Healthy Snacks for Teens

Lately, fave son is always hungry - round the clock it seems! When he gets his after-dinner hunger pangs, I usually ask him to go down to drink a glass of milk/chocolate milk, or eat fruits, fruits with yogurt, light sandwich. Something light lang. But he always complains that I'm starving him! He wants to eat another plate of rice after dinner. Ano ba yan?

Sa totoo lang, on weekend nights, he goes down and prepares food all by himself. But during weeknights, I often offer to do it for him. Naawa na din ako, because his swim training takes up a lot of his time, add to that his extra-curricular activities, there's hardly enough free time left in his day. When he gets home, I want him to have enough time to focus on doing his homework and reviewing for his tests. If I can make his life one less stressful by preparing his snacks, I do it na for him. Even if my girls tease me no end about spoiling him.

So to secure my sanity, I made a list of acceptable snacks that are good for the daytime and considered light enough to pass for late-night snacking, as well. I just plan to fill up the ref with ingredients for these so fave son and my fave girls can make their own snack every time they get hungry. I've read up that teens can have increased caloric requirements during major growth spurts, and may seem to never get full.



It's best to make the ref and pantry full so their hunger pangs are easily filled any time of the day!

1. Oatmeal 

I know oatmeal is usually associated as a breakfast meal. And why not? It is a supergrain that's full of fiber to keep you full, protein for energy and beta-glucan to lower cholesterol. But a lot of people don't know that it's recommended late night snack for people who train in the evening. A Livestrong article says that, "If you work out in the evening, you may need to replenish your carbohydrate stores prior to bedtime. Consuming complex carbs can help you restock your glycogen stores, inhibit the breakdown of muscle and assist in muscle recovery."

What's nice about the new Quaker Instant Oats is that you just need to add hot water, and it's ready to drink - or eat, depends on the consistency that you want it. It comes together really fast and it is filling, too. It comes in Chocolate, Chocolate with Milk, Banana & Honey and Original with Milk. So far, my son is liking the Chocolate variant.

2. sandwiches

I try to always have bread in the freezer for emergency, but nothing beats a ready made sandwich that's just ready to be eaten. When SBS Inkigayo Sandwich PH sent over samples of their sandwiches, my girls were over the moon. Apparently, for K-pop fans, this is a super popular sandwich eaten by their k-pop idols whenever they would perform at the SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System)

My son couldn't careless about korean pop-stars, but he agrees that the odd mixture combined beautifully. The sandwich has creamy layers of egg and kani salad, crunchy coleslaw and a sweet  strawberry center. Because it's made of  egg and kani salad and coleslaw, the sandwich is actually best eaten cold. Masarap sya!

SBS Inkigayo Sandwich has a pop up store at Eastwood on July 8 to 21, 2019. If you want to taste the sandwich that your Korean bias is eating, go there na! Follow @sbsinkigayosandwichph on FB and @inkigayosandwich.ph on IG for more news.

3. Fresh milk / Choco milk in single serve tetras

Often, I give him a tetra pack of chocolate milk to drink right after he gets up from the pool to help replenish his lost glycogen and help aid in muscle recovery. Ideally, he also needs to eat a full meal with a lot of carbs and protein, within 30 minutes, to recover and build muscles. And we all know that with teenage boys, it's all about muscle building!!!

I got the fresh milk and Chuckie from my goodfood.ph monthly subscription plan. 

I highly recommend this if your kids drink a lot of milk. Imagine the convenience of getting your child's fave Chuckie, Yogu or Fresh Milk delivered to your doorstep. 

If you would like to know more about it, please get details from the goodfood webpage.

One of the good things about getting a subscription, aside form the convenience it offers, is that goodfood.ph is also concerned about reducing waste. They can collect your empty cartons/tetras on the next delivery. All you have to do is clean your cartons (they show you how to do this properly once you sign up with them). All cartons will ne forwardedto Project Give Pack, where they will be upcycled into various useful items.

4. salad greens & fresh fruits

This arugula and strawberry salad is one of the faves of my son.

Thankfully, my kids love eating vegetables and fruits. It's common for them to request for salad as recess or after-school snacks. For this reason, I make sure my ref is almost always stocked with pre-washed salad greens and pre-cut fruits. I get a fresh supply every Friday from #MomFridayFreshDirect FB group. 

According to the description on the group page, the produce are: Bio-dynamic. Pesticide-free. Sustainably-farmed fresh highland produce sustainably and ethically grown from Benguet province. The fresh produce come straight from the source and is delivered at peak freshness. That's less handling by middlemen—and more money for local farmers.

5. dried fruits 

Like i said earlier, on most days, we have fresh pre-cut fruits in the ref for grab and go snacking, but I still keep packs of dried fruit in the pantry.  While fresh fruits have long been considered the best option, dried fruits contain many of the same benefits. Whether it's fresh or dried, fruit is still nutritious and the better snaking option. Both are packed with vitamins, minerals and fiber. 

A few days ago, we did an avocado + cranberry bruschetta. We just toasted a pandesal, smashed some avocados and added Champion Dried Fruit Cranberries. Drizzled with caramelized balsamic vinegar. Finished with chili flakes, roasted black sesame seeds and salt. Super easy and good!

6. fresh fruit juice

We are used to just drinking water almost all the time. There are times that my family wants to drink fruit juice and if that happens, I just order fresh buko juice from Kajuayan. 

 Ordering buko juice from Kajuayan is the next best thing to actually drinking it from the shell. They are bottled fresh on the day itself and is 100% pure buko juice.

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I also had to adjust my grocery buying habits, because now my teens are capable of comparing what they eat vs what their friends eat. I don't want them to feel deprived, so I gave in and now allow all types of "junk food" on weekends.

My current mindset about eating healthy doesn’t have to be an all or nothing proposition. there's no perfect diet. We don’t have to be perfect, we don’t have to completely eliminate food we enjoy. We can eat everything basta in moderation.

I'm happy to say that even if I let them eat anything they want, they have enough self-discipline to say no when they've had enough. They also amaze me in that they do not binge and really just eat appropriate portions. I guess as athletes, they are aware that what they eat can affect their health, appearance and energy level.







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