Snack Attack - 35 Energy snacks that keep kids going

When it comes to snacking, my children are experts. They are busy. They are active and their systems are running on high maintenance all day!

When we are doing school work though, I find - that if their attention is slipping, they get fidgety or their behaviour becomes disruptive - providing them with good snacks, it helps a lot.  However I am not saying that they need to eat all day.  Children who are not active, will need to be monitored carefully ( as just like we can eat out of boredom, so can they).  My children lead very active lives between Nippers lifesaving, running, J-boarding, cycling, going to gym and the endless games they play running around the house. I always consider how much they are physically doing against how much they are consuming.  Your choice of snacks in this instance then becomes important.

But maintaining energy levels is important.  With a full day of school, after school activities and sport - you really can't expect your child to keep going on a bowl of cereal in the morning and a sandwich in the afternoon. Smaller more frequent snacks are a far better idea.

There are a few things to consider when choosing snacks:

 Consider preparation time

I have time to bake at night when I am making supper because the oven is already on and so I save on electricity. 
I often freeze after baking so that I have really easy days and only need to take something out of the deep freeze.
I keep snacks simple when I know that life is busy.
Our local Fruit and Veg city will clean and slice your vegetables which can save a lot of time and energy.

You don't want sticky dirty hands

 Use toothpicks, forks and facecloths to ensure that hands don't end up on pages.  And try not to keep the snacks on the same table as your books as one of the little ones are likely to spill the contents at some point or another.  If you keep it on a separate table it means away from books and a place to snack AND wipe hands.  Obviously wet wipes or dry wipes work too.

Low GI (you see I even get to sound like an expert)
Be careful of too much fruit and sugar, which includes the dry fruit. Try to balance your snacks with ingredients that are low GI

Affordability
The list includes cheaper and more expensive options. I do not believe in spending money unnecessarily. Just because its cheaper (or plainer) doesn't mean it's not as good. If you want to do a treat snack (like biltong) do it on a Friday or for special occasions.

Doesn't require moving to the kitchen to eat but can be consumed wherever they are
I don't do snack time in the kitchen otherwise I lose time rounding them up. They are clever in that way - they disappear in every direction. Yes! Even if they love learning new things - they will still duck and dive to play and read and build Lego. Or is that just my children?

I have made a list of snacks that are fairly healthy and easy to prepare. Again, how much effort you put into your snacks is directly proportional to how much time you have, but consider the benefits of maintaining energy levels and concentration against the preparation time. When you see what a difference it can make, you will feel a lot more motivated. And in fact these types of snacks can be given to the children at any time. Children need to sustain their energy even if they are not attending school or homeschooling.

SNACK ATTACK LIST 

• Carrot sticks/ discs (My children prefer the discs because they can pop them into their mouths and I prefer them because then they are not holding carrot sticks all the time which are prone to give off an orange colour on the hands)

•  Butternut slithers (Raw butternut is delicious. Give it a try. I often add slithers of it to my salad)

• Diced cheese blocks

• Apple slices and raisins

• Banana (don't peel entirely, keep the skin on and let them take it off progressively, keeps the mess to a minimum)

• Biltong (an expensive snack but I know some families who make their own, making it affordable)

• Popcorn (Be careful with this because unless you use a popcorn maker, this can end up being fairly oily and too much salt is not good for them either) 

•  Drinking yoghurt (store bought or big bottles of drinking yoghurt de-canted into a little bottle with a straw)

• Nuts

• Cucumber sticks/ discs

• Frozen grapes (because they are frozen, far less mess but if like my youngest they start putting it in and out of their mouths - which of course results in a big sticky mess - best leave that one out)

• Crackers or savoury biscuits

• Cheese wedges

• Yoghurt with a plastic spoon

• Hard boiled eggs

• Seeds - pumpkin, sunflower etc

• Raisins

• Rice cakes (now don't go putting lots on top, let them eat it as is)

• Dried fruit - there are so many varieties

• Dried fruit roll - I buy, but you can make your own if you are feeling especially adventurous.

• Naartjies (recommend these rather than oranges because if you buy them small, peel them and break them up into segments, its easy for the children to pop them into their mouths with almost no mess)

• Smoothie - a great alternative to drinking yoghurt and again so many variations.

• Trail Mix - mix nuts, seeds, dried fruit, muesli - go wild!

• Cherry tomatoes - my kids love the popping sound they make.

