Snacks That Don't Spoil Supper
By Sue Gilbert

You can barely wait until baby's every three-hour eating routine has evolved into a more civilized schedule. But when it does happen, as parents we tend to shift our view of the importance of each eating incident. Meals we view as critical for getting in nutrition and calories. Snacks we view as damage control times, something not so bad as to ïspoil' their dinner. That's because our adult view of snacks usually is as something bad or forbidden because of the foods we associate with snackingƒ.soda, chips, candy bars. Children, however, require frequent eating, including snacks, to meet all of their nutritional needs. Older babies and toddlers are still growing, have stomachs that are small relative to their needs, and so they can't fit in all the nutrition they need into three meals a day. As parents, we need to shift our view of snacks, not as something to entertain or quiet a pesky child, but as something as important as breakfast, lunch or dinner.

For you to feel that this snack is not "spoiling" your child's next meal, there are a few things you can do. Think of the snack as part of that meal, and then readjust what and how much you plan to serve -- both for the snack and for the meal. This will help you look at their daily diet more holistically. Kids need a certain amount of nutrients and calories each day, and meals and snacks added together should provide that amount. Therefore, snacks should be part of the bigger plan. If the snacks kids are eating are nutritious, healthy foods, then they don't need to eat so much at dinnertime to meet their daily nutritional requirements. And, if the snacks are wholesome foods, you don't need to be concerned that empty-calorie foods are crowding out what they really need.

For snacks you will feel comfortable offering, choose some of the foods you were planning for the next meal (or similar foods), then adjust your expectations of them eating that food group at mealtime. If the mid-afternoon snack you offer contains a glass of milk, whole-wheat crackers and mango slices, then you needn't worry if they don't drink their whole glass of milk at dinner, or eat their vegetables.

Dinner seems the most problematic. Very often, parents think they need to prepare a full course dinner and that our families need to eat them. We can provide just as well for our kids if we make sure the snacks we offer are healthy, help to meet their needs as outlined by the Food Pyramid http://www.usda.gov/cnpp/KidsPyra/ , and that we adjust our expectations about preparing and eating a traditional dinner. If your kids have had a healthy snack at 3 PM, and if the foods fulfilled some of their nutritional needs, then you can also cut back on the quantity of food you prepare and expect your kids to eat at 6 PM. A meal of whole-wheat pasta with a tomato and meat sauce may be all they need.

A healthy snack plus reduced expectations for dinner will help guarantee that your kids are getting the nutrition they need. Don't feel hemmed in by traditional snack ideas. Just keep in mind the big picture for the day, and be sure the foods they eat are helping to color in that picture.

Here are some snack suggestions you can serve and feel good about:

• Earth's Best Whole Grain Bars (http://earthsbest.com/products/kidz_wholegrainbars.php)
• Cereal with fruit and milk
• Macaroni and cheese (use an organic, whole-wheat boxed variety)
• Apple and banana slices spread with peanut butter
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Yogurt mixed with fresh fruit
• Peanut butter on graham crackers
• Soft cooked veggie finger foods, like carrot sticks or sweet potato sticks, or raw veggies for older snackers, served with a child friendly dip, such as peanut butter mixed with yogurt, or low fat ranch dip.
• Earth's Best Applesauce (http://earthsbest.com/products/kidz_applesauce.php
• Leftovers from dinner the night before, such as cold chicken and pasta Homemade whole-grain muffins containing fruit or veggies, such as carrot, blueberry or zucchini
• Low-fat cheese with whole-grain crackers, served with fruits and/or veggies.
• Fruit smoothies made with yogurt, bananas, orange juice (or other favorite combos)
• Veggie burger cut into finger friendly sizes
• For beverages at snack time, serve milk, 100-percent juice (http://earthsbest.com/products/tots_juice.php), or water. Avoid sports drinks or sodas that provide calories but little else.