It has been so hot here in Perth. I don’t know about you, but I don’t really like to cook when it gets really hot. So instead we eat lots of sandwiches, salads and wraps. Blame it on the weather for not cooking, good excuse!
Anyway, I do find that the kids gets hungry after school, around 3 o’clock. And yes, it is still scorching hot at 3, so I found a few snack ideas that will fill them up,keep them cool and it’s HEALTHY as well. Trust me is super duper easy!
Yummy banana and summer berries!
It may look like an ice cream, it has the consistency of ice cream, but this is even better than ice cream. It’s only made up of 2 ingredients.
equal quantities of:
1. Frozen bananas
2. Frozen summer berries (blueberry, raspberry and strawberry)
Simply put chopped frozen bananas and frozen berries into a food processor and blitz until is smooth. That’s it! Easy!
The way I like to serve them is with an ice cream scooper, you can put it on an ice cream cone as well if you like. My kids loves this banana and berries ice cream, and if your kids are not really into fruits you don’t really have to tell them what’s in it!
Mango Smoothies
I make this smoothies a lot! Usually I will make a batch right before I pick Stella up from school. Both Stella and Jake loves it, perfect for a hot day. This smoothies is cold, filling and delicious.
Mango Smoothies:
1. Mango, chopped into 2 cm pcs
2. Low fat Vanilla Yoghurt
3. Low fat milk
4. Honey (to taste)
Throw all the ingredients in a blender and again blitz until is smooth and creamy. I don’t have an exact measurement for this, so if you think is too thick add more milk. If it’s too sour to your liking add a little more honey. What I love about this is you can add other leftover fruits (eg. I always have 3 or 4 strawberries left in a box) so throw them in, then you will have Mango and Strawberry smoothies. Another great fruit combo is : Banana and strawberries.
Frozen grapes!
I always have this last snack idea in the freezer. It is simply “Frozen grapes!”. So one ingredient: grape (any type as long as it is seedless)
Grapes in the freezer bag
Wash the grapes and stick them in a freezer bag and put them in the freezer for about 4-5 hours until the grapes are frozen. We bought our grapes from the growers so is super fresh then I would prepare them to go to the freezer that day. It keeps the grapes fresh and no more mouldy grapes in the bottom of your fridge drawers.
All these snack ideas are best eaten pretty much as soon as you made them, except for the frozen grapes! But once they are frozen, they are ready to eat anytime. What I love about it is that is healthy and packed with loads of vitamins and anti-oxidants. Best of all no artificial flavouring and colouring.
A great alternative for ice cream on a hot day – definitely!
Just a little note about snacking and treat: I don’t give out treat everyday to my kids. My motto is “Is a treat so it’s sometimes food”. Don’t get me wrong we do not deprived them from it but we also do not make a big deal out of it. I try to give them healthy food that they like and encourage them to try new fruits and veges.
I am big on this, I think teaching children to have a healthy lifestyle is important! I hope it will give them a good start with their eating habbits.
I also think that people around the children need to support them by giving them good example of eating healthily. My parents knows about how I feel about this and they fully support me, so I know they will not ‘bribe‘ the kids with sweets and ice creams. However, I do find it hard when people start giving them endless treats just to get the kids to like them! Not to mention it confuses the kids.
So I hope by sharing these ideas, more people realized that there are lots of easy home made alternatives to sweet, unhealthy snacks and hopefully start experiment making their own!
Baa Baa Beep 
