Thursday: Health Issues and Ideas
First thing in the morning I see Cereal boy grabbing a granola bar. Before lunch, he gets another. Mid-afternoon, another! As soon as I calculated the damage, I had to put a stop to it. At my threshold of 0.20 per snack, times three kids, three times a day, we are spending $54 a month on snacks! You know what I could do with $54!
Our solution is portion controlled snacking via a snack box.
First we have the unlimited snacks. I seldom regulate carrots and pretzels (and sometimes popcorn). Other veggies and fruit depending on the season and price. Sometimes apples can be .050 per apple, thus they are restricted to the snack box.
Then we have limited snacks. Those $0.20 per serving, store bought snacks. These include granola bars (or homemade), portion measured goldfish, string cheese, dried fruit, nuts, etc.
I divide the snacks into a shoebox for each child. I measure or weigh certain things like goldfish, nuts, bagels, canned fruit, etc. These are their snacks for the entire week! If they want their granola bar at 6am on Monday morning, they can, but then there won’t be one for the rest of the week. They can self regulate and be more independent. This way our snacks last longer, and its easier on my budget. You can also ensure your kids are getting a variety of snacks. One day they might have a hard boiled egg, the next day an apple, etc. You can make their box of snacks varied and nutritious. You can have a box for the fridge, and one for the pantry.
I’ve typed up a list of snack ideas for each box. Tape the list straight onto the lid of the box and fill it once a week.
I read this idea first on Everyday Food Storage where a family did this with sack lunch items that they sorted into individual bins for each child. Read it here.
Thursday: Health Issues and Ideas
First thing in the morning I see Cereal boy grabbing a granola bar. Before lunch, he gets another. Mid-afternoon, another! As soon as I calculated the damage, I had to put a stop to it. At my threshold of 0.20 per snack, times three kids, three times a day, we are spending $54 a month on snacks! You know what I could do with $54!
Our solution is portion controlled snacking via a snack box.
First we have the unlimited snacks. I seldom regulate carrots and pretzels (and sometimes popcorn). Other veggies and fruit depending on the season and price. Sometimes apples can be .050 per apple, thus they are restricted to the snack box.
Then we have limited snacks. Those $0.20 per serving, store bought snacks. These include granola bars (or homemade), portion measured goldfish, string cheese, dried fruit, nuts, etc.
I divide the snacks into a shoebox for each child. I measure or weigh certain things like goldfish, nuts, bagels, canned fruit, etc. These are their snacks for the entire week! If they want their granola bar at 6am on Monday morning, they can, but then there won’t be one for the rest of the week. They can self regulate and be more independent. This way our snacks last longer, and its easier on my budget. You can also ensure your kids are getting a variety of snacks. One day they might have a hard boiled egg, the next day an apple, etc. You can make their box of snacks varied and nutritious. You can have a box for the fridge, and one for the pantry.
I’ve typed up a list of snack ideas for each box. Tape the list straight onto the lid of the box and fill it once a week.
I read this idea first on Everyday Food Storage where a family did this with sack lunch items that they sorted into individual bins for each child. Read it here.