I am not a fan of the mid-morning snack. I don't think that there really is enough time to really get hungry after breakfast before lunch. But our family does enjoy a snack after school around 3:30pm. We don't have a lot of sweets around our house but I have an enormous sweet tooth and so do my girls! I let them have dessert if they choose at snack time and forgo the dessert after dinner time which our society does. I think that it makes way more sense. You get your sweet craving fulfilled with a little snack and then fill up on the good stuff - dinner.
Since we have been practicing this method of dessert and snacking, it is very interesting to see what my girls are in the mood for. I will give them some ideas of things we have around and then let them choose. Sometimes they choose the sweet thing but lots of time they want the healthier option.
Here are some ideas that I usually give them:
1) Nutella on toast or croissants with some yogurt or make a nutella sandwich with strawberries.
2) We eat a lot of hummus around here. It is so yummy and healthy. It can be pricey to buy but it is super easy to make. Plus, when you make some it always makes a lot!
Hummus Recipe
4 garlic cloves
2 cups canned chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste)
6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
2 tablespoons water or liquid from the chickpeas
2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions
Turn on the food processor fitted with the steel blade and drop the garlic down the feed tube; process until it's minced. Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and process until the hummus is coarsely pureed. Taste, for seasoning, and serve chilled or at room temperature. Serve with veggies & chips.
3) Quesadillas are super fast and you can throw in just about anything that you have in the fridge. I put all kinds of cheeses, very thinly sliced veggies (carrot, onion, red peppers, squash, corn), chopped spinach or any other winter green, beans, etc. Or you can make a breakfast quesadilla with ham or sausage, eggs and cheese. I like to serve it with plain yogurt, avocado and salsa.
4) Fruit Smoothies are also a yummy one that tastes so good with some simple buttered toast. Smoothies are also another one that has endless possibilities. Here is how we commonly make ours.
Fruit Smoothie
Barleans Omega Swirl (fish oil) - available in lots of flavors: orange cream, strawberry banana, peach mango, blackberry pomegranate, lemon zest
Fresh or frozen fruit - blueberries, strawberries, banana
Fresh Spinach Leaves
Plain Yogurt
Honey
Milk or Almond Milk
Mix it all in the blender til smooth.
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| This is how much kids like Barleans! |
5) We will either have some kind of cake that we have made or a yummy quick bread. Here are some of my faves that I have already blogged about.
I have never hear do Barleans... gonna have to give that a try. mmm...smoothie.
ReplyDeleteIt's so yummy and good for you. I also like to use it to sweeten my yogurt. They sell it in the refrigerated section of the Natural market.
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