One of the perks of my job is I have access to lots of experts in the food industry.  While I am talking to them about work related projects, I often learn so many great things that I can apply to my own life, my diet and how I feed my family.  

Last week I was talking to Elizabeth Ward, a nationally recognized registered dietitian and author of several books about nutrition for children.  We were discussing a recent national study on Kids and Seafood, which is what I was planning to share with you today.  But as I sit here writing I am finding myself more interested in sharing my talk with Elizabeth than the study.  She was just so knowledgeable about childhood nutrition.  As a new mom I was totally fascinated with what she had to say about getting kids into healthy eating habits.

Elizabeth told me that on average kids get 25% of their daily calories from snacks.  I guess I never thought about how much snacking can add up!  The real gem of an idea I got from her was that since kids get so many calories from snacking we need to make sure that the snacks aren’t “meal wreckers”.   She said the best way to prevent this is to make each snack a nutritionally rich “mini meal”.  This way if your child fills up on after school snacks and barely nibbles at dinner, you don’t have to stress because you know he or she received good balanced nutrition throughout the day. 

So how do we achieve mini meals instead of just serving a snack?  Well snacks tend to be carb-rich but nutritionally lacking – think chips or crackers or even sweet treats like ice cream bars.  Mini meals go beyond carbohydrates and add protein and hopefully even a fruit or vegetable.  In other words we need to think outside the popcorn bag and cracker box when serving up snacks to our little ones.  Below is my take on a good after school mini meal.  I would love to hear from you.  What are some of the nutritionally complete after school mini meals that your kids go for?

The Ranch Dipper Plate

• SeaPak Popcorn Shrimp
• Mixed vegetable sticks (red and green bell peppers, carrots sticks, cucumber or other favorite veggies)
• Low calorie ranch dressing

Just pop some SeaPak popcorn shrimp in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.  While those shrimp are getting toasty, cut up some vegetable sticks and pour some low cal ranch into a little ramekin.  Balanced mini meal accomplished!   And if cutting up vegetables seems like more than you have time to do on a weekday afternoon, try cutting up a bunch on Sunday and portioning them into resealable bags so kids can grab and go each day after school.