by Emily Monaco
It's back to school time, and you know what that means: quick breakfasts, bagged lunches and snacks as soon as they get home. Most kids are starving the minute they walk through the door, so your snack ideas need to be quick as well as healthy. Vary your snack ideas with these healthy and yummy recipes to keep it interesting for your kids.
Crudités and Dip
One of the healthiest and easiest things that you can serve up for your kids is a vegetable platter with dip. Choose whatever veggies your kids like, and change it up often so that they have tons of choice: broccoli florets, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, celery sticks, carrot sticks, cucumber... The most important idea is to keep the vegetables small and bite-sized. You can cut them up the night before and keep them in freezer bags until you're ready to use them.
As for the dip, you can choose anything you like! Homemade ranch dressing, hummus, Boursin cheese... Be creative, and ask your kids to help out! They're far more likely to try new things if they get to help choose.
Fruit Platter
Just as easy as the crudités to prepare is a colorful fruit platter. Use seasonal fruit... whatever you like. Cut bite-sized chunks of melon, oranges, or bananas, and add berries to the mix. If you decide to use pears or apples, be sure to squeeze a bit of lemon juice over them so that they don't turn brown.
If fruit isn't enough for your hungry little ones, you can also give the kids little bowls of cottage cheese or yogurt to mix with their fruit.
Granola Bars
For days when the kids get home before you do, have granola bars ready and waiting for them. You can buy delicious organic granola bars, or you can make your own! Here are some of our favorite homemade granola bar recipes:
Guacamole and Chips
Homemade guacamole is sure to be a treat for your kids. If you have the time when you get home, throw together a bowl of guacamole, and serve it with organic tortilla chips.
If you'd rather not give the little ones so much salt, you can also cut carrots on the bias into oblong rounds, to make carrot chips, or serve the guacamole with pretzel chips.
Oatmeal Cookies
Sometimes, your kids need something that feels like a real treat, so offer them something healthy and sweet.These oatmeal cookies are full of healthy ingredients: oats, banana, coconut oil, almond meal and cinnamon. A powerful cookie that's great for growing kids (and hungry parents!) and that's so tasty, they'll have no idea how good for them it is!
For more by Organic Authority.com, click here.
Image: Bruce Guenter