June 9, 2006
Healthy Foods Newsletter
by Leanne Ely

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

This is it! If you missed the other 4 parts, click on the links above to read parts 1-4:

Please don’t email me telling me that all children can’t eat nuts, etc. or that younger children can’t eat certain foods. Use your motherly discretion and wisdom when using these snacks. If you’re unsure about the safety or appropriateness of a food, instead of emailing me, please contact your healthcare provider and don’t serve it until you have an answer from him/her. :-)

1. Here in sunny Florida one of our favorite summer treats is a frozen orange juice slush. Just add ice to orange juice and blend in the blender. The kids love these and it is a healthy version of the Slurpee they are craving throughout the summer. We also make fruit kabobs and store them in the refrigerator. This gives the children something to help
with in the kitchen and provides a great snack and dessert for the summer. I find that the neighborhood kids love them as they are a change of pace from the slice or bowl of just one fruit.

2. Let the kids eat their snacks with toothpicks! My son always loved to do this when he was little. I always kept the trays that come with cookies that have at least 3 sections and washed them out and used these for snacks. I would fill the 3 sections with different finger foods like raisins, marshmallows, grapes, banana slices, apple chunks, etc. and give him a toothpick. He ate his snack at his play table while I did chores in the kitchen and talked to him. I noticed he would eat snacks with the toothpicks that he did not normally want to try. Sometimes I filled one of the sections with peanut butter and he dipped his fruit into that.

3. My DS is on a special diet that eliminates some natural foods and artificial dyes and flavorings. Sometimes it is a challenge to find "approved" foods that he likes that are good for snacking. I have also found that if I don't make sure he gets protein snacks he can get very cranky. I'm the same way. Here are some of our favorite protein snacks:

Cream cheese dip - slightly warm cream cheese in the microwave. Whip in a little milk to keep it soft. I have a tiny little whisk that works great. Add spices and herbs your child likes. Mine wants garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin - kind of a Mexican dip. Use this dip for tortilla chips, crackers, pretzels and veggies.

Meat sticks - my 10 yr. old LOVES the meat sticks for babies as a snack. We buy Gerber meat sticks. They are like tiny little hotdogs with a soft texture. Great protein snack!

Meat - leftover meat, cut up into finger sized pieces. Whenever I have a meat dish (like a roast beef or chicken), I cut up the remaining meat and store in the fridge. We just eat it with our fingers, sometimes we add a favorite creamy salad dressing or some kind of sauce for flavor.

Nuts - keep a jar or can of nuts available. I like to mix a few different kinds together for variety. We put a small handful in a tiny bowl and that's a serving.

4. I always keep a big plastic bowl on the counter filled with apples and mykids (4 & 7) can help themselves whenever they want "a little something".This is they way I grew up and I thought everybody did this.

A couple of years ago, when Hurricane Floyd threatened Jacksonville, FL, my sister-in-law evacuated to our house (on the other coast) with her 3 kids. Her kids almost immediately found the apple bowl and spent the next two days happily munching on apples. She was amazed because her kids never ate apples at home! I remember her telling me that maybe it was because she kept them in the drawer of the fridge. When we went to her house for Thanksgiving that year, I noticed a large plastic bowl on the counter filled with apples!

5. My young daughters say "a spoonful of peanut butter keeps the whinys away!" Even at their age, they know when their blood sugar starts dipping and that's when they will ask for a block of cheese or a "peanut butter popsicle"...literally a scoop of peanut butter on the spoon. Add those little baby carrots and some celery sticks to those apples and peanut butter--even veggie haters might like them.

6. We like to put nutritional yeast on our popcorn. It has a very interesting, almost cheesy taste, and is high in protein and B vitamins. Also with a little butter, salt, and my favorite, curry powder! That is, if your kids ( or you, for that matter!) like it spicy! Mine does! (nutritional yeast is also known as brewer’s yeast and is available in health food stores)

7. Use a muffin tin for younger children. In one "muffin hole" goes yogurt and cottage cheese, mostly for dipping. Sometimes she just eats it with a spoon but who cares. In the other "muffin holes" go little pieces of fruit, cooked veggies like little pieces of broccoli, cheese, leftover meat, cooked pasta, or dry cereal, or I guess you could do peanut butter and crackers, etc. The tin sits inside the fridge, where she can reach
it. The only rules are she must sit at the table, and nothing else is available. This way she makes a choice about what on the tin to eat, but of course, it is all healthy. (I do fill the empty holes sometimes with more of what was her favorite :+)

8. Soymilk! Yum! We can make our own fudgesicles (sp) out of Silk Chocolate Soymilk.; Before widespread distribution of soymilk, I used to eat whole grain organic cereal flakes with fruit juice. It's nice to have the option to use vanilla soymilk now.

9. Peanut Butter Mud is another good snack. Use 2 parts peanut butter --the natural kind--2 parts non-instant milk powder and 1 part honey. Mix it all together, and roll into balls, or a log, or just eat it out of the bowl!

10. I like to serve edamame (soybeans) for snacks. My daughter loves to pop them in her mouth and they're very nutritious. I buy them frozen and cook only a small amount at a time in boiling salted water. Also, try frozen peas as a snack. They love them frozen—no need to cook.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5