Finding movie night snacks is almost as important as choosing the movie, so we decided to create a list of healthy snacks consumed across the Brisbane Kids Team on family movie nights. The only criteria we had for the selection was that they needed to be relatively healthy, tasty, and something most kids would eat.
Air Popped Popcorn
Popcorn is naturally sugar-free and is surprisingly packed full of nutrients. This is the ideal snack, trumping all other crunchy alternatives. The key is popping your own popcorn because microwave popcorn is not created equal. Keep a pack in the pantry for whenever you or the kids get the munchies, and serve it up at your next family movie night. You can experiment with different flavourings to ensure continued interest from your children. Here is the world’s BEST popcorn seasoning from the Whole New Mum. Her page also links to a few other tasty homemade popcorn recipes. We also talk about popcorn in our healthy fundraising ideas for schools resource.
Crackers/savoury biscuits
You will need to read the labels to be certain, but there is a good range of biscuits such as rice crackers, corn thins and wheat-based biscuits that are low in sugar and fat. Serve with homemade dips, hommus, cheese, fruit and vegetable sticks. If you want to make your own sugar-free crackers, then head here – www.sugarfreekids.com.au/cheats-crackers. Also, check out Choice Magazine and be guided by their information on what makes a good store-bought cracker.
Home Made Pizzas
Bake on pita bread, English muffins or make your own pizza base, but half the fun here involves the whole family in constructing their own pizzas.
Dried nuts & seeds
Nuts are a delicious and nutritious snack to keep in your pantry and perfect for movie night as they are full of good fats. If your movie night is part of a sleep-over, just ensure that you check with parents about any possible nut allergies.
Pretzels
Baked pretzels tick all the boxes. They are sugar-free, additive-free and delicious!
Dark unsweetened chocolate
No one should give up chocolate, but you can reduce your sugar intake by choosing dark chocolates with lower sugar content. Green & Blacks Organic, as well as Lindt, are two high-quality brands commonly found in supermarkets.
Fruit with Dip
Berries or apples are an ideal accompaniment to movie night, especially when combined with a dip made from either yoghurt or chocolate custard. You will have to determine how healthy your dip is, but if you want to use real chocolate, just dip the fruit in and leave the coating to harden in the fridge. There are many fruit dip recipes on the internet, but we found one that is both healthy and features our favourite ingredient- Chocolate! Better still, this one has avocado in it so you get a serving of vegetables- Thanks to Real Food Rn for their Chocolate Avocado Dip!
This proves you can have your movie night and eat it too! You might want to check out our sugar-free snack ideas for other ideas on what to serve on movie nights.
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