Healthy Snacks for Kids

Value Meal Scams

noreply@blogger.com (gumbi) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:38:00 +0000

If you think that when you go out to eat with your kids and buying something off of the Value Meal is a good idea, guess again. Often times we think that because something is cheaper and smaller, that it isn't as bad for you as the regular size.

Well, there is some restaurants that are doing better with reducing fat content and what they are frying their food in, such as McDonalds and Wendy's. However, even these "health conscious" restaurants have food that still isn't the best for you.

One of the best books that I have read lately is the "Eat This, Not That!" book. I'm not sure if you have heard of it or seen it.

This book is really neat and a great reference for people, and kids, to see exactly what the healthier alternative is in the fast food industry. I like this book for the fact that I sometimes think I am eating healthy when I am really not.

If you are a person that is on the go for work all the time and find yourself eating meals out a lot, then you should at least check this book out. You might, WILL, be surprised at what you find out about your favorite meal at your favorite restaurant.

Since I have begun to exercise more and watch more of what I am stuffing my face with, I have begun to really feel better and notice a difference when I eat well versus when I eat "junk". You will notice a difference as well when you do also.

Frozen Healthy Snacks for Kids

noreply@blogger.com (gumbi) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:11:00 +0000

With summer upon us in full effect, or so it seems, here are a few cool frozen healthy snacks for kids to keep them cool this summer.

Frozen Banana Pops

4 ripe bananas

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon organic sugar

1 12-ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup walnuts, finely chopped

8 popsicle sticks

Peel the bananas and make sure there are no "strings" left on them. Now, cut them lengthwise in order to make 2 banana pops from one full banana. Insert the popsicle sticks in the thick end of the banana and place them on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Freeze the banana pop for 2 hours.

In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream and sugar to a low simmer and stir until the sugar has dissolved, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Add the heavy cream and stir until smooth. Remove from the heat. Place the chopped walnuts in a shallow dish or pie pan.

One at a time, dip the frozen bananas in the chocolate. You may have to spoon some of the chocolate over the banana and smooth it out. Sprinkle the nuts all over the banana, transfer to the lined baking sheet and freeze until ready to eat.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie

This is one really simple and great smoothie recipe for the kids for summer. It is really easy and you can even make different types of it by adding different fruits, using regular milk or anything else you can think of.

1 cup very cold chocolate milk

1 ripe banana

2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

2 ice cubes, crushed

Add all ingredients into a blender until smooth and serve immediately.

Healthy Apple Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (gumbi) — Wed, 07 May 2008 10:22:00 +0000

One of the classic cookie treats that most children enjoy is oatmeal cookies. Sure, they aren't chocolate chip cookies, but these Apple Oatmeal Cookies are pretty close!

Here is a quick and simple recipe for apple oatmeal cookies that are a quick and healthy snack for your children.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup margarine, softened

1/2 cup honey

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup stone ground whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

1 apple, cored and chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine, honey, egg and vanilla until smooth. Combine the whole wheat flour, baking soda and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture.

Mix in oats and apple. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

For a more tart taste, you can use granny smith apples. You can also replace the oil with applesauce for a more moist cookie.

Asia'h Epperson is Great

noreply@blogger.com (gumbi) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 04:48:00 +0000

Asia'h Epperson is simply a stunning woman and an amazing talent that was voted off American Idol too soon this year. Her beautiful looks and brilliant voice, Asia'h Epperson will be around a lot in the future.

If you don't know who Asia'h Epperson is, she was a contestant on American Idol this year. Her heart wrenching story will touch your heart and make you want to cry. But Asia'h Epperson's story will also make you want to stand up and applaud her as well.

Betty Crocker Cookbook

noreply@blogger.com (gumbi) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 02:13:00 +0000

One of the best memories I have of my Grandmother growing up was her great cooking. I often remember going to their house and there was always something on the stove, or at least lots of leftovers!

One of her favorite past-times was to collect and share cookbooks and recipes from cookbooks. I found a great site on Squidoo about the Betty Crocker Cookbooks which she used to love cooking from.

Now, we all know that the southern style cooking from some Betty Crocker cookbooks isn't the most healthy, but with all of the healthy alternative foods and ingredients that are out there, we can make them a little more healthy.

I hope you like the Betty Crocker Cookbook page as much I did.

Healthy Hot Chocolate Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (gumbi) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:49:00 +0000

Here is a great and simple hot chocolate recipe for your kids on the cold winter days. When your kids are cold and want hot chocolate, don't buy the prepackaged stuff as they are usually full of sugar and other additives.

