It’s Healthy Snack Time!

Make healthy snacks a part of your day. Nutritious foods help kids grow strong, smart and fast! Guiding Stars helps you find the most nutritious options in your Hannaford Supermarket – these foods have:

More: Vitamins, minerals, fiber and whole grain
Less: Saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, added sugar and added sodium

Some snacking guidelines:

• Balance – Include foods from at least two different food groups. Serve fat-free milk, dry cereal, and sliced fruit.
• Pick your colors – Pick foods of at least two different colors to offer more variety of nutrients, for example, low-fat cheese (white or yellow) and carrot sticks (orange).
• More fruits and vegetables – Kids should eat at least two cups of fruits and vegetables each day.
• Snacks as mini-meals – Kids may enjoy small sandwiches cut into fun shapes, meat and lettuce rolled into a tortilla and cut into bite-sized pieces, or a cup of soup with crackers.
• Playtime ploy – Kids may be more willing to try something unfamiliar when they’re hungry after playing, so try introducing new foods at snack time.
• Make food fun – Include foods that are fun to eat, like fruits and vegetables that can be dunked into a low-fat yogurt dip, or mini-bagels with a choice of toppings.
• Snacktivity – Kids can decorate their own mini-pizzas by topping half an English muffin with tomato sauce, low-fat grated cheese, and broccoli florets (bake at 350°F until the cheese melts). Whip up smoothies with yogurt and let kids select their own fresh or frozen fruit to put in the blender.
• Replace and replenish – If fruit was not eaten at breakfast, go with a different fruit midmorning. If a child didn’t drink milk at lunch, serve a different dairy food such as low-fat yogurt or cheese for a snack.

Recipe Spotlight

Zucchini pizzas are a great way to ensure kids get a healthy serving of vegetables.