Healthy Snacks For Kids

There was a time when a little girl was encouraged to learn cooking, while a young boy was shooed out of the kitchen, because cooking was definitely not a “man’s job”. Thankfully, times have changed and now boys and girls alike have access to the kitchen. In fact, many of the world-renowned chefs are men. Therefore, if you have a kid with a desire to create something yummy, then begin by teaching them how to make healthy snacks.

Children today are eating too much junk food. One of the reasons is because it is so easily accessible. They grab a bag of chips or some cookies and then wash it down with a coke or sprite and voila, you have an instant sugar rush and possibly the start of a terribly bad habit. A child needs to learn early to make healthy food selections and to enjoy healthy snacks and avoid the sugary, fatty, salty alternatives.

The worst thing a parent can do is allow their child to dictate to them what they will and will not eat. Parents should begin teaching their children early in life about the nutrition value of healthy food selections and help them to learn how to make easy healthy meals and snacks that include vegetables and whole grains that are delicious and good for them.

Here are a couple of delicious and nutritious recipes that your kids can enjoy making and eating.

Pizza

Ingredients
Pizza Crust:
Pita bread, whole-wheat tortilla, flat bread
Fresh tomatoes, sliced
Tomato sauce
Selection of vegetables or fruits such as:
Pineapple, apple or banana
Mushrooms, onions, spinach, leeks, peppers or asparagus
Sliced Canadian bacon cut into thin pieces (optional)
Grated cheese
Olive oil
Seasoning

Prepare the pizza crust by browning it in the oven on a low temperature for 3-4 minutes. Chop the vegetables into bit size pieces and sauté the chopped vegetables olive oil, along with seasoning choice.
Remove the crust from the oven and the begin alternating layers of tomato sauce and tomatoes, followed by cheese, the Canadian bacon, vegetables, fruits and then top off with grated cheese. Sprinkle with some herbs, then pop it into the oven at 325 degrees, and allow it to cook until the cheese is melted and the pizza is slightly brown and crispy.
Allow to cool slightly and eat.

If you decide that you want to add fruit to your pizza or to have a fruit pizza without any other ingredients all you need to do is add the tomato sauce, tomatoes, fruit and cheese and back on 325 until the cheese is melted and the fruit is heated through. Just experiment with different fruits to see what you like best.

A delicious alternative to using tomato sauce is to Ranch dressing and make a white pizza. This is one super yummy way of making a delicious pizza.

Granny's Granola

Ingredients
1/2 cup no sugar added dried fruit
Pineapple, banana, strawberries, raisins,  cranberries, kiwi
1 cup Sunflower seeds
1 cup Pumpkin seeds
¼ cup Almonds (raw)
¼ cup Walnuts
¼ cup toasted oats
¼ cup carob

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl or shake it up in a bag. Then measure it out into ¼ to ½ cup servings and place in a sandwich baggie or a small brown paper bag and let your kids enjoy healthy snacks the way grandma did when she was a kid.

Kid love chocolate, candy, chips, dips, cokes, cakes, hotdogs, hamburger, peanut butter and all the food that is so readily available and definitely not healthy. Actually, they love anything that they have been taught to eat…that's right I said "TAUGHT TO EAT". They are mirror images of their environment and that environment begins with the parents. If you want you kids to be healthy and to develop a healthy lifestyle that will follow them into adulthood, then you should encourage your child to make and eat healthy food selections, and of course, it wouldn't hurt if along the way you decided to eat healthy snacks with them.