I had a “triumphant mom” moment a couple of weeks ago. Our soccer team alternates bringing snacks after the game each week. Two weeks ago, the snack included a bottle of Sunny Delight. My daughter asked what it was, and I said “an orange drink.” She took a couple of swigs and handed me the bottle.
“I don’t think I want to drink that,” she said. “It tastes like junk food.”
We looked at the ingredients panel, which was indeed pretty surprising. I anticipated seeing water, orange flavor, and probably some fruit juice (like the common ones, apple and grape, which provide fructose sweetener), along with citric acid to make it taste more like orange. Instead, we found this:
 SunnyD® Tangy Original Style CONTAINS: WATER, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP AND 2% OR LESS OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: CONCENTRATED JUICES (ORANGE, TANGERINE, APPLE, LIME, GRAPEFRUIT), CITRIC ACID, ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C), THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1), NATURAL FLAVORS, MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, CANOLA OIL, SODIUM CITRATE, CELLULOSE GUM, XANTHAN GUM, SODIUM HEXAMETAPHOSPHATE, SODIUM BENZOATE TO PROTECT FLAVOR, YELLOW #5, YELLOW #6. |
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| CONTAINS 5% JUICE | |
Cellulose gum? Seriously?
It makes Gatorade look super simple — its ingredients are: Water, sucrose syrup, HFCS, citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, salt, sodium citrate, monopotassium phosphate, coloring. And Gatorade has 60 calories per 8 ounces, while Sunny D has 120. Wow!
Our snacks usually include oranges at halftime and some juice and a goody (granola bar, rice krispie treat, etc.) afterward. I have brought homemade muffins or cookies in the past; the drink aspect makes me feel a bit guilty because of the waste, especially considering that every girl has a water bottle with her.
This week, it’s my turn to bring the post-game snacks. Any suggestions?
Cheap Like Me 
These look really good- http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/09/raspberry-breakfast-bars/
I haven’t tried them yet but I just think they look sooo good.
Maybe scones for something different but still filling and a little sweet.
I have 2 soccer kids when it’s my turn to bring snack it’s Clif Z Bars and a big orange drink dispenser (the kind you see at sports events) with ice cold lemonade in it (that they put into their water bottles). I’m the only mom to do this but no one has complained. I can’t bake treats because there are 2 kids with allergies and we are asked to only bring store bought food. Hope this helps.
This summer I discovered cans of V-8 and snack bags of nuts at Costco.
The V-8 has the potassium and sodium like the energy drinks plus it’s filling (carbs, protein). Costco has little cans and 11.5 oz cans.
The nuts are filling, too. If the kids like peanut butter, they probably like nuts.
We used to bring fruit. Like orange slices or grapes. I like Ellen’s idea of a big container of lemonade.
I like the idea of rice krispie treats – be generous cut them into big bricks. last week my husband and I treated ourselves to a chai at the coffee shop. They had rice krispie treats about as big as half a brick. We ooh’ed over them and the counter guy said that those things are cheap for them to make and fly out of the store because the big size is appealing to people who grew up eating little brownie size RKTs at home. (guilty)
For drinks, you could bring a gallon jug of orange juice and pour it into the girls water bottles. less waste all the way around and the girls are drinking real juice.
Great ideas, everyone! Thanks … I might just make those raspberry bars, they look delicious … and some lemonade in a jug is a great idea, as is a bigger container to share.
Tomorrow is my snack day so I am browsing the web for ideas. During my search I’ve found a few good things.
For drinks, I am making a big batch of warm punch or tea (It’s getting very chilly where I live). I have found plenty that call for good ingredients like juices and honey for sweetener. I will bring paper cups that will easily compost.
For snack I will likely make a whole grain peanut butter muffin. I’ll test it out on my kids tonight and if it doesn’t go over well, I have granola bars. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on whole grain bread are good, as well as bagels with cream cheese.
Good Luck!
I have been a team parent for years, from soccer to cheerleading to wrestling and I would like to show you something that might help your soccer team with organizing healthy snacks, volunteers, fundraising events and parties.
http://www.signupgenius.com/back to school
It’s a FREE program that can help organize snack lists, volunteers and events. I think it would be perfect for any volunteer coordinators, team moms, and teachers as well as class moms organize fundraising events.
I am the team mom for my daughter’s cheerleading team and I used it for our snack signups and it worked so well, getting more volunteers than we have ever had. It really makes it so much easier than calling and emailing parents individually. I’m going to start using it for all of our events like car washes and parties and stuff.
My kid’s school is going to start using it because it has been so difficult for the class moms to get volunteers. Its free so I don’t get anything out of it, just thought I’d pass the info along.
Please take a look and let me know what you think.
sorry, webiste is http://www.signupgenius.com/backtoschool