Menu

Top 10 Pre-Dinner Snacks

February 13, 2014   13 Comments

My children start to lose it at about 5:30 PM. A little switch flips on and they begin to whine, scream, and attempt to hit each other.

Top 10 Pre-Dinner Snacks

At the same time, the equally hungry and tired parent is trying to cook dinner. I think this is why they call this time of day “cocktail hour”. Gotta have a drink to make it to 6:30.

What to do? I think a little snack is in order. Not something so big that you ruin dinner, but a wee bit of food to take the edge off.

If you find yourself ravenous before dinner, a little snack may help you regulate your hunger so you don’t overeat when the main course arrives.

Here are 10 suggestions for keeping it together:

  1. Give Your Popcorn A South Of The Border Spin
  2. Take Your Raw Veggies To the Next Level
  3. avocadotoastb Wake Up With A Healthier Spread
  4. Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges: A Little Cheese Goes a Long Way
  5. Rock The House With Your Toaster Oven
  6. pistachiosb A Lower Calorie Pistachio For Your Snack Consumption
  7. Elegant, Easy, and Under 100 Calories
  8. avocadosalsab Give Me Three Ingredients and I'll Give You Amazing Salsa
  9. cheese stick The Benefits of Cheese Sticks
  10. Replace Mayo With This Healthy Spread and carrot and celery sticks.

Do you have a favorite pre-dinner snack? Please share.

Get Free Email Updates! Yes please!

13 Comments:

Couldn't you just eat dinner earlier? I would die if we ate dinner so late. But maybe that's just the farm girl in me.

I agree with Lori.

I had that problem with my kids years ago, but after school. I had to make something healthy for them to tie them over till supper. We ate earlier, around 5.I don't think I would give them anything at that late time.5:30. That would be too close to spoiling their appetite. Just fill them when they get home from school and that should hold them till supper...

So many people work until 5 pm and their kids are at the sitter. So eating an earlier dinner is not an option. I, being the babysitter, fix a healthy snack when the kids come in off the bus. Love your suggestions!

When my girls were small, while I was fixing dinner, I chopped up whatever vegetable we were having (peas, broccoli, etc)and arranged a serving in pretty little glass bowls with special dessert spoons; they got to eat their veggie as a treat to hold them over till dinner. They sat and watched Mr. Rogers while eating their 'treat', which calmed them down and distracted them while I prepared dinner. They didn't get to watch much TV in those days, so the combination of a TV show and a pretty bowl of veggies was very enticing :-) They came to think of their veggies as a treat, which I think helped them to learn to like all kinds of vegetables. As they got older, the before-dinner treat might be carrots & celery which I kept cut-up in the fridge for snacks. You took the edge off their appetite with vegetables that they were getting for dinner anyway! Took a little forethought and planning, but was so worth it :-)

I love these ideas. My kids have healthy snacks at 3/4pm when they get home but most nights we wait for my husband to get home so we can all eat together around 6 or 630pm. Sometimes they need just a little something. These are perfect. Thanks.

Jane G. Fistere-I did exactly as you did, serve the vegetable portion of dinner while they had a PBS TV break so I could concentrate on getting dinner to the table. Sometimes I served a teacup of veg. soup as a dinner course which made the hunger pains subside too. I steered clear of fatty things like dips, spreads or cheeses which completely filled my kids' tummies leaving no room for dinner and I'd be afraid to start that kind of expectation. Another trick of mine, since I worked, was to have my sitter serve them yesterday's dinner leftovers for after school snacks. We wasted no food around here and they loved that! Little mini-dinners instead of traditional cookies and milk. If they had room for dessert, it would be after evening dinner. I have to admit my two were good eaters, no pickiness. I tried to imprint healthy memories and it seems to have worked. Working parents definitely need a serious plan to create that ''Norman Rockwell'' family dinnertime!

I always keep a veggie platter in the fridge with carrots, celery and whatever other veggies we have on hand because my husband and my boys are always starving when they get home around 4 o'clock..which is too early to eat dinner but too late for snacking. If they get full on veggies before dinner..I'm ok with that.

These are great ideas - I always used to need a snack after a long day in school xo

As a mom of two kindergarten boys, I fight this battle on a daily basis. The reality is that with two working parents, many of us simply cannot offer a wholesome meal until after 6pm. Even if we prep ahead! We do offer small snacks such as veggies we are cutting up and cheese to help fill the void but regardless, we are often up against two very grumpy guys. Long gone are the days where one parent stays home and manages shopping, cooking and cleaning.

Nice pre-dinner snack ideas. I usually eat some cottage cheese on crackers, but if there's not cottage cheese & crackers there - I just have snickers lol

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My family eats around 4:30 but I've had dinner around 6 before. I prefer around 4 as I get hungry myself. I can't understand people who eat super late tho. My fiance's friends eat at 8 or later. Coming from a family with diabetes, our blood sugar would never allow us to eat that late. As a snack to hold us until then I reccomend small portions of healthy foods such as fruits, veggies, cheese, and meat. Like a party tray.

Add a comment:

(required)

(required, never published)


© 2024 Snack-Girl.com