After school snacks: give traditional treats a health makeover

What do your kids snack on after school? Are you stuck between wanting to feed your kids something healthy and feeding them something indulgent? Here are some ideas that will allow you to do both.

5 snacks your kids will love

Instead of candy or processed sweets, give these treats a try. Bake on weekends to save time during the week and involve your kids in the process!

1. Coconut chocolate chip cookies with coconut flour from Cooking with Coconut Flour by Bruce Fife. (1/2 cup melted butter, 4 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar (preferably coconut sugar since it is lower in fructose and lower on the glycemic index), 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/8 tsp salt, 1.5 cups grated coconut, 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips and 1 cup coconut flour. Drop spoon-sized mounds onto greased cookie sheet 1 inch apart and flatten with fork. Bake at 375 for 15 mins, makes about 2 dozen cookies).
2. Peanut butter cookies from Breaking the Vicious Cycleby Elaine Gottschall (1/2 cub butter, 1 cup peanut butter (no additives), 1/2 cup honey or coconut sap, 1 cup nut flour (i.e. almond meal), 2 eggs, 1/4 tsp baking soda, and 1 tsp vanilla. Bake on greased cookie sheet at 325 for 10 mins).
3. Chocolate Milkshake with raw milk and stevia. Clickhere for the video.
4. Black Bean & Avocado Brownies. I know how it sounds, but give them a try using coconut sap or honey instead of agave syrup.
   
5. Try a savory snack! Leftover chicken, beef or pork can be quickly re-heated with your kids’ favorite veggies (mushrooms, bell peppers) in a skillet. Cut into cubes and let your kids eat the pieces with toothpicks or on a skewer.Coconut flour, coconut sugar, stevia and raw milk can be found in local health food stores including New Leaf, Staff of Life and Rainbow Grocery.

   Non-sweet snacks your kids will love

   1. Tuna salad and celery sticks
   2. Grass-fed mini hamburgers
   3. Sliced veggies (let them pick their favorites) and hummus-yogurt dip
   4. Apple slices with nut butter (peanut, almond, cashew, macadamia, walnut)
   5. Rollups–lots of options here. You can used any sliced meat and/or cheese OR lettuce & sliced pepper or other favorite veggies. Stack them on top of each other and roll them up.

   Involve your kids in the food making process. They may even surprise you by making their own delicious and healthy creations!