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Frugal and Healthy
Snacks for Kids

When planning for snack for your kids, remember that your child's health, growth rate, brain power and behavior are all influenced by the food he or she eats. Would you rather live with a child fueled by potato chips, sodas and cookies, or a child powered by yogurt, fresh fruit and almonds? Which child do you think is going to be calmer and better behaved?

Most of the time when my children have been hard to deal with, I've reflected on what they have to eat that day and whether or not they have had enough sleep. I've realized that in many cases even though the poor behavior was exhibited by the kids, my husband and I were ultimately the root cause of the problem for letting them eat too much junk food or letting them stay up too late.

We have tried not to go overboard on healthy foods. We still let our children have a soda as a special treat when we go out to eat and we let them join their friends at the local fast food restaurant after school now and then. Overall though, I've been trying hard lately to provide them at home with healthy snacks they enjoy, are inexpensive and are nutritious instead of ones that are highly processed, salty, sugar laden and devoid of any vitamins and minerals.

Here are my tips for planning healthy snacks for kids:

1. Plan ahead for snacks. Don't just plan meals when you make out your grocery list, but plan for healthy snacks, too. This is especially important if you have teenagers who need frequent meals to fuel their growth into adulthood.

2. Don't think healthy snacks have to just be fresh fruit and raw veggie sticks. Keep some dishes in the fridge like fruit salad, roasted chicken and pasta so that older kids can make healthy mini-meals on their own when they are extra hungry between meals.

3. If you children get "junk food" envy from friends who have access to more commercial snack foods, consider buying at least some junk food to avoid complaints and a feeling of deprivation. Some of the name brand snack food makers now offer healthier versions of their snack foods that are preservative, MSG, dye, trans fat and additive free. These may at least be better alternatives to the commercial versions and a good compromise towards healthier snacking. Consider this choice if eliminating junk food entirely from your house results in too many morale problems. The idea is not to punish your kids by restricting foods they enjoy, but to offer them an enticing array of healthy foods they enjoy eating.

4. Pasta can actually a good snack food. It can be boiled up ahead of time, saved in the fridge and then easily heated up by parents or older children with a little spaghetti sauce and some grated cheese on top. While to most people pasta means pasta made of wheat, for variety, or in cases of food allergies, you can also buy pasta made other ingredients such as rice, spelt or corn. For a little extra nutrition, many pastas also come in vegetable flavored varieties such as spinach or artichoke.

5. Smoothies are a favorite healthy snack with many kids. I try to keep a variety of ingredients on hand and let my kids mix and match what they feel like having in their smoothies each day. Some ingredients to consider keeping on hand are

• Milk

• Preservative free canned coconut milk (watch out for sulfites!)

• Yogurt

• Assorted fresh and frozen fruit, or canned fruit without added sugar

• Fresh fruit juice and fruit juice concentrate without added sugar

• Protein powder

• Honey

My children will pick out what they want in their smoothies each day based on what we have on hand. We blend the ingredients in the blender and then just keep tasting and and experimenting until they have the perfect "smoothie du jour."

6. If your kids like eggs, keep a supply of hard boiled eggs in the refrigerator for a high protein snack.

7. Other snack ideas include raisins, fruit leathers, nuts, cheese slices, crackers (watch for trans fats) with cream cheese, baked tortillas and salsa, fresh fruit, and vegetables with dip.

While healthy snacking may take more time and advance planning than buying bags of chips and cans of soda, the rewards are worth the extra time. Your children will be more likely to thrive and be better behaved under a healthy and nutritious diet made of energy dense, whole foods. Healthy foods will also help your budget, as you will no longer be spending money to pay for processed foods devoid of any vitamins and minerals.