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- Healthy After-School
Snacking Strategies
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- It’s 3.30 pm and most
school kids are bursting through the
front door and making a beeline for the
refrigerator. Kids are ravenous at that
time of day, and just want food that's
quick to grab and eat. They particularly
crave carbohydrates and sugar, but they don't
want to spend the time cutting up fruit
or making some low-fat homemade biscuits.
They want something to munch on right now.
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- After-school snacks don't
have to be high in fat and sugar. Instead
of chocolate bars or potato chips,
encourage them to help themselves to the
fruit bowl. Or plan to have leftovers
available like homemade pasta. Stock up
on easy to grab-and-go foods and pack
them in individual containers. Keep your
kitchen stocked with food such as fruits,
chopped vegetable sticks, pretzels, low-fat
cheese and nuts. If your pantry is loaded
with bags of potato chips and biscuits it
will just lead to mindless eating.
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- Food is fuel. The right
foods are those loaded with essential
vitamins and minerals, and they’ll
help give your kids’ the right
energy and the mental stamina to study.
The wrong foods are those high in fat,
sugar, salt and preservatives and they
can zap their bodies of energy and lead
to many health problems, including
obesity.
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- Teach your kids from an
early age about good eating habits. Bad
habits are more difficult to break by the
time they reach high school. Discuss with
your child what makes a particular food
healthy or unhealthy. Try shopping
together and turn it into an educational
game. Read the labels and let your child
tell you their reasons for selecting a
particular snack based on its health and
nutritional value. On a weekend, you
could spend a few hours in the kitchen
together, and create some healthy after-school
snacks, like bran muffins, or even
homemade ice-blocks using low-fat yogurt
and pureed fruit.
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- Smoothies make a great
nutritional snack. Some low-fat milk, low-fat
yoghurt, some fresh fruit and a few ice
cubes thrown together in the blender, and
you have a healthy and filling after-school
snack ready in minutes.
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- Make healthy food
interesting. Young children enjoy
colourful and fun-looking food. You could
cut sandwiches into different shapes, cut
fruit up into thin slices and create
faces with different raw vegetable pieces.
Most children don't ask for raw
vegetables, but you can win them over by
offering some low-fat homemade dips with
vegetable sticks to dip into them. Select
healthier substitutes. For a healthier
alternative to potato chips, bake some
wedges in the oven with a sprinkle of
herbs and spices. The kids can easily
reheat them in the microwave when they
get home for a much healthier, low-fat
option.
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- Lastly, compromise. If
your child loves cake, offer a slice of
some homemade cake or muffin that has
been made with less sugar and fat.
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- Spicy Baked Fries
- 375g potatoes, sliced into
wedges
- 2 tsp oil-free French
dressing
- 1 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp ground black
pepper
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- Preheat oven to 200C. Line
a non-stick oven tray with alfoil.
Lightly spray with vegetable oil spray.
Place French dressing in a bowl and toss
potato wedges through to coat. Combine
paprika, cayenne pepper and pepper in a
small bowl. Place wedges evenly on oven
tray and sprinkle with the spices. Bake
for about 45 minutes turning and brushing
often with extra oil-free dressing.
Remove from oven and place under a
preheated griller for about 5 minutes,
turning halfway through. Serves 4
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- Apple Sultana
Chews
- 1 1/2 cups plain flour
- 1/2 tsp bicarb of soda
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3/4 cup sultanas
- 4 egg whites
- 1/2 cup sugar or Splenda
- 1/4 cup skim milk powder
- 1/4 cup commercial sugar-free
applesauce (eg IXL)
- 2 tbsp water
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- Preheat oven to 180C. Line
two non-stick oven trays with baking
paper. Sift flour, bicarb of soda, baking
powder, salt, cloves and cinnamon
together into a bowl. Add sultanas and
mix through. Beat egg whites in a large
mixing bowl until foamy and add sugar or
Splenda and milk powder. Beat until well
combined. Add the apple sauce and water
and mix again. Gradually add flour
mixture to egg mixture and mix well. Drop
tablespoonfuls onto prepared oven trays
and bake 10 minutes or until cooked
through. Remove from oven trays and cool
on a wire cake rack. Makes about 20
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- Banana Berry
Smoothie
- 1 tbsp low-fat vanilla
yogurt
- 1/4 cup mixed berries
- 1/2 cup unsweetened orange
juice
- 1 small banana, chopped
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- Combine all the
ingredients in a blender and blend until
smooth. Serves 1
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