Well! We made it through yet another summer! School is starting back and everyone is scrambling to get back in a routine and on a set schedule. We all know that our babies are going to be coming home and the first thing they will do when they walk in the house is open the pantry door. They’re hungry of course, it’s been a long hard day at school.
As moms I know we constantly are keeping the house full with snacks. If you’re like me, your children are hungry and asking for food 24/7. My oldest literally woke me up in the middle of the night last night and told me she was hungry! “It’s 3AM honey! You have to go back to bed!”, I moaned back to her. My goal with this post is to give you enough snack options to be able to rotate through out the year so the kiddos don’t get bored with the same options every day.
Pantry Choices:
- Veggie straws
- Goldfish
- Annie’s organic variety pack
- Pretzel chips
- Pretzel sticks
- Trail mix (individual bags)
- Chex mix
- Nature valley snack mix
- Nut thins
- Animal crackers
- Apple sauce cups/ pouches
The idea with all these pantry options is to make it as easy as possible for the kids to access with ZERO effort from you! Say you aren’t home in the afternoons but the kiddos are hungry or you just have some things you need to get started as soon as you get home and you don’t have time to fix a snack today. These items are so easy to keep in some baskets in the bottom of the pantry. Grab and get started on homework!
Fridge Choices:
- Stonyfield snack packs
- Yogurt pouches
- String cheese
- Chobani
- Sargento balanced breaks
- Everything hummus toast
- Avocado toast spread
- Snack cheese rectangles
You can also always grab the trays, pictured below, for $1.25 HEB in the produce department.
Same idea with the pantry snacks, these are just located in the refrigerator! As far as organization goes, I like to take everything out of the plastic packages and cardboard boxes and have them in “easy to access” baskets. That goes for both pantry and fridge snacks! The easiest (and cheapest) thing I have found is to go to the Dollar Tree and grab baskets for $1. Most of the time that come in 2 & 3 packs, so you can actually get a few baskets for $1.
If you’re confused about some of the snack items listed above, I have also bundled all these yummy ideas into easy to look at folders for you! You can see all the pantry items here and all the fridge items here. Any brand for these work so choose your favorites! Use these ideas to snowball some more snack ideas that meet your families wants and needs as well!
Okay! Let’s be honest. Somedays we are on our game, but then somedays we are ON OUR GAME! I am talking SUPER MOM status!
These are the fun snacks, that when we are really feeling like super mom, we can whip on for a fun after school snack!
- Apple Discs
- Slices apples into discs and spread peanut butter. Drizzle with honey and add oats, chocolate chips, raisins, cranraisins or even chopped nuts.
- Celery Sticks
- You can add pb, pimiento cheese, or cream cheese spread topped with everything but the bagel seasoning!
- Fruit Skewers
- Grab all the kids favorite fruit and add them to wooden skewers. These are actually easy to make for a pre-made snack also!
- Frozen Yogurt Drops
- Another easy cold snack! Get your favorite yogurt and spread little drops all over parchment paper. Freeze and when they’re ready take them and throw them in a ziplock. Keep them in the freezer for an easy grab snack! **Tip: I have even pre-sectioned them out so my girls can just grab a small bag at a time. I normally put 8-10 drops in each bag.
- Mini Bagels
- Many ways to eat these, including peanut butter and all the fixin’s! But you can also spread some marinara sauce and top with mozzarella cheese for an easy “mini” pizza! & If you’re feeling extra fancy go ahead and add some of the mini pepperonis!
- Rice Cakes
- Favorite way to eat these is to spread peanut butter across them and top with raisins, chocolate chips or even drizzle with honey!
I hope you AND your children really enjoy these snack ideas and I hope it will help hold them over until dinner is ready! More importantly, I hope everyone if off to a great school year and I pray over ever child and every teacher as the school year goes on!
