{"id":3846,"date":"2016-04-06T12:38:10","date_gmt":"2016-04-06T16:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ssww.com\/blog\/?p=3846"},"modified":"2026-06-12T14:16:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T18:16:38","slug":"healthy-choices-for-kids-tips-snack-recipes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ssww.com\/blog\/healthy-choices-for-kids-tips-snack-recipes\/","title":{"rendered":"Healthy Choices for Kids – Tips & Snack Recipes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"healthyWith Every Kid Healthy\u2122 week coming up (April 24-28th) and the Y’s Healthy Kids Day\u00ae (April 29th), we recognize the importance of encouraging students to make healthy choices and understand nutrition. A great way to do this is through cooking classes and introducing healthy snacks that kids can try and even make. Chef Rita Neal from Growing Great Schools (now known as Root2Rise) has shared some great recipes and tips on how to help students eat healthier.<\/p>\n

As a professionally trained chef one of my greatest joys is being in the kitchen and experimenting with new recipes. Over the past several months I have been focusing most of my experimentation on recipes that appeal to kids. Five years ago a group of parents and I helped start a nonprofit called Growing Great Schools (now known as Root2Rise).<\/p>\n

Its mission is to create a culture of wellness by connecting food, health and the environment. Root2Rise is committed to transforming schools and communities. Like \u201cEvery Kid Healthy\u2122 \u2013 a national movement to make all schools healthier places\u201d, one of the ways Roots2Rise does this is by offering getCOOKing, a program that teaches kids and teens how to cook. In addition, getCOOKing focuses on where food actually comes from, why it\u2019s important to eat local, seasonal foods and food traditions.<\/p>\n

When my young students come to class at the end of their school day they are anxious to get started and especially to get tasting. Lunch is a distant memory at that point and they are hungry. It makes it highly likely that they will taste whatever we are cooking, whether it is brussel sprout salad or black bean tacos. I am also the mother of two school aged girls, which gives me ample cred to go on for hours about the hunger they report upon seeing them after school. Their first words to me, whether meeting in the car, at the ball field or off the bus, are\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m starving!\u201d I have retired my speech about how they are not even near starving, that starving is severe malnourishment, that they are merely hungry. By then they are HANGRY\u2026 oops\u2026wrong move, you do not want females 11 and\/or 14 years old hangry. That is serious.<\/p>\n

I have learned that it is in everyone\u2019s best interest to keep things in the refrigerator or\u00a0freezer to pull out with little or no preparation needed. My normal go to is: apple slices, red pepper slices, carrot sticks, celery sticks, sliced cheese (cheddar), clementines, edamamae (always in pods) frozen, nuts, pistachios and cashews are favorites in our house, the banana goes in and out of favor, strawberries and mangos are always a hit. Variety is key, tastes change due to the season, mood swings and other unseen forces. The above list is what I think of as \u201cfast food.\u201d There are times when something more substantial is necessary. I have a few tried and true recipes that have passed muster not only on my kiddos but also with the kids that have taken my getCOOKing classes. One favorite is the seedy Granola bar. I use mostly nut free ingredients due to nut allergies in but since my kiddos are not nut sensitive we go with the peanut butter option. These are sweet, chewy, packed with flavor, kids universally love them, and <\/em>they are filling, have protein, fat, fiber, & minerals. I like to use pumpkin seeds (pepitas) for their outstanding nutrition, lower price and, no need to chop! Another great feature of these is they do not need baking! So fast and easy.
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Granola Bars\"healthy<\/strong><\/p>\n