Healthy Snack Ideas

It's back to school time. Do you know what that means? It's August, and . . . it's Kid's Eat Right Month. 

What is Kids Eat Right Month?
Kids Eat Right (KER) month was started in 2014 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND). The purpose of KER month is to educate family, caregivers, communities, and policy makers about the importance of nutrition and optimal health for children and their families.

Since I work with pediatrics patients, this is a busy time of the year with children returning to school. As a Registered Dietitian (RD), I want to ensure that children are fueled in a healthy way to grow, play, and succeed in school.

The most frequently asked questions I get this time of year are questions about feeding children healthfully. The mostly commonly asked question is "What's a good snack?" for my child. So, today I'm talking about healthy snacks!

What is a healthy snack?
Snacks are small amounts of food. The portion size depends on your age with smaller portions for toddlers and larger portions for older adolescents and adults.

For school age children, teenagers and adults, the goal is to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables. The more specific goals is 2 servings of fruits and 3 servings of vegetables per day. If you eat 3 meals + 0-2 snacks per day, this averages out to at least one serving of fruits or vegetables at every meal and snack. So, I like to think about having fruits or vegetables as snacks. If a fruit or vegetable does not fill you up, pair it with something. You can add hummus, salad dressing, cheese, peanut butter, almond butter, nuts, or yogurt.

What are some healthy snack ideas?
Here are three quick and easy snack ideas. These make fruit and vegetables the star and are cute for an after school snack.

Vegetable Flowers

My vegetable flowers is made with the following ingredients: hummus, sunflower seeds, carrots, bell pepper, basil, and parsley.

Directions:

1) To make the vegetable flowers, wash all your produce.

2) Spoon hummus on the plate.

3) Arrange baby carrots around the hummus in a spiral shape like flower petals.

4) Sprinkle sunflower seeds on the hummus to represent the sunflower's seeds.

5) Cut a long strip of bell pepper to be the flower stem.

6) Arrange two basil leaves on either side of the bell pepper to be the flower's leaves.

7) Arrange parsley under the bell pepper to represent grass.

Enjoy!

*Note: Steps 5 and 6 are optional. They create visual appeal but are not necessary for a deliciously snack.

Cute Caterpillars

My vegetable flowers is made with the following ingredients: red seedless grapes, green seedless grapes, candy eyes, and royal icing.

Directions:

1) Wash all grapes.

2) Thread grapes on toothpicks or skewers.

3) Attach eyes with royal icing.

Enjoy!

Note: You could also use reduced fat cream cheese or nut butters, like peanut butter or almond butter, to attach the eyes. You could also make the caterpillar's eyes with raisins or mini chocolate chips. Also, make sure your kids or guests know that there are toothpicks in the caterpillars.

Enjoy!

   Rainbow Hummus

My rainbow hummus snack is made with the following ingredients: orange bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, green bell pepper, hummus, peanuts, parsley.

Directions:

1) Wash all vegetables.

2) Slice off the bottom of the orange and yellow bell peppers to create clouds.

3) Cut the green bell pepper in half to make the pot for the "pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."

4) Slice thin slices of bell pepper (approximately 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices). Then, cut the slices in half to make half-moon shapes for the arches of the rainbow.

5) Arrange bell peppers on the plate to make the rainbow and clouds.

6) Spoon hummus on the plate.

7) Place your green bell pepper "pot" on the plate.

8) Place peanuts on the hummus to represent the "gold" in the pot.

9) Place parsley on the plate to represent the grass that the pot of gold is sitting on.

Enjoy!

If you have any healthy snack ideas, share them below in the comments.

August is Kids Eat Right Month™, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Academy Foundation's chance to highlight the fight for our children's healthy future. Find out how you can get involved!

Stay tuned all this month for more on healthy eating and Kids Eat Right Month. For more recipes, encouragement, and tips for healthy eating, follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. 

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3 Hummus Recipes

Hummus has become my favorite dip, spread, and appetizer. It's a yummy blend of chick peas and pretty much any flavor you want to add. 

One of my best friends, Mal, introduced me to Mediterranean food in college. It's still one of my favorite things to eat. My husband is half Greek, so anything Greek or Mediterranean is a hit in our house. I find myself making more Greek dishes, and hummus is on a regular rotation at my house.

Here's my hummus recipe.

RDTOD's Hummus - Garlic Red Pepper Hummus
Ingredients
1/2 cup almond butter
2 Tablespoons lemon zest (zest of approximately 1 lemon)
6 Tablespoons lemon juice (the juice of approximately 2 lemons)
2 garlic cloves
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 cans chickpeas- rinsed and drained
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
In a food processor, blend almond butter and lemon juice for 2 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add lemon zest and garlic. Mix for 2 minutes. Add red pepper and garbanzo beans. Mix 2 minutes. Add olive oil until combined. Enjoy!


What can you do with the basic hummus recipe? You can eat it or add different flavors. Here are my two current favorite hummus variations.

