I got this question in an e-mail....
"What do you do for snacks during the day or do you skip them in order to save money?"
Come mid afternoon at my house, you can normally find my hungry crowd going through cupboard and fridge in search of snacks. I don’t normally post our snack menu’s because my head would explode if I had to be that organized. So I though I’d let you in on some of our favorites.
Muffins – You can’t beat these for sheer thrift as well as convenience. I usually double my breakfast menu batch and keep them in the freezer for hungry kids.
Cookies – I usually make a double batch per week. Our favorite is THIS recipe. I don’t know how frugal it would be to have to buy all the ingredients for these but it seems I’ve always got a little cereal in the bottom of a box (not big enough for a serving) as well as a a handful of chocolate chips at the bottom of the bag, peanut butter stuck to the sides of the jar, etc… Again, I keep half the batch out and freeze the other batch. Otherwise they would get eaten in a matter of hours.
Sliced fruit or Veggies with salad dressing for dip.
Scoops of yogurt. (Buy yogurt in tubs instead of single servings. It’s way cheaper.)
Popsicles made out of Homemade Lemonade
Those are just a few ideas from our house. What do you do for snacks at your house?
8 comments:
I absolutely love reading your blog and I just want to tell you that you're amazing! My husband and I live with family while he's completing his studies, but I am so ready to use all your advice to organize meals and be more frugal. It's nice to read everything you post and know it IS possible and that people just need to try. Thank you!
Great ideas!
And I'm not such a snob that I won't use some of them!
We also make homemade granola. It's cheap, good for snacking out of hand, or to put on top of the scoops of yogurt or the occasional ice cream...
You can use either regular oats or quick oats, cinnamon, butter and brown or regular sugar.
I bet you could find a recipe online...I'd give you ours, but I don't know the measurements!!!
Leanne
These are great ideas! I think I have some muffin mix too! I'll make some today so my kids can have them as snacks tomorrow!
I just recently found your blog and it's been such a blessing!
One of our favorite snacks is flourless peanutbutter cookies:
1c peanutbutter
1c sugar
1 egg
1tsp vanilla
Blend all well. Place by tablespoons onto a greased cookies sheet. Make the famous criss-cross pattern with a spoon dipped in sugar and bake in a 350 oven for about 10 minutes, until lightly brown.
We also love to snack on toasted (leftover) pancakes w/ peanutbutter smeared on them, air-popped popcorn, graham crackers w/ peanutbutter and muffins.
I can make a fruit cobbler pretty cheap:
2 cans yellow peaches drained ($.89 at Aldi here)(or you can use any fruit, really), 1c sugar mixed into the peaches, 1tsp cinnamon mixed into the peaches. Mix together 1c flour, 1c sugar and 1c milk. Pour over peaches in a 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for about 30-45 minutes until the crust is golden brown.
A friend of mine makes popcicles out of yogurt. I'm sure it's much more pricey than lemonade (which sounds yummy, btw), but they might be an interesting variation.
Have you seen a yogurt machine to make homemade yogurt? I bet that would lower the cost over the long run. Here's one on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Euro-Cuisine-YM100-Automatic-Yogurt-Maker-Machine_W0QQitemZ380043966397QQihZ025QQcategoryZ20676QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
OK Gayle, I've got to level with ya. Even though I haven't been blogging these last few months, I do often check this blog. I really do love it. So after much reading I decided to try the $50 grocery thing (only it was more like $80 because $50 is impossible in my little town)last month. Anyway, I started baking my own snacks and it was like instant fat! Really, I just can't bake cookies and muffins and not eat them. What do you do? So here is the delima. Do I be thin and broke, or fat and frugal???
You don't need a yogurt machine to make good yogurt. Find a recipe online, get either yogurt starter or some plain unsweetened yogurt to use as a starter. I use the powdered starter so can't remember how much to use of the yogurt for starter. Follow the directions. Pour into clean containers. Put into a lunch sized cooler stuffed with rags. Close lid. This will keep your yogurt at the perfect temperature until it is completed. Easier and cheaper than a machine.
Great ideas! I have an award for you on my blog!!
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