After a long day at school, kids often come home tired and hungry. So what to do when dinner isn’t for three hours or they need energy for that soccer game or ballet class? The key is healthy afterschool snacks. Experts like Kat Soltanmorad, Tahoe Truckee Unified School District Food Services director, and Maria Martin, a dietician at the Tahoe Center for Health and Sports Performance and member of the Truckee Tahoe Nutrition Coalition, recommend snacks that contain a mix of protein, carbohydrates, and a little fat to keep children satisfied until meal time. To boost youngsters’ interest in choosing nutritious foods over junk, Soltanmorad advises planning the snack menu with your children. So don’t let your child reach for that bag of chips after he comes home from school; instead, make one of these healthy, mini-meal favorites.
Kat Soltanmorad Recommends:
• Seed or nut butters on celery or sliced green apples. Dot with a few raisins and you have “ants on a log.”
• Whole grain crackers (check the label for no hydrogenated fats) with string cheese and cherry tomatoes.
• Sliced cucumbers, squash, and carrots with low-fat salad dressing or vegetable dip.
• Cottage cheese topped with fruit: peaches, nectarines, or canned crushed pineapple in 100 percent juice.
• Yogurt parfait: vanilla yogurt topped with granola or instant oatmeal and favorite fresh fruit.
• Heated corn tortillas (to make rolling them easier) stuffed with cream cheese, sliced bell pepper, and cucumbers.
• Pita bread halves stuffed with hummus and veggies.
• Mini vegetable pizzas: half pita slices or corn tortillas topped with sliced tomatoes, shredded mozzarella cheese, diced red or orange bell peppers, turkey pepperoni, and spinach, toasted or baked.
Maria Martin’s Picks:
Mix and match from the following groups of proteins and carbohydrates:
PROTEINS:
• Low-fat or nonfat milk
• Nuts and trail mix (1/4 cup)
• String cheese
• Low sugar yogurt or plain yogurt with fruit
• Bean dip or hummus
• Turkey, ham, or roast beef cubes or roll-ups
• Peanut butter or other nut butter
• Beef or turkey jerky
• Tofu cubes or strips
• Hard-boiled egg
• Edamame
• Cottage cheese
CARBS:
• Fruits and vegetables
• Bar — (i.e., Nature Valley, Zbar, ideally less than 130 calories and no trans fats)
• Whole grain crackers
• Whole grain tortilla
• Whole grain, low sugar cereal
• Dried fruits (raisins, mango, apricot, etc.)
• Graham crackers
• Fig bar
• Popcorn
