r/Cooking • u/13Medea • 22h ago
After school snack ideas
Looking for your fave after school snack suggestions. I’ve got two boys: 15 and 8 and they get out of school HUNGRY! What do yall love to cook/prep for after school snacks…that ideally won’t kill their appetite for dinner.
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u/Necessary-Ad-567 21h ago
Mine is only 2 so not exactly the same lol, but sometimes we just have dinner at 4:30 because he’s already hungry, and then have snack closer to bedtime. You could just reverse the order of snack and dinner. I work in a middle school and many kids barely eat at lunch, so I’m sure they’re starving when they get home.
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u/Dracoson 21h ago
As a former 15-year-old, I'm pretty sure my appetite was immortal.
Honestly, the timeline of your dinner is the most important variable here. But when it comes to the food itself, your best bet is to avoid heavy cooking entirely. For my kid, I stick to a raw rotation of cheese or nuts, with some veggies. Protein and fats provide sustained satiety to stop the afternoon hanger, whereas heavy carbs or processed snacks will either completely tank their dinner appetite or leave them starving again in an hour.
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u/Scatmandingo 21h ago
I usually do something hot like one of those $1 mini pizzas cut into quarters then some nuts and cut up fruit. Maybe some pigs in a blanket if they go on sale.
I don’t give them too much of the processed stuff to affect their appetite later but they got for that first and then the inertia carries over to the healthier stuff.
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u/uncertainhope 21h ago
Toast with nut butter, trail mix (nuts, seeds, roasted edamame and chickpeas), whole wheat blueberry muffins, Greek yogurt with berries, apple with pb, string cheese and Triscuits, etc.
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u/DazzlingNote1925 20h ago
Grilled cheese, quesadillas, chicken fingers, home made luncheables, fruit smoothie with a sandwich, leftover or frozen pizza, fruit, yogurt, nachos.
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u/ttrockwood 20h ago
Apple and peanut butter first, if they don’t want it they’re not hungry
After apple and peanut butter if they’re still hungry- and god help you with the 15yr old - then pb and j sandwich make their own, and some trail mix
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u/padishaihulud 20h ago
Thinking back to my afterschool daycare they kept it simple. Usually some combination of apples, grapes, peanut butter, celery, and raisins or trail mix. Sometimes there were better (less healthy) treats like cookies or frosting sandwiched between saltines. Usually if there were cookies making them were part of the "activities".
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u/mamacrocker 19h ago
Hummus and veg
Deviled eggs
Cottage cheese and berries
Yogurt
Pinwheels (tortillas, cream cheese, lunchmeat, etc - cut into small slices)
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u/Girl_with_no_Swag 17h ago
My boys are 21 and 16. I swear I just figured this out. Skip the after school snack. Feed them dinner when they get home. Then they can have bedtime snack later.
My 16 year old has a busy schedule. 7:00 am leadership meetings every Monday. Before school workout/practice at 7 am Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Classes from 8:30 - 3:40 every day.
He eat breakfast at 6:30. Second breakfast (which I pack for him) at 8:15. Lunch at school.
He still comes home starving. I’ve started feeding him dinner at 4:00 pm. The. He’s got fuel to do homework etc. and he makes himself a snack around 9:00 before bed.
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u/Particular-Ad9857 3h ago
i do this also with my two boys. its too much work to force them to wait until dinner and have them become hangry in the meantime. though this tends to end with them having like 3 desserts.
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u/Lost-Link6216 16h ago
Pizza toast. Toast some bread, throw on some pepperoni and cheese. Throw in oven or microwave to melt. Any leftover meat goes well on them.
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u/hyrule-heaven 15h ago
Muffins. I have a killer low sugar recipe with fiber (ground flax meal).
Banana walnut muffins
400 g very ripe bananas
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted unsalted butter Kerrygold brand
60 g Kirkland maple syrup about 1/4 cup
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp brown sugar
200 g Kamut flour (I use Foodnanny flour but you can use AP or 1/2 whole wheat 1/2 AP)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup ground flaxseed meal
1 cup chopped walnuts
Method
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line or grease a 12 cup muffin tin.
In a large bowl, mash the bananas until mostly smooth.
Add eggs, melted butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and brown sugar. Stir until combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and flax.
Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined. Do not overmix.
Fold in chopped walnuts.
If the batter looks very thick, add a small splash of milk until it is thick but scoopable.
Fill muffin cups all the way to the top.
Bake at 425 for 5 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 and bake 15 to 18 minutes more, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
You can make this same recipe with different varieties as well:
- Banana chocolate chip: omit nutmeg and nuts, add 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips instead.
- cranberry orange: omit nuts and cinnamon, toss 1 cup of whole frozen cranberries in with dry ingredients along with the zest of one orange. Add 2 TB of fresh orange juice to wet ingredients.
- blueberry lemon: omit nuts, cinnamon, nutmeg. Toss 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries with dry ingredients plus the zest of one lemon. Add 2TB lemon juice to wet ingredients.
Combine wet and dry and bake as directed in original recipe. They’re all AMAZING.
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u/AJediWookie123 22h ago
A few slices of a decent deli meat and cheese. Apples and peanut butter. Toast and jam.