Janice Newell Bissex, MS, RD and Liz Weiss, MS, RD, Co-authors, The Moms' Guide to Meal Makeovers
The Meal Makeover Moms have created a series of online videos featuring cooking demonstrations and mealtime/pantry tips. Discover easy ways to improve your family's diet by watching more of their how-to videos.
Stumped for a healthy mid-morning snack to pack in your child’s lunchbox or something to serve when your kids get home from school? Turn to some of our easy snack stuffers for better nutrition:
• Fresh Fruit: It comes in its own wrapper, requires little or no preparation, and is naturally packed with vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients (plant nutrients), and fiber.
• Mini applesauce: Look for an all-natural brand and avoid the ones with added sugar and the fake blue, green, red, or pink coloring. What’s up with that?
• Mini fruit cups and bowls: Fruit cups and bowls come in handy when your own fresh fruit bowl is empty. Read labels and choose products packed in fruit juice versus syrup.
• Squeeze Yogurt: Go for the all-natural brands made without artificial colors and flavors.
• Popcorn: Kids love the small, individually packaged bags of popcorn and moms love the fact that popcorn is a whole grain. Look for popcorn made without partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. (Popcorn isn’t recommended until the age of 4 because it’s a potential choking hazard).
• Cheese Sticks: Part-skim mozzarella cheese sticks and lowfat Cheddar cheese snack-size bars provide high-quality protein and calcium and only 1 gram of saturated fat.
• Carrots with Dip: Little packets of baby carrots with a Ranch dressing dip are fun for kids and help to weave a vegetable into the lunchbox. A less expensive option is to pack your own small bag of baby carrots with some dip on the side in a small plastic container.
• Make-Your-Own Trail Mix: Combine mixed nuts, raisins or dried apricots, mini pretzels, sunflower seeds, breakfast cereal, and a few chocolate chips into a resealable plastic bag.
• Sweet Potato Chips: If your kids love potato chips, make the switch to sweet potato chips. They’re made with healthy oils and just one serving contains nearly a day’s worth of vitamin A.
