Healthy Snack Ideas

Fall is definitely in the air, and pumpkins are everywhere these days. The taste of pumpkin, cinnamon and allspice make me think of autumn and cooler days.

I was in search of a good pumpkin cookie recipe and I came across this one at the Natural Papa blog. It’s wholesome and uses healthy, fresh ingredients. The smell when these cookies are in the oven will have the neighbors knocking on your door.

Ridiculously Good Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Preheat oven to 325°F

Ingredients (all organic, yes?):

* 1 cup cooked pumpkin (cut in half, scoop out seeds, place cut side down on baking sheet and bake at 350 until soft. Peel and mash or blend the pumpkin.)
* 1/2 cup coconut oil (or butter, or even olive oil)
* 3/4 cup unrefined sugar (or maple syrup or honey)
* Egg replacer equivalent for 2 eggs
* 2 cups whole wheat flour
* 2 tsp baking powder
* 1/4 tsp sea salt
* 1/4 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
* 1/4 tsp ground cloves
* 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Mix all of the ingredients together, adjust spices to your taste, and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Drop by the spoonful onto greased cookie sheets and bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

Try substituting sweet potatoes or butternut squash (or any winter squash) for the pumpkin for a different taste, put them in muffin tins, or bake in a loaf pan.

I must confess that I have a teensy bit of an addiction to this simple little snack. How much easier can a snack be to prepare? Steam them, sprinkle with coarse sea salt and enjoy. They make a great, light appetizer, too, and they make a simple, lovely presentation.

Edamame is just green soybeans. They are grown in China and frozen. You can purchase them either in the pod, or out of the pod. For some reason, popping them out of the pod makes them fun to eat, but that’s just me.

Edamame

1 package frozen edamame pods

sea salt

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add edamame pods and steam for 4-5 minutes. Drain and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve warm or chilled.

Here’s another easy, light and healthy snack recipe. You can eat them as they are, or use them as a base for mini-appetizers for entertaining. Try a sweet version as an alternative to these savory ones by substituting cinnamon, nutmeg and honey for the dried herbs.

Herb Seasoned Rice Cakes
Yield: 4 servings

24 Unsalted mini rice cakes
1/4 cup Softened cream cheese
1/4 cup low fat sour cream (or plain, low fat yogurt)
1 tsp minced onion
1/4 tsp dried tarragon leaves
1/4 tsp Dried rosemary leaves
1/4 ts Dried oregano leaves
1/4 tsp Garlic powder
1/8 ts Dried dill weed

Arrange the rice cakes on baking sheet. Mix remaining ingredients together and spread
them evenly on the rice cakes. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 3 to 5 minutes.

Basic Granola

Serves: 12

2 1/2 cups Quick-cooking rolled oats
1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 cup raw sesame seeds
4 TBSPs margerine
1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt (leave this out if the margerine is salted)
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
1/2 cup raisins

(These are the basic ingredients. You can add other things such as pumkin seeds, flax seeds, cashews, almonds etc. according to your preferences.)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly grease a 13×9x2″ baking dish. In a large bowl combine the oats, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. Spread the mixture in the pan and bake for about 20 minutes stirring occasionally.

In a small saucepan, combine the margerine, brown sugar, honey and salt. Allow it to simmer while stirring until well mixed. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla.

Raise the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Add the wheat germ to the toasted oats mixture. Drizzle the honey mixture over the granola stirring to make sure that everything is evenly coated.

Put the pan back in the oven for five minutes longer or until golden. mix in the raisins and allow the granola to cool a bit in the pan. Use a spatula to break up the big chunks. After its completely cooled store it in an airtight container.

Yields 6 cups.

When kids come in the door after school the first thing they want to do is eat something. It’s been hours since lunch and they will need a new supply of energy to power them through the homework and after school activities.

With childhood obesity at epidemic levels, it’s clear that not all parents are providing healthy meal and snack options for their kids. The snacks that kids eat should be factored in to their overall caloric intake for the day, but snacks are important in keeping blood sugar levels even and energy levels steady.

Here are some basic tips for stocking your cabinets with healthy snack options for kids:

• avoid most pre-packaged food laden with lots of sugar, fat and salt

• always have a supply of fresh fruits and vegetables on hand

apple slices
bananas
grapes
melon slices

• fruit cups or canned fruit preserved in juice or light syrup (heavy syrup is a lot of added sugar)

• baby carrots, celery, and broccoli served with a low-fat dip (reduced fat ranch dressing works well)

• guacamole and rice cakes or baked pita chips

• low fat, low sugar yogurt served with graham crackers

• air-popped popcorn with no butter

• low fat, low salt pretzels

• low fat granola bars

Make sure that kids eat their afternoon snack as early as possible  so that they don’t impact the child’s appetite for dinner. Keep the calorie count low by controlling the portions so that it doesn’t end up counting as a meal.

Be mindful also of the additional calories in the beverages that they consume along with their snacks. Avoid sugary sodas and juices and encourage them to drink water, lowfat milk or 100% juices that don’t have added sugar.

If you keep a good variety of healthy snacks in the house you’ll be prepared when the hungry children are ready to eat.