• Pretzels

• Sugar snap peas/ green beans or miniature corn - they are normally sold together in our shops

• Fruit of any variety - melon or watermelon balls, pineapple slices, grapes, apricots

• Muffins (variety, variety, variety - don't get stuck in a rut and dish up the same things over and over) - added bonus, they can be frozen

• Banana bread or any breads that don't require butter or toppings

• Granola bar

• Granola - this is delicious, especially if you make your own this is especially delicious.

• Protein on a stick (toothpick) - whatever you have: sausage, cold meats, fish sticks

• Scones - these are like muffins - delicious with lots of potential variety and can be frozen

• Sandwich squares or triangles - toasted, plain, oven baked - my children love garlic butter on toast, its a smelly affair but garlic keeps them healthy and its just so delicious

• Leftovers - pizza, meatballs - just remember this is not lunch time, so don't let snack become the focus, this is just to keep them going 

•  Rusks - these are great if you don't dry them out completely, if they are too dry you will have endless crumbs!

All of these snacks are based on a family with no sugar, wheat or allergy problems - however all of them can be adapted to suit your family. In terms of health benefits: opt for home made, it protects your family from all the extra colourants and preservatives and other can't-name-the-chemical-additives that they put in our food these days.

Why not leave a comment, I would love to hear what snacks you give your children which keeps them on the go.

Linking up with Raising Homemakers, Domestically Divine Tuesdays,Titus 2sday Link-Up,Living Well Wednesdays,Growing Home: Teach me Tuesdays, Proverbs 31 Thursdays,

Snails and Slugs and Escargot

OK so why bother with this post on a Sunday night?  Maybe I should be writing some beautiful reflective article about rainbows, flowers and chocolate cake (though we did have that tonight - chocolate cake in a mug - decadent delight) but this is not it.  Tonight I want to talk about snails and slugs.  And yes it's not symbolic of anything incredibly spiritual or deep.  It's those slimy, slippery - always-eating-my-new-vegetable-seedlings-thing-a-machigs (did you ever use that word when you were at school?)

So while my family were doing the dishes after a delicious dinner of pork, mash and salad followed by choc cake in a mug (I mentioned that didn't I?) - I headed outside with a torch and my crocs.

I don't like crocs much (that would be plastic/rubber shoes for my foreign friends - not crocodiles - because in South Africa we do not have wild life in our back yard - at least not in Cape Town - unless you would consider my children wild life).  I have a pair of crocs - pink ones - which I use: not for fashion but for crushing those slimy snails and slugs underfoot.

I can just see you scrunching your face up and considering whether you want to continue reading this but let me explain.  I am no organic-green-recycle-everything-type of girl - in fact having to recycle just irritates me but I want vegetables and I want them to be without all poisons and pesticides that you find in the store, unless you pay a fortune for the organic ones which in our current economic climate is not affordable.

So we have slugs and snails and I need to get rid of them. 

I tried  a few less gross methods of getting rid of them:
*  making beer traps (my dad thought this was sacrilege to waste it on snails and I didn't want to explain every time my friends came around, that the beer in our house was for the snails and slugs - honestly, how many of you would have believed THAT?).
* I tried putting salt on the ground but then I worried that the ground might become to salty (I mean if you put too much salt on chips or popcorn, it spoils it, so surely it will do the same with soil?).  Not sure how scientific that is but it can't be good to keep putting salt on the soil.
* I put down egg shells which are supposed to cut their slimy bits and stop them from eating your plants - but it looked awful.  It looked like we were dumping our trash in our garden and the birds started to take wide detours around our house, no doubt fearing we were egg thieves.
*  Apparently if you put wet newspaper on the ground at night, the slugs and snails like this.  The next morning all you have to do is go outside, fetch the newspaper full of all these creatures and then dispose of them. There wasn't one slug or snail in all those layers when I tried it. Maybe its because I put out the Sunday Independent rather than the Sunday Slimes.
*  I read that if you attract certain birds to your garden, they'll eat the snails, which also didn't happen - besides the horror of them seeing all the broken egg shells in our gutter garden, our cat-want-to-be-tiger, does very little to encourage confidence in any bird, that our house is a place of safety.

