Tip submitted by Heather from Creative Family Moments
Food goes fast at my house, especially handy to-go snacks. A bag of chips? Forget about it. It’ll be gone before I can sneak a handful.
A baked pan of brownies? The smell lingers but I think I only got a taste test.
Pistachios? The bag is left for me, full of shells.
Part of the problem is that we decided long ago that we wanted our house to be a welcoming place for the kids’ friends. We made that decision when they were preschoolers. It was a no-brainer then.
Now that they are teen, tween, and elementary, these kids and their friends can eat! Afternoons, weekends, and summer means I see many pairs of hopeful eyes looking up at me before they ask, “Is there something I can have for a snack?”
It was worth it though, for the relationships. Yet, packing cold lunches was my breaking point. Sending three kiddos and one husband off to school and work with a cold lunch meant I needed some handy to-go foods that would actually stick around long enough to make it into the thermal bags!
Snack bags came to the rescue! On sale (and/or with coupon!) I can get a pack of 100 snack bags for under two dollars. So when I bake brownies, I instantly cut them up, set aside a few for dessert, and store them in snack bags (Hide them immediately for later use!).
Find pistachios on sale? Sweet! I split up the serving portions and store them. Any special treat that goes on sale with a handy coupon (like the free Skittles I got awhile ago), I’ve learned to split up immediately so they’ll last.
I have happy kids, and a happy husband, because they have treats and good snacks that are already in serving size bags and inhibit mindless eating. It helps food last much longer and thereby saves me money and sanity!
Heather loves to live life purposefully by celebrating the ordinary every day. Her family and their often bizarre celebrations can be found at her blog, Creative Family Moments.
My four teens were so bad that I finally cleared a dresser drawer just so my hubby could have a treat now and then that they had not already gone before he finished at work.
Same hubby ate four pounds of M& M’s that I bought for Halloween this year and he did it in three nights then complained of a stomach ache!
You have to divide and hide! If your going to have anything for what you bought it for.
I fed all those hungry teens soups and mini muffins for almost all after school meetings or get after school times.
Popcorn (home flavored popcorn goes over fine) Popcorn balls
These are all very cheap for serving a bunch of hungry teens
Home made soft pretzels
Brownies
and Rice Krispy treats go over well too.
I agree that making your own snacks and bagging them yourself is loads cheaper! We’ve also been trying for Trash-Free Lunches at our house, so reusable Sandwich Wraps and Snack Packs are a must. I started making them from repurposed materials and selling them at the local farmer’s market. I can also take mail orders through my facebook page The Eventual Farmer. Other Trash-Free Lunch ideas can be found here : http://mykitchenmyvice.blogspot.com/2011/08/back-to-on-trash-free-lunches.html
i do the same thing! it’s helped save money, but it also saves on calories. it limits my snacking to just one baggie with 2 or 3 cookies instead of the bottomless cookie jar where you can loose track! also when they are bagged it means they are for lunches, not for my snacks so i tend to grab an apple instead. just a sneaky mind trick for me.
i love this! i do this for my husband and myself… cut up veggies at the beginning of the week for our lunches, and divide boxes of crackers, dried fruit, cereal, etc. into snack size portions. i tried using reusable containers but just don’t have space in my lunchbox for all those containers so i save those for use at home. (i’m a grad student and hate throwing away all those bags, but i also can’t carry 5 or 6 tupperware everyday all around campus with me. my books are heavy enough as it is!)
I have the same problem! After a few times of them rolling all over a metro rail car I’ve gone back to snack bags!
What type of cereal still comes in wax paper? Every brand I buy is in plastic bags inside of the box. Wax paper is compostable, so if we could switch to a brand that was still packaged that way, my family would produce less garbage.
This reminds me of what my grandmother did for her eight children: she wrapped two (homemade) cookies in wax paper and put them in a bowl so whoever came home from school could have one package for their snack – she always had a houseful of kids and this was her portion control!! We usually divide up our snacks into plastic baggies and reuse them but I also save wax paper from cereal boxes so I might try that with cookies or granola bars in the freezer (put portions in the wax paper, then all into another container.) thanks for the tip!!
Oops…I posted a reply to this below, Patti:
What type of cereal still comes in wax paper? Every brand I buy is in plastic bags inside of the box. Wax paper is compostable, so if we could switch to a brand that was still packaged that way, my family would produce less garbage.
Sorry for the duplicate!
I buy Cheerios and Raisin Bran. Sometimes crackers come with a wax paper lining. I think it’s wax paper- I use it all the time in the microwave and it doesn’t melt or change shape.
I love doing this. It doesn’t take very long and you can clean and re-use the bags if you’re into that. So much cheaper than paying for individual sized snacks. 🙂
I get.. um.. “cranky” if my blood sugar drops too low – and so does my 3-year-old. I got in the habit of putting granola bars and other single-serve snacks in the cupboard nearest the door so they were easy to grab on our way out of the house – but I was spending a lot of money on them (and as much as I want to make my own, I just haven’t had the time).
I just recently started bagging up trail mix in individual portions. Now I have portion control AND convenience, without paying $0.50-$1 per serving.