Here’s a great hot chocolate recipe to make and keep in your pantry for a moments notice, plus it's easy to make!

1 cup nonfat dry milk
3/4 cup light brown sugar
½ cup cocoa

FLAVORED VARIATIONS:
Add 2 teaspoons of one of these ingredients to the above mix:
Ground cinnamon
or
Ground cloves
or
Ground allspice

Combine ingredients and mix well. Store in airtight
container...no need to refrigerate.

To make the hot cocoa, whisk in 2 tablespoons of mixture into 1 cup mug of
COLD milk (for easier solubility). Microwave mug of milk/chocolate mixture
for 1 minute. Add mini marshmallows if you’d like.

Healthy Kashi Snack Mix for Kids

noreply@blogger.com (gumbi) — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 03:58:00 +0000

Healthy Snack Mix

2 cups Kashi Mighty Bites Honey Crunch (or Cheerios)

1 cup Kashi Whole Grain Puffs or other puffed rice cereal

1/2 cup dry roasted almonds

1/2 cup mini pretzels

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

2 tsp. low-sodium Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. Maldon salt

1/2 tsp. lemon pepper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine Kashi cereals, almonds, and pretzels in a 9 x 13 pan. Whisk together butter, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, Maldon salt and lemon pepper. Pour over cereal mixture. Stir to coat fully. Bake 10 minutes. Stir. Bake another 10 minutes.

Serves 6.

Per serving: 240 calories, 13 g fat, 15 mg cholesterol, 28 g carbohydrate, 344 mg sodium, 3 g fiber, 7 g protein, 8% Vitamin A, 9% Vitamin C, 9% calcium, 24% iron

Getting the Trans Fat out of your Kids Healthy Snacks

noreply@blogger.com (gumbi) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 21:00:00 +0000

Are you really buying healthy snacks for kids in the store? Did you know that snack foods are the main source of trans fat in children's and adults' diets. Trans fats are the artery clogging fat that are known to increase the "bad" LDL cholesterol. This can cause an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Did you know that there are some healthy snacks for kids that have lots of Trans Fat in them?

In a recent announcement, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will require food manufacturers to list the amount of trans fat that is found in each product. This also includes those "healthy snacks for kids" that you find listed in magazines and on television. This ruling went into effect in late 1996, so you can check the food labels for the amount of trans fat in each product.

"Trans fats are industrial fats that keep products shelf stable, so all your crackers, all your cookies, all your snack chips, all your little snack cakes, they're all going to have fat in them, and that fat is usually going to be a trans fat," says Rachel Brandeis, RD, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

"The only way for parents to know that it's trans fat is to look on the ingredients and see the words 'partially hydrogenated oil.'"

Brandeis says the higher the words "partially hydrogenated oil" are on the ingredient list, the more of it is in the food because manufacturers are required to list the ingredients by weight.

This is pretty scary if you look at some of the healthy snacks for kids that you are buying. As experts are saying that there is no safe level or acceptable level of trans fat in food, your kids should eat as little of them as possible. The American Heart Association also recommends limiting the combined amount of trans and saturated fats to less than 10 percent of the total calories consumed in one day.

So, how does this relate to the healthy snacks for kids that you are buying? If your child's snack is 200 calories, then you don't want it to have more than 20 calories from trans fat or saturated fat.

Healthy snacks for kids can be tough to get your child to eat, but if you explain and encourage them to eat healthy snacks, then it will make it easier to establish a life long healthy eating pattern.

Healthy Eating Tips for Kids

noreply@blogger.com (gumbi) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:39:00 +0000

Fast food is a big part of modern life these days, making it very hard to teach a child how he or she should eat healthy. With all of the rushing and fast pace of society, it is often easier to go through the drive-thru than to cook healthy. The cheapest and easiest foods are those that are normally the least healthy. If you give your child the choice between healthy food and junk food, you normally won't like the results.

Even though it isn't possible to get a child to like all healthy foods, there are some ways to get your child to try and hopefully like at least a few of them. You can be as creative as you like, as getting kids to eat healthy foods can be a little harder than you may think. But, with some perseverance and tolerance for your kids who might not want to eat healthy, you can win them over with some creative ideas.

- Sneak the healthy food in. Even though it would be great if your kid understood the importance of fruits and vegetables, this isn't always possible. If you can't get them to eat good food willingly, there are ways to sneak them in, such as making
muffins out of bananas or apples, or pizza with spinach on it.

