My favorite time – snack time! For February, National Snack Food Month, let’s celebrate these tasty morsels for a whole month.

Go Beyond the Snack Isle

Snacks often have a bad reputation, at least in terms of health. It’s true that snack food isles are often filled with high fat, high calorie, high sodium, and high sugar choices. But snacks can be great sources of fiber, vitamins, minerals, proteins, and healthier fats and carbohydrates. You may just have to wander to other parts of the store next time you shop.

Think Mini Meal

When you snack, think of it as a mini meal. Though you could plan tomorrow’s dinner to be a plate of snack cakes with a side of potato chips, hopefully you come up with something more satisfying than that – both in taste and nutrition. Additionally, when we snack on healthier foods in between meals, it gives our bodies the sustainable energy it needs to make it to that next meal.

Snack MyPlate

Try snacking from all five food groups this month.

• Whole grains – popcorn, granola, whole grain crackers
• Fruits – apples, bananas, oranges, raisins
• Veggies – pea pods, cucumber slices, carrots
• Dairy – string cheese, yogurt cups, individual shelf stable cartons of milk
• Protein – hard-boiled eggs, mixed nuts, healthy beef jerky

Make Homemade Mixed Up Food Group Snacks

• Whole grain pita or multi-colored pepper slices dipped in guacamole or hummus
• Apple slices or carrots with peanut butter dip
• Cherry tomatoes with mozzarella and basil
• Fruit smoothies or protein shakes
• Yogurt with granola and mixed berries
• Banana Sushi – smear a whole wheat tortilla with peanut butter, put a banana in the middle, roll it up, then cut it into “sushi” slices

For more great snacking ideas, check out 10 Snack Tips for Parents, MyPlate Snack Tips for Kids, 25 Healthy Snacks for Kids

Delicious, healthy, on-the-go snacks. Be creative and keep it healthy this February – National Snack Food month.

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