Our posh tent – with real beds & sofa

It’s the first day back to school after the half term holidays, so I can breathe a sigh of relief that the teachers can entertain my children for a few hours each day! Over the holidays we spent 4 days camping on the Isle of Wight (not ‘real’ camping, we were Glamping/posh camping).

Four. Long. Rainy. Muddy. Days. I grew up spending summer holidays camping in France, Spain and Portugal, and being Irish, I’m used to wet weather. However, the combination of camping and terrible weather, with 3 small children and a husband thrown in, proved somewhat ‘tricky’. ‘Nuff said.

So back to school today! Yay! I’ve had a few Mums at school asking about healthy things they can feed their kids after school. I think the issue these days is that there is so much ‘children’s food’ available from the supermarkets, and often it’s high in sugar and refined carbohydrates. So what can you bring to fill up the tummies, reinstate emotional calmness, and provide them with something tasty and nutritious?

Here’s a list of healthy kid friendly snacks that can be eaten on the go:

• fruit: keeping it simple……apple, banana, grapes etc. If necessary, tell them to eat the really good stuff first, then they can have a biscuit.
• smoothie: before you leave for the school pick up, blend 150ml milk, a handful of frozen berries and a ripe banana. Add a dollop of honey for extra sweetness. Put in a children’s drinking bottle. The blended frozen berries will keep it cool until you get to school.
  

  DIY popcorn

• Homemade popcorn: buy the corn kernels, they take about 5 minutes to make in to popcorn (just heat some butter or oil in a saucepan, add the corn kernels, allow to pop, sprinkle with cinnamon/some teaspoon of caster sugar). Put in to bags for the kids (and yourself!)
• Cocoa Bars: these homemade ones are really chocolately, and my kids feel like they are getting a special chocolate treat. They don’t know that they are made with ground almonds, chopped dates, chopped raisins and cocoa powder. If they new this they wouldn’t touch them! The recipe is based on the Nakd Bars, so these are an alternative if you don’t have the time or inclination to make your own.
• Banana Bread – call it ‘cake’ and they will be delighted.
• Rice cakes sandwiched with peanut butter & jam
• Yo Yo – these are basically fruit. Expensive for what they are (cheapest I have found is 50p for a packet), but convenient and healthy.
• Nairn’s Oat Biscuits – I discovered these recently discovery in Waitrose. They are oatcakes that come in a variety of flavours e.g. fruit & spice, berry. Some sugar has been added, so they are sweet enough to be a biscuit rather than a blander oatcake (1.9g sugar per biscuit, which is less than half a teaspoon, limit to a couple of biscuits).
• A sandwich: wholemeal bread/pitta/wrap filled with tuna mayo/ham/cheese & carrot

If you are concerned about filling their tummies up too much before dinner, try choosing less filling options e.g. rice or corn cakes, apples, pears, popcorn and water. Today I’m bringing some grapes and the Nairn’s Oat Biscuits…….I’ve been sitting here typing for too long so haven’t had time to make the banana bread that I had planned!