- Call fruits and vegetables by funny names. You can refer to broccoli as "trees", making them more fun to eat. There are many different names you can call fruits and vegetables, even making up your own if you prefer. Most kids prefer to eat foods that sound fun.

- Make the foods taste better. Ranch dressing is great for broccoli, while peanut butter is a great topping for celery. There are several combinations for vegetables that can make them taste much better. You can let your child pick a topping for a vegetable, even if it's something you wouldn't normally like yourself.

- Dress the vegetables up. Just as much as calling them names help kids eat healthy foods, making them look funny also helps. You can do this by making funny designs on the plate, or setting them up to look like people. Although some parents don't like
their kids playing with their food, sometimes it helps to get them to eat healthier.

There are several ways to make your kids eat healthier, but to make them enjoy it also has to be fun as well. This isn't always an easy task, because kids normally don't like foods that are good for them. It can however, be done with a bit of creativity. Hopefully, doing this will help your child develop a love of healthy foods for the rest of their lives.

Healthy Snacks Start at Home

noreply@blogger.com (gumbi) — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 04:12:00 +0000

With all of the food choices that kids have at home, how do you ensure that your children form healthy eating habits with their snacks? I remember growing up and the first thing I would do when I came home from school was go right to the pantry and grab a snack. So how do you control what your kids eat and how can you make sure they have healthy snacks?

The first thing you should do is to involve your children in the grocery shopping routine in your household. Children will be more likely to participate and eat healthy snacks if they are involved in choosing them. If it is something that they like, then chances are they will eat it.

Since most kids prefer sweets and junk food, trying to get them to eat healthy can be a challenge. You will want to slowly integrate healthy snacks and meals at home without completely cutting off the junk food that your kids are used to. Why? Kids are more likely to go along with change if it occurs slowly. A quick and sudden change to healthy snacks from what they are used to will lead to rebellion and your kids will not eat the healthy snacks that you are providing.

Slowly incorporating healthy snack choices into your child's daily life will make snack choices easier for both of you. By allowing them to participate in choosing what snacks they would enjoy trying, the transition will be easier to having healthy snacks at home for your kids.

Maple Walnut Granola Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (gumbi) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 19:27:00 +0000

Here is a recipe for a healthy snack for kids that uses simple and naturally sweet food items. This recipe makes about 6 cups worth of Maple Walnut Granola and is quick, simple and taste great!

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 300°F.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.

Transfer to a 9- x 13-inch baking dish. Bake, turning often with a spatula, until mixture is golden brown, about 25 minutes.

Per 1/2-cup serving: 231 calories; 7 g protein; 39 g carbohydrate; 6.5 g fat; 2.5 g fiber; 5 mg sodium; calories from protein: 11%; calories from carbohydrates: 66%; calories from fats: 23%

I hope you enjoyed this quick and healthy recipe for kids, and come back often to get more tips and healthy snack ideas for kids. Want to stay updated? Subscribe to our RSS feed!

Quick Healthy Snack Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (gumbi) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 05:08:00 +0000

Are you looking for some quick healthy snack ideas for your kids? Here are some ideas for you to consider with why they are good healthy choices for snacks, and what to avoid for the not so healthy choices.

Baked Chips vs. Deep Fried Chips

Deep-fried potato chips typically get more than half of their calories from fat. Grab some baked chips instead. A one-ounce serving of Kettle Crisps, for instance, gets just 15 of its 110 calories from fat. Baked tortilla chips are another good choice; you can find flavorful brands that get only a third of their calories from fat.

Light popcorn vs. Butter Flavored

Most brands of microwave popcorn are loaded with butter and lots of salt. Also, most are cooked with butter that uses partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (which can clog arteries). The healthy popcorn choice would be Orville Redenbacher's Light Natural Gourmet Popping Corn. It is surprisingly low in fat and, like all popcorn, high in fiber.

Nuts

Nuts are high in fat, but it's a kind that's as good for the heart and arteries as olive oil. (The exception is macadamia nuts, which are high in saturated fat.) Nuts are also loaded with protein and essential vitamins and minerals, and they're also really filling. You can also put together a trail mix of peanuts, raisins, and low-fat granola to keep on hand.

Healthy Granola bars

A great alternative to a gooey candy bar, a sweet, crunchy granola bar has fiber and far less fat. The best granola bar is the Nature's Valley Crunchy Oat's and Honey Granola Bar.

Sunflower seeds

Sunflower seeds are high in fiber and protein and are a great and healthy choice for energy in kids. Although they're relatively high in fat (most of it is monounsaturated, the healthful kind found in olive oil and nuts) they can be a great healthy snack for your kids.