Then I stumbled upon a site which said that slugs and snails like to come out at night or when it rains and so if you head out at night with a torch you will find these criminals.  Which I did.  There they were - guilty, guilty, guilty -eating all my precious plants.  And so the process started of eliminating them from my garden. I just pluck them off and crush them underfoot - it's something I will never get used to and I grit my teeth and bear it, just like I did when I knew that one of my babies had delivered a special parcel in their diaper, but you just do it.

Of course anyone driving past my house at night might suspect that there is a rather suspicious criminal loitering around our house, and I am surprised that no one has yet called the police - but maybe that's just the sort of behaviour they expect from us, across the street - you know those people with those children who do that weird thing called homeschooling.

Though mind you, it could be far worse - I could be recycling the snails and eating escargot for breakfast, lunch and supper - now that would be a interesting outcome.  Anyone keen for a snack?

What to do this weekend? 40 Fun things to do with your kids

Wondering what you should do this weekend?  Run out of ideas or just need some fresh ideas of fun things to do?  Of course its all about what the weather is like so I thought of giving you some options because I am kind in that way;)

Out and About Activities for Children
1.  Zip sliding - enough said, read my post about this

 2. Head to the beach/ river/ dam/ friends pool - anything with water normally appeals to children

3. Go on a picnic - try something different - try a scavenger hunt, I spy, cloud spotting
4. Go to a park/ petting zoo/ farm

5.  Plant some seeds in the garden - find vegetables in your home that can be planted out - like peppers, tomatoes, butternut, squash

6.  Put a sprinkler on outside and while watering the garden, let the children play in the water
7.  Go on a hike, remember not to be too adventurous, don't choose a 2 hour hike with a 3 year old (like we did) as you may have to carry her most of the way (which we did)
8.  Blow bubbles or make your own
9.  Bike Ride - takes a bit of effort on your part but once you get going you won't be sorry
10. Head out to the local market but make sure the children eat before you go, otherwise you will spend a fortune
11.  Ball games on school fields or courts - tennis, cricket, baseball, soccer
12.  Hide and Seek - fun at home but try a different venue or place
13.  Hopscotch - just needs some tar or cement and a bit of chalk
14.  Outdoor cooking - BBQ, Braai, Potjie, Bread on a Stick
15.  Camp out in your garden
16.  Arrange a play date with family or friends in wide open spaces where they can run around and make a noise

17.  Make some mud in the back yard - let the children play with their trucks and cars in the mud
18.  Fruit picking - you get to pick, eat and if there is any left - make some jam too
19.  Go watch a sporting event - cricket, soccer, rugby - this will truly be a memory moment
20.  Eat out in a restaurant in a sunny spot with a view - next to the harbour, overlooking a dam, outside on the pavement, down at the docks


Rainy Weather Things to do
1.  Children have screen time due to them?  Why not let them try Reading Eggs?  You can sign up for 14 days free trial and its a super duper learning tool, they think they're having fun time but they are learning at the same time

2.  Puzzle - and don't go and spend money doing it either, take one out of the library, or borrow one from a friend
3.  Bake - any recipe with anything you have.  Dad might not get involved but I bet he would love to eat anything you make -  why not make some of those yummy jam squares?  And then invite another family to enjoy them with you

4.  Family read aloud - get an old favourite off the shelf and let dad read for a change.  Throw some blankets on the floor - bring out the Lego or the toys.  Try some of the funnies like Roald Dahl, Amelia Bedelia, Michael Maphurgo
5.  Movie Day - from the library or friends OR video store or online purchase
6.  Indoor Excursions -  Aquarium, Play Centres, Planetarium, Art Galleries, Museums, Ten Pin Bowling 
7.  Board Games - Scrabble, Monopoly, 30 Seconds, Charades
8.  Box Construction - give them all your empty cereal boxes, toilet rolls, egg cartons, all that junk you collect in your cupboard or under the sink (or is that just me?) and let them build whatever they want - robots, houses, machines. You will need glue (so best to keep them in a safe space) , scissors and some paint (for the very adventurous).  My eldest is 11 but he still loves this- our children have even created marble tracks, miniature skateboarding parks and cities.
9.  Dress up - little children especially love the chance to dress up in mom and dad's clothes.
10.  Call a friend on Skype - your kids will love this especially when they see themselves on the computer screen.
11. Go to the movies
12.  Make volcanoes with vinegar, bicarb and colouring!

