Healthy Snacks & Treats
Get the Kids on Board
The key to enrolling children in healthy living lessons is to let them have freedom and fun, sometime the details need to be left out. Think like a child. Do you think “healthy eating” is fun and exciting? Many times our belief systems are rubbed off onto our children. So if you are resistant to getting healthy and eating differently, most likely you are going to experience this with your family. Below are ideas for kids that you can begin to implement right now. Remember, they don’t need to know the details, just do it! Allow some time for them to adjust to the “change”, but whether it’s a couple hours, days or weeks…the lifelong benefits of our healthy living lesson plans are priceless.
Dry Snack Drawer
Have a healthy snack drawer that the kids can reach and make sure it remains a “safe” place for kids to go. “Safe” meaning good foods packed with nutrients! Many choices are discussed in the Healthy Edge Program and in the Healthy Edge Cookbook.
Refrigerator Snack Drawer
Chef Keith & Son
picking out a healthy snack
Have a healthy snack drawer in your refrigerator as well. Remember, have this low so children can reach it. This gives them a sense of independence and provides variety, but all choices are healthy! What a great way to raise a Healthy Edge kid! Be sure that if you are filling this drawer with snacks, pre-portion them so the kids know when enough is enough. You can have extra snacks for restocking stored on a higher shelf.
The One Baggie Rule
They can pick one thing at a time. Also make sure that if you are giving your kids a “safe snack drawer” that you are okay with them snacking (even if it is right before dinner). It’s a great gift to have your kids know that they can eat when they are hungry! It is empowering for you to create a situation where your kids can choose, but they only have healthy choices available.
As much as possible monitor meals and snacks and offer them every 2-3 hours. This will support you in keeping the kids out of the “danger zone” of binge eating and over-consumption.
Special Treats for Kids
We all know that children love candy and anything sweet! That is why we provide many healthy alternatives to their favorites in our healthy living lesson plan. All of the products below are for those occasions that call for a treat! These are always in moderation! Be sure to compare these labels with the labels of the popular brands of the safe items. You will be amazed at the difference. Create an environment where it is not expected every day, but rather is viewed as what it is, which is a treat! All of the following are gluten and wheat free. (This is not indicative of how healthy the snack is, but it will be safe for children with those allergies.)
Replacement Options
Treats
Instead of fruit roll-ups, try Fruitabu: Organic Smooshed Fruit that is gluten free. fruitabu.com.
Instead of hard candy, try Yummy Earth: Organic Candy Drops or Organic Lollipops. This is great for Halloween time! yummyearth.com or amazon.com
Instead of traditional store-bought Popsicles or Flavor Ice, try our Healthy Edge recipe on page 150 – 151 of The Healthy Edge Cookbook or buy Cool Fruits Fruit Juice Freezers at coolfruits.com
Healthy Edge Hot Chocolate
In a pan heat (not to a boil, just to a steam) 2 cups milk (use coconut milk or other nut milk if dairy intolerant), whisk in 3 Tablespoons pure Cocoa and 2 Tablespoons agave nectar. Adjust flavor by adding more milk, agave and cocoa to taste.
Quick Kid Meal Ideas
With a little preparation and little bit of practice you will become an expert in fast, healthy meals for your kids. Picky eaters are the best because they usually only like 2 or 3 things, so your job is to find a healthy but really tasty version of those 2 or 3 things. If I can do it you can do it too. Once you identify these alternatives have them on hand and continue to offer different foods! Here are some quick ideas. Grill extra chicken breasts, slice them and store in the freezer in small zipper bags. You can pull these out and sauté with a little olive oil or chicken broth for quick wraps, salads, and quesadillas.Omelets
Omelets with their choice of fillings. Provide a variety like green peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, black beans, chicken, etc. Grate your own cheese to avoid the anti-clumping chemicals in pre-shredded cheese.
Soups
Quick homemade soups, created with low-sodium or homemade chicken broth and fresh veggies are a real hit during the cold months! Use pre-cooked brown rice, lentils, and some of the frozen pre-grilled chicken. Kids love to drink the broth from the soup with a straw. It makes it fun for them and kids will eat more when food is fun.
Oatmeal
Serve with boiled eggs
Slow cook oatmeal with fresh fruit and/or nut “smiley faces” on top. Drizzle with a little agave nectar if the kids desire more sweetness. Serve with boiled eggs.
Whole Grains
Use whole grain bread, toast it, and build an egg and cheese sandwich, then let the kids help and use different shaped cookie cutters to make fun shapes. Kids also love organic peanut butter (or other nut butters) sandwiches. A favorite of ours is using a 100% whole sprouted wrap and adding peanut butter, sliced banana and a drizzle of honey or raw agave on it and folding it in half. Cut into strips and serve!
Fun finger foods
- A wrap sliced and served with toothpicks (hors d’oeuvres style)
- Fruit Kabobs (sliced fruit served on kabob sticks)
- Asparagus to eat with their fingers
- Mini-shape sandwiches as mentioned above
- Make your own chicken fingers or nuggets (refer to Baked Chicken Finger recipe in the recipe section of The Healthy Edge. signup info
- Turkey wraps. Choose nitrate-free sliced turkey lunch meat; wrap the turkey around a slice of cheese.
- Corn on the cob
- Fresh veggies to dip in hummus or other healthy dip.
