What to pack or prepare for summer fun – in the yard, the park, the beach, the fair, the playground
Frozen Juice Pops
Who doesn’t love popsicles on a hot summer afternoon? You may not appreciate the artificial petrochemical taste, but there’s no denying they’re refreshing. If you don’t want you or your kids to miss out on all the frozen fun, consider making them yourself.
Simply freeze your favorite juice or drink with these handy molds and have all the fun with less sugar and calories.
Of course, if stars aren’t to your taste, you could enchant the little ones with rockets or animal shapes.
Frozen Yogurt Granola Bars
What MOMeo could object to this? Strawberry low fat frozen yogurt, topped with a layer of strawberry fruit filling and crunchy granola. All of this covered in a tart (not too tart) vanilla yogurt coating.
Fruit Kabobs
A summer twist on fruit salad that has the added bonus of keeping fingers from getting sticky. The “recipe” is so simple, we decided to put quotation marks on “recipe.” Slice fruit, and skewer it. That’s it. You can serve with fruit or plain yogurt as a dip, or roll in coconut flakes for taste and fun. As with frozen juice pops, there are lots of fun skewer designs out there, including spiral.
Pita Chips
If your summer cravings include crunch, pita chips are a light alternative to potato or corn chips. They tend to be thicker than potato chips in particular, making them great for dipping. Stacy’s Pita Chips are baked twice for extra crunch and use nothing but natural ingredients.
Terra Chips
Are a fun, exotic twist on potato chips. They’re made with a host of exotic root vegetables, including yucca, sweet potato, blue potatoes, parsnip, taro, ruby taro, batata, kabocha squash and candy striped beets. They’re also lower in fat than “traditional” potato chips.
Healthy Chocolate
You heard me. Xocai Healthy Chocolates contain no caffeine or refined sugars, but real, natural chocolate, raw cane sugar (pure chocolate is quite bitter) and acai & blueberry for antioxidants. Xocai also contains probiotic cultures. Coming in single-bit packets, they’re perfect afternoon fodder.
Popcorn
Another classic treat, which ordinarily is by no means good for you. But done right, popcorn can be reasonably good for you (it’s just heated corn kernels, after all.) Without all the artificial flavors and fatty, oily butter, it’s also very light. Oogie’s makes all-natural popcorn snacks with zero sugar, zero trans fats, and no artificial colors or flavors. They come in exotic tastes, such as Smoked Gouda, Spicy Chipotle & Lime, and Caprese.
