With my older boy in school now, finding healthy and tasty after school snacks has never been more important. Many parents bring snacks for their children to eat straight after nursery, and N would often stare longingly at the treats they were given. Usually it’s sweets (gummy, boiled, etc), chocolate, biscuits/cookies, crisps, and ice cream from the ice cream van. My favourite are the gummy sweets in the shapes of teeth and toothbrushes, very ironic. Anyway, I have the challenge to have healthier snacks that are appealing enough to the boys to keep them from demanding what the other children have. The next few blogs are going to be some of our favourite healthier snacks.
I often just bring some crackers, maybe some squares of cheese and fruit. Once in a while I pack some chocolate buttons (small circles of chocolate about equivalent to a chocolate chip). Four is enough to make them happy, and then they’ll eat their crackers or other healthier snack I packed with it.
I always try to have homemade ice lollies on hand, for when they start asking for ice cream. To make homemade ice lollies, you need good ice lolly molds, and the best I’ve found are the ones from IKEA. I’m sure you could find similar ones elsewhere, but they have all the important components: basically, the individual molds sit in a stand. This way, you can make a whole batch, and then use one or two at a time. The molds where they are all attached are no good.
To make fruit ice lollies (Popsicles), I make a fruit smoothie with either fresh or frozen fruit, then pour the smoothie into the molds. My smoothies vary depending on what I have in the house, but usually consists of fruit (bananas, mango, blueberries and strawberries all work well), some natural/plain yogurt, and milk. If I have it on hand, I also like to use some silken tofu (gives it a real smooth texture and adds protein). The quantities of each are really to taste. Just add what you think is good, blend it all together (I use a stick blender), and then taste, and add anything accordingly. The consistency needs to be runny enough to pour easily into the molds.
I’ve also made chocolate ice lollies, which my boys (especially the younger one) love. For that one, I use a bunch of bananas, a bit of yogurt, milk and cocoa powder. If it’s not quite sweet enough, you can use a bit of powdered chocolate milk mix as well.
These are so much better than regular ice-cream, and my boys love them.
