Quick, easy and healthy snacks for kids’ lunch boxes and after school

Sayonara soggy sangers — these simple snacks will give kids the fuel their growing minds and bodies need, and make packing school lunch boxes a breeze.

Experts say having a stash of pre-cut fruit and vegies helps take the stress out of snack time.

There are many things to love about getting kids back to school — but having to sort out lunch boxes and after-school snacks every day isn’t necessarily one of them.

And after weeks of being able to snack on demand, it may take kids a bit of time to get back into the swing of structured meal times too.

But experts say putting a little thought and effort into snacks, both during and after school, will pay dividends as students transition back to classrooms.

Dietitian Natasha Murray says nutritious snacks can help kids deal with the mental, emotional and physical demands of being at school.

“Kids are often tired after school because they have been thinking all day, and that extra running around the playground, especially for the little ones, they will be quite tired from that as well,” says Natasha, of the Dietitians Association of Australia.

Author, cook and former primary school teacher Julia Busuttil Nishimura says healthy school snacks help busy brains get the fuel they need for learning.

“As adults if we’re hungry we can’t focus on work, we’re distracted or irritable; so we have to treat it in the same way for kids,” says the mum of two.

Julia — who has been sharing family meal tips at this week’s Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Online Edition and is set to release a new cookbook, A Year of Simple Family Food, in August — says developing good snacking habits as children is also important for healthy eating as adults.

So how do you put together snacks that will nourish growing bodies and minds?

Snack plates and “face plates” can help if you have fussy eaters.

PLAN AHEAD

“When you’re doing your meal planning, instead of just planning dinners, also plan snacks for the week,” says Natasha.

“Rather than opening the cupboard and grabbing biscuits and muesli bars, if you do a bit of prep you can have healthy options available and ready to go.”

At Julia’s house, there is often a ready supply of homemade hummus, Bircher muesli, fruit and vegetable sticks in the fridge.

“It’s good to be prepared for after school because they’re usually tired, they want something quick. You want something to tide them over so you can get dinner ready,” she says.

“It doesn’t need to be very elaborate. It could be a smoothie, yoghurt with some muesli or granola and some fruit on top. They key is having it ready at home.”

Natasha recommends keeping tubs of cut-up fruits like pineapple and watermelon, as well as healthy yoghurts or dips, to transfer to smaller pots throughout the week.

If kids have after-school activities, pack a separate container of snacks in their schoolbag so they an eat on the go.

Julia suggests taking children to the greengrocer to pick fruit and vegetables for the week, or flipping through a cookbook together.

“Kids can be notoriously picky so involving them in the process is good,” says Julia. “Getting them interested in foods is encouraging good eating habits as well.”

Mix things up in the lunch box to keep an element of surprise.

QUICK BUT CREATIVE

“I think mixing it up is very important, so they are not going to have the same thing every day,” says Julia.

Her four-year-old son is a fan of onigiri, seasoned Japanese rice balls made of leftover rice.

Or she’ll pack a wrap, a boiled egg or a cob of corn.

“Have that element of surprise,” she says, adding that presentation can be key for fussy kids.

“You can turn anything into a face (plate). Kids are playful at heart and when you make the food fun and exciting it does make a big difference.”

Homemade muesli-bars packed with nutritious oats, seeds and nuts make good refuelling after-school snacks.

Natasha suggests pairing baby tomatoes and cucumbers, celery, and cauliflower or broccoli florets with dips or even peanut butter.

Other good options are air-popped popcorn, a handful of nuts, wholegrain crackers with cheese, or yoghurt — “just look at labels to make sure they don’t have too much added sugar”, she says.

Sports drinks, vitamin waters, juices and fizzy drinks are best avoided, says Natasha, but frozen berries or other fruit can add flavour to plain water.

MINDFUL SNACKING

“Kids are really good at knowing they’re when they’re hungry and when they’re not — as long as they are not distracted,” says Natasha.

So ditch devices, TV and homework, and encourage them to eat at the table or outside.

“It’s a good time to sit down with them and have a chat about their day,” says Natasha.

