Posts Tagged ‘Healthy Snacks’

Healthy Snack Ideas for Children and Teens

Lesley Johnston

Kids love to snack! Especially after school, on rainy days, while watching TV and even when they are bored.

If they are going to snack then make sure you provide them with a selection of healthy snacks.

With little ones and grade school children it is easy to fill their little tummies with healthy snacks.

Older children and teenagers are a bit of a challenge to please. The fruits and veggie sticks just won’t do anymore. Their idea of a healthy snack is a slice of pizza loaded with toppings and a diet soda.

Yummy Snacks for the Little Ones

Bugs on a stick – While it may not sound very appetizing children gobble this snack up and ask for more! There very easy to make. You will need one stalk of washed celery cut into three pieces. Peanut butter – fill the little inside of the pieces of celery with peanut butter. Raisins – Stick four or five raisins (bugs) in the peanut butter.

Jiggly Jell-o Treat – For this snack you will need a box of Jell-o and metal cookie cutters. In a shallow square pan pour in the Jell-o (follow the instructions on the box the prepare it.) Set it in the refrigerator for about an hour or until it is firm and wiggly. Use your cookie cutters to cut out fun shapes, you can plop a little whipped cream on top if you want.

Frozen juice pops – This treat has been around for decades. You will need the Popsicle holders that are sold in almost every store during the spring and summer season. Fill the holders with 100% real fruit juice and freeze for a few hours. These make a great treat on a hot summer day.

Yogurt cover pretzel rods – These are easy to make and the kids love them. You will need a bag of pretzel rods, 8 ounce yogurt, you can use plain or flavored. Pour the yogurt in a shallow pan or on a plate and roll the pretzel rod in it. Place the yogurt covered pretzel rod on a freezer safe plate or in a container and freeze for about an hour.

“Acceptable” Snacks for Older Children and Teens

This age group is hard to please so the idea is to “hide” the healthiness of the snack. I understand that sounds a bit odd but it is simply done by not announcing the snack is healthy or sometimes implying that the snack is not healthy works just as well, a little reverse psychology you learn as a parent.

Smoothies – Are always a big hit with this age group. You will need fruit one or a couple of different kinds. Ice, plain or fruit flavored yogurt and a blender. Cut the fruit ( about a cup and a half worth) into small pieces put it in the blender, add 1 cup of ice, 1/4 cup of yogurt and blend.

Snack mixes – These are the best! You can put whatever you want in them. My favorite is made of popcorn, raisins, pretzel sticks, and assorted peanuts. Put all the chosen ingredients in to a large bowl with a lid and shake well to mix it all up. Then sit back and watch it all disappear!

Preparing healthy snack for children and teens does not have to be a difficult chore or a boring snack for them. Simply think of some healthy food items and see how well they work together. Before long you will be creating amazing, healthy fun snacks for your kids!

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At Last… 8 Healthy Snacks for TV Couch Time

Lesley Johnston

Winter is upon us, which means that everyone is bundled up in sweatshirts and pajamas sitting in front of the television waiting for the snow outside to melt in 3 months. Getting into that bikini swim suit (and looking good in it) is probably not on the top of your priority list right now. That is OK. You have a little time to get in shape.

The problem with this way of thinking though, is that most people add fuel to the fire by eating junk food. Living a sedentary life, even if it is only for a few months, is bad enough. If you want to relax this winter, go for it! But at least eat properly. Here are 10 tasty and healthy snacks that are great for television downtime.

Healthy Snacks for TV Couch Time #1: PopcornYou are better off skipping it at the movie theater, but at home you can prepare it in a healthy way. A bucket of oil-popped movie theater popcorn can contain as much fat as three to five double cheeseburgers. But air-popped popcorn is a relatively healthy treat. Three cups of popcorn have just 93 calories and 1.5 grams of fat.

Healthy Snacks for TV Couch Time #2: Pistachios Pistachios are a great heart-healthy snack full of antioxidants, fiber, and good fats. A 1/2-cup serving only has 170 calories, with 6 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber. However, that serving also has 14 grams of fat, so do not stuff yourself on them. They key here are the shells. Since they are difficult to open, more work is involved which will make you eat slower.

Healthy Snacks for TV Couch Time #3: Red GrapesOK, you had to have known that fruits and vegetables would be on this list. As much as people want to avoid them these days, there will never be a processed snack food that will even come close to matching the nutrition and health benefits of fruits and vegetables. At the top of the pile is red grapes. Full of anti-oxidants and vitamins, red grapes are natures answer to sweet candy.

Healthy Snacks for TV Couch Time #4: Mini-pizzasForget the frozen food section on this one. Anyone with a toaster can make their own healthy version of frozen pizza. All you need is a whole wheat English muffin, tomato sauce and low-fat mozzarella cheese. The more vegetables and herbs you add to it, the healthier and tastier it will be.

Healthy Snacks for TV Couch Time #5: Pita chips With HummusThis is another snack you must make on your own if you want it healthy.  All you need is a large whole wheat pita. Cut the edge of the pita into chip-size pieces. and then cook them in the oven until crispy before serving with your favorite hummus or dip recipe. In general, when you rely on pre-packaged foods to do the work for you, the price you pay for it is your health.

Healthy Snacks for TV Couch Time #6: Relish TrayPickled vegetables are extremely low in calories and a great alternative to snacking on high fat, high sugar processed foods. Marinating your vegetables in vinegar or heart-healthy olive oil will control the amount of salt you eat. The reason fruits and vegetables accelerate weight loss is because they are water rich, which means you get a full, satisfied feeling without the calories.

Healthy Snacks for TV Couch Time #7: Green TeaYou may not think this is technically a snack, but the health benefits of drinking just one cup of green tea a day can allow you to splurge a little more than usual and still keep your figure in tact. The reason this works is because this beverage has been known to actually stimulate and accelerate a persons metabolism. At the same time it fills you up, so you have a more satisfied, healthy feeling.

Healthy Snacks for TV Couch Time #8: Protein BarsThis is the closest thing you will get to eating a chocolate candy bar that is relatively healthy. The best reason these are great for snacking is because they are not trigger foods like crackers and potato chips, so you will not want want to eat a lot at once. Protein helps build lean muscle mass, which is essential if you plan on being sedentary until the spring.

Not that this needs to be said, but you can enjoy even more snack food if you can work some exercise into your TV watching. Sit-ups and push-ups, or even getting up and moving around during commercials, will at least keep you more active. You can even burn calories just stretching out your body. Anything is better than sitting for hours without moving. You do enough of that at night when you are asleep.

Just because you want to stay in and relax does not mean you have to eat poorly. Replace your junk food cabinet with the foods listed above and when it comes time for the snow to melt, you will find that you will not have to work so hard at looking your best in that swimsuit. The key here is making an attempt to lead a healthy lifestyle all year around.

Bill Winch is a Personal Wellness Coach whose mission is teaching and coaching others who are struggling with getting healthy, losing weight safely and keeping it off for good. He is also a Certified Business Growth Specialist, former High School and College Business Educator and Counselor, and mentors from his home office in Rochester, NY. If you are interested in receiving his Free Report “9 Weight Loss Myths Exposed” visit his website by clicking on FREE REPORT or by calling him directly at (585) 271-3767 for a free wellness consultation.
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11 Healthy Snacks for your Heart

Lesley Johnston

Everybody likes a snack. And it’s not just that you’re hungry between meals and you need a bite to eat, but also because snacks can be a treat for yourself. Treats help make you feel better and raise your spirits. So here’s a list of snacks that can get your heart pumping, both literally and figuratively. They’re delicious alternatives to the traditional bag of chips or candy bar that are not part of a healthy diet. So instead of dropping by the drive-through or heading straight for the candy aisle, you can and load up on some heart-healthy snacks.

1. Vegetables Dipped in Hummus – Fresh vegetables are low in calories and have many antioxidants. Many of them have no fat whatsoever and instead give you plenty of fiber to make your stomach feel full. Hummus, made from chick peas, is a great alternative protein without saturated fat.

2. Fruit Skewered on a Stick with a Little Dark Chocolate for Dipping – Fruit has a variety of antioxidants to fight cancer and heart disease. Dark chocolate has a high concentration of flavinols, which is a type of antioxidant that helps fight heart disease, and is in fact recommended by doctors for this very purpose.

3. Half of a Cantaloupe Filled with Fat Free Cottage Cheese, a Dash of Cinnamon and Some Berries – The cantaloupe and berries are rich in antioxidants, and the fat-free cottage cheese counts as a serving of dairy, while avoiding the saturated fat.

4. Fat-free Yogurt with Fruit and a Sprinkle of Nuts – Here’s a chance of getting another serving of dairy that contains no saturated fat, but plenty of antioxidants from fruit and, on top of that, a bit of healthy, unsaturated fat from the nuts.

5. Smoothies with Silken Tofu and Berries plus a Dash of Grape Juice or Pomegranate Juice As most dieters know, tofu is an excellent alternative protein source without saturated fat. Berries, grape juice and pomegranate juice have a high concentration of antioxidants and are very good for you.

6. Homemade Soup – Start with a vegetable base in order to load up on antioxidants and fiber. Make sure you don’t buy something that’s rich in sodium because that’s something you definitely don’t want for your heart. Add a bag of frozen vegetables and mix in a couple of cups of beans. Canned beans are rich in sodium, so make sure to rinse them thoroughly before use. Season it with fresh herbs.

7. Pureed Prunes — Sneak Them into your Brownies – Pureed fruit is an excellent addition to chocolate brownies because it helps strengthen the taste of chocolate. Another good thing is that you’ve put in something that use less oil or less butter and you’ve also added antioxidants because of the pureed fruit. Also fruit has fiber to lower your cholesterol.

8. Silken Tofu or Soy Milk — Substitute for Regular Milk in Recipes – Using tofu or soy milk instead of regular milk is a good way of adding heart healthy protein, while at the same time cutting down on the heart-clogging calories of the other oils you might have used.

9. Applesauce or Apple Butter — Use in Place of Oil for Muffins – Apple butter is one of best ingredients you can add to moisture the mix and to give it that pleasant fruit flavor that won’t combat your other ingredients.

10. Nuts and Small Chunks of Fruit — Sprinkle on Top of Muffins – If you substitute applesauce for the oil, you’ll be making a muffin low in fat, chock-full of antioxidants from fruit, fiber from nuts, and heart-healthy protein from the nuts.

11. Meatloaf — Use Tofu and Chopped White Chicken Meat Instead of Red Meat – This combination is absolutely great. The result will feel and taste just like meatloaf, but without the downside of eating red meat.

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