Basil Pesto Hummus
Ingredients
Half of RDTOD's Hummus recipe
1/4 cup basil pesto

Instructions
Divid the basic hummus recipe in 1/2. Add 1/4 cup basil pesto to the hummus. Mix together. Enjoy!

Lemon Artichoke Hummus
Ingredients
Half of RDTOD's Hummus recipe
3 jarred artichoke hears
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon (2 Tablespoons)
Instructions
Divide the basic hummus recipe in 1/2.
Add hummus, 3 artichoke hearts, zest of 1 lemon, and the juice of 1/2 lemon to a food processor. Pulse until combined. Enjoy!
Hummus is a great spread for sandwiches and wraps. It's a simple, make-ahead appetizer for entertaining. Hummus is a great dip for veggies and crackers. Hummus is a great dip for encouraging kids to eat their vegetables. I recently did a television appearance for healthy eating for back-to-school. Here are some of the simple, snacks you can put together for you kid's lunchbox or after school snack.

Hummus and Veggie Flower

Bell Pepper and Hummus Rainbow and Pot of Gold

For more recipes, encouragement, and tips for healthy eating, follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. 

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3 Quick Snack Ideas

State of My Goals Address: June

As promised, I am sharing updates on my goals and 2016 resolutions in the state of my goals address. You can take a look at my 2016 goals and my thoughts on goals and resolutions. Sharing these goals is a way to keep me accountable and help me to improve, grow, and learn. People who share their goals tend to be more successful. So, I'm sharing the goals here to encourage you and to keep me accountable. You're welcome to comment with your goals and share your progress as well. Feel free to tag your goals with #RDTODgoals or #healthyRD on social media.

2016 Goals

Try 30 new recipes. 

In June, I tried a few new recipes including:

• Shrimp boil
• I'm a Louisiana girl. I grew up with crawfish boils. If you don't have access to crawfish, I think a shrimp boil is a great way to enjoy a low country boil. Recipe post to come.

• Hummus!
• I'll be sharing a post about my favorite hummus recipe and how to change it to different varieties of hummus. 

For those keeping track, this makes my new recipe count 23 out of 30.

Build endurance and strength.
I continue to attend my favorite weight lifting class. I've also started some cardio dance to increase my cardio variety.


Travel.
There was no big travel this month. But, we have some travel plans later this year. So, stay tuned!

image from amazon.com

Read more.

I also read Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist. I enjoy the author's writing style; she paints pictures with her words. She is able to describing food, smells, experiences, and difficulties and makes the reader feel like she is right there with her. 

For those keeping track, my book count is 4 in 2016.

Learn something new.
I took a cake decorating class; I'll be posting more details about this class soon. Taking classes are a great way to learn a new skill. I foresee more classes in my future!

These are my broad goals for 2016. What goals are you working on in 2016?
Comment below.

For more recipes, encouragement, and tips for healthy eating, follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. 

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Goals: January

Super Bowl 2015 and Auto Correct Fails

Can you believe that game? What a tight race!!! My condolences to the Seahawk's fans and congratulations to the Patriots and their fans.

My favorite part of the big game is not actually the game. I enjoy the people, commercials, half-time show, and of course the food! We had a yummy game day spread this year. The kitchen was full of goodies to munch on during the game. There were dips: guacamole and queso with brisket (I can't even describe the deliciousness; it was so good.). There were mini entrees: pigs in the blanket and sausage rolls. And, there were plenty of desserts: chocolate covered popcorn, petite fours, and gummy worms!

Football food always has a bend toward rich, yummy treats. As a dietitian, I tried to balance rich foods with something a little lighter. So, I brought a delicious, nutrient-dense dip and veggies for dipping. It's all about balance. So, I brought hummus and sliced veggies and crackers for dipping.

Funny story: my phone auto corrected hummus to gummies. So my message to the group said i was bringing "gummies and veggies for dipping!" No one e-mailed back, but thankfully my husband told me about this auto correct fail. So, I brought hummus, veggies, . . .  and gummy worms! We were hanging out with some new friends, so it was kind of a hilarious mistake and conversation started. It turns out that everyone figured it was something delicious and possibly healthy, since I'm a dietitian. hahaha. I am proud to say that the hummus was gone and so were 90% of the veggies. The gummy worms were also a hit!

So in summary, auto correct fails happen. No one is perfect. Lots of people like vegetables with dip. And vintage candy is always a hit!

Hope you enjoyed the game! If you need a quick appetizer for a game day or any other event, try this hummus and veggie tray. 

• Pick 3-5 colors of food for the tray. 
• I choose yellow squash, an English cucumber, an orange bell pepper, a red bell pepper, and baked pretzel crackers. 
• Wash and slice all your vegetables. 
• My new mandolin came in handy for this task (thanks Mom!). 
• Arrange vegetables in large blocks of colors around your dip. 

And you have and easy, tasty appetizer in minutes that just happens to be healthy! Enjoy!

For more information, recipes, and tips and tricks for healthy eating, follow RDtipoftheday on Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.