Ok, light and easy this week. I’ve been talking about such heavy things recently (and it’s a crazy week on call for me too)! I was inspired to share some ideas about how we snack in our family. With four small people and a busy schedule, I always have a plan for keep the hungry crankies away. And someone is always hungry! Lately it’s been the three year old – I don’t know where it all goes, ’cause she’s tiny…

 

Anyway, knowing what’s out there for snacks in the form of packaged foods and keeping in line with my goal of putting quality foods in our bodies, I’ve lined up a few go-to options that travel well too. I pack these up in my purse, for class time snack or in the car, and for the rare time we have to wait when we go out to eat.  See if any of these sound good to you…

 

Coconut popcorn

We pop the corn in coconut oil and sprinkle with pink salt while it’s still hot. Yes, we pop it the old fashioned way, in a pot on the stove. Microwave popcorn has lots of gnarly chemicals in it, and it’s really easy to make a big batch from scratch and take it with you when you want popcorn. I store it in a big tub in the pantry and dispense as needed. I found the same kind I make with coconut oil and pink salt at the natural food store recently, bagged and decorated with a Buddha. Mine is much cheaper and more delicious! You can add herbs and spices like garlic powder or cinnamon (no, not together!) if you like too…

 

Apples

It’s apple season! I love that all these different varieties are out now – Fuji, Gala, Braeburn, Honeycrisp (that’s my favorite!). It seems like the kids are partial to the Fuji, but what do they know? I only buy organic apples though, because nonorganic apples have some of the highest pesticide residues of all produce. Look up ewg.org for the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists to help prioritize your fruit and veggie purchases. I almost always have an apple in my purse for when I need something to hold me until dinner. At home, an apple and a spoonful of unsweetened peanut butter holds them off for awhile…

 

Clementines

I love navel oranges and so do the kids, but I don’t want to peel 3-4 oranges every time we want to eat them. The kids can handle peeling the clementines themselves and the bigger kids help the three year old peel her fruit. Sweet and juicy!

 

String cheese

I was really pleased when Costco started carrying organic string cheese. There are multiple great things about this: 1) no growth hormones in organic cheese; 2) individual packages means no moldy cheese; 3) it’s portable; and 4) they can get it themselves. Most of these snacks are available for the kiddos to get for themselves, and they know what’s approved so they don’t have to ask me what they can have if it’s snack time. And most of the time, they remember that they have to tell me when we’re almost out of something so it goes on the grocery list!

 

Almonds

This is probably my favorite snack! Raw, roasted, salted, in my granola, in salads, made in almond butter. I love almonds!  They’re a wonderful, good fat, compact, heart-healthy snack that tastes great and goes with all kinds of other snacks. You do have to watch the portion size though, because you can consume a lot of calories in this little package. We make our own trail mix with plantain chips, almonds, raisins and whatever else the kids scrounge up.  Of course, if you’re sending your kids somewhere nut free, this isn’t an option, but you can enjoy them elsewhere. The best thing is, the youngest isn’t allergic to this one nut, so we keep lots of almonds around!

 

Hard Boiled Eggs

These have become part of the regular breakfast rotation for the kids, but I tend to eat them for snacks. I was fortunate to find a farmer who sells me eggs and I’m telling you, there’s no comparison with the ones in the store! The yolks are bright orange yellow, they sit up when you crack them open raw to cook with, and they taste wonderful. If you can get them from someone with their own chickens or a nearby farm, do it. I peel, slice in half and sprinkle with a little salt. Yum!

Here’s how I do the perfect hardboiled egg. Boil water, put the eggs into the boiling water for one minute, then turn off the heat and let the eggs sit in the hot water, covered, for 18 minutes. Then run cold water over the eggs to cool, and eat or put away for later. Easy!

 

Ants On a Log

Ok, this isn’t portable, but the kids like it and wanted me to add it, so here it is. They get a nice crisp piece of celery, put peanut or almond butter in the groove, then line up the raisins on top of the peanut butter. Cool, crunchy, salty, sweet and chewy – also good fat, fiber, vitamin K and folate. They don’t know all that – they just like a reason to eat more raisins!

 

So these are some of our favorite snacks! How do you like to snack healthy? What do you keep in your bag for emergency fuel?