Great Idea. I tried this a while ago explaining to my husband how this would help us control our snacking urges, keep healthy (i.e., not finish an entire bag of chips in 1 sitting). The problem – ME! I kept going back for a 2nd snack pouch and then a 3rd, and so on until almost all the carefully portioned snack pouches were finished. My goal going forward work on self control when it comes to eating junk food and dont buy any junk food however tempting the sale!
I have done that too.
Thanks so much. My son is only 18 months, but I long for our home to be a place where his friends want to be one day. I have often thought about the challenges that will come along with that. This is a great idea that I will slowly begin to implement now, so that it won’t be overwhelming later.
I do this some too, but I just wash out and reuse the bags, so I don’t have to buy new ones very often.
I did this when I was working on portion control with my daughter when she was around 9. We’d buy a huge bag of some sort of snack and when I’d let her get her own snack she’d wind up with way too much. So, to show her we sat down and divided everything up into snack bags. Then when I said she could get a snack she’d just pick ONE bag of whatever she wanted in the pantry.
We bought small containers (in two sizes) 5 or 10 for $1 at the Dollar Tree. I keep about 40 of them in a larger container with a lid for organizing in the cupboard. This way if the containers get lost we’re not out much more than the cost of the baggies. If the kids lost actual Tupperware it wouldn’t be nearly as cost effective! We use them for baby carrots, cheese slices, and grapes to keep in one drawer of the refrigerator. The kids can help themselves to a healthy snack.
I do this with muffins for my husbands lunch/coffee break. I bake up a batch and keep a few out to eat then put the rest right into the freezer in baggies. I also make pizza rolls for lunches sometimes and do the same thing with them.
I’m looking forward to doing this when we go to Costco the next time and get the huge bags of pretzels. Any of the other snacky type foods I just don’t buy anymore. They’re not good for you usually, my husband and I are trying to lose weight, and they’re more expensive then real food. But I can see using this idea to split up strawberries, grapes, nuts, cheese, apple slices, etc. into ready-to-eat portion sizes for my children and just setting them in the refrigerator drawer!
This is pure genius – and while I have heard it several times I am hoping it actually sticks and I remember to do this since my kids are getting to the start of that snacky age!
I have been using plastic baggies too, but am thinking of changing to containers to alleviate the cost.
Great ideas! We do this all the time because I just can’t justify the additional cost of buying individually packaged items.
My husband says that when he was in high school and his friends came over after school, he would bake a 10 pound bag of potatoes in the oven, and they’d eat them all!
I love that idea..thanks for sharing! We have four children ranging from 4 to 12 and food goes so. very. quickly.
I use little plastic containers…they take up more space, but I don’t have to rebuy them! The only downside is my husband has a thing for eating multiple containers of chips at one sitting, negating the entire point…ha!
I freezer cook items, like granola bars in big batches and freeze the cut bars and then pull items out the day of lunches and pack. They thaw before lunch and we’re not as tempted to eat the whole pan.
I do the same for my husband and myself. Another tip: save money by packaging your own oatmeal. Instead of buying the individual bags that are pricier, I buy plain instant oatmeal in bulk at Sam’s. Then I add my own flavorings: cinnamon, brown sugar, raisins, apples or peaches I dehydrate from our trees, you name it! It can be as simple or complex as you like. I make them in baggies, empty them into plastic containers in the morning, then reuse the bags for more oatmeal packets. I make up about 20 at a time so it’s more convenient in the mornings. My husband adds water from the hot water dispenser at work and has a quick, easy, healthy snack!
What a wonderful idea for portion control as well!
I do the same thing, but I have an assortment of wee containers, so that I don’t have the ongoing expense of bags. I use pint freezer containers for chips for my Hubby’s lunch, and a larger, 3 cup container for popcorn on days when we’re running errands and my daughter will want a snack. I store (hide) the snacks in the big chicken roasting pan – so far no one has thought to look there!
I use reusable pouches and containers as well…. Cheaper than baggies even on sale and a lot less environmental impact. I have learned to have enough to last through the week so I don’t have to worry about washing constantly
I store (hide) the snacks in the big chicken roasting pan – so far no one has thought to look there!
LOL! My hubby’s mom used to do this with candy. Same spot (in a roasting pan with a lid). She thought they did not know about it!
I use old oatmeal and bread crumb containers with the lids – stick all sorts of goodies in there and kids never think to look in the there.
I would suggest saving even more money by using reusable snack bags! The ones I buy from Gabriel’s Good Tidings on etsy are washable and have held up great, plus my coworkers always comment on how cute they are 🙂
Love this!
I just cashed in some Disney Movie Rewards points (many of which I get free from checking a few blogs) for a set of three absolutely adorable reusable food bags!
I got those for my son too. He is actually using one right now to pack his lunch
Reusable bags are great, but I find that some things go stale in them within 24 hours (pretzels, crackers, etc).
I do that with my husband and preschooler but not my stepson- the reusable containers don’t come back and quickly got too expensive to constantly replace. He gets plastic baggies and I shudder at the environmental impact but it is what it is.
The tiffin sort of container is better for crunchy stuff like pretzels instead of the cloth velcro baggies.