After-School Snacks for All

Ruma asked for ideas for make-ahead snacks, saying, "We get back home at 6 but don't have dinner right away....that leads to major bad decisions ;) Anything that can be made in a batch, or quickly conjured up is appreciated."

Er, I might know a little something about those bad decisions. In a typical scenario, we're an hour or two away from dinner when hunger gets the better of me and then the rickety wall of willpower standing between me and a party-size bag of chips comes crumbling down. You don't have to go to school to need an after school snack.

So I've made it a habit to eat a hearty snack right around 4:30 PM. For me, this time is right because it is an hour before I start making dinner and two hours before we actually eat dinner. I'm not really eating 3 big meals a day, but more like 6 small meals, and this snack is one of those meals. These smaller frequent meals seem to keep my blood sugar on a more even keel, which makes for all sorts of better decisions and a sunnier disposition, believe me. 

My six rules for "after-school" snacking:
1. Eat before you get ravenously hungry. The hungrier you get, the poorer the decision about what to eat. So schedule the snack into your day.
2. Portion out the snack before you sit down to eat. This is for those of us who have problems with portion control. You know who you are.
3. Even if you're still hungry after eating your portioned out snack, don't go get seconds. Wait for 20 minutes after eating the snack- that's how long it can take for the brain to register satiety. Distract yourself with something else meanwhile.
4. Drink a couple of glasses of water. A lot of times what you think is hunger is really thirst.
5. On that same note, a hot drink can be wonderfully refreshing in the afternoon. I need a cup of caffeine in the form of chai at this hour or I'll be dragging all evening. If you're not one for caffeine, you might enjoy a warm cup of apple cider, or cocoa made from a homemade mix using skim milk or almond milk.
6. Plan ahead and have good snack foods handy. I've listed some of my favorite ideas below. 

Snacks that can be made ahead in a large batch, perhaps on the weekend:

1. Vegetable patties: I know I mention these puppies in every other post, but everyone really always loves them. You can mash all sorts of vegetables, form them into patties and fry them up (only a few drops of oil needed) into delectable snacks. I made a batch of the mix this long weekend and we enjoyed patties several times for snacks. This one had potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, corn, onions and cilantro with plenty of zing from ginger and garlic. You can make the patties ahead of time too- they reheat beautifully in the skillet or microwave.

 

2. Chivda or trail mix: My personal snack craving is for crunchy, salty, spicy foods. This evening, I made this big batch of baked cereal chivda: In a large bowl, mix your favorite unsweetened cereal (I used cornflakes and chex) and all sorts of nuts (peanuts, cashews, almonds, walnuts). Heat some oil/butter and make a tempering with mustard seeds, fennel seeds, curry leaves, turmeric, chilli powder. Add the seasoning plus some lemon juice to the bowl and mix well. Pour into a baking sheet, spread out and bake at 250F for an hour. Add raisins/dried cherries/cranberries. Cool and store for snacking.

There are at least eleventy billion versions of chivda and chex mix on the internet or you can invent your own house mix. This can be made in a microwave, oven or stove top.

3. Dips and crudites. On the weekend, cut up a big container of veggie sticks- cucumber, carrot, celery, bell peppers, beets and place in the fridge. Some people like raw cauliflower and broccoli too- I don't particularly. Then, make a dip or two and stick it in the fridge. My three favorites dips are yogurt dip with herbs (drain yogurt to thicken it), sweet potato hummus, bean dip with Mexican flavors.

4. Boiled edamame or boiled peanuts. Make a big batch and store in the fridge.

5. Fruit salad: Fruits get eaten if they're nicely cut into bite size cubes and are ready to eat. Make a big fruit salad and enjoy a bowlful, sprinkled with chaat masala if you like.

6. Sprouts bhel: Make a big batch of moong or matki sprouts, steam them and mix with cubes of cucumber, tomato, boiled potato. This would be fine in the fridge for 3 days or so. I would add salt and chaat masala just before eating. Date chutney can also be stored in the fridge for weeks to be spooned over chaat.

7. I rarely crave sweet snacks, but for those who do, one idea would be to make a big batch of granola bars, or oatmeal cookies or peanut laddus.

For those who eat dinner late, here's an idea: Make a big batch of soup on the weekend, brimming with vegetables and beans. Eat a bowlful a couple of hours right when you get home, as a first course, then eat the rest of the meal at your usual dinner time.

Snacks that can be quickly conjured up:

Stock up your pantry/fridge with any or all of the following: nut butters, whole grain crackers, whole grain pita bread and tortillas, fruit (bananas, grapes, apples, pears, oranges), cheese, boiled eggs, jarred salsa, jarred pasta sauce, roasted nuts.

Then you can quickly mix and match to make snacks like apples with almond butter, grapes and cheese, mini pita pizzas. One of my favorite childhood snacks was peanuts with bits of jaggery. A sort of deconstructed laddu.

Got any brilliant snack ideas to share? Speak your heart out in the comments.