- So one of my favorite things as a child,
that now I partake it in my kids, is snacking.
I love to snack.
I love to snack! - Yes, yes.
- So I brought dietician Jenna Waters back with us
to talk about kids snacks, but a healthy,
better price point situation.
So Jenna, thanks for being here.
- Thank you for having me, Rachel.
So snacks are a big deal in our house.
- Yes. - I think our kids, like,
live on snacks.
As they're eating their meal, they're asking for a snack.
- That's right. That's right, yes.
- And so we like to set kind of
this healthy boundary with snacks.
Because I think it keeps us, as mamas, like sane too.
- Yeah, so, when it comes to snacks like, time of snacks,
what's your boundary for your kids?
- Yes, so I say one snack in between breakfast and lunch,
and one snack between lunch and dinner.
That doesn't mean that they have to have both of those,
but no more than that. - Okay.
- So I like to think of it too, when my kids are asking
for snacks constantly, it makes me think,
okay how can I build their meals up a little bit more,
and what are the things I need to be feeding them more of,
so that they're not truly hungry, right?
- Yeah, that's good.
- And because I want our babies
to have a healthy relationship with food.
And so we're trying to instill those things,
not just be the snack police, right.
- Yes I love that.
Because if they hear no, no, no, no all the time-
- Totally. - then that's not healthy.
And then saying yes, yes, yes, yes.
- Sure. - Oh my gosh. My kids
will have like Clif Bars and like Goldfish,
double-fisting, and I'm like, oh, jeez.
- Sure. - And you waste
a lot of money. I mean mine are like,
they have to eat their stuff, and it drives me nuts.
But it's a thing. It's a big thing.
- That's such a good point though, Rachel,
because I feel like even breaking things in half, right,
and pairing it with something else
that might fill them up is a great tool in and of itself.
- And we were talking about like saving money with snacks
and you made a great point that,
which I don't know why I never thought about it,
but it's like, okay, yeah.
Sometimes you gonna spend more a little bit on the
front end to get them full versus going really cheap
and it doesn't fill them up
and they're gonna eat more of it.
- Sure. - So that's a way to look at
pricing too, guys, when you're thinking about it.
- Absolutely, I call it the fill factor, right?
And so I measure food based on that fill factor
rather than always comparing price per ounce of things.
Because like a bag of popcorn could be really cheap compared
to something with higher protein.
But they could eat half of the bag
and then it's suddenly not cheaper. Right?
- That's right. Absolutely.
- So some great examples of that, particularly, one thing
I like to keep in mind too is hydration.
Because so often we mistake like being thirsty for hunger.
And so we keep these in the car, we always fill them up
when we're about to go someplace.
And we just encourage our babies to hydrate.
So that's really important so that
they cannot mistake those things.
And it's important for us to be hydrated too.
- That's right. That's right. - So as far as on-the-go
snacks, obviously individually packaged things
across the board are going to be more expensive.
So it may be worth investing in some reusable bags.
Like the Stasher bags are really popular.
Even little sandwich baggies just to throw things in,
buy things in bulk and throw them in.
Something that I think is interesting, like at Costco,
they have the huge bag of trail mix,
or the same exact thing but in individual contents packages.
And it's much more expensive to buy
the individual package, right. - Yes, yeah.
I buy some individual packages, but like,
things like Veggie Straws, you get like, the massive thing.
I do that, and I have sandwich bags,
and I'll just fill it up. Or the Goldfish, same thing.
The Goldfish, I can do it. - Yes, such a great idea.
- And I just fill it up in a plastic bag, yeah.
- Such a great idea. So when we talk about this fill factor,
I'm thinking about three things.
I'm thinking about fiber, fat and protein.
So if you look on the back of a nutrition label
and total those three numbers, your goal
should be about 10, right? - Okay.
- And so, if we're looking at, we really love these,
like the little fruit strips.
But if I look on the label of this, Rachel,
it's like, four. It's a four.
And so my kids could probably plow through five of these.
And so, even if they're lower on the end of price point,
as you mentioned, getting something,
- They're gonna be eating more.
- That's right. So something that's
a little bit higher in protein,
they could even pair it with another thing.
So maybe like a little beef jerky on the go,
these little Chomps sticks.
Something like that would be good just to hit
all of those components. - Okay.
- We're big fans of, like, a Lara Bar.
But this, too, is gonna be a four,
whereas if you buy the protein version of it,
you're at least gonna get a little bit
more of a fill factor. - Okay.
- I love, there's an almond butter on the go,
so even keeping one of these little to-go packets.
- Yes. - And one of our favorites
is like, just putting it on a Lara Bar.
- There you go. - Or like, what are some ways
to always add some protein, fat and fiber?
- So good. Staying healthy and getting them full,
all good stuff. - Absolutely, absolutely.
And so, with the brand names, this is interesting.
Like, true brand name is going to be more expensive
than the brand
that's the exact same thing, basically.
And so, just buying a generic brand I think can be
a really great way for the things
that you have to buy individually packaged
like you mentioned. Whether you're putting it in a kid's
lunchbox, or just want something not all over your car,
right, I think that's a good place to spend
a little bit more. But making sure you have
those three components. - Yes. I love that.
- Yeah, yeah. And so then, when we think about
at-home snacks, we have a little bit more flexibility,
right? One thing that can be really expensive is those,
and my kids love these, those
flip-top yogurts with all the fancy toppings.
