Energy Vs Nutrient Dense Foods

Jackie Ludwig
Nov 22, 2023
3 min read

Updated: Dec 16, 2024

When your diary is filling with last minute (or you knew months ago but it’s snuck up) concerts, sports presentations, school events, work deadlines, family and friends catch ups, all your awesome meal planning and prep can fly out the window……

Never fear, we have some tips here!

First, let’s back up to the why….. Why is it important to consider if the foods I’m offering the kids are more energy dense or more nutrient dense?

Energy is important, especially for kids. Often energy dense foods are easier to get our hands on quickly, when they want sooooo many snacks through the day. They often come in packets for travelling and the kids will often eat them.
Nutrient dense foods mean they are packed with more of the micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) that bodies need to function well. These micronutrients are important for all the behind the scenes work – enzyme reactions for growth processes, hormone production, immune system function and healthy cellular energy production.

“Great, but I’m busy” you say. That’s why I’ve put together this list of easy swaps that will increase the more nutrient dense foods in the diet of your household, without lots of time baking and preparing amazing healthy food (save that for when you have a little more time to enjoy it). And the kids will still often eat it, even if they take a few times to adjust to the change in options offered to them.

Pick one of these snacks at a time to swap until it is part of your routine and household habits:

More Energy Dense Option	More Nutrient Dense Option
Crackers and dip or spread or cheese	Fruit or vegetable sticks with dip or spread (eg apple or pear and cheese / Carrot (whole, sticks, rounds) and dip / Celery and nut spread
Flavoured yoghurt or custards	Chia pudding with fresh fruit, or cocoa (chocolate flavoured) *Still a good source of calcium, protein and good oils (recipe below)
Chips	Homemade popcorn, salted with Celtic sea salt or Himalayan rock salt (recipe below)
Peanut based nut bars	Pumpkin seeds up to 1 handful per day or raw nuts and/or seeds about 1 handful per day
More bread or pasta to bulk up a meal (eg. sausage on bread or pasta with cheese)	Green leafies and/or salad to add texture and colour (eg greens, tomato, cucumber, carrot, chickpeas). Or add 2-3 different vegetables
Packet snacks in the bag each morning for hungry little ones	Bananas come in their own packaging, or if you have a container handy take some of last night’s left over corn on the cob, carrot or cucumber sticks, snow peas, etc.
Store bought pre-made cakes or muffins	Homemade (even lower sugar packet mix) brownies or muffins with ½-1 cup leftover vegetables (mashed if steamed or cooked, grated finely if raw) added before cooking in the oven

NUTRIENT DENSE RECIPE IDEAS

Homemade Popcorn:

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup popcorn kernals
4-5 tablespoons coconut oil
Celtic sea salt or Himalyan rock salt (to taste)

METHOD:

Heat a saucepan with lid over a medium heat
Add 4-5 tablespoons of coconut oil to the saucepan
Test if oil is ready by adding 1 popcorn kernal, if it sizzles and bubbles it’s ready
Add ½ cup popcorn kernals to the saucepan, coat with the warm oil in the pan by stirring or shaking
Cover with lid and wait a minute or two for it to start popping
When the ‘pops’ slow down it is ready to remove from the heat (keep lid on)
When pops have stopped for a while, carefully remove lid
Add popcorn to an airtight container to store, or a bowl to serve
Salt with celtic sea salt or Himalayan rock salt to your taste, shaking to mix salt through
Enjoy!

Chia Pudding: