Sneaking Healthy Food in Yummy Snacks

Encouraging children to eat nutritious foods can be difficult. Potato chips, soda, and candy fill up grocery shelves quicker than healthy foods do, making it overwhelming to decide on the best healthy options for your children. The internet is a great resource to find recipe tips and tricks, but some of those can be time consuming. We want our children to live happy, healthy lives, so here are some quick ways to incorporate those not so appealing fruits and veggies into your children’s normal eating routines, without them even noticing!

• Blue corn chips and guacamole. Change up traditional chips and guacamole by switching those yellow corn tortilla chips for low fat blue corn. Blue corn tortilla chips contain more protein than white or yellow corn chips.  For the guacamole, try adding chopped tomatoes, onions, and cilantro to the avocado mixture for extra veggie intake and flavor. If you have a child that already enjoys vegetables, try substituting chips for crispy veggies such as carrots or broccoli.
• Baked turkey or chicken meatballs. Try changing up the traditional spaghetti dish with a healthier meat option. Substitute beef for turkey or chicken meatballs. Both options contain lower fat and cholesterol than their beef counterpart.  Also, instead of cooking the meatballs in a skillet, bake in the oven at 400° F degrees for 20 minutes or until no longer pink in the center. Add the meatballs to any favorite pasta dish or serve them as a small snack.
• Frozen fruit pops. Take fruit to a frozen level! Kids love frozen popsicles and creamy ice cream, but those aren’t the healthiest option. Instead, dip plain bananas, grapes, and strawberries into a small amount of antioxidant-rich dark chocolate and slide onto a wooden skewer. Pop them into the freezer until chocolate is noticeably frozen. While adding an extra fruit serving, these fruit pops offer a light and naturally-sweet treat for you and your kiddos to enjoy.

As each day passes, we are blessed for the health of our children. Incorporating healthy food and exercise into their daily routine is necessary and essential to our children’s growth and well-being. Reflect on this passage: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV).