Snacks, Snacks, Snacks

There are two types of snacks in our house, healthy snacks and treats. 

I really try not to buy too many treats.  The less treats in the house, the more healthy snacks the kids eat.  I am, however, human.  I like chocolate and cookies.   How could I let myself eat a square of chocolate and tell my kids they can’t!?!  I don’t.  We just made a little rule in my house.  You need to eat a healthy snack, before you get a treat.  About 90% of the time, this works.   Another thing I do, I look at their day as a whole.  If my daughter had a great breakfast, lunch and all healthy snacks throughout the day, I’ll let her have the cookies.  I’m trying to teach them about balance and moderation. 

So, what counts as a “healthy snack” at my house?

1. Fruit
2. Vegetables
3. Cheese
4. Yogurt
5. Humus – The kids recently discovered how much they love this.   I can’t keep it in the house!  It’s the first snack they go for when they see it in the refrigerator.  It’s gone the same day we buy it.  We dip carrots, celery or triscuits in it.  Any other suggestions on what we could dip?  

Our favorite is the roasted red pepper Sabra!

That's it, that’s how simple it is.  These are also knows as, “anytime snacks”.  Around here that means if dinner is in 30 minutes and you can’t wait, pick one of the above.  These are also the 5 groups they can choose from for a snack for school.  They are a contained audience in school.  It’s them and what is in that lunch box.  If you want your kids to eat less junk, start with not putting any in their lunchboxes.  Then, when they get home, if they want a cookie or some pretzels or chips, you won’t feel so bad. 

I won’t list the “treats” as that list could go on forever.  I do try to buy cookies that do not have high fructose corn syrup in them.  Also, they LOVE the Trader Joe’s Honey Wheat Pretzel Twists.  

Sometimes, we combine the treat and the healthy snack, i.e., apples and nutella... oh and those honey wheat pretzels and nutella is delicious, but that's more of a treat-treat!!!!  

One of my favorite snacks to make for the kids is vegetables and dip.  We discovered a few months back that plain greek yogurt can replace sour cream as a dip base and it tastes delicious!  While it’s not natural, healthy or any of the things I’m trying to feed my kids, I love love love Hidden Valley Ranch Dip Mix (it’s a dry mix and comes in a packet near the salad dressing) and use it as a seasoning for several things.  Mix some of that in with the plain greek yogurt and let the kids dip, dip, dip! 

My kids are also huge fans of cut up fruit.  R will eat an entire quart of strawberries or blueberries in one sitting, if I let him.  Mangoes are like gold in my house.  Once I learned to ripen and cut up a mango, there was no going back! 

We also don’t buy junk food yogurt.  Trix yogurt is not a healthy snack!  My kids love love love greek yogurt.   They eat the plain, sweetened with honey.  They love the ones with fruit and fight over who is getting the last of their favorite flavors.  I spend approximately $25 every 2 weeks on yogurt.  Think about how much a bag of chips cost.  The big ones are about $4-5 each.  Would 5 of those feed your kids snacks for 2 weeks, without going stale?  I know that when we have chips, they last one day.  So, if I were to give my kids chips everyday for a snack, it would cost me a lot more than buying them yogurt!  I can't wait to get more into comparing the cost of healthy food and junk food.... I'll save that for another day, though!

Having fruit and a big bag of baby carrots in the house at all times is a big help to them and me.  They each have their favorites.  L loves apples, R is a berry boy & J is a basic apple, orange, banana kid. 

Another favorite around here, which we also serve for breakfast, “banana splits”:

·         Take 1 whole banana and slice it in half long ways.

·         Using an ice cream scoop, scoop 2 small scoops of yogurt onto the banana.

·         Top with sliced strawberries, blueberries, peaches, pineapple, or whatever fruit you love.

·         Drizzle a little bit of honey to make “caramel”

·         Sprinkle some granola or nuts for some crunch.

You would not believe how filling this is!  It’s delicious, good for you and so easy to make.  You could also sprinkle some mini-chocolate chips on it, for fun. 

Never underestimate the power of a stick!!!!

Putting a snack on a stick, or even just serving it with toothpicks makes it more fun and appealing!

Fruit and cheese kebabs!

Cheese and cherry tomatoes speared onto a toothpick

Melting some cheese and using a skewer to dip some veggies into it.

Especially, if you have a boy, Sticks = FUN!!!!!

We don't have to deprive our kids of the fun treats, just balance them out with something good. :)  I am looking forward to sharing more snack ideas as I find them.  I'm also REALLY looking forward to some feedback and suggestions!  Tell us what your kids' favorites are!

Maybe I'll make pancakes today, maybe I won't....

There is no other way to word it my kids LOVE pancakes.  Before the big diet change, they ate those mini pancakes like they were never going to eat another meal again!  When my husband and I talked about making this switch, this was a big part of the discussion.  I said, "I'll just MAKE mini pancakes!"  (I imagine myself wearing a super hero cape and swishing it at this point, while aiming my mighty spatula to the sky).  So began the search for a 100% whole wheat pancake.  There are several frozen ones out there.  To me, they just had too many ingredients in them.  Also, why should I pay $4.00 for 8 frozen pancakes, when I can just make them for pennies!
I found a few recipes that I thought would work.  *Sidenote - most of my recipes start from a recipe found at All Recipes.*  I did some modifications on them, and this is what I came up with:

2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon of honey or sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 ½ - 2 cups of milk
1 tablespoon of baking powder
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons of oil

You can add SO much to these, fruit, chocolate, bananas, pumpkin, food coloring.  We've tried it all and the kids still love them.  The banana and pumpkin do thicken up the batter, so you may need to add more milk.

(these are our Valentine's Day Pink Pancakes, just added some food coloring and shaped them into hearts)

(Some of our Halloween pancakes - Pumpkin shaped pumpkin whole wheat, with chocolate chips)

Combine your dry ingredients together.   Mix 1 ½ cups of the milk, with the eggs, oil and honey if you are using, together.  Pour into the dry ingredients and stir... adding more of the milk if mixture is too thick.  Thinner batter makes thinner pancakes.  I use an ice cream scoop, a small one for silver dollar size and a larger one for, as my kids call them "Big Pancakes".  Pour into a heated, greased griddle, (I found my electric grill w/the flat top on it cooks them perfect!) cook until bubbles form on top and the edges are dry, flip, cook until lightly browned.
Serve with your favorite topping!

The diet switch happened over night, there are a few items we let the kids "keep".... Log Cabin is one.  Honey Nut Cheerios and Frosted Flakes (only on weekends) are some others.

We use Log Cabin for 2 reasons.  1- It's the one Costco sells and 2- No High Fructose Corn Syrup.  That stuff is EVERYWHERE!!!!  I try REALLY hard to not buy products, except the HNCheeros and FF, with it in them.  It's in your bread, read the labels!  It's in PICKLES!  It's in Salad dressing!  The reason I converted the recipe to only have 1 T of sweetneer, is because the pancakes don't need to be super sweet, just sweet enough, because they ARE putting SUGAR on it!

Back to the pancakes...  Make a double or a triple batch - put them in the freezer (just let them cool first)...  Pop them in the microwave for 30-45 seconds and viola, instant breakfast!

So, maybe I'll make pancakes today, or maybe I won't... but now that you have my recipe, you certainly can!