Happy Hour: The Happiest Hour
I don’t know about your house, but the 3:30-4:30 hour used to get a little dicey at our house. Everyone was tired, hungry, and a little cranky. But no more! We look forward to that witching hour now that it’s been reimagined into a magical Happy Hour.
What’s Happy Hour?
Happy Hour is simply angsty snack time rebranded. We lean in hard into fancy mocktails served in cutesy cups, colorful snack trays, and bakery-inspired muffins in an effort to appease the hangry beasts my children have morphed into. But don’t be fooled! There’s more than meets the eye. It may look like all fun and games, but my mom-guilt guides me to harmonize a sugary drink with a balanced snack of a whole grain, fruit, veggie, and something with protein like cheese, yogurt, or nuts. Other times the food will star as the sweet with a smoothie playing the healthy, supporting role.
Um, that’s a meal!
It is! My kids seemed to want a meal and when I really thought about it, they were ready for one. My kindergartener is eating lunch at 11:00, has an afternoon snack at school, and wants to destroy my pantry at 3:00. My 3rd grader’s schedule isn’t too far behind him with no snack. Their bellies are ready for a meal.
Does is ruin their dinner?
I guess that just depends on what you mean by ruin their dinner. It most certainly doesn’t ruin my dinner.
Okay, okay, I know what you mean by “ruin their dinner.” They probably eat a bit less than they would with a smaller snack, but the dinnertime vibe totally makes up for it. No one is having a hangry power struggle over eating their broccoli, mainly because I don’t care if they don’t eat their broccoli.
Why don’t I care if they don’t eat their broccoli?
I’ve switched out my objectives. The main objective for dinner is to connect over a meal that, honestly, is geared a little more towards to adults in our home. Dinner is about exposure to foods and the opportunity to sample them. It’s also about talking about our days and it’s much easier to have a pleasant conversation with someone who isn’t p.o.’ed about the obligation to try the potato salad. All that to say, I do follow the advice of Kids Eat in Color dietician Jennifer Anderson and make sure our menu always includes a safe food; a food that is familiar and enjoyed by the kiddos at your table. For me, this is almost always a fruit.
Now, Happy Hour. The main objective to Happy Hour may look like connection and making my kids feel special - and that is definitely one of them - but the main objective is nourishment. There’s a reason why I’ve taken pains to balance Happy Hour like a meal; it’s because this is the meal that is nourishing them the most. I’m taking advantage of the time that they’re ravenous to fill them up with their favorite veggies, fruits, whole grains, and lean protein and delivering it in an extra-special package in an effort to make them feel loved.
What do you serve?
Happy Hour Drinks are generally a fun lemonade served in a special cup. That’s it. Sometimes we’ll add fruit to ice cubes, blend kool aid and ice into a slushie, or whip up a fruit-and-veggie smoothie. I’ve worked with some friends to create a list for you here.
As for snacks, we do a lot of popcorn, nuts, yogurt, cut up fruit and veggies, lunch meat, and crackers all which become magic if you serve them on a separated tray like this one I got for a dollar.
We also do a TON of blender muffins, most with hidden fruits, veggies, and whole grains.
A quick note on hidden veggies, since some people are opposed to lying to their kids. ;) You do what works for you, but what has worked for me has been to call the veggie the “mystery ingredient.” For my kids this has worked really well in getting them to try the muffins, since they like trying to guess the mystery ingredient. Even better: have one kid help make the muffins (or all - kids almost always are more likely to try a new food if they’ve helped make it) and let them reveal the mystery ingredient to their guessing siblings.
One more quick note: when in doubt, add chocolate chips. And I am almost always in doubt.
This seems like a lot of work.
I hear you - but before I have you thinking I’m violating mom-code, let me clue you in to two hacks:
Only plan 1 or 2 Happy Hour snacks each week. You’ve heard me. We are talking about kids here, ladies. The people who will literally only eat the same 6 things. These people don’t need a creative new snack 365 days a year! Double Monday’s snack to also serve as Tuesday’s snack and Wednesday’s snack can repeat as Thursday’s snack. And Friday? Take yourself out for ice cream! (The kids can come, too, I guess)
and/or:
Today’s Happy Hour is tomorrow’s lunch. If you have kiddos who are eating at home or prefer to take a lunch to school, prepare enough leftovers to lovingly tuck into a bento box for the next day.
How do you come up with ideas?
Keep it easy: work through a cookbook or create a Pinterest board where you pin ideas whenever they come up. Recruit your kiddos to help by giving them post-its to stick in kid-cookbooks you check out from the library or let them pin recipes as you scroll through Pinterest. Currently we’re working through this list by the Natural Nurturer; I started with the first recipe and tried each one. So far, we really like Oatmeal Green Smoothie Muffins and Veggie Loaded Chocolate Muffins. I’ve also worked on a list with friends from Instagram from which you are welcome to draw inspiration!
Any other benefits?
I’m so glad you asked. ;)
One unexpected benefit is how much easier it makes busy nights when sports or music lessons are smack in the middle of mealtime. I simply beef up Happy Hour and plan for a later, light dinner afterwards.
Another thing I wasn’t expecting was the precedent Happy Hour set for new foods: they almost like them. The kids are excited to leaf through a kid-friendly cookbook and select funky-colored drinks and muffins with some pretty unique ingredients. And, for the most part, they like them! This has spilled into them being much more willing to sample new foods on our lunch and dinner menus.
It’s calmed our afterschool chaos. This routine has brought a lot of peace to our household; everyone knows they can expected to be loved in the form of food as soon as they come home. I can’t think of anything happier than that.
Do you have any great after-school snack or routine tips? Jump over to this Instagram post and let me know!
