Open thread: Summer snacks

This summer we are eating a lot of watermelon, but are sticking to our usual favorites of cheese, dried fruit like raisins and cranberries, and nuts like pistachios and walnuts. Yogurt (baby yogurt for him, Fage for me), apples, oranges and peanut butter on crackers. We go out for ice cream about twice a month during the summer. There’s a local place that we love. What are your favorite summer snacks?

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27 thoughts on “Open thread: Summer snacks

  1. In the ice chest for the pool yesterday: Strawberries, grapes, cheese its, water bottles, clemantine oranges, random cereal trail mix (the remnants of boxes that don't equal a full serving), poolnanas (bananas that go to the pool)an apple, cucumber slices and fruit roll ups. Don't judge! I took 3 kids for 4 hours!

    But, at the pool I saw (all in the hands of children 12ish and under): 20oz Mountain Dew, Sonic size soda of some type, family size bag of Doritos, peanut butter sandwich on white bread, banana and goldfish.

  2. I don't snack a lot and I have to be honest, in the summer the kids are pretty much on their own for making snacks. Due to crazy schedules, I do most of the meal prep during the school year so summer is really their opportunity to work in the kitchen. We shop for healthy foods so by and large at our house if you can find it, you can eat it. But I don't always know what they are eating!

    They eat a lot of fruit and veggies like carrots and cherry tomatoes. It varies with our weekly CSA delivery. My youngest really likes quesadillas but that can mean cheddar, a mix of mozzarella & provolone, with or without meat or some kind of bean left over from dinner, or even PB and some fruit (if it's cheese-less is it still a quesadilla? LOL). Just depends on what he can find in the fridge.

    If we have corn chips, sometimes they'll make nachos with black beans, salsa/tomatoes, and leftover meat if we have it. They also snack on leftover pasta and soups or extra pancakes or waffles from breakfast. Once tomato season gets going (cold, wet summer here) we'll make a lot of salsa fresca so they'll have that with chips or quesadillas.

    The worst thing they have… my mother gave them a snow cone machine and some syrups. They usually ignore it unless it's really hot. I don't love the sugar & dye content but they don't go crazy with it (oldest sometimes just has plain shaved ice) and always ask before they use it, so it's fine.

  3. Fruit, peaches, plums, berries. Strangely, cucumbers whole ones not peeled. Pretzels, Yogurt, Carrots, grapes, cherries… Everyonce in a while we have icecream.
    We cut out almost all processed foods this Summer.

  4. Most of our snacks (and other meals, too!) seem to revolve around our seasonal fresh produce. We've been hitting the cherries and peaches and plums pretty hard around this house! Also, tomatoes have been big. I caught my daughter eating a giant beefsteak tomato the other day like an apple!

    So grateful for the corn in this area (midwest). Last week when we were at Cape Hatteras we ate some of the worst corn ever. We've gotten spoiled by our local corn here!

  5. Plums, peaches, and blueberries at present. I also have a few sour cherries that I'll finish this weekend and, sadly, that will be it for sour cherries this year. I like peanut butter (must be natural chunky) sandwiches on honey wheat with fresh berries or sliced peaches instead of jelly. I typically have half of a peanut butter and fruit sandwich as a snack. For an occasional splurge, I love freshly made peach ice cream from a family-run dairy stand that's on my way to/from the beach. I usually take roasted peanuts in the shell to the beach for snacking. I also snack on raw seasonal veggies with hummus or tzatziki (yogurt dip with minced cucumbers, garlic, onion, and dill).

    When it's blisteringly hot, I confess that I snack on Edy's sugar-free frozen fruit bars. Please don't scold me for eating Splenda on occasion. I'm diabetic and the sugar-free bars don't raise my blood sugar like the regular ones would. I think they may have even saved my sanity a couple of times this summer!

    Like d12brown's pool experience, I see lots of kids under 12 eating and drinking junk, junk, and more junk when I'm at the beach. Nacho cheese Doritos and fried Cheetos are extremely popular. The beach I frequent has a snack bar/grill and I see the majority of kids snacking on french fries, smiley fries (who knows what's in those besides potatoes), loads of Heinz ketchup (contains HFCS) on their fries, junky ice cream bars, frozen candy bars, and stuff that I don't even recognize so I couldn't tell you what it is. I cringe every time I see a kid with a cola. It contains phosphoric acid which leaches calcium from bones. Like a growing kid (or anyone) needs that! Many (though not all) non-cola soft drinks contain phosphoric acid, too. You really have to check labels to know. I'm convinced that most parents just don't have a clue how big an effect diet has on their kids.

  6. We love hummus and home made pita, smoothies, and lots of seasonal fruit. Blueberries are my family's favorite. Sometimes we'll indulge in Chapman's frozen yogurt.

  7. Generally in the summer we don't eat much out of our pantry when we're looking for snacks, so crackers and those kinds of things are a no. We eat a lot of apples dipped in cream cheese or peanut butter; all of the various seasonal fruit; soy beans; yogurt; pudding; cheese in its various forms; turkey pepperoni; chips & salsa; applesauce; veggies & dip; smoothies; chocolate milk; lunchmeat & cheese roll-ups; hard-boiled eggs; orange juice; whole wheat mini bagels; granola; cashews; cocoa-covered almonds; and popsicles.

    You can tell from my list that we're not health-nuts by any means. I don't get very wrapped up in the organic or natural craze. My food philosophy is just that I aim to provide the widest variety of food for my kids that I possibly can, while remaining within my grocery budget.

