Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Agent Lindy Pitre of Chambers County hosted a Healthy Summer Snacking seminar and demonstration during Chambers Health’s Summer Bash on Friday, June 24, 2016.

Agent Pitre educated the 25 youth and five adult attendees on the importance of choosing healthy snacks over “junk” food this summer.

Children sometimes become bored when at home during summer vacation. They tend to want to eat more snacks than usual.

“Food like chips and candy is quick and easy for you to grab, but it’s not doing many good things for your body and your health,” said Agent Pitre, “To offset healthy snacking we need to try to find some healthier options.”

Instead of unhealthy foods, the audience was encouraged to eat fruits and vegetables and youth helped brainstorm some healthy alternatives that they could snack on.

Agent Pitre then demonstrated six kid-friendly recipes for the children including Fish in the River, Vegetable Flowers, Apple “Cookies,” Fruit Skewers, Banana Butterflies and a healthy, nut-less No Bake Cookie and discussed the nutritional benefits of the ingredients in each one.

After the demonstration, children went to each recipe station and created the dish with the help of parents and adult volunteers. They were then able to eat their food masterpieces.

“It can be really hard for kids to find snacks that are good for them, tasty and still fun,” said Agent Pitre, “our goal was to teach these kiddos that they can actually make delicious, nutritional snacks from items they already have in their own homes.”

All attendees took home the recipes which were demonstrated and created during the lesson, as well as a packet containing information on food safety, healthy recipes and summer exercises for youth.

Contact the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in Chambers County for information regarding upcoming programing.