I would like you to plan 5 days (1 week) of nutritionally balanced snacks for a school-based program. Keeping in mind the nutritional needs of children, limiting the fat, watching the budget, and making the snacks appealing to children, (remember that having the students be a part of making the snacks gives them ownership and helps them take some responsibility for their food choices).

Submit your menu directly in the Assignment area from our course menu. The snacks need to be something that could be made and served in a school-based after-school program without a lot of cooking, you are not making a full meal, do not include a beverage unless that is your primary snack. This is not something that you would typically make at home with your own children for a meal, it is a simple nutritious snack!

Snacks should represent a variety of cultures since the students in our schools represent a variety of cultures. For example, you may want to choose a recipe from Mexico, one from the Middle East, one from India, one from America, one from Vietnam, & one from Japan. Your recipes should not all come from one country since the students you are creating them for will not all be coming from the same country! You will have to do a little bit of research to make sure that it fits within the current food pyramid guidelines. There are some good ideas online for this project. In our discussion this week make sure you post your favorite menu ideas to share with the rest of us.

When you submit papers no more than 20% of your paper should match when you submit. For this assignment, your paper really should come up at less than 2% or 3%. You aren’t really writing a paper you are simply going to post snack ideas in the format shown in the example. I have included 5 snack ideas so that you have the idea of the formatting and the level of student involvement in creating their healthy snack choices.

EXAMPLE SNACK IDEAS:

Please do not include drinks. Your snacks should be easy and quick to prepare, involve very little cooking time, Can be prepared primarily by the students with direct supervision, contain no added sugar, have whole grains, fruits, and proteins. It is a snack, not a meal. These should be easy to prepare in a classroom or daycare center.

Monday: Apple slices with almond butter—students choose red, green or yellow apple rings and spread with almond butter. Top with raisins, banana slices, or granola.

Tuesday: Plain Greek Yogurt served with sliced fruit—students choose from a variety of fruit; bananas apples, grapes, blueberries, etc…seasonal choices to dip in plain Greek yogurt.

Wednesday: Hummus dip—kids can make this from garbanzo beans and Greek seasoning, enjoy with carrot and celery sticks

Thursday: Applesauce—kids help peel and slice apples earlier in the day. Add water to large pot toss in apples and cinnamon and cook until soft and mushy. Serve warm. Delicious on a cold day! They may even eat the peel while preparing the apples for the pot!

Friday: Mini pizzas—use whole wheat pita bread or English muffin halves, tomato sauce, low-fat cheese, kids choose the veggie toppings. Bake and serve.

Each day is worth 8 points, ask yourself as you are planning your 5 days of SNACKS:

• Is this easy to prepare?
• Is it a snack and not a full meal?
• Is it healthy/nutritious?
• Is it something children will eat?
• Can it be prepared with minimal or no cooking?
• Did I include the students in the process of making this?
• Did I include a variety of cultures in my snack planning?
• Did I include at least 2 different food groups in this snack?