Storming in Cape Town again this morning ... feel like baking some chocolate muffins for a mid-morning snack .... oh ... did we mention snacks ? From "Feeding your Kids" -- Pair Snacks Up For A Mini-Meal Snacking is eating between main meals not eating a processed food made for this particular purpose and called a snack. Ellyn Satter calls them a name you can remember easily: mini-meals. With snacks as with meals, the quality of the food counts. The fresher and less refined the ingredients, the more they will sustain your energy between meals. No surprise, snacks that contain more than one food group are satisfying. So, a piece of fruit with a cheese stick, a cracker, a cup of yoghurt or a small handful of nuts is more satisfying than a piece of fruit eaten alone. The key to quality snacking is to be prepared because low nutrition “snack food” is available everywhere in your child’s environment. Keep a regular supply of different kinds of snack foods in your pantry, in your car, and in your diaper bag. This will help prevent your kids from grabbing lower quality options and from overeating. Today · Today, make your child’s snack a mini meal by pairing up different foods. Here are a few suggestions to get you started for their mini-meals between meals: If they eat yoghurt Buy plain or vanilla yogurt and have your child add her own toppings. Stir in applesauce, or chopped fresh fruit, granola, nuts, or crackers. If they eat crackers Have some whole-wheat crackers on hand. Top a few with peanut, almond or cashew butter. Top with hummus. Add a slice of banana (any fruit really) If they need to snack before sport activities Cut up a slice of bread into four tiny squares, to make mini open faced sandwiches, and add toppings: cream cheese, cold cuts, a slice of cucumber, tomato a leaf of fresh spinach or salad, a slice of cheese, tuna salad. Hard-boil an egg for them. If they eat chips, popcorn, pretzels Portion out any snacks that need to be in portions, pair the chips with hummus or dipping. Add a carrot to every portion. Pair it with a cup of milk or water. If they eat cookies and cupcakes Add a handful of nuts or a cup of yoghurt. If you prepare the cookies, add oatmeal, flex seed, and top with seeds. Add a cup of milk or water. If they snack on what they find in the pantry Make sure they find the fruit. Prep any snacks that need prepping – i.e. wash fruit and vegetables and cut into pieces. Cut up cheese, include a cold cut slice or a hardboiled egg. Establish a fridge location for the snacks. Make sure everyone in your family knows where they can find them, and children who are old enough can reach them. You would be surprised what a small bowl in the middle shelf of the fridge can accomplish, when your older child comes home from school. Snacking with a purpose means reinforcing good habits and filling the gaps between meals with nutrients. If you are thinking: My kid only wants the nutrition-disaster snack packs that all the kids at school eat. Try this instead: This is a re-education process for everyone. You need to interrupt the cycle of eating “filler” snacks until your child can enjoy a healthy snack that counts nutritionally. From "Feeding your Kids"
Posted on: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 07:35:52 +0000
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