Deliberate Snacking

Does this sound familiar?

I finally get R and G to sleep or rest for their nap/quiet time. FINALLY. A minute of peace to: clear the kitchen table from lunch, sweep the floor, unload the dishwasher, do the dishes, change the load of laundry, sort the mail, pay some bills, fold the laundry…and then, in a seeming millisecond, they are awake, and I am still trying to calculate how much the preschool tuition payment is this month (“Will R stay for Lunch Bunch three or four times this month?”). 

So, up I go to rescue R and G from their naps, but my mind is still engaged in the three or four other things I was doing when they woke up. I throw them a bowl of some raisins and bunny crackers (at least they are whole wheat!), as I hastily finish up a few things before our afternoon commences.

Am I the only one who: 

1.  Experiences a warp-like acceleration of the clock for the hour when they are both resting?

2.  Attempts to tackle a stream-of-consciousness task list, in which a few things get started during nap time, but hardly anything gets finished? And thus…

3. Iis always caught off guard by their snack requests after nap time, despite this being a daily occurrence?

My goal is to expand my snack repertoire this year. I am calling it “deliberate snacking,” the whole idea of planning a snack for each afternoon, rather than just throwing them a steady stream of crackers and dried fruit. Not that there is anything wrong with dried fruit and crackers…au contraire! But I just figure it can’t hurt to have a few other ideas up my sleeve, and then pull them out before they wake up from naps so I am armed and ready to boost R and G’s healthfulness each day.

I have made a good start on some ideas and recipes for snacks that are sort of my “go-to” snacks:

Portable snacks ideas:   

Trail mix   
Cheese cubes   
Freeze-dried fruit   
Dried fruit other than raisins   
Popcorn   
SuperBars   
Pumpkin, Zucchini, and other veggie or fruit muffins   
Cut-up fruit   

Nonportables:   

Hummus   
Baba Ganouj   
Salsa   
Smoothies   
Olive and Cheese Skewers

But I am looking for the next brilliant idea.  Got any you care to share?

SPC

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