School Lunches
School lunches are a battle for many parents. The nutritional content of most school lunches are full of sodium, fat and sugar. Kids have options such as pizza, donuts, fried chicken, fries, hot pretzels and cookies and no parents around them to support them in making healthy choices. Packing your child’s lunch is the most proactive decision you can make for their school day. The time it takes to prepare a Healthy Edge-approved lunch will fade in comparison to the health benefits and healthy living lessons you share with your child every day! Get more lunch box rules and ideas in The Healthy Edge Cookbook!
10 Healthy “On-the-Go” Snacks for Kids
—April Willer
Travel Cooler
We have a “special” cooler that we take everywhere and we have made eating healthy a game. Whenever she sees our “special” cooler she gets so excited because she knows that all the goodies are for her! Make up a game with your kids where you put stickers on the different foods. When they finish them (this is key) they get a prize associated with that sticker. I put a bigger and better prize on the foods I most want her to eat to encourage good choices.
Here are ten simple ideas that you can use to make your own “fun” cooler or to have on hand in the refrigerator. Always have a variety of choices so they get to choose.
1. Celery
Provide with dipping sauce (natural peanut butter).
2. Organic Natural Applesauce
Add Cinnamon for variety.
3. Mary’s Be Gone Crackers™
Prepare with vegan cheese or regular sliced cheese
4. Raw, unsalted nuts, coconut, and raisins
Put these in your child’s own bag he/she can zip and unzip.
5. Boomi Bar™
You can get these at most stores. They are healthy and gluten free.
6. Fruit Kabobs
Use a variety of fruit: bananas, strawberries, pineapple, grapes, apples, etc. and place on skewers.
7. Whole sprouted grain bread or muffin
Serve with raw honey and/or organic nut butter. For children with gluten allergies, check out Bob’s Red Mill gluten free mixes.
8. FruitaBu Smooshed Fruit
Check them out online: These are healthy fruit roll-ups and gluten free.
9. Avocado.
Cut in half and give your child a spoon to eat it out of the shell. You can also add avocado into morning smoothies. It does not affect the taste and it adds healthy fats as well as making it smooth and creamy.
10. Edamame (soybeans)
These can be found in the freezer section of most grocery stores. They are fun to eat and great to stick in a baggie and take on the road. Be sure to buy unsalted. You can always add some sea salt after cooking. Edamame can be bought in the shell or already shelled. Both are fun to eat!
Artificial Food colorings
Kid’s Bouncing off the Walls?
Check Your Labels!
Is it necessary to feed kids foods that stain their lips, tongues and hands? Do you ever think about what it took to make the funky blue filling in their (or your) breakfast pastries or how fruit juices get their deep red, orange, yellow and blue colors? Your kids don’t care, but do you?
Artificial Colors
Artificial colors added to foods have been linked to hyperactivity in children. Does this really shock anyone? The increase in children diagnosed and drugged for ADD and ADHD could actually be linked to what they eat! Genius! There is also a link with learning disabilities! Wow, you don’t say! How many parents have a child with a learning disability? As a former teacher, I was dealing with classes where 1/3 of the students were on IEP (Individualized Education Plans) for learning disabilities! The problem is only getting worse!
Recent Studies
A carefully designed study was released in The Lancelot, a leading British medical journal, showing that a variety of common food dyes and the common preservative sodium benzoate causes some children to become more hyperactive and distractible than usual. Two groups were analyzed, 3 year olds and 8 and 9 year olds. For six weeks, several hundred children were given a drink with varying doses of coloring and sodium benzoate and some were given a drink that contained none. Children in BOTH age groups were significantly more hyperactive (restlessness, lack of concentration, fidgeting and talking or interrupting too much) when consuming the drinks with the “stuff” in it. Three-year-olds had a bigger response than the 8 and 9 year olds. The amount of the food coloring in the drinks was equivalent to only 1 or 2 servings of candy a day! That’s all it took! How many of our children are consuming way more than that?
Some more food for thought: A study in The Journal of Pediatrics founded 150 out of 200 children (75%) improved on an open trial of a diet free of synthetic food colors and deteriorated upon introduction of foods containing synthetic colorings. Do we really NEED artificial colorings? The CSPI reports that many big companies sell different versions of foods in the United Kingdom with natural food colorings, while in the United States, they contain artificial coloring. For example, M&M’s, Skittles, Starburst Chews, and the strawberry sauce that McDonald’s uses on its sundaes. The strawberry sauce is made with Red 40 in the United States, but in the United Kingdom, they use real strawberries.
If you are all concerned about the effect on YOU and your children, here are some things you can do!
Feed your family more whole foods and avoid or limit the amount of processed food.
Read food labels and check for artificial food coloring agents on the ingredients list, including Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, Red 3, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6.
Look for foods that use natural food coloring, which is indicated by ingredients such as annatto extract, beta-carotene, beet powder, caramel color, fruit juice, paprika, saffron, turmeric, and vegetable juice.
Avoid flavored milk (strawberry milk doesn’t have any strawberries in it)
Avoid or limit foods with a lot of different bright colors on them, for example something like Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts Frosted Double Berry toaster pastries. These breakfast treats look fun, but if you check the food label, they do have almost all of the artificial food colors in them, including Red 40, Blue 2, Yellow 6, and Blue 1.
Bottom line, there are many things we can do to address some of the issues our children are facing. Education is power and sometimes slight changes make all the difference in the world. I have focused on children in this article, but you may be linking some of your behavior with some of your colorful food choices.
