After School Snacks

They do not have to come in a package. The apples are in their own skin; these naked tomatoes and string beans stand alone. Thirst quenching snacks made by mother nature do kids a lot more good than packaged snacks. Our kids wolf down orange colored cherry tomatoes by the handful after school and I pack them in their lunch as well. And carrot sticks, string beans and celery are big sellers here too, especially if Luke makes his peanut ginger dipping sauce. Worrisome developments both in obesity / diabetes and other health problems such as kidney stones can be linked to salty addictive packaged snacks. Watery snacks help everything flow through you while dry salty bready packaged foods tend to be harder on the digestive tract. So, if you do venture into the snack aisle, be cautious and choose very carefully. If it isn't perfectly healthy, it should be a true favorite!

If we need to resort to packaged food we go for Lara Bars (but only flavors with less than 20 grams of sugar). They are primarily just nuts and dates depending on the flavor. We also buy corn thins that we top with peanut or almond butter; sesame brown rice crackers or Mary's Gone crackers with very few ingredients. Our one splurge is Bhuja gluten free original mix. It is chick pea flour cracker sticks with peanuts, dried peas, raisins and Indian spices that are very delicious...it is salty but not over the top and if you manage the serving size at least it provides the antioxidants of the spices and significantly more protein than potato or tortilla chips which are really just empty calories. Nonetheless, fruit and vegetables top the charts as the best thirst quenching, healthy, satisfying snacks at our house.