Smart Snacks for the Whole Family

Disclosure

If there’s one thing I hope everyone remembers me for, it’s the monumental change our family has made to our health. Not only do DH and I watch what we eat but we’re also instilling these ideals into the girls. Arming them with the information as well as the taste buds to make healthy choices for the remainder of their lives.

We don’t adhere to a strict menu and eat out when we want to. Yes, I’ve mentioned that before. We try to live in a way that makes us happy while also keeping us healthy.

I give the girls the freedom to choose what they want for breakfast because starting the day empowered is a much better way than being dictated.

Lunch, dinner and snacks are a different story… I like to make sure they’re eating sensibly for all three of those.

For school days, the girls go through the lunch menu and decide whether they want hot lunch or cold lunch. Our goal is to have healthy options in their lunch. They’re allowed to pick items that go into their lunchboxes but it can’t all be junk. A drink, a sandwich, something sweet and something savory. The drink and sandwich are pretty standard and the variety comes from the sweet and the savory. At least one of those two HAS to be healthy. Ideally, both. Sometimes they’ll have a hard boiled egg, a cheese or beef stick or even a salad. For the sweet item, sometime fruit or yogurt but more often it’s something, well, junkier.  I’m always on the lookout for healthy options that they don’t feel like are a punishment.

It’s not just for them, though. I’m constantly on the lookout for snacks that don’t make me feel like I’m depriving myself.  When you monitor your calories AND try to eat healthier, sometimes it can get discouraging. Having a variety of healthy snacks to choose from makes it much easier.

During our latest trip to Walmart, I picked up some of my usual snacks along with a few new ones. Del Monte has a few new products on the market, including Diced Apples & Pears with Caramel Flavor and Diced Pears with Vanilla & Spice. At 60 calories and no high-fructose corn syrup, it sounded worth a shot. Before leaving the aisle, however, I compared it to one of the competitor’s flavored products and the Del Monte products weighed in at half the calories!

But the proof is in the pudding (or in this case, the fruit). It would take a taste test before I knew whether or not these would be a regular feature in our arsenal of snacks.

When I originally bought these, I thought they might be a good option for the whole family but once home, the girls saw them and were super excited. So I decided that these would be reserved for the girls’ lunches because excitement about healthy foods is difficult to achieve! But last night, I had eaten a pretty healthy dinner but was still needing (okay, wanting) a nighttime snack. Sometimes I have a low calorie brownie, other times granola or peanuts. I’m perfectly happy with fresh fruit and yogurt also. But of course, variety is the spice of life. If I’m constantly eating the same thing, I’ll feel like I’m missing out. As I sat around mulling what to snack on, I decided that I wanted one of these new fruit cups.  If we all liked them, we could always buy more. The girls would understand because they’re 100% on board with us eating healthy and they regularly ask how many calories we have left. (I have rockstar, supportive daughters!)

So the first fruit cup went to yours truly.

The Del Monte Diced Apples & Pears with Caramel Flavor was it.

It was tasty and satisfying and the calories didn’t kill my dietary budget. I’m sold.

This morning, Miss K opted for a sack lunch and as usual, I let her make the selections she wanted… within reason. Drink and sandwich followed by pretzels and Del Monte Diced Apples & Pears. She was really excited about the new fruit cups but I haven’t had a chance yet to ask her how she liked them.

If these sound like a great treat in YOUR Smart Snack arsenal, be sure to add them to your grocery list. But don’t forget to print out this coupon before you go!

For more information on Del Monte products, check out their website or find them on Twitter or Facebook.