Healthy Individual Snacks for Kids
The world of hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats, processed sugars and empty-calorie foods bewilders many people seeking to find healthy snacks to serve a child. Commercials and other methods of advertising problematic snacks for kids often have them begging adults for items that fail in the health and wellness category. Let pure and simple foods come to the rescue. Properly prepared and presented snacks help kids realize that whether they're craving something sweet, salty, crunchy or chewy, healthy snacks can satisfy their taste buds.
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Potatoes Dried, not Fried
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Sweet potatoes contain important antioxidants, vitamin A and vitamin C. In the quest for salty, crunchy potato chips, people often overlook sweet potatoes. With some personalized flavoring, these nutrition-packed tubers make excellent dried snacks. When seeking recipes, find ones that call for the use of an oven or food dehydrator, rather than deep frying, to ensure the nutritional value of this snack remains intact. Consider drying other root vegetables of your liking to mix with the sweet potato chips to add different colors and textures to the snack.
Yogurt Creations
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Freeze single-serving size containers of yogurt for cool summertime snacks. Refuse to let sweetened versions tempt you. Pick up a container of plain, preferably organic yogurt. Let your child experiment with adding different items to make the yogurt sweet and tasty. Pure maple syrup or a light drizzle of honey adds a touch of sweetness, although health experts recommend that children under 1 year old avoid honey products. Let your kid get creative by offering a clear glass, a spoon, half a cup of yogurt and a variety of chopped fruits and granola, and let the child make a parfait-style layered treat. Freeze single-serving size containers of yogurt, and serve them to kids as an alternative to higher calorie frozen snacks.
Fruit Choices
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Grapes are a nutritious snack for kids on the go. Nature provides an array of choices when it comes to picking out fruits for snacking. Let kids choose their favorite fruits and help decide how to prepare them or whether to eat them fresh. Toss bite-sized chunks of fruit together for a fruit salad. Use a blender to puree soft fruits such as bananas, strawberries and blueberries, then put them into ice cube trays or other molds; add Popsicle sticks to make frozen treats.
Protein Packers
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One large hard boiled egg contains approximately 6 grams of protein. Kids need protein to grow. Some foods that contain protein include eggs, nuts, seeds and salmon. Smoked and dried strips of salmon make excellent nutritious snacks but you might have trouble finding them, especially in land-locked areas. For an easier-to-find snack that provides protein and vitamin D, treat your kids to boiled eggs. If your child appreciates something fancier than a plain boiled egg, dice or mash the egg and add a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir a bit of mustard into the mix to help it stick together. Serve with whole grain crackers or toast points.
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If you want your child to have good health habits, you need to set a good example. You cant expect her to snack on fruits if youre scarfing down candy and cookies. Your advice will carry a lot more weight if she can see you putting it into practice a
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Your mother may have told you that breakfast was the most important meal of the day, and now that you have kids you are finding that this wasnt one of those myths that parents pass down through the generations like "Dont swim for an hour after y
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Eating a variety of healthy foods will give your child nutrition for growth, development and learning. Learning about and eating good food from an early age will help your child develop healthy habits for life. What is healthy food?