Finding a balance between sating after-school hunger and not being too full for dinner may be tricky, especially when kids’ appetites wax and wane by the day.

“I often suggest doing up a snack plate after school. It might have a bit of fruit, cheese squares, a little dip, roast meat from the night before … so kids can pick or choose what they feel like that day. If there’s something left over that’s OK, they might have eaten a lot at school,” says Natasha.

Setting a time limit for snacking may also be helpful.

But Julia says if kids eat healthy snacks, an unfinished dinner is not the end of the world.

“If you’re giving them food you might serve with dinner anyway, like vegies and hummus or pita, then it’s not a bad thing,” she says.

The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Online Edition, featuring a series of livestreamed talks, behind-the-scenes tours and special takeaway dishes, runs until Saturday, May 30.

Julia Busuttil Nishimura has been sharing family cooking tips during this week’s Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Online Edition.

JULIA BUSUTTIL NISHIMURA’S SIMPLE SNACKS

Onigiri (Japanese Rice Balls):

With damp hands, firmly shape still-warm cooked short grain rice into balls or triangles. Wrap with toasted nori sheets and serve with a mug of miso soup.

Banana honey oat smoothie:

Blitz a banana in a blender with 250ml milk, a pinch of cinnamon, two tablespoons of rolled oats, a tbsp of honey and some ice until smooth.

Granola yoghurt pots:

Layer spoonfuls of Greek yoghurt with granola and frozen raspberries in a small jar. Make the night before and keep in the refrigerator for an easy after school snack.

Pita and hummus:

Cut pita bread into large pieces. Brush with olive oil and season with a little salt. Bake in a 180C oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden and crunchy. Serve with hummus and sticks of raw vegetables like carrots, celery and fennel.

Julia Busuttil Nishimura's Granola with Poached Plums, from A Year of Simple Family Food.

GRANOLA WITH POACHED PLUMS RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

300g (3 cups) rolled oats

80g (½ cup) hulled buckwheat

50g (3 ¾ cups) puffed millet

55g (1 cup) coconut flakes

2 tbsp black sesame seeds

2 tbsp white sesame seeds

100g (¾ cup) pumpkin seeds

40g (⅓ cup) sunflower seeds

155g (1 cup) almonds

flaky sea salt

80ml (⅓ cup) extra-virgin olive oil

100ml maple syrup

175g (½ cup) honey

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped, or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

¼ teaspoon baking powder

100g dried fruit, such as apricots, sultanas, sour cherries etc.

labneh or milk, to serve

POACHED PLUMS

3 tablespoons marsala

2 tablespoons brown sugar

juice of ½ lemon

6 blood plums, halved and stones removed

METHOD

A Year of Simple Family Food, by Julia Busuttil Nishimura, Plum/Pan Macmillan Australia.

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Line two large baking trays with baking paper.

In a large bowl, mix together the oats, buckwheat, millet, coconut, seeds, almonds and a large pinch of salt.

Meanwhile, combine the olive oil, maple syrup, honey, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and 1 tablespoon of water in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar and honey. Stir in the baking powder and take off the heat – it should foam up. Immediately pour the hot mixture into the oats and stir so that everything is well coated.

Divide the mixture evenly over the prepared trays. It should sit relatively flat to ensure even cooking. If the trays are too crowded, use three trays instead. Bake for 1 hour or until a deep golden colour. During the cooking, stir the granola every 20 minutes, more often towards the end, to ensure it isn’t burning and everything is cooking evenly. Allow to cool completely on the trays, then break up into clusters. Add the dried fruit and transfer to jars or an airtight container. The granola will keep in the pantry for up to 3 months.

For the poached plums, simply combine the marsala, brown sugar, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of water in a small saucepan over a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the plums and cover with a lid. Simmer for 5–10 minutes or until the plums have just collapsed. Allow to cool.

Serve the granola topped with the plums and a dollop of labneh or some milk.

MAKES APPROXIMATELY 1KG

From Julia Busuttil Nishimura’s A Year of Simple Family Food, Plum/Pan Macmillan Australia, out August 25.