My kids don’t love Sandwiches, they have leftovers or cheese, crackers and meats & snacks. One of my 3 is Gluten free.
PREP: Tonight while watching MasterChef with my daughter I’ve bagged up a couple weeks snacks.
STORAGE: I’ve got a lovely large pot drawer and 1 fridge drawer. If you don’t have an empty pot drawer then a rubbermaid type bin on the counter will work & you can just keep loading it. Snack Baggies from Dollarama are my friend. Not environmentally friendly although a sanity saver. Another fav container set is the 60 pc containers on for $9 at Superstore. LOTS Of small 6 oz – 1.5 cup containers, perfect for school! I have two of these 60 pc sets and by the end of the school year have 1/4 of a set left – how do kids lose those containers all the time? I also love the containers with the segments, after supper my ‘leftovers boy’ packs the leftovers right into that container and just grabs some nuts and fruit.
TYPICAL DAY: My kids grab 6-10 items, with at least 1/2 from the fridge. My kids know the limit’s, ONE ONLY from the front of the drawer snacks, although in the beginning you’ll prob want to label each box with the Q they can take. My kids have one at snack time and a slew at lunch. They can pair their crackers with cheese and meat or use the crackers or celery to scoop up Tuna, etc. Every lunch is different and they can grab according to what appeals to them that day. They eat it because THEY Picked it. We’re a ‘real food’ house and that’s how our meals are, although only one of the 3 likes leftovers, so this is a happy medium. They take mostly fruit, nuts, meats, cheese & rice crackers, and one ‘pre-packaged store’ food.
Cupboard drawer - all these items are always in the drawer
4+ Nuts & seeds – Salted Mixed (no peanuts), plain almonds, pecans, pistachio & Sunflower Seeds – 1 lg handful
Dehydrated foods – Corn (it’s so good), Yogurt – these unusual ones I get from Thrive Foods
3-4 Dried Fruits – Mango, Coconut Flakes, dried banana, dates or others from my friends at Level Ground
Crackers etc – Rice Crackers, GF various from Costco
Fruit Cups – on sale at Costco this week – my kids love the Mandarins and Peaches
FruitSource Bars – all fruits, no crap.
Seaweed Snacks – Costco again
Clif Bars & Granola Bars – this is my unhealthy son’s ‘healthiest’ foods
Or when they get really lucky my homemade Coconut Almond Cookies or Chewy Danger Bars or these family favorite or Coconut Cupcakes
Fridge Drawer – has ~12 of these items on any given day. Each week it changes so no-one is ever bored.
Containers of Grapes
Baggies of Pepperoni – GF from Superstore or GF Turkey Costco
Beef Jerky – homemade, no preservatives and GF
Bagged Veggies – Carrots, Celery Sticks, Snap Peas, Green Beans (my kids fav raw veggie!)
Yogurt Cups or Yogurt Tubes
Oranges/Apples/Plums, etc
Babybel, Cheese Strings and my own chunks or cubes of various cheeses like Jalapeno Havarti
Bags of Ham, Turkey, Roast Beef
Containers of Tuna Salad, Egg Salad, Salmon Salad, Chicken Salad (the protein, my 5 min mayo and seasonings). I make a diff one every Sunday, about 6 containers, they need to act fast to get a container or make their own!
Hummus or Salsa or whatever random cold portable food I have in the fridge
Greens/Veg, Goat Cheese Crumbles, Cranberries and Epicure’s Italian Dressing (Lex’s Fav lunch)
Whatever snack I’ve made, like Ronel’s Beef Rollups or my luscious lemon bars
