Summer Snacks for Kids
Feeding kids well is an art form and a high wire act.
I grew up with friends who lived in the “healthy house”. Tofu pancakes for breakfast, no refined anything. This was the 80’s when we though healthy meant bad texture and no flavor. Once they were set out on their own, they veered towards McDonald’s and junk food.
The moral of the story being that you have to relax some around food and let things slide or your kids will go running in the other direction. However, we live in a world where kids are offered sweet stuff and carb heavy meals ALL THE TIME. At school, in shops, at playdates, at parties. We are setting our kids up for an even bigger epidemic of blood sugar and heart issues than we are already seeing in adults. By my estimates, only 15% of the families in our realm are walking the line well- not being too strict, but being mindful and intentional about what their kids eat. And this is in Marin County in California, where resources are more abundant than most other parts of the country. In parenting you have to choose your battles. I see many give up in the food realm, and it’s a shame. I don’t judge- some things have to give in parenting, we can’t hold it all. But giving up on proper nutrition is a choice that will costs kids their future health. I think some say, “We ate crap and survived.” Which is more true than it will be with this generation- so much has changed in our food supply that we have to be more diligent than most of our parents were.
A friend recently asked me to share what we are doing for snacks these days. It is constantly evolving as the kids tastes and product availability does, but the following foods are in heavy rotation at our place:
Popcorn became a staple when we lived on a boat, as it’s a dry good that takes up very little space. We rarely bought bags of chips or other bulky snacks, partly because of the amount of space they take up vs. how much actual food they contain. And also because finding ones with decent ingredients was just about impossible in the Caribbean.
Now that we are back home, I make it in a brown paper bag in the microwave. 1/3 cup of popcorn kernels in the bag, fold it twice and lay it folded side down. Microwave for 2 minutes, add sea salt, melted pastured butter and a spice mixture and toss. I used to do my popcorn on the stovetop— I try to only use the microwave for reheating— but it just comes out so much better that I have given in to convenience and quality.
Our current house popcorn is made with Diaspora Spice Co’s Popcorn Masala spice mixture. It is kid approved.
Last weekend we hosted a sleepover with 12 tween boys. I put out a huge bowl of popcorn and a veggie platter before dinner. All in all, they ate well. Can’t say they slept well. Before dinner they devoured all the popcorn. Here is a link to buy Diaspora’s spice, or you can also make your own.
My tween wanted Indian take out for his birthday. Less work for me. I did keep the indian theme with a curry yogurt dip for this crudite paltter, and popcorn with Indian spices.
Sadly they left most of my beautiful veggie platter untouched. I tried, setting it out before dinner was served. That trick works in our house, when the kids are hungry and dinner isn’t quite ready. I sometimes set them out with a dip. This dip is a throwback to childhood. Dump in an 8 ounce tub of organic sour cream and mix. It’s not that hard to make your own, either, but the more steps to making anything when feeding a family, the less likely it is to happen.
I try not to bring wheat into the house, except for very very delicious exceptions. My son and I do better without it, and the kids get so much of it out in the world already. The reality is today’s wheat is a food with limited nutrition, that causes a whole host of health issues for most people who consume it. It’s not all wheats fault- a lot has to do with the environment and how food is produced. But nonetheless, it’s to be approached sparingly if at all these days.
That said, I try to stock snacks that are gluten free. Maybe if you are eating a lot of regular pretzels your kids won’t go for these, but mine do. They are quite crunchy, and the seasoning is good.
This is a great brand for seaweed snacks, and the teriyaki has the best flavor. They do have a bit of sweetness, which I’m ok with as seaweed has so many beneficial nutrients. The plain ones don’t get devoured as consistently as these do. I happily grab a pack of these just about every time I hit the grocery store.
This beef jerky is not cheap, but it comes from the greatest local meal producer, and is sweetened with organic honey. It’s the only jerky I can get my hands on whose ingredients I stand behind. Eating grass fed meats is an imperative in my book, unless you like being chronically inflamed from eating grain fed meat and dairy. I hide these sticks in the back of the fridge or they get eaten too quickly. I try to use sparingly, only for packed lunches that are low on protein.
I try to make our sweets at home, but there are a few brands and types I like and will buy. All are made without refined sugar or wheat:
And lastly, hydration. Now that we are once again blessed with ample fridge space, I’ve been enjoying the absolute luxury of refrigerating canned drinks. My youngest doesn’t always hydrate well when out all day, and she is prone to dizzy spells in warmer weather. She will drink Spindrift, which are just sweet enough to be finished, not so sweet to spike blood sugar. Grapefruit is my favorite, as well as a newer Blood Orange flavor which is harder to find. We also stock Zevias, the stevia sweetened sodas. I was buying flavored bubbly waters too but I got tired of dumping the kids half drunk ones, so now I stick to things they actually finish.
More than canned sodas, we use this electrolyte powder many times a day, more so in the warm months of summer. Not only does it help everyone stay hydrated, but it adds key minerals like magnesium that most of us are deficient in.
I will share more about how I am meal planning these days in a future post, but I wanted to start with the easy, grab and go stuff. Happy Summer!!