- Yeah.
- And so they can be like, $1.50 per flip-top.
But just buying a whole container of yogurt
and then having like a little bar of things,
maybe chocolate chips, nuts, coconut,
some fruit, anything that you have.
Clean out your fridge with possible toppings.
- Yes, and let them make their own.
- Right, and let them make their own.
That's a huge thing. Even in lunchbox that could work.
You could put this with a little ice pack
and then a little container of,
it's such a savings. - Yes, that's big.
- And also just serving it in a different way.
Sometimes I think to myself, like,
when the kids are asking for snacks constantly,
I'm like, I'm running out of ideas, right?
- Yes, yes. - And so even just presenting
it in different ways make them think that
it's something totally different, right.
- Yeah, there was a girl that came on the show,
Cortney, with Cheese Gal, and we did
charcuterie boards. - Yes.
- And she talked about doing a kid's version of it,
of like, getting this, and you can just
put a bunch of stuff, like a lot of snacks,
and they do, and they love it.
- Yeah. - That's good to know.
- I also love to think about things
that I can make in batches at the beginning of the week
or even once a month and freeze.
- Oh, nice. Yeah. - These chocolate
peanut butter oat bites are awesome.
They have a fill factor of 11.
- Oh, wow. - So that's
a really good thing. - Okay, yes.
Someone made these for me. Maybe my mom.
Like, probably two years ago.
There was like flax seed in it, all this stuff.
- Exactly, yes. They're so good.
- And they're so good. They literally taste
like an oatmeal cookie. Like not, the no bake
chocolate oatmeal cookies, one of my favorites.
- Yes. - And it does.
It has that same exact flavor. It's so good.
- That's so true.
And so, when I think about an oat bite, like,
these at the grocery store can be almost a dollar a piece.
- Oh wow, yeah.
- And they only have an eight on the fill factor.
- Okay. - But the oat bites, they're
like 25 cents a piece, if you're gonna make them at home
with super simple ingredients.
Oats, peanut butter, a little bit of maple syrup,
mini chocolate chips, and flax seed.
And you roll in the flax seed. - Oh, there's the flax seed.
- That's right. You roll them in that.
Basically like a truffle.
- Yeah, yeah. That's right, that's right, yep.
- And so higher fill factor, a quarter of the price.
You can't beat it, yeah.
And so you could make, one recipe of that
makes 12. You could easily double, triple the recipe,
freeze them, and then your time is a little bit
more efficient. - So you can freeze these?
- You absolutely can. - Okay. So delicious.
- Yeah. It's something kids can help make too.
So give them a job on the weekends.
- I love that. That's right, that's right.
- We're utilizing all of our resources.
- Okay, we'll make sure to link this recipe below
in the description because it's just wonderful.
It's so delicious.
- So this is another example of just
that fill factor component. So rather than
just giving them some carrots, or some veggies,
those are great nutrients, but we do want
that healthy fat, some fiber and protein component
for that fill factor, and from a nutrition perspective,
like for example, carrots have a lot of vitamin A,
fats help absorb vitamin A,
and so pairing those together is really wise
on a lot of different fronts.
- Okay, good. So just hummus, guacamole.
- Yeah. This is just like, some carrots, hummus, guacamole,
maybe even just picking one of those a week
and putting them together.
I'm one that like, I need to have
my ideas all laid out, right.
So I would just, from a simplification perspective,
would recommend literally just write out five snack ideas.
And then you don't have to think about it.
- Yeah, that's what's hard. - Because it's those times
that I'm like, here you go, just take one of these, right?
- That's right, that's right, absolutely. Absolutely, yeah.
So you had a great tip about buying for the entire month,
which I appreciate so much. Like yes, 12 times a year
we could do this. - That's right.
Saves brain space for sure.
And it allows us to buy in bulk, right?
And so, if we're thinking about
just tackling the whole snack situation one time a month,
we can utilize those dollars really efficiently.
- And I feel like a lot of people, Corona or not,
convenience, are using a lot of like, grocery store apps.
- Absolutely. - And so you're able to
go on there, you said see sales,
that's something you mentioned earlier,
which I thought was so good. - Yes, absolutely.
- And to know what you're buying for the month.
So just like, keep that almost as your to-do list.
- For sure, and so if you have that list
of five possible snacks, just to brain dump
on a piece of paper, you can then,
I make a list. On most grocery store apps,
as you mentioned, they have a list feature.
And so if you just make your own list of just snacks,
then you can click on that list, and just see
which one is on sale for that period of time.
- Oh, yeah. - And then, that's a great
way to rotate too, because usually sales are gonna rotate.
- Yeah, for sure. - Yeah, it keeps the variety
going without us having to think about it.
- I know, right? Anything automatic is good.
- That's right, that's right.
- Jenna, this is so great. Thank you again.
- Thanks for having me. - Where can everyone find you?
- Yeah, so my website is jennawaters.com,
and Instagram is @jennawatersnutrition.
- Perfect. You guys, the dietician,
the brilliant mind of Jenna Waters.
Again, thanks for coming back
and we'll make sure in the description to have
the recipe of this, because they are so good.
Like little energy balls. They're delicious.
Jenna, thanks again. - Thanks, Rachel.
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