Healthy snacks for kids

happy35

I find jacket potatoes with cheese and beans or tuna mayonnaise cheap and seems to fill my DS up. Also cereal like shreddies is a quick snack for a teenager who just cant be bothered

DS will also eat flapjacks I use about half the sugar and he has never noticed, low fat yoghurt cake is also cheap and not that unhealthy.

He also loves leftovers so I tend to make a little bit extra and put it in a tub for hime to heat up the next day.

He does also eat a lot of fruit, yoghurt and will eat home made soup if he is desperate but is not really that keen

Solomon_Broad

Popcorn. It's pretty cheap and you can put lots of different kinds of toppings on to suit yourself. I know someone who puts smoked paprika on theirs. They say it's like those posh Walkers crisps, only much cheaper. 1kg is £2.50 at asd@ and that will go a lot further than you think.

WantToBeSE

Thanks everyone for the ideas. I am trying to think of things that either need no cooking/heating up, or things that take no more than 5 mins to cook/warm up.

I am refusing to make things every 5 mins. I'll make 1 cake and a batch of cookies once a week, but my 2 boys are human rubbish bins! A cake and a batch of biscuits last 2 days at most!

Popcorn is a great idea, we have popcorn kernals and will show them how to make them. He (my 14 yr old) is VERY lazy, but even he will find this fun...right??

I like the idea of slicing up veggies, so have bought some extras carrots, cucumber and peppers today. I'll slice them up and buy some basic salsa to dip them in.

Bennifred

Seanymph wrote: »

Mine eat lefotvers - so I make extra dinner. and make yorkshire a lot, dumplings, add bread or baguette to meals.

Toast is popular (pate, beans, scrambled eggs etc).

It wears off eventually.

Any idea when?
Mine are in their twenties and are still bottomless pits - OH is threatening to put a timelock on the fridge.....

WantToBeSE

Bennifred wrote: »

Any idea when?
Mine are in their twenties and are still bottomless pits - OH is threatening to put a timelock on the fridge.....

:rotfl: Oh dear...looks like they'll be buying their own snacks by then hopefully!

i forgot to mention that neither of them have any weight or health problems, so its obviously not affecting them.
In fact my youngest is a beanpole and my 14 year old is muscle. Lucky things, thankfully they take after their Dad, not me!

littlegreenparrot

If your baking every week anyway, would it be worth baking double and freezing? If you slice things up beforehand they don't take long to defrost (or if your really desperate, microwave!)

You may already be doing this, but my mother used to replace about a third of white flour with wholemeal. Apparently we never noticed, but it filled us up a lot more and cut the consumption.

I also have to differ on the 'it wears off', all of us are now in 20's/30's and the appetite hasn't really gone!

Broomstick

I have to agree to differ as well. (Sons late teens/early 20s, doing loads of sport, not an ounce of fat on them and eating and eating!)

Would a sandwich toaster work? They could make toasties themselves. You don't have to do the cooking/baking. They are easily old enough to do the cooking if they are hungry enough! Pittas can be cheap to fill with things like grated cheese or humous and shredded salady stuff (keep a bowl in the fridge). I'm sure there are meat things to add but we don't eat meat.

B x

WantToBeSE

It just seems that the more i buy/cook, the more they eat!

Does anyone else ban snacks between meals,or put a limit on them? Or is it normal for the kids just to help them selves to whatever they want?

As soon as i say "No" to snacks, my 14 year old son moans that i am starving him, his stomach hurts because he is so hungry and that am an awful mother etc.

I had food issues as a teenager and as soon as the kids moan that i am "starving" them, i worry that i am doing them psychological harm by being too controlling.

Any advice?

WantToBeSE

littlegreenparrot wrote: »

If you slice things up beforehand they don't take long to defrost (or if your really desperate, microwave!)

You may already be doing this, but my mother used to replace about a third of white flour with wholemeal. Apparently we never noticed, but it filled us up a lot more and cut the consumption.

I dont own a microwave.

yes, already do the sneaky wholemeal flour trick Also use wholemeal bread and try to boost protein intake so that they feel fuller.

Mrs_Cheshire

I would suggest rationing the sweet stuff, make your usual batch of cakes and cookies but only leave out enough for the kids for 2 days and freeze the rest. Then each night get out enough for the next day!
You won't do them any psychological harm but probably best to let them have something, veg and dips, what about crumpets (own brand are fairly cheap),rice pudding (homemade if you have time, otherwise cheap own brand 15p a tin), sponge cake is fairly cheap with custard for pudding. Lots of stews with mash potato. Could you do pasta and sauce/pesto to let them microwave if they need an afternoon snack!

Just read your post above about not having a microwave, makes heating things a little more difficullt!

I shop in Aldi, my boys aged 2 & 4 are snackers. I'm dreading what they are going to be like when their older. They already have cereal, some bread product(waffles, chocolate brioche, fruit loaf) and fruit for breakfast. I got my weeks shopping in Aldi today for under £40 not including meat(except bacon and chorizo) as my freezers full! I'll have to buy more milk and possibly another loaf.
Could you try giving them milkshakes or smoothies, they can be filling. I'm sure sometimes the eldest eats when he's thirsty!