My daughter is in kindergarten and she comes home at 4:00. She is starving when she gets off the bus. So I have been making things like oranges slices, apple slices and cinnamon pretzels for snacks when she gets home. Sometimes she wants cheese or yogurt sticks so she can have that as well. My question is what other ideas have others done? I want to try and do something different everyday, repeating can get boring.
How about apple slices with peanut butter....crackers with cheese...crackers with peanut butter and fresh blueberries on top (or strawberry chunks or apple chunks)....carrot sticks or cauliflower florets, or cherry tomatoes with ranch dressing (dip).
Oatmeal raisin cookies are good too.
Chex Mix.
banana bread or any variety of quick bread (like apple bread, zucchini bread, etc.)
That's all I can think of right now.
Hope it helps.
this by no means a healthy idea, but one of my fondest memories as a child was coming home from school to hot donuts. my mom would take biscuits from a can, cut a hole in the middle with a small prescription bottle (lol) and fry them up in some oil, then shake 'em in a paper bag filled with powdered sugar. it was a special treat and especially nice on a cold winter's afternoon.
Depending on when you serve dinner, I would even let her have a sandwich if she's still hungry. My girls were both ravenous when they started school. Even if they had a peanutbutter sandwich, they would still eat well at dinner. Plus, it's actually better for everyone to eat smaller meals spread out over the day rather than just one huge meal. And, they tend to sleep better!
Good luck!
Hi A.,
What a nice Mom you are to think of such good healthy snacks! Some more ideas for you...
Celery with cream cheese, ricotta cheese, or a thick yogurt spread on it; you can put fruit or raisins on top,or something salty like bacon bits or olives if the cheese or yogurt is not sweetened.
Hard-boiled eggs, or egg salad on bread or crackers. If you get diferent kinds of crackers it won't seem like you are repeating stuff
My 14 yo sometimes microwaves a couple of those frozen chicken breast tenders for a snack. He puts a little seasoned salt or garlic salt (or a mix of both) on them while they are cooking--loves them!
Bananas with (or without) peanut butter (or other nut butter--sunflower seed butter tastes great, I think you can get it at Trader Joe's).
Toast (with or without toppings like PB & honey, jelly, cinnamon etc).
Popcorn. You can sprinkle with parmesan cheese or different seasonings if you want.
Any fruit, plain or with a yogurt dip. Or, melt some chocolate chips and dip fruit in that--not a choice for every day, of course, but once in a while.
A cup or bowl of soup, either homemade or from a can.
When they're in season--raw peas, straight from the pod. Yummy!
In colder weather you can microwave apple, peach, or pear slices with a little water, raisins (if desired), cinnamon or other spices (I like curry but it is kind of an acquired taste). I really like adding a little brown sugar and butter/margarine, but if she'll eat it without, that's better for her.
Cereal or oatmeal. Frozen waffles.
Leftover salad (for awhile this was a favorite of my now 14 yo).
Make sure she has some water or other healthy drink. sometimes we think we are hungry when we really are thirsty.
Hope that helps!
K. Z.
Peanut butter and crackers and cheese and crackers. My grandma used to fix me colby cheese on saltines I love it to this day.
smoothies, or pudding cups, banana bread, apple crisp, peach cobbler, zucchini bread, ants on a log (celerey, peanut butter and raisins)
and it's a little less healthy but i use snack time (sometimes) for those breakfast foods they don't eat for breakfast, like sugary cereals, pop tarts, ect.they aren't super healthy BUT they are all fortified and designed for breakfast so it's a nice treat and still better than chips or cookies.
Don't forget things like almonds, walnuts, etc for snacks if she likes them and can eat them. They will give her some omegas and protein. Abbie LOVES the cocoa (not chocolate covered) almonds from Sam's Club. PHENOM! and only 1g sugar per serving!
Peanut butter or almond or cashew butter (YYYYUUUMMM!!!)on celery. Banana or apple /w peanut butter. There are also a couple of spreads that I have that I use on celery. My favorite has peanut butter, pineapple, nuts, etc in it. You don't have to use nuts. I used this recipe when I taught preschool. We had it for one of our snacks and the kids LOVED it. Me too!~
What about some homemade "breakfast cookies?" These are cookies that have bananas, oatmeal, raisins, etc. in them...all kinds of things you'd have for breakfast.
Muffins - homemade, of course and they can be healthy, too! You didn't mention berries, but we use berries ALOT for snacks. Boiled eggs are something else we eat alot of. Great source of protein and lots of other essential nutrients.
How about making your own trail mix? She can participate in this and you can change and/or experiment with the ingredients as much as you want.
I sometimes make muffins for my kids right before they get home so they are ready by the time they get home.
Veggie sticks, carrots and celery with a light dip or you can put peanut butter in the celery with raisens on it to dress it up. Cheese sticks, granola bars, half a peanut butter sandwich, jello squares, apple sauce with cinnamon on it.
Hope this will help you a little.
