After-school Snack Special (Nuts Allowed)

I find that when my children get home from Kindergarten and School they are most ravenous and so will usually be open to trying a healthier food option.  

Here are some of our family’s go-to’s for healthy-ish, unprocessed (or minimally processed) snack ideas for kids that mostly get eaten:

Fruit Smoothies:

Start with a base of frozen banana / mangos / berries (or all of them).  Fresh fruits to include could be oranges, apples, kiwi fruit, feijoa. Add in some unsweetened yoghurt or milk.  I put in a few nuts and seeds such as a nut better, raw almonds, cashews, ground flaxseed (linseed).  If you want to try and sneak veges in you can add in chopped raw courgettes or cacao powder and some spinach leaves too. 

TIP:  You can get kids-sized silicon smoothie bottles with a straw and they won't see the colour.

Freshly Popped Popcorn:

Easy to make lots - especially when you have extra kids over.  The trick is to ensure you have the whole base of the pot covered in oil.  Put five kernels in as a test whether the pot is up to required heat.  Once the five kernels have popped, it should be hot enough to go ahead and add all the popcorn kernels making one layer covering the entire pot base.  Once popped, add some salt and icing sugar if you like.

Cheese and Crackers:

Cheese slices and crackers are usually a winner with my kids.  I try to go for the more the grain rich cracker options.  My 4 year old even likes pesto dip on his.  Sliced pickles also make a good cracker topping.

Freshly made Blender Picklets:

Add a cup of rolled oats, 1-2 ripe bananas, yoghurt / cottage cheese, water and a teaspoon of baking powder into a blender to create pancake/picklet batter.  Pour small circles on to an oiled fry pan and cook for 2-3 minutes each side as you would a pancake.

Optional add-ins include: flaxseeds for omegas, raw nuts such as almonds or cashews for protein.  To increase variety you can blend in courgette or spinach and disguise with cacao powder or extra sweeteners such as maple syrup or honey.  Berries are also good to throw in there.

Hummus:

Hummus with carrot batons or rice crackers for dipping is worth a try.  One of my kids loves it, the other hates it and one will take it or leave it.  Even better if you can make your own hummus but that can be alot of effort for kids to tell you they hate it. 

Cafe-Style Fluffy with Baking:

I do my best to keep the baking tins stocked with mini muffins made with (Homemade Baker muffin batter), biscuits or muesli slice.  On a cold day we do our at home “cafe” style fluffy (milk frothed with a Nespresso thingy) with hundreds and thousands or milo sprinkled on top.  It is served with a piece of baking on the side like you would get at a cafe.