Better Back To School Bite Sized Snacks
As students head back to school, there are a couple of issues I believe parents prefer to be bite-sized and easy to navigate:
- Stress – with changing routines and nightly homework, it isn’t easy!
- School supplies – hey 7th grader, do you really need a new backpack every year?
- Snacks – what should kids eat after school that’s both healthy and appealing?
I don’t think I can name anyone who doesn’t love a good snack – especially if it’s ready to eat quickly and if the taste takes your taste buds from blah to wah! As we head back to school, I’ve gotten the question from parents, “what should I have available for my child to eat after they get home from school?”
So today I’m sharing with you 4 back-to-school after school snacks that offer nutrition in a bite-sized form. Let me know what you think of these, then add your favorite bite-sized snacks in the comments below!
Mini Decaf Green Tea Lemonade Ice Bites:
Steep 2 sachets of Brassica Decaf Green Tea with truebroc in 1 cup of water for at least 2 minutes. To the decaf tea, add 1 cup of lemonade, then add the mixture to mini ice cube trays, and freeze. When ready to eat, pop the iced green tea lemonade out of the tray and serve as a hydrating, cool-you-down option. Shhh…kids will never know that Brassica’s tea actually contains the super powers of broccoli. Two sachets of Brassica’s decaf green tea contain 30mg of glucoraphanin, broccoli’s super antioxidant, which is the amount of glucoraphanin you would find in 1 and ¼ cups of broccoli.
Slammin’ Strawberries:
When I dip, you dip, we dip, so dip your fruit into a dressing that's a little bit better…for you and your kids. This easy to prepare snack has three simple steps. 1) Wash and de-stem your strawberry, 2) Dip the top of the strawberry in plain Greek yogurt, 3) Roll the yogurt covered part of the strawberry into a bowl of unsweetened coconut shreds. Who knew balanced, bite-sized nutrition could be so yummy?
Bite Size Bars
Make these on Sunday night, and have them available as grab-and-go snacks in case soccer practice, piano lessons, or gymnastics falls right after school. I like taking 1 cup of a grain, ¾ cup of nut butter, and ½ cup of mix-ins (nuts, seeds, superfoods, etc.), and combining them together in a food processor. This simple formula allows for creativity and variation. This time, I used 1 cup of oats and ¾ cup of peanut butter, spread the mixture onto a cookie sheet, and added ¼ cup of almonds and ¼ cup of goji berries. Then, I cut the mixture into bite size bars. Freezing the combo often makes the bars easier to cut. This one tastes a bit like a PB&J. You can choose the 1 + ¾ + ½ combo that best suits your taste buds…quinoa+almond butter+chocolate, amaranth+cashew+coconut, oats+hazelnut+freeze-dried raspberries…what will you create?
Veg Out – The Right Way
Could you actually be cooking the health out of your broccoli? I like enjoying broccoli all ways, but the better method for keeping broccoli’s super powers intact may be by steaming it for approximately 5 minutes instead of boiling or stir-frying it. Once your broccoli is lightly steamed, dip the tiny trees into hummus or guacamole. Serve up other green and crunchy bite-size veggies with hummus or guac too, like cucumber slices, green peppers, and snap peas.
Snack time turns into out-of-whack time when it’s loaded with crazy ingredients like in the foods here. Keep it simple and keep it real with these bite-size snacks. And let me know your favorites by posting a comment below!
This post was sponsored by Brassica, the makers of truebroc brand glucoraphanin. Thank you for supporting brands that make YES! Nutrition possible!