Snacking is a great way to eat in the summer. Think of a snack as a “mini meal:” Fun to eat, full of flavor, cool, refreshing, and healthy. Not junk packaged snacks, just small portions of real food. Fresh juicy fruits and veggies at our Harvest Home Farmers Markets can make tasty “mini-meals.” This is an easy way to satisfy hunger, stabilize blood sugar levels, and give your body nutrition all day. Eating small, more frequent meals helps keep your weight down and your energy up. For kids, it’s a fun way to eat.
EAT LIKE A KID:
SLURP: Slices of juicy peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots, and melons. Delicious all on their own. Have Fun with Kids: Serve them as shapes on a plate: Cookie cutters turn melon into hearts and stars.
LICK: Refreshing popsicles loaded with fruit
Icy Treats: Mash up melons and freeze ice cube trays or small paper cups.
Creamy Treats: Mix in a blender or mash together 2 cups of fruit and banana with 2 cups of plain or vanilla yogurt. Pour into a popsicle mold, paper cups, or an ice cube tray. Add sticks or toothpicks for easy eating. Freeze for 5 hours.
Quick tricks: Adding avocado makes popsicles creamier, plus adds healthy fat for energy, along with lots of vitamins, like C, E K, and B.
CRUNCH: Add some protein
Peanut butter: Use it as a dip for carrots or spread it on celery sticks.
Slice cheese on apples; try cheese sticks; top whole-grain crackers with cheese, tomato slices, or cucumbers.
Dip veggies in salsa: Cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, even broccoli stalks
Chocolate Hummus? See below
SIP: Fruit Slushes beat soda! Blend fruit and ice for a refreshing way to cool down. Try 2 cups fruit, cut into cubes with 1-2 cups of ice. Blend. Add water if it is too thick to sip through a straw or more ice to eat with a spoon. Try different fruit combos!
Have an “art class” with your kids and make veggie pictures.
Healthy Summer Snacking
Recipe: Chocolate Hummus
Yes, it’s healthy with super nutritious chickpeas, peanut butter, and antioxidant-rich cocoa powder. Kids LOVE it. A great way for them to eat more fruit or veggies
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups chickpeas (garbanzo beans) or black beans
4 tablespoons cocoa powder, unsweetened
2 tablespoons peanut butter, all-natural
¼ cup maple syrup, pure
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
TO MAKE:
Mash all the ingredients together or add them into the cup of a large food processor. Puree until smooth. Serve with apple slices
Green Goddess Smoothie or Popsicle: Great for Breakfast, lunch, or a pick-me-up ”snack”
Blend ½ cup sliced pineapple, mango, or banana, 1/2 cup berries, and 1/3 cup raw kale or spinach with ¼ cup of milk or yogurt.
Flavor with 1/4 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp pure vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon of honey or maple syrup.
Put in paper cups or popsicle molds and freeze for 5 hours. (You won’t taste the kale, promise!)
More Tasty Playful Ideas:
Cut watermelon into wedges leaving the rind on and add a popsicle stick through the rind.
“Ants on a log”: Fill celery sticks with peanut butter; top with a few raisins or olives
Draw pictures with veggies: Broccoli for trees; cauliflower for clouds, and red/orange pepper slices for flowers. Your kids like creating pictures and playing with their food
TIPS and tricks: For “cool” Kids
Making Popsicles: Molds can be helpful and inexpensive. You can get them online or in stores that sell housewares. OR you can use ice cube trays or paper cups. Just add popsicle sticks when your mixture is half frozen, about 2.5 hours in. Or serve in a bowl
Freeze Peas, blueberries, or cherries for a cold, refreshing pop-in-your-mouth snack. Make an edible necklace of blueberries and melon balls
Make your flavorful lemonade or any fruit drink
Start with a simple syrup: Mix 1 cup honey to 5 cups water. Bring to a slight boil so the honey dissolves. Cool. Add 1 cup lemon juice or a mixture of lemon and lime juice. Pour over ice! Add mint if you like. Of slices of fresh ginger. Try basil or rosemary
More small meals helpers:
Drink breakfast: A cool smoothie is a great start on a hot day
Deviled eggs are a kid-friendly lunch with lots of protein.
Boil eggs in a pot of water for about 10 minutes. Run them under cold water until they’re cool to the touch.
Peel and cut them in half, then scoop out the yoke and place them in a mixing bowl.
To the yoke, add a dash of mayonnaise and mustard. Top with dill, cilantro, or any herb you like, then place back in the white for a filling and energy-boosting snack or lunch
Peel broccoli stalks until light green; cut into sticks for dipping in salsa or Chocolate Hummus
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