Seasonal Summer Snacks for Kids
Here in the heart of the Willamette Valley, fresh berries, tomatoes, and squash are in abundance right now. We at SNACK have a fantastic opportunity to show youth in Yamhill County how fortunate we are to live with so many great seasonal fruits and veggies at our fingertips.
The SNACK Program hosts monthly cooking workshops that offer our participants time and access to try their hand at chopping, measuring, blending, baking, and other kitchen skills appropriate to their age group.
With Kids CAN! (Cooking and Nutrition) workshops we work to show our families that cooking helps youth [1, 2]:
Learn and practice new skills in the kitchen. Math, science, reading, motor skills, planning, you name it. Kitchen skills (reading recipes, measuring and preparing food, etc.) are life skills, and kids who practice in the kitchen are more self-confident. And more kitchen time equals less screen time - a win-win!
Get familiar with new veggies and fruits. Research suggests that kids increase their liking for foods after being encouraged to taste them regularly for several days or weeks. Don't like cucumber today? Maybe taste it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day... you catch our drift!
Grow a positive relationship with food by sharing a meal with friends, family, and SNACK interns. Fond memories of time spent together in the kitchen preparing healthy meals, along with social cues from positive role models, can deeply impact a child’s relationship with food. Think about your favorite food---Do any happy memories come to mind? We work to cultivate happy memories of healthy foods.
At our June cooking workshop, we made 3 cooling, healthy snacks using locally sourced, seasonal produce from our friends at Even Pull Farm and Hurst’s Berry Farm:
Veggie dip with Greek yogurt and fresh dill (recipe from Wellness Mama - we used cream cheese instead of parmesan) paired with fresh veggie sticks like carrots, turnip, zucchini, cauliflower, and cucumber
Pineapple blueberry smoothies (recipe from Dole - we added fresh kale for some leafy green goodness!)
Greek yogurt and blueberry popsicles with a bit of honey (recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction - we used plain Greek yogurt instead of vanilla since our berries were already so sweet!)
What are some of your go-to summer snacks? We'd love to hear from you!
With love,
The SNACK Program
