After school snacks

Whether you are picking up from nursery, pre-school or actual school its time for the after school - afternoon snack conundrum. I am generally greeted with a demand of “what’s for snack?” before having bags and coats dropped at my feet.

My kids generally cycle home and it’s only 1K door to door but there’s a big hill in the middle to pedal up. They come out of school hungry and running low on energy so I like to take them something that will give them a boost but won’t fill them up too much, is reasonably healthy and generally doesn't contain a ton of sugar. If I can avoid lots of pre-packed snacks in wasteful packaging that's also a massive bonus and if I can sneak in a bit of goodness too, then i'm a winner.

Fruit is the first thing that springs to mind when you think about snacks for after school and I do take a banana or some berries sometimes but I find that they've usually had fruit before school and at break time and lunch time so I like to mix it up with some of these options.

Savoury muffins

My kids love these. I'm sure it's because they look like a cake but they are actually made from vegetables and cheese. This is our recipe for the fussiest of eaters that turn their nose up at seeing actual vegetables inside their muffins.  I make these using leftover vegetable puree. I made some tonight using the last bits of veg from last weeks shop. We also love this recipe from My Fussy Eater.

Sugar Free muffins

I'll be honest, at the point of writing this I haven't tried these 2 recipes but they sound and look amazing and I know we are all going to love these...If you give them a go please let me know what they're like. There's Chocolate Courgette Muffins from Mandy at Sneaky Veg and Apple Carrot & greek yogurt muffins from Ciara at My Fussy Eater! Click the images to get the recipes.

No Bake Granola Cookies

These are another recipe from My Fussy Eater and they went down really well on the school run - chocolate cookies are always a hit but these contain no refined sugar and I didn't even need to bake them. I really enjoyed these too and they stopped me from reaching for the treat box! An added bonus is that these are gluten free and Dairy free so if you have allergies you can enjoy them too.

 Protein packed Cookies

We all love these cookies and I try to make a batch up each week. They do contain sugar and a few chocolate chips but not half as much as regular cookies. They are made of chick pea flour, peanut butter, coconut oil, egg and a bit of sugar plus a drop of vanilla extract. Really quick and easy to make and very tasty.  Check out the recipe here

Healthy Chocolate Pudding

Pudding for the school run may sound odd but this pudding packs a healthy punch with avocado and banana as its main ingredients and no refine sugar. Serve it in a pouch and it can be consumed easily whilst walking along or hanging around the playground. This recipe can be found on our website here.

Yogurt

Squeezy yogurt pouches and tubes such as Frubes are great for eating on the go but your are left with wasteful packaging to throw away. Try making your own in a reusable pouch and take it home to wash and use again and again. you can even get them eating healthier live yogurts or non dairy yogurts if they have an allergy or intolerance to dairy.

Smoothies

What I love about smoothies is you can combine so many different fruits and veggies as well as seeds such as chia or flax. You can make them thick and creamy or more liquid depending on whether you want to hydrate them or fill them up. We have lots of combinations on our recipe pages for you to try. 

Nuts & Seeds

Obviously this one isn't for everyone if an allergy is present but we are fortunate to be able to enjoy nuts. Our favourite is almonds. Due to the risk nuts aren't allowed into school but they are such an amazing source of healthy fats and protein that I like to ensure that we eat them regularly. I always carry them in our sealed snack bags. I will be honest here. The kids don't see this as much of a treat so I usually add a few chocolate buttons for them to find in the bag too.

Eggs

We love eggs and I will often take a hard boiled egg for a snack. It's a fairly filling snack and full of protein. For younger kids you can make a boiled egg seem more exciting by using these egg moulds. 2 eggs fit brilliantly in our snack bags too! These are from the Eats Amazing on-line store

There are of course plenty of times that I rock up with bread sticks, yoyo's, crisps, digestives or if the sun is shining we might go and get an ice cream but generally we do okay at being healthy after school and it keeps them going until tea time. Where I can I try to avoid pre-packaged snacks as the wrappers are never usually recyclable.

What are your favourite healthy after school snacks? I'd love to get more ideas.