After-school Snack Ideas

Sep, 02 2010
By jennifer

It’s the season to wrack your brain for creative lunch ideas to pack for the kids. I’m confident you’ll find plenty of sources from print, to web, to tv. However, a bit of thought should be given to ”after-school nutrition” whether you have kids scheduled for music lessons, sports practices, or just knocking out their homework assignments.

First, consider what time they ate lunch? What time will you be serving dinner? What type of activity will they be involved in? If they eat an early lunch at school and you usually serve dinner on the late side there may be five or more hours between their meals. That’s too long!

A little nosh for brain power:

nitrate-free hot dogs or turkey and low fat cheese rolled in a whole wheat tortilla and sliced into bite-sized portions. Dip into a mixture of salsa and low fat mayonnaise.
mixed fruit pre-packed in reusable containers and stored on a reachable refrigerator shelf with a plastic spoon taped to the cup.
pizza kits- place 1 pre-sliced English muffin and ¼ cup part skim shredded mozzarella cheese in separate zip lock bags. Set a squeeze bottle of pizza sauce next to them in the refrigerator. A bag of turkey pepperoni can be included for meat-lovers. An older child will enjoy preparing their own pizza in the toaster oven.
vegies and dips- chop a selection of vegetables into 3-inch sticks: carrots, celery, sweet peppers, jicama, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, fennel, etc. Offer a few things to dip them in: hummus, low fat salad dressing, salsa + low fat sour cream. Place vegies and dips in containers with lids on a convenient refrigerator shelf.

A take-along snack for on-the-go:

individual portions of peanut or almond butter with an apple or whole grain crackers.
a yogurt or soy milk-based smoothie
a cereal bar and banana
low fat string cheese and Kashi TLC crackers
trail mix “your way”- your favorite healthy cereal + your favorite nuts + your favorite dried fruit. For example, Honey Kix + peanuts + dried cranberries or Cascadian Farm Clifford Crunch + almonds + dried blueberries.