Fruit bars and Fig Newtons

Fig Newtons are low in fat and provide fiber and potassium. Fruit Roll-ups can also be a good source of quick energy that is healthy for your kids as some of them use natural sugars and are low in calories.

Frozen grapes

Grapes are an antioxidant rich healthy snack for your kids. If your little ones are hot on a summer day, or especially if they are teething, frozen grapes are a wonderful choice for a healthy snack that you can keep on hand in the freezer.

Fudgsicles vs. Ice Cream

The classic American frozen treat deserves high praise. One bar has just 90 calories and only about a gram of fat. Ice Cream has gotten better with light and low fat varieties appearing more often now also.

Fruit juices

In order for fruit juice to be considered healthy, make sure it's 100 percent fruit, with no added sugar.

Fruit shakes or smoothies

Whip together a banana, a splash of fruit juice, and a handful of berries in your blender, and you've got a nutritious shake. You can add yogurt for more protein and calcium. For the best consistency, freeze the fruit beforehand or use frozen yogurt. This is a great way to get kids to eat fruits for nutritional value. Now, is there a way to put some lima beans or brussel sprouts in there too?

I hope you have enjoyed reading these quick healthy snack ideas for kids and hope that your kids will enjoy them.

Top 5 Healthy Snacks for Kids

noreply@blogger.com (gumbi) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 03:01:00 +0000

Finding the best healthy snacks for kids can be tough. But what are the best healthy snacks that are easily available at the store, and won't spoil or rot in the house once you buy them?

Here are the Top 5 Healthy Snacks for Kids:

5. Traditional Chex Mix cereal.
4. Dole or Del-Monte Fruit Cups.
3. Applesauce Cups.
2. Raisins, unsweetened dried fruit and nuts.
1. Nature Valley Crunch Granola Bars, Oat's and Honey.

Hope this top 5 list of healthy snacks for your kids will keep them happy, and help you to be prepared for those snack attacks!

Healthy Snack Tips for Kids

noreply@blogger.com (gumbi) — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 01:34:00 +0000

With more and more kids today needing to eat healthy, choosing healthy snacks for your kids is vital to their health. For millions of kids, eating junk food and not being active enough has contributed to obesity and many children being above normal weight. With an increase in childhood diabetes and other health problems, establishing healthy eating habits can begin with healthy snack choices. Here are a few healthy snack tips to help you get started.

Keep it Sweet, Naturally

A great way to get your kids to enjoy healthy snacks is to serve them naturally sweet foods. Naturally sweet foods such as fruits are a great healthy snack. Since most kids crave sweets, let your kids eat fruits such as bananas, oranges, cherries, apples or other sweet fruits for snacks. You can even mix things up by adding in some yogurt or make them a fruit smoothie.

Make it crunchy

If your kids are like mine, they like to "crunch" on their food. A great healthy snack that has crunch is fresh nuts. Peanuts, walnuts, almonds and other nuts are a great healthy and natural snack that most kids can enjoy. Just be sure that your kids aren't sharing their healthy snack with other kids that might have an allergy to nuts. If you want to make this a little sweeter for a special treat, add some M&M's to it and make some trail mix.

The key to healthy snacks for kids is to stay away from lots of excess sugars, preservatives and calories. Most kids will eat healthy snacks if they are sweet tasting and especially if they have a say in what they like to eat. Let them help make the decision about what healthy snack they can eat, it will make it easier on both of you.

Breakfast for snack?

With more and more cereals becoming kid friendly, there are lots of healthy choices in the cereal isle of your local grocery lately. Most cereals that are made from corn, bran and wheat include nuts or honey as a natural sweetner. Probably the most famous naturally healthy snack cereal for kids is Cheerios. It is a great lite snack for your kids that is healthy and easy to serve to them. The biggest item here is to pick out a cereal that they would eat for breakfast with milk, and chances are that they will eat it as a snack also.

Final Thoughts

If your child is extremely picky and only wants junk food, one thing to consider is to give it to them. Not really, but there are many prepared snacks that look and taste like junk food that are actually quite healthy. Items such as granola bars, fruit roll ups and cheeses can be healthy snacks for your kids. The main point to consider with these types of snacks is to pay attention to the food labels. Check on the sugar content, calories and fat content, if any. Lots of these snacks are made with natural sugars and other healthy ingredients and are worthy of consideration if it will lead to opening your kids minds to other healthy snacks.