Healthy After-School Snacks

When my kids get home from school, they're famished.  Well, they're actually famished all of the time as most teen boys are.  But, it seems as if they are even more so right when they walk in the door from the bus.  I'm not sure what happens to them on the ride home from school, but it's like they've never eaten before in their lives!!!!

Immediately after walking through the door, they go straight to the fridge in search of leftovers or the sandwich box.  (I'll post later what my sandwich box is....It's AWESOME!)

The problem with that approach is that they fill up at 4:00 and then I can't get them to eat dinner at 6:30.  Ron and I will force them to eat something...just a little...and before the dishwasher finishes running after dinner, they're lurking in front of the fridge again.

I just can't bring myself to have a bunch of chips and candy available for them for snacks.  I'm a believer in moderation.  This is a foreign concept to a ravenous teen!  I've taken to separating those kinds of things out into little baggies so that they can have only small amounts at a time.  I have to keep my eyes peeled, as it's easy for the sneaky little devils to grab 4 bags at a time.

If I try to go healthy, they'll turn up their noses.  Any other time, they love hummus...when they're with their friends right after school, they look at me like I have three heads when I pass the luscious "bean dip."

Next week, I am planning to make healthy snacks for after school and I will post the results.

Why don't you give me some suggestions?  What foods do you have available for your children for after school?

Thanks, and welcome to my world!