Learn Why Bee Delicious is an important part of the BeeWell for Life Program

When the bell rings at the end of the school day, most kids haven’t eaten for about four hours and are ready for some fuel.  Typically kids and teens reach for after school snacks that are convenient, fun, easy to eat, and of course tasty.  So, in offering up snacking options to your after-school snackers, give them what they’re looking for…in a healthful way!

Hungry kids are usually looking for either salty or sweet snacks, so we divided our ideas into two categories, to satisfy any taste preference:

Salty snacks

Parmesan popcorn: Using air-popped popcorn or 94% fat free microwave popcorn, mix 6 cups of popcorn (one regular-sized bag of microwave popcorn) with ½ cup grated parmesan cheese and 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder.  Fill re-sealable baggies with 2 cups of popcorn mix.

Pre-cut veggies and hummus: Slice carrots, bell peppers, zucchini, and celery, and store in the fridge in a large container along with grape tomatoes.  Purchase a large container of hummus or make your own, and then scoop ¼ cup servings into smaller containers.  Kids can get a bowl of veggies and dip them into their own container of hummus.

Mini cheese sandwiches: Using a small whole grain cracker, like Triscuit or Kashi TLC, sandwich a piece of reduced fat cheddar cheese in between two crackers.  Stack sandwiche and wrap in aluminum foil packets, with 4 sandwiches per packet.  Kids can dip these in mustard or hummus if they’d like.

Turkey poppers: Wrap a slice of turkey breast around a piece of reduced fat string cheese and place 4 toothpicks evenly along the length of the roll.  Slice the roll into 4 equal pieces (each held together with a toothpick) and place them on a plate, covered in plastic wrap.  Kids (or an adult, if kids are too small to use the microwave) can simply remove the plastic wrap and microwave until cheese softens (about 30 seconds in most microwaves).  Turkey poppers can be dipped in mustard or hummus.

Sweet snacks

Sliced fruit and peanut butter dip: Mix 2 cups low fat plain yogurt with ¼ cup creamy peanut, almond, or soynut butter, 2 tablespoons honey, and ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon.  Place 1/3 cup dip into reusable containers and store in the fridge.  Keep a container of cubed melon in the fridge with whole berries, apple slices, and peeled orange segments (bananas are a great option too, but are better cut right before eating) for kids to dip into their own containers of peanut butter yogurt dip.

Cereal trail mix:  Mix 4 cups whole grain cereal with 1 cup dried fruit and 1 cup chopped walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, or pumpkin seeds.  Place ½ cup mix into re-sealable plastic bags.

Mini peanut butter sandwiches: Spread 1 teaspoon peanut, almond, or soynut butter onto a whole grain cracker and top with another cracker.  Store stacks of sandwiches wrapped in foil, or put several into re-sealable plastic bags in the refrigerator.

Popcorn mix (dried fruit, mini choc chips, walnuts): Using air-popped popcorn or 94% fat free microwave popcorn, mix 6 cups of popcorn (one regular-sized bag of microwave popcorn) with ¼ cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips, ¼ cup chopped nuts, and ¼ cup dried fruit.  Place 1.5 cups of the mix into re-sealable plastic bags.