Rethinking the afternoon snack

It's hard to mess with a classic - and cookies and milk after school certainly are. Perhaps you can't quite replicate the scene either in staging (you're at work!) or whatever, but you can address a certain need - and it doesn't have to be with sweets. After a long day of learning, your kids need some snacks. Afternoon snacks are a simple way to accomplish a few things: an afternoon regrouping before the rest of the day, the addition of some nutrients for kids to make the push through homework time and a little bit to tide over the belly before dinner. Come to think of it, sweets might not be the best thing after all. But what? Well...it shouldn't be overly heavy and the portion size should be kept in check. It's a snack, not a meal! Here are some healthy snack recipes to try:

• Fresh fruit
• Peanut butter and sliced apples
• Trail mix
• Granola bars
• Carrot and celery sticks with dressing to dip
• Waffle sticks with maple syrup
• Yogurt
• Applesauce
• Popcorn
• Smoothies
• Frozen fruit cubes (great on a hot day!)
• Half an English muffin with jam
• Half a pita with hummus
• Cottage cheese with fruit
• Cheese sticks
• Crackers and sliced cheese
• Quick breads like banana bread and zucchini bread
• Half a quesadilla
• Nachos
• Mini muffins
• Hard boiled eggs
• Fresh cherry or grape tomatoes
• Mini tuna melt
• Fruit salad
• Fresh fruit juice popsicles

As you can see, you have lots of healthy snack ideas beyond cookies and milk! In fact, there's such a wide variety of healthy and delicious snack ideas for kids snacks that your child may never miss the cookies. (And that means more cookies for you!)