What up snackers?! Who doesn’t love a good snack break? I know my house is a big fan of the snack because my kids’ favorite meal is something we call “Snackin’ Dinner”… We spread a tablecloth on the floor of the family room, put a movie on, and chow from a giant platter of snacks: nuts, seeds, olives, chopped veggies, crackers, hummus, sun-dried tomatoes, cheese pieces, edamame beans, pretzels, you name it!

Well, in this week’s podcast (episode 5–woohoo!), we talk about Healthy Family Snacking, to help you get you started on making sure snacking doesn’t take over your life, interrupt the stellar nutrition of your meals, or ruin the serenity of your kitchen.

Here are a couple teaser tips:

1. Let kids be independent with their snacks within your healthy guidelines. It’s ok if they make a mess! This gives them some freedom when they may not have much choice at mealtime.
2. Set a “no snack window” timeframe before meals when snacking isn’t allowed. It could be an hour, 2 hours, or even 3 hours before a meal (and by meal, I probably mean dinner). Announce that snacking is about to close and let the wildlings go kookoo. Then, hopefully they’re still hungry for the next meal thanks to the window.
3. Establish a specific snack space in your kitchen so kids can help themselves. We have a dedicated snack bin in the fridge for individual peanut butter and hummus in these condiment cups for dipping pretzels or veggies, plus a doubled-up snack drawer tower which is filled with individual applesauces, seaweed snacks, packs of nuts, granola bars, larabar minis, kind bars, individual pretzel packs, and other nutritious options. The tower sits on the floor of the pantry so it can be reached by all the kids and they know to grab a variety and not just 6 granola bars:

What are your snack hacks? Share in the comments!

xo