Busy Moms Snapping Up Single-Portion Snacks

July 29, 2002 -- Knowing that busy parents want to make sure their children are eating right, food companies have swooped into the markets with new single-serving meals and snacks.

The ultra-fast food meals have been a hit, with ready-made Smucker's Frozen Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, for instance, generating $20 million in sales.

Nutritionist Heidi Skolnik appeared on Good Morning America to show some other examples of single-serving munchies designed for kids on the go, and to explain how to make those snacks healthier.

Smucker's Frozen Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich: You wouldn't think you could simplify spreading peanut butter and jelly on bread, but this does it. The crusts are cut off, too. The sandwich is individually wrapped, and frozen, but you don't need a microwave. Just put it in your child's lunch box in the morning, it thaws out in half an hour, so it'll be ready in plenty of time for lunch.

Nutrition Tips: When you're packing the frozen sandwich in the lunchbox, add milk plus some raisins, or any other dried fruit, for iron and fiber, as well as protein and calories. The milk provides calcium and vitamin D, and the carrots contain vitamin A and fiber, though any kind of dried fruit will do.

Hot Pockets for Breakfast: Busy parents and children barely have enough time to eat, let alone make breakfast. To address this need, Hot Pockets has come up with a special junior breakfast pocket for children. It just takes a few seconds to heat it up in a microwave.

Nutrition Tips: Add a piece of fruit, such as berries or an orange, or a glass of juice with some yogurt. The yogurt will add protein and calcium, and the fruit or fruit juice provides fiber, vitamin C and other nutrients. It is important to add to the breakfast, because the Hot Pockets contain just 170 calories, and are not enough to get kids through to lunch.

Frito-Lay Snacks: The easiest food of all is snacks, but now they're even easier. Chips come in single-size, resealable containers that are much easier than bags, and even fit in the car's cup holder. Frito Lay makes Ruffles, Doritos, Funyuns in the new containers.

Nutrition Tips: You need to consider what else your kids are eating during the day, and how active they are to figure out the amount of chips they can eat.

Nabisco's Mini Chips Ahoy, and Mini Oreo Cookies. These now come in single-serving bags.

Nutrition Tips: With the cookies, parents might want to look at the portion sizes, and perhaps cut them in half, if it looks like there is too much. Cookies alone are not nutrient dense, but if you add a glass of milk to the cookies, that provides kids with calcium, and vitamin D.

The most important thing parents can do is be realistic. Parents should offer string cheese and apple sauce as healthy alternative, on-the-run snacks, too.

"As a nutritionist, I can tell you to have fruits and veggies for snacks, but no one wants it every day," Skolnik said. "So, vary things. Maybe every other day do cookies and milk, and every other day do fruit or veggies."