Healthy Sweet Snacks
When your child craves something sweet, you can still make it healthful. Homemade puddings and custards aren’t much harder to make than instant mixes. Try tapioca, rice, and bread puddings liberally seasoned with cinnamon, nutmeg, and/or cardamom.
• Muffins. Cinnamon oatmeal, lemon poppy seed, cardamom apple…Have your child help you make these and serve with a big glass of milk or a fruit smoothie.
• Gingerbread with a dollup of plain or lemon yogurt.
• Strawberries, melon chunks, or grapes with topping. Combine 8 ounces cream cheese, 1 tablespoon honey, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract. Spoon over fruit.
Party Treats
• Popcorn. Instead of dousing it with butter, sprinkle popcorn with cheese powders, nutritional yeast, chili powder, garlic powder, or any other favorite seasoning. Toss with raisins and nuts, too.
• Twice-baked potatoes with chives, parsley, marjoram, salt and pepper (make these ahead and reheat in the microwave or oven).
• Whole grain pretzels or breadsticks, covered with sesame or poppy seeds.
• Deviled eggs with mustard, paprika, celery seed and parsley.
• Quesadillas. You’ll want to be around to supervise making these, but have your child spread what she likes—cheeses, refried beans, chicken slices, salsa—on a tortilla, then top with another tortilla. Cook for just a few minutes on each side, until cheese melts. Serve with sour cream.
Ask the Experts
Salt isn’t really a spice, is it?
No, it isn’t. Spices are from plants, and salt is a mineral compound made up of the elements sodium and chloride. In fact, salt is the only rock we eat! But salt has long been used to season and preserve foods, so you’ll find it nearby the spice rack. And when recipes say “season to taste,” they’re usually referring to salt.
While we’re talking about salt, there are some differences. Most table salt comes from salt mines and often has added iodine and ingredients to keep it from caking in the salt shaker. Sea salt comes from evaporated seawater and contains small amounts of minerals. And kosher salt is coarsely crushed salt that’s prepared according to Jewish dietary laws, without any additives. (It’s especially good for curing meats, because the bigger surface absorbs more juices instead of being absorbed into the meat.)
Why does pepper make me sneeze?
Black, white, and green pepper contain a chemical called piperine, which stimulates or irritates the nerve endings inside the mucous membranes of your nose. In an effort to get rid of the irritant, the nose sneezes. By the way, when you sneeze, air travels out of your nose at 100 miles per hour!
Learn more:
» Super Snacks for After School
» Spicy Facts for Kids
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