13.  Visit an orphanage or animal shelter and volunteer for the day - remember to phone before you get there otherwise you might be disappointed and be turned away

14.  Head to gym - our gym has child care facilities for up to 2 hours.  Go gym and then have a date with your man in their coffee shop while the children are having fun.
15.  See a show (head to the theatre, watch a matinee)
16.  Go the airport, watch the airplanes land and take off and enjoy breakfast/ snacks/ drinks with a view
17.  Play games

18.  Make paper boats and go outside in the rain (yes that's right - let them play in the rain)  and watch them float down the gutter.  This truly was one of my favourite activities to do as a child.  I even used to add cargo like little stones or small toys.  And if this is just a little adventurous for you , put water in the bath and you can do the same.
19.  Paper aeroplane racing - choose a space where they can throw paper aeroplanes to their heart's content.
20.  Visit local heroes - the police, the fire station, lifeguards, ambulance workers. 


I am linking up with:

Gardening this week? Looking for inspiration?

I love gardening, I never seem to have enough time in my day or week to do everything that I would like to and if I had an endless budget I would probably spend chunks of my hard earned cash on surrounding myself with the most glorious plants.

Gardens are a place of refuge, new growth, pruning - and as the gardener you get to choose the direction you want to take - creativity at its best.

I love the landscaping ideas found in any Garden and Home magazines, or photographs of gardens in exotic locations,  botanical gardens with their indigenous plants and of course garden furniture that creates a haven of solitude and beauty.

But then, here I am in a house with no garden so to speak and a budget that couldn't buy even one container advertised in any those lovely books we all like to page through.  So I am always on the hunt for unusual ideas for gardening.  Recycled, refurbished, budget ideas.  And here are some of my favourites.

Recycled soda bottles, mason jars and tins.  Anyone can do this!
 

Herbs in shoe holders

A birdhouse and feeder from an old teapot.

Recycling Kitchenware for the Garden

This is just the cutest idea, especially for when they outgrow their Wellingtons

Who would have thought a succulent and a stiletto could be such a good combination?

I think my children would love this idea

Happy Gardening!

Cake Recipe: Chocolate Wacky Cake

This is a great recipe!  A great chocolate cake recipe! Kids birthday cakes, cupcakes, in fact any jolly cake that you like.  How you decorate it, will be the deciding factor - you can downgrade or upgrade your version.  Since I rediscovered this recipe, I have made about 4 in the last week.

Why?

*  I only have to use one bowl (minimal washing up!)

*  Ingredients are so simple, no rushing out to find the margarine because I didn't realise that I didn't have enough.  

*  No eggs and milk- for those of you that can't have or don't want the animal products in your cakes.

*  It takes 5 minutes to make, if you're Chad(that would be my 8 year old) maybe 20 minutes - but it was so simple, I hardly had to supervise him.  

*  Chocolate - yummy!

Ingredients

1 and1/2 half cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/3 cup oil
1 cup water or milk

Put all the dry ingredients into the bowl, no sifting required.  I do sift my bicarbonate of soda because it can get lumpy and then not dissolve.  If you want to spoil a cake, take a bite with a piece of bicarb that hasn't dissolved.  Disgusting!  Which by the way is not in the picture because I accidentally put baking powder in the picture and then 2 cocoa's and no vinegar.  I couldn't tell you what I was thinking when I was doing this.

 

Once all the dry ingredients have been added, grab a fork and mix it until it looks beautifully brown like mine:)

Make 3 holes in the dry ingredients.  In the one put vinegar, the next the vanilla essence and then lastly the oil in the third.

Pour your one cup water or milk over the lot and mix with a fork until its all mixed in.  Can you believe it can be so simple?  Of course I have to always test everything I make and so a couple of finger dipping moments are required though I would never confess to that in public.  Just look for the tell tale sign of chocolate around my mouth.

Stick it in the oven for about 30 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius or until its done.  Normally I prod it with a kebab stick (without the meat on of course) and check that there is no sticky goo stuck to it.  And then you know its done.

And then?  These are some of the things you can do with this recipe, just so you can see how versatile this cake is!

The English Kitchen

Food Loves Writing

Bankrupt Vegan

Now how can you not love this !?

For those of you who love a little bit of history:  Apparently this cake is also known as the Depression Cake, because it was a cake made during that time, when money was tight and cakes were a luxury that few could afford.  I love the fact that someone came up with a recipe like this to help during those tough times.  We all have them at one time or another.

So go on, get the cake in the oven, make a good strong pot of coffee and invite some friends over!