I am linking up with my friend Alicia of Confessions of A Snowflake today for Weight Loss Wednesdays. Each week Alicia serves up a topic of conversation. Today’s topic is children and snacks.
I have four children of varying ages and let me tell you, it’s hard to keep snacks in the house! My oldest daughter, 20, isn’t home much between work and church. And as she will soon be provided for by her husband after she is married in June, she is the least of my worries.
My oldest son just turned 18. I think He eats 10 meals a day. As soon as I come home with groceries, he finds the stash, and then a few days later, it’s gone. For example, I’ve been known to buy Pizza Rolls on many occasions. If I indulge, I may have 5 or 6. My son? He can fill an entire cookie sheet and there goes half the bag. I once asked him if he would like a shovel to eat his food with.
My two youngest are 11 and 8. They love to graze. It seems like the words, “I’m hungry” never cease to reach my ears. They want dessert as soon as dinner is finished and they want another snack before bed. As a working mom, my struggle is ensuring that my children make wise choices about snacks when I am not there to supervise them. My youngest have been known to come home from school and have ice cream as their “after-school-snack”. And the Easter candy is disappearing faster than I would like. My kids know the rules — no junk until after dinner, if at all. They just do not have the discipline to make the wise choice. I remember seeing an Extreme Makeover Home Edition show once where they built a refrigerator inside of a locked pantry. I think I need one of those.
For the most part, I try to purchase healthy snacks. I will admit though, I do buy pre-packaged foods like Pizza Rolls, frozen pizza, Mac N Cheese etc. because my kids, even the youngest, can feed themselves if we are working late. I do buy the Annie’s brand Mac N Cheese, so at least it’s healthier than the other. My 8yo son knows how to use the toaster oven to make his pizza rolls, and the microwave to cook his Chef-Boyardee favorites.
I try to keep the following healthy foods on hand at all times:
- Fresh fruit. This is not always easy. I’ve been known to say “no” to our beloved grapes if they are not below $1.00 a pound. I love when I can get them for $0.97. But fruit in our home lasts about two days. I once bought an entire watermelon and it was eaten in one night. We love bananas (with Nutella of course), Cantaloupe and berries. One of our favorites are the little Cuties or Mandarins. I tend to buy them even if they are pricey because they are just so good.
- High protein snacks. My kids love cheese. I stock up on string cheese and Laughing Cow wedges. My kids don’t like nuts much, but they do love granola bars so I can sneak in a few nuts in there. I love to make these granola energy balls. With all natural/organic ingredients, they are a great “grab and go”, protein filled snack.
- Veggies. I cannot say that my kids love their veggies. They will eat them raw, but I have to make it fun. So I buy baby carrots and give them ranch dressing on the side. I personally love celery with peanut butter and they will eat that on occasion. I’ve been known to cut up a tomato or avocado and feed it to my kids. Oh wait, those are fruits aren’t they?
My children are all taller than me, and thin. They have very fast metabolism, but I know that this may not always be the case. It’s important that I model healthy eating habits for my children. I am proud to say that I am not a mom who brings in cookies, ever, unless I make them for a special occasion. And chips? We have two kinds in our home — tortilla chips, which we love to eat with salsa or make nachos with, and Ruffles which my husband eats with his home made onion dip.
Even though I do purchase pre-packaged foods, I do believe my kids have plenty of healthy foods to choose from. The challenge is getting them to make the wiser choice when we are not there to help them.
How about you? What snacks do you provide for your children?
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Great tips.. When I’m home, I can’t seem to stop eating haha.. Fresh fruits come in really handy!
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Thank you, Viviene, for stopping by my blog today!
I feel the same struggle with my son. He’s tall and skinny now, but I know that may not always be the case. He is built like my husband, who did not struggle with his weight until he turned 40. I want my son to know healthy habits so that when that time comes he’ll be prepared. It’s such a hard thing with growing hungry boys. Thanks for sharing the granola ball recipe. Looks yummy! And thanks for joining WLWed! Hope you have a great week!
I just made a double batch of energy balls tonight! Thankful to be able to link up!
oh my friend, I know how hard it is to keep up with the constant grazers….my older kids were like that when they lived at home and now my littles are the same…they just eat and eat and run and run and then eat some more! i agree, the hardest part is getting them to make the healthy choices….sometimes it is just easier to grab a not so healthy choice than to fix up celery and peanutbutter or cheese and crackers. fruit seems to be the best choice for quick and easy but you are right…it can be expensive. Why does healthy have to cost so much??
thanks for sharing the granola ball recipe!!
have a wonderful rest of the week!
Thanks my friend!
Hi Barbie…I had 3 Grandkids Friday through Monday, and they are 19, 13 and 12..and boy can they eat! I had forgotten how often kids want food or snacks! John and I don’t eat nearly as much…and yet we are overweight! It has to be the metabolism thing! (:>)
Hey, I did a “Tag…You’re It” post if you want to hop on over.
Linda
Oh fun! I will go check out the tag!
Good snack ideas. We try to always offer 2 healthy options first to just see what the kids say. ”Carrots or raisins?” Then if they still throw a fit we will move on to the next options. They usually will pick either carrots or raisins. I call that success with a preschooler and a toddler!:)
Total success! I wish my kids liked raisins. They not prefer them.
like you , we always have bananas, nuts, and granola bars
but also whole grain crackers and veggie chips.
Oh I love veggie chips. Thanks for the reminder.
Granola bars…but I make my own (they can be very expensive at the store!) Here is the recipe I follow http://adventuresofdandv.blogspot.com/2012/01/adventures-in-gluten-free-cooking.html
Thanks for sharing the recipe for the granola bars!
Not every mother think like that. They are completely out of knowledge about healthy foods they should provide their children.
So true Elva! Thanks for stopping by!
our typical snacks are fresh fruit, veggies and hummus (that i have a really easy recipe to whip up myself and leave a big tub in the fridge), or a smoothie with fruit and some sort of green added in. they eat celery or apples with peanut butter in their lunches a lot so i don’t usually serve those as snacks. it is very rare that i even buy pita chips for their hummus (they were just rejoicing that i bought them for spring break this week!) i figure if my kids are really hungry then they will eat produce and otherwise things that are full of carbs usually just fill a boredom place – for me even! i have found some great sources of amazing oranges that we fly through or bulk apples and things like that which help the budget, but overall i find that prepackaged food is actually harder on our budget than produce, which is one of the first reasons i started cutting it out.
Awesome ideas!!
I am home with my kids all day and it is still an ongoing battle to try to get them to eat healthy. It doesn’t help that I really, really, really don’t like to cook! Also, we deal with some gluten sensitivities, which makes the choices slimmer.
Healthy eating is definitely a lifestyle and takes lots of practice
I am still practicing!
Our easy snacks lately has been the new applesauce you kinda drink, and we get lots of Clif bars for kids (Z bars is what they call them)
This is to be sure my kiddos don’t starve