    –jennifer

  8. Frozen grapes. Throw them in a plastic baggie, throw them in the freezer and yuuuuuuuuuummm.

  9. I am so excited by your series next week. I will be sure to read. You are being so crytic as to it's subject I can't wait!

    we are snacking on all the same things, but also homemade yogurt and smoothies, carrot sticks and OJ popscicles are great too. You should consider switching your little guy over to plain yogurt sometime soon. Baby yogurt and adult yogurt are no different (unless there is something I don't know) I gave our toddler baby yogurt back when he was little, but with #2 I never did.

  10. The kids love making freezer pops in the summer. Even my 18 month old can put pieces of chopped fruit into an ice cube tray, then I pour juice or yogurt over the top and freeze it.
    Fruit and veggies with different dips are always a hit. Oh and guacamole,fresh salsa, and bruschetta….got to take advantage of tomato season. 🙂

  11. It's hot where we live, so we practically live in our backyard pool in the afternoon. I have been making homemade popsicles for my 21 month old all summer, they are definitely his favorite! Cantaloupe are my favorite, they seem to be the least messy on him. He also loves strawberry, blueberry, & banana mixed and any melon. Blend in the regular blender with a bit of plain yogurt and freeze!

  12. Lots of watermelon. That's my big beach snack. I chop up a watermelon either into chunks or slices and put it in some sort of big tupperware container(s) and then put that in the cooler.

    At home it's easier stuff like carrot sticks, cheese sticks, cucumbers and sliced apples. Lately we've been in a rut actually. Carrot sticks, carrot sticks, carrot sticks. I'm amazed the kids aren't orange.

  13. for savory snacks: a really good tomato, sliced, with a little bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and something green (sometimes basil, sometimes arugula, sometimes chives… whatever looks good in the herb garden).

    for sweet snacks: a couple of weeks ago, a peach vendor gave me an overripe peach that was hours from going bad, and told me to put it in the freezer. i just took it out today…. and wow is that my new favorite summer snack! 🙂

  14. Cherries, watermelon, strawberries, bananas, PEACHES. My sister and I have been making healthy smoothies all the time too (strawberries, bananas, a little honey, skim milk, and ice – YUM!)

  15. Tons of watermelon. Peaches that come from an orchard close to our home. Tomatoes, peppers, cukes, basil from the garden.

  16. In Washington State it is mountain blueberry season so I've been buying flats of the large, sweet blueberries. Some make it to freezing for over the winter months but the kids pick at them all day long, so we are going through a lot. 🙂 I keep lots of fresh veggies and fruits around this time of year. Frequent visits to the Farmer's market helps keep us stocked up.

    Looking forward to you series next week. 🙂

  17. I read this site through a feed. What's the feed's URL of the new site, do you know, or will it remain the same?

  18. I just discovered a new summertime favorite: frozen grapes! Awesome! So cold & sweet, but just grapes–nothing else. Very healthy!

  19. Depends which brand of baby yogurt you buy, of course…

    And on the snowcone topic, there's no need to feel guilty or limit their use of the ice shaver. We just freeze juice in ice cube trays and throw that in. It makes great snowcones without all the processed sugar and artificial colors/flavors. Their favorite flavor right now is white grape/cherry juice, but I love the cranberry/pomegranate mix.

  20. Yellow cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and basil from the garden, with a squeeze of lemon and sprinkle of salt. Add crackers for a snack or a side of rice and black beans for a yummy lunch!

  21. Lots of fresh fruit, but chilled. We buy the weekly produce specials at several groceries and end up with a good variety.

    Homemade popsicles with fresh fruits, yogurt, sometimes a splash of vanilla or a sprinkle of cinammon, sometimes not.

    We just made a watermelon granita last night that was lovely, a touch of added sugar, but 1/3 cup only, so I went with it.

  22. I love all of these great suggestions!! It's fantastic to have such talented readers from whom I can learn!

  23. frozen grapes are my summer fav! I really like slices apples with a cinnamon spice blend and some vanilla Activa. Fresh peaches and pre-sliced veggies (I know, I know, but I'm really pressed for time at work) plain are some go to snacks. I also really like cold chicken nuggets so on the weekend, I'll cut up some chicken and bake them with some new potatoes and eat those cold with veggies. I like to mix up salsa and have it with chips. I try to find the whole grain stuff instead of the Lays or whatever or make some bean dip with black beans and spices.

    And I confess…I love OtterPops. I know they are terrible for you but they are comforting while I'm dealing with problems at work. And it's better than me wandering over to the shacked ice shack that is parked in the lot next to the office. 🙂

  24. I fed my kids plain yogurt a lot when they were very little. It sticks to the spoon well so they could eat it themselves. Sometimes I would add whole grain cereal to it – not so messy for them to eat as with milk. Of course the calcium affects the iron absorption but dealt with that separately.

    For snack time, I would hide a little jam or other colorful thing inside. They would stir to find it. They always looked forward to the plain white mound as there was excitement around the discovery and it would change the pale white dish into a colorful treat.

    I think the foods we get our kids to love early become their comfort foods later. I don't know about comfort food but my teenager is still making yogurt and fruit smoothies regularly for which I happily take the credit – yeah, interspersed with the HFCS iced teas he buys despite the educational label reading we always have done as well. So, win-some, lose-some, but we do the best we can.

    Hitting Next to get to this blog post was timely as I'd just gone into the kitchen for a snack. Baked pita chips. Then my son came in headed for the chocolate pudding I'd made last night. I offered to slice up some fruit – strawberries or cantaloupe – for him which he was happy to accept. Maybe if someone'd offer to slice me up some fruit I'd have accepted too, although the crunchy, salty, pitas were just the ticket. I got some cantaloupe too.

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