After school snacks

For little and big ones..!

When my kids finish school the very first thing they say to me on the playground is can I have my snack now?

The groans of disappointment verging on angry outbursts if they are only handed a piece of fruit are, well, annoying.

So I’m constantly looking for ideas for snacks that they will like, that will be satiating but also good for them. Whole fruit is ideal and actually often if it's a day without clubs and we are coming home at 4 pm then I will make them fruit bowls and they can relax and watch some TV happily munching away. Teaching kids to eat whole fruits is really important for the obvious vitamins and minerals but also for fibre which recent studies have shown children are lacking in.

So as well as cut-up fruit I need something else and of course, this is easier some days than others depending on the time I have.

Ideally, at the start of the week, I will make a quick (low sugar) banana bread loaf and slice it up over the week.

I use this one from Cookie & Kate which uses honey.

https://cookieandkate.com/healthy-banana-bread-recipe/

Or another easy favourite and also low sugar is lemon yoghurt cake. This one is great because the yoghurt keeps it nice and moist for a few days.

This is my go-to, works perfectly:

https://theclevermeal.com/yogurt-cake/

I also make them mini nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate chip boxes. Which at first they protested against but they now enjoy them for the fun of finding the chocolate bits and talking about which nuts they like best. Nuts are brilliant for kids (not under 4’s due to choking hazard), they are full of wonderful essential nutrients, good fats, protein, and fibre and even a small amount will (usually) stop them from asking for more food. They support brain function, and heart health, and give sustained energy!

In mini Tupperware, I mix: almonds, pecans, cashews, raisins, dried apricots, and chocolate chips.

Rice crispy cakes

These were a revelation. I am now making them on a repeat and it was all an accident in the first place… I was researching no sugar snacks and my daughter had been asking to make rice crispy cakes so I decided to try and create them but using a different method.

I made a paste in the Nutribullet from 160g Medjool dates, 1tsp vanilla paste, and 180g tahini. You need a splash of water to help it blitz.

I then melted 160g dark chocolate chips and in another bowl added 75g rice crispies and 25g cocoa powder.

I then combined the paste with rice crispies and half of the melted chocolate.

Mix by hand as it's very sticky!

Press into a tin or tray and then cover with the rest of the dark chocolate.

Put into the fridge to set for 2hrs and then cut into squares.

Even though this was dark chocolate the kids loved them, so pleased with how good they were!

The only negative of this one is that it's quite expensive to make however a small piece goes a long way, they lasted all four of us the week.

When time is not on my side or it's a Friday treat then it might be popcorn, a hot cross bun, or a flapjack I’ve picked up from a local bakery. All of these are fine of course, as much as I would like to create homemade snacks every day it's not realistic.