As a mother of four I'm constantly hearing "can I have a snack?". Seriously. During my stay at home mom days I actually heard it so much that I resorted to setting a "snack timer". It would go off every three hours and the children knew that was the only time they could get a snack. Lord, you should have seen the stampede to the pantry when that ding went off!
In order to keep up with my children's snack demands I succumbed to societies marketing tricks and kept an endless supply of granola bars, cookies, snack cakes, yogurt packs ect. Once the kids got a little older and I began working again, we somehow switched to the big boxes of individual wrapped snacks. I wanted to give them choices and even let all four of them pick one at the supermarket. For three years the pantry was filled with packs of crackers & cookies. So much so that my youngest crumb snatcher would stand in front of the pantry, her foot just a tapping and she would declare that I REALLY need to get to the store for more snacks.
One day I began to ponder if children really needed an endless supply of empty caloried snacks and this was my conclusion. These snacks should NEVER be a staple in the household, they should be a treat! What have I been thinking! So I informed the children that I would no longer be supplying these salty and sugar filled snacks on a regular basis, that from now on our household snacks would consist of fruits, veggies and cheese. This was of course met with groans and disbelief but mama wasn't wavering. What really took me by surprise was how quickly they adjusted! They fully embraced the plethora of fresh goodness within days, goodbye manufactured snacks! If you're looking for some quick, healthy snacks keep on reading!
Breakfast fruit wrap
*tortilla shell
*yogurt
*sliced bananas & grapes
Coat shell with yogurt, add fruit and fold. Quick breakfast and kids love to make it themselves!
Fruit skewers
*skewers
*pineapple, orange & banana slices
*cherries
Pile on the fruit! Cream cheese dip is a good addition to this snack.
Philly cracker bites
*round butter crackers
*cream cheese
*strawberries
Top em! Perfect mix of creamy & sweet!
Fruit pizza
*tortilla shell
*peanut butter
*strawberries and blueberries
Spread, top and cut in fours. Yummy!
Hummus squares
*wheat pita bread
*hummus
*cucumbers
Spread pita with hummus, top with sliced cucumbers and cut in fours.
And don't forget about the cheese cubes, string cheese & if age appropriate, nuts! Happy snacking!
These are great ideas!! Thank you for sharing. Of course my son is a teen so I dont get to have the fun of preparing much but the suggestions will be passed on to those I know are always searching for ideas.
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