Healthy Back to School Snacks

Back to school again in the South, Midwest and West Coast. My, how time goes by so quickly. This is the season where a lot of our darling children will come home for a long day of school screaming “ Mom!” “What’s for dinner?” or “Mom, I am hungry!” “What do we have to eat!” If you do not have dinner ready now you can give them a healthy snack that will tie them over until dinner time. Pick snacks that taste good, help them to look and feel great.

Make sure that you do not give too much of a snack that your child will not have enough to eat for dinner. But, if your child is doing something active like playing a sport, taking a dance class, biking or running around with your friends, it’s OK to fuel up with a bigger snack.

Your child can eat lunch at noon and dinner’s at 6:00, a snack right after school–say at about 3:00–is just right. They will get some fuel to do homework or to get outside and play.

You can pack a great snack in your kid’s backpack. If your child have after-school activities and can’t get home in time for a snack, you can have them take it with them. Pack sturdy stuff that won’t get squished–try an apple, single-serving boxes of raisins, small bags of nuts or pretzels or a box of juice.

Here is the list below of some healthy snacks. Eat and Enjoy!!

• Low-fat yogurt–try freezing those squeezable tubes

• Cheese sticks

• A fistful of peanuts or trail mix

• Frozen fruit bars

• Any fresh fruit like grapes, an apple, banana or orange–you pick!

• Any dried fruit like raisins or apricots

• Any veggie, especially easy-to-eat ones like cherry tomatoes, baby carrots and cut-up green peppers

• Graham crackers (don’t forget the milk!)

• Fortune cookies

• Fig bars

• Cereal bar or granola bar

• Low-fat chocolate milk

• Orange juice

• A toasted bagel half topped with a cheese slice

• Pudding

• Applesauce

• Whole-wheat crackers smeared with peanut butter

• Pretzels

• Salsa and baked tortilla chips

• Hummus (chick pea dip) and pita bread

• A cup of soup and a couple of crackers

• Bowl of cereal–hot or cold

• A nuked potato topped with catsup

• Cold cooked chicken

• A slice of pizza–hot or cold