutrient waste of money.
If they’re hungry between meals, kids will usually reach for some kind of carbohydrate ~ so offer them good choices that contain some fiber. In addition to carbs, though, a nutritionally balanced snack should also contain some protein or a little healthy fat to help keep young bodies off the blood sugar roller coaster.
See the list below for some great options…
Be prepared: keeping a regular stock of different kinds of snack foods available in your pantry, in your car, and at work will help prevent both grabbing lower quality options and overeating
Quality counts: in general, the fresher and less refined the food, the more ‘life energy’ it will contain.
Sweet Snacks
Friday, May 29th, 2009Savory Snacks
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009- Veggie sticks (carrots, celery, peppers, sugar snap peas, snow peas, broccoli or cauliflower florets, jicama, daikon radish, etc) paired with a healthy dip (like hummus or natural ranch dressing) or any protein are a great option
- Small handful of nuts or seeds and any raw or cooked veggies
- Part skim mozzarella stick with carrots or celery
- Cubed Swiss cheese with cherry tomatoes
- Baby carrots poked into green or black olives
- Rice cakes with hummus or nut butter
- Soy crisps with any raw veggies
- Whole wheat or rice pretzels or crackers with any nut/protein spread, meat, fish or cheese
- Tuna pack with lemon and a little olive oil with or without veggie sticks
- Smoked fish with horseradish on whole wheat or rice crackers
- Celery or carrots with nut butter or hummus
- ½ whole wheat pita pocket with hummus, sprouts , cucumbers, and/or shredded carrots
- Cottage cheese with tomatoes or peppers and sea salt/pepper
- Nonfat, no-sugar bean dip or refried beans with baked tortilla chips or raw veggie sticks
- Edamame (baby soy beans ~ you will find them in the natural section of your grocery store, look for kinds that are in the shell and pre-cooked: thaw and eat)
- Salsa and avocado with baked corn chips or a low fat corn tortilla
- Babaghanoush with whole wheat pita or veggie sticks
- Cold shrimp with low-sugar cocktail sauce (make your own in a pinch by mixing prepared horseradish and low-sugar ketchup). Look for specials in your grocery store and buy a bag of precooked frozen shrimp when they’re on sale to keep as a handy protein for snacks or dinner in a pinch. Just thaw, dip and eat.
- Boiled egg alone or with veggies
- Non-nitrate cold cut roll-ups around veggie sticks
- Plain popcorn flavored with sea salt, cheddar cheese powder, or try tossing a few cups with a tablespoon or two of tangy barbecue sauce!
- Leftovers from dinner
- Can or cup of low-sodium, low-sugar bean or veggie soup