GENIUS Snack Solution

OK so while the kids were away for a week shawn and i had an AMAZING time. one of the highlights - no joke - was giving our fridge a deep clean (finally!! and thank you shawn!). i decided to then assign the bottom shelf to kids snacks. now if/when the kids are hungry they can go to the fridge by themselves and take a snack. the only rule is that they have to take a different snack each time. here is what i have right now for snacking:


- bowl of chick peas
- pint of blueberries
- bowl of watermelon chunks
- cheesestrings
- leftover pasta from dinner
- bowl of grapes
- hummus and mini pitas


* and that rule is actually working. eva goes for a single grape then 5 minutes later a chunk of watermelon or a handful of chick peas. very cute. seriously this is a life changing solution (for me at least) that takes a very little amount of time to prep and i think it makes the kids feel all independent and kinda grownup. also very cute.

"I Wanna Nack!"

this is what i hear like 20+ times a day. my children want to eat CONSTANTLY (and have a hard time pronouncing "S"). please understand for a person who is cooking illiterate, snacks are like surprise spelling tests sprinkled throughout the day.

so what do i do?

- peanut butter on something - banana, bread, crackers, apples

- hard boiled eggs! this one a bit of a hard sell (but so easy to make) they hate the yolk, don't really blame them "mommy am i eating a chick?"

- popcorn with butter and nutritional yeast (this used to be a go to dinner in my pre-child life)

- cheese wrapped with turkey cold cut

- cream cheese & rice crackers & cucumbers

- fresh blueberries

- bowl of oats with berries and applesauce

- kale chips (will post a recipe soon)

- get them to help me bake something yummy. this adds distraction and activity to stave off their voracious, ceaseless hunger

the wanting a snack i suspect is another way of them saying "i'm bored" which would drive me bananas so maybe snacking isn't so bad after all...

i must go make some popcorn now.

do you have any easy snack ideas? please comment and share your wisdom!