Healthy Summer Snacks

NuVal™- Nutritional Scoring System

Meijer wants to help you make healthy food choices for you and your family. In every Meijer store, we have NuVal™, an easy-to-use, science-based food nutrition scoring system. This system considers more than 30 nutrients of a product and boils the information down into one single number that can be used to compare foods. Scores range from 1 to 100. The higher the nutritional value, the higher the NuVal™ score. Look for NuVal™ scores on the shelf price tags of your favorite store brand and national brand products and easily compare them to make healthier choices. “Trade up” foods to get higher scores at your next meal and snack. For example, trade up your regular pretzel sticks (NuVal™ score: 5) for Meijer Honey Wheat Pretzel Braids (NuVal™ score: 12).

Snacks help provide nutrients and energy that your children need.  Look to your Meijer produce department for an abundance of colorful, delicious choices for snacks for your children and the rest of your family.

The colors of fruits and vegetables show their nutritional excellence. Making these fun and satisfying ideas will help your family get the nutrients they need in a simple and easy snack!

Sugar Snap Peas with Hummus - A combination of crunch and creaminess.

Dannon Mixed Berry Smoothie – Try this recipe with fresh summer berries from meijermealbox.com.

Frozen Grapes – freeze this fruit for a refreshing treat on hot summer days.

Grilled Fruit – Grill fruit on the outdoor grill or on an indoor grill pan to bring out the sweet flavors even more in the flavorful fruit. Try the Stars N Stripes Fruit Grill recipe on the Monthly Recipes page made with Tropicana orange juice.

Walking Salads - Place lettuce from Dole® packaged salads into a small sandwich bag. Add your favorite ingredients - like grape tomatoes or bell peppers.  Drizzle a small amount of your favorite light salad dressing into the bag. Seal, shake and dig in!

Chunky Grape Salsa with Baked Whole Grain Tortilla Chips – made with Welch’s 100% grape juice and fresh fruits and veggies. Find the recipe on the Monthly Recipe page.

Veggie People - Make people out of vegetables that kids enjoy:

• Bodies could be baby carrots, celery sticks, grape tomatoes, or cucumber slices.
• Arms/legs could be bell pepper strips, baby carrots, or celery sticks.
• Use radish slices, broccoli crowns or cucumber slices for heads; diced veggies or olive slices for eyes

Peaches and Cottage Cheese – Sliced fresh peaches served with lowfat cottage cheese.

Pudding Toppers – Top lowfat pudding with refreshing blueberries, blackberries, or cherries.

Berrylicious Banana Smoothie – Made with Smart Balance Milk and fresh, juicy berries. Find the recipe on the Monthly Recipe page.

Leftovers – Small portions of leftovers from the previous night’s meal can serve as a snack. Try the Barilla® Whole Grain Rotini with Cherry Tomatoes, Mozzarella and Basil recipe on the Monthly Recipe page. Enjoy it cold as a snack the next day.

Tips:

·         Wash and cut fresh cantaloupe and honeydew melon into chunks when you get home from shopping and store in a container in the fridge. Kids will eat the items that are easy to grab and go!

·         Keep your fridge full with healthy fruit and vegetable options.

·         Remember to follow the MyPlate recommendations and make half of your plate fruits and vegetables.