Healthy Snacks

During a breakfast of open-faced Morningstar breakfast patties on half an English muffin with a sprinkle of cheese and a big glass of almond milk, my daughter looked at me and said, "I asked my teacher about the granola bars."

Now let me set the stage for this. Third grade in our little community-based elementary school (urban setting and the kids theoretically walk to school), the third graders move to what I imagine is the last lunch. 12:05.

Unlike when I was in school, they get a snack break at 10:20. The state of Pennsylvania has mandated that each school pass a wellness policy.

Bottom line: snacks must be healthy.

Granola bars, Go-gurt and pretzels appear to be the most popular choice. According to my daughter, that is.

We take carrot sticks. Or homemade corn salsa and organic blue corn tortilla chips with flax, or fruit, or goldfish pretzels with dried cranberries, or graham crackers.

Etc.

The teacher has deemed the oatmeal "breakfast cookies" inappropriate because it smells, looks, tastes, sounds and quacks like a cookie.

My daughter wants to fit in. So she wants granola bars.

I make granola bars, homemade, but sometimes they look like cookies.

So I warned daughter that our granola bars might not work for school.

She asked the teacher.

Teacher replied that if *I* said it was healthy, it was healthy.

Yeah, me!