After school snacks/ after dinner desserts

[seekingHispresence]

With all 3 of my kids in school this year I have more time to spend in the kitchen. I'd like to have my kids an after school snacks ready every day ( not a fan of heavily processed foods) I also wanted to start making desserts for after dinner but don't want my family to end up with diabetes so.... I first would like to ask how often do you make dessert? Every evening? Is one serving of dessert every evening a bad idea? And 2nd....after school snacks? Ideas/recipes. How often is you after school snacks sugary? And how often are they healthy? I need help thinking.

 

[Pilgrim]

With all 3 of my kids in school this year I have more time to spend in the kitchen. I'd like to have my kids an after school snacks ready every day ( not a fan of heavily processed foods) I also wanted to start making desserts for after dinner but don't want my family to end up with diabetes so.... I first would like to ask how often do you make dessert? Every evening? Is one serving of dessert every evening a bad idea? And 2nd....after school snacks? Ideas/recipes. How often is you after school snacks sugary? And how often are they healthy? I need help thinking.

• Fresh seasonal fruit, sliced and dressed with a splash of lime juice to brighten it up.
• Small servings of mixed nuts with dried fruits (figs, dates, raisons, cherries, plumbs...)
• Small serving of whole milk greek yogurt garnished with sunflower seeds and berries...
• Small serving of cottage cheese garnished with seeds, nuts, or dried fruits
• Celery or apples served with peanut butter
• Veggie platter (julienned carrots, celery, jicama, etc., and a spot of yogurt/herb dip)
• Fresh seasonal melon salad (water melon, cantaloupe, honeydew...)

Presentation and knife skills will go a long way to enhance the appeal for kids to eat... Another trick is variety, color, and get them involved... Look at calorie count, and nutritional content.

 

[~Anastasia~]

If I had made dessert every day, my daughter would have wanted it after every meal. I would typically make a dessert maybe twice a week, with one of those tending to be something like fruit ambrosia, or frozen fruit smoothie, or something not totally decadent. At worst maybe oatmeal/raisin/applesauce cookies. But once every week or two I'd make a chocolate cake, or brownies, etc.

As far as snacks, I usually ended up on the simple/easy end if the spectrum. Preparation, but not much cooking for a lot of it. Sliced apples with peanut butter. Grapes and cubed cheese. Baby carrots and ranch dip. Pretzels with cheese or tomato-based dip. Applesauce. Grape tomatoes, sliced pineapple, tangerines, raisins, etc. My situation was not always having time when snacks were needed, so I could prep them in advance and so there was often a choice of several items. So my aim was probably opposite yours.

I have made homemade granola a lot of times - oats, nuts, seeds, a dash of honey, held together with peanut butter and baked.

 

[Pilgrim]

I make home-made granola too. I like chopped pecans and maple syrup in my recipe...touch of cardamom and black pepper.

It doesn't last more than a day and gets gobbled up with greek yogurt and fresh berries; or sometimes a home-made plum-cinnamon jam.

It's so much better than the store bought stuff.

 

[seekingHispresence]

Thank you. You guys were very helpful and steered me away from junk food. I have made granola bars before several times and they loved them so that's a good reminder. I haven't diced apples up into granola bars before I wonder how that would turn out.