It’s three in the afternoon, and you’re four years old.
Lunch is long over and done with, and dinner lurks in the shadowy realm of “later.”
What do you do when your tummy growls?
“Mama, I wanna candy, please!”
Alas, Mama has other plans for your hungry tummy. You’re not
getting candy. Wait, what did she just say?
“Sorry, Sweet Pea. No candy, but you can have an apple.”
“Wanna apple!”
Okay, so such redirection isn’t always that easy, but when
the options are no or have this instead, the good-for-you
snack is more likely to win out. In our house, as long as it’s yummy and comes
in countable pieces, it’s readily accepted.
With the typical busy schedule, it’s hard to rustle up
healthy snacks. The convenience of pre-packaging gives sweet or salty treats a
leg up. But wait! There’s a better way! Let’s go back to that apple.
Junior loves apples, so we keep them on hand. To make things
easier on him, we do our own bit of pre-packaging. Slice three or four apples
and toss them with a little lemon juice. Divvy the slices into reusable
containers and pop them in the fridge.
The same can be done with other bulk items. Blocks of cheese
can be sliced or cubed, whole grain cereals or crackers can be portioned into
small bags or boxes, and fruit juice can be frozen into ice pops. Do your kids
love those little cups of yogurt? Buy a big tub of plain yogurt, stir in a
little vanilla extract, and let your kids have fun adding their own stir-ins
like granola or diced fruit.
Get creative and have fun. See who can guess the right
number of sections in an orange. Make plate pictures of sailboats with cheese
triangles and apple wedges. Share your best theories about why strawberry seeds
are on the outside. It may look like just a snack, but it’s actually a mini
bonding break.
Remember the cookbook giveaway from a few days ago? Well,
here’s your second chance to win a copy of Alice Currah’s Sweet Savory Life: 100 Simply Delicious Meals for Every Family Occasion.
Leave a comment describing your family’s favorite or most unusual snack. Our
esteemed panel of culinary experts (me, again) will choose a winner from the
pool, and the poster will win the cookbook and bragging rights.
What’s on your plate?
The favorite treat for my nieces was a pre-sliced banana, which they marveled at over and over. Simple trick so that it is already done when one peels it, and the banana intact the entire time. For the adults, it was always my Grandmother's zucchini flowers. Simply prepared with a quick flour dredge, egg dip with salt and pepper, and lightly sauteed in olive oil Good right out of the pan and even better at room temperature later on. Thanks Audrey for the little memory trip this morning.
ReplyDeleteHey! Don't leave me in suspense! How do you preslice a banana?
ReplyDeleteAlas, our favorite snacks are terribly mundane. Cut up carrots and celery, sometimes with peanut butter, or tortillas with peanut butter or jam (stay away from the ones with high fructose corn syrup). Sometimes my son makes everyone flat bread for a special treat.
ReplyDeleteOh, zucchini flowers were the BEST, Tony, especially with a little parmesan sprinkled on top. I found that once my kids knew I wasn't going to cave on the candy requests, they learned to enjoy the healthy options I offered: dried mango, dried apricots, fresh fruit, seaweed (a Trader Joe's favorite), baby carrots, celery with peanut butter, etc. Thanks for the post, Audrey.
ReplyDeleteOh, we have cheese plates a lot. And I'm not even ashamed about how much cheese I can put away! It almost seems as if the snacks I put out for my children (who are teens and older) is a wine/cheese tray. They still don't make great snacks for themselves so I take to chopping up veggies and fruits and slices/cubes of cheese and leave them out. Whenever I do that they eat it up and I really couldn't be happier.
ReplyDeleteI find that when I leave out a bowl of whole fruit (apples, especially) the kids don't eat them. But if I do the work and slice them up, they're fine with it.
My kids favorite was sliced and they could dip in cinnamon sugar. Little healthy...little unhealthy.
ReplyDeleteWendy
Learning curve on my kindle. Please insert apples in above comment.
ReplyDeleteFrozen grapes - best snack food ever! I'll send anyone who wants them my zucchini blossoms this summer. LOL.
ReplyDeleteOur little one loved "honey in a log", which I believe she named. Take a piece of multi-grain bread, cut off the crusts (of course!), and squish it flat. Spread it with honey and roll it up into a cylinder.
ReplyDeleteFantasies, mysteries, comedies, recipes
Snacks can become habits, so why not offer something healthy, yet tasty. Apples or pears come to mind.
ReplyDeleteMy kids love apple slices with cinnamon sprinkled on top. They think it's "fancy." My eight year old really likes frozen peas, because they are sweet and crunchy. They also like frozen yogurt tubes.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I love sliced apples and peanut butter. Whenever I have it in my kitchen I eat it everyday. I loved this post, Audrey! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAnd he will gratefully accept them.
ReplyDelete