Snacks?? - Castle Rock,CO

I second the Aldis rec. You can find basically any snack from the regular store there in generic. They even package it to look the same. Their produce is way cheaper too.

cheese, yogurts (when its on sale and not the kid stuff), veggies, load up on peppers, celery, carrots, and dips, peanut butter for celery and ranch for everything, pbj samis, half a sami for a snack,

I like to keep lots of fruits and veggies, and have peanut butter to dip them in. String cheeses, granola bars is a favorite, yogurts, crackers, muffins etc.

S.,
I try to keep healthy stuff around especially since if we have any junk food in the house, I tend to eat it! Here are a few suggestions...
Check out Bountiful Baskets and see if there is a location near you. www.bountifulbaskets.org. This is a food co-op. You order your basket online on Monday/Tuesday and pick it up on Saturday at the designated time. This co-op is entirely volunteer run and you are encouraged to help out when you can (unloading the trucks, filling the baskets, helping with check out). The prices are great. It is $15.00 for a "basket" which is actually 2 laundry baskets full of produce (1 for veggies and 1 for fruits). You do not know what produce you will get, but I have never been disappointed. Generally will get in-season fruits and veggies. Can also add on breads, tortillas, etc. I love it because You tend to get $30-$40 worth of food for $15.00 and we ALWAYS have fruits and veggies on hand for snacks.

I also buy eggs by the large 5 dozen pack and hard boil a dozen of them to keep on hand for lunches and snacks.

We do a lot of apples and peanut butter. I make extra pancakes and keep them in the freezer and then the kids can heat them in the toaster for a quick snack (we try to do healthy pancakes too, like pumpkin or oatcakes).

Veggies and hummus- you can make your own hummus very easily and on the cheap. It is basically just ground up garbanzo beans and spices with some tahini (sesame seed paste). There are lots of variations. I like the sweet potato hummus recipe (wearenotmartha.com I think).

We keep saltines on hand and sometimes the kids will eat them plain or top them with frosting since I usually keep frosting leftovers in the freezer. (not so healthy, but yummy!)

We also have raisins, canned fruit and granola bars on hand for snacking.

same here, but I wanted to ask if you have ever shopped at Aldi? Their food is pretty reasonable, especially when you have to load up on snacky stuff.

The prepackaged stuff really adds up.
Fruit is good, of course, and buying it in season is always cheaper. Do they like other things besides bananas and apples? Mine always liked grapes, melon, kiwis and pineapple (cut it yourself, the precut stuff is super expensive.) Do they like peanut butter? Half a sandwich makes a good snack, or peanut butter on celery sticks, rice cakes, toast or a waffle is good too, maybe with a little honey or jam.
Pretzels are cheap and healthier than chips. Carrot sticks with ranch, cereal and milk, quesadillas (tortillas are cheap and it doesn't take a lot of cheese.)
I'm sure I'm leaving something out but I bet you'll get a lot of great ideas here :)

For our family of four near DC, I spend about $130/week. It is my mission to get to $100 but I can't seem to do it. DC is super expensive.

I have two girls 4 & 8 and here are the snacks I buy. I avoid buying anything individually packaged, I buy large jars and serve in tupperware style containers for school or bowls at home. I don't really go to Costco, but I do try to buy store brands and large packages.

applesauce
nuts
seasonal fruit and bananas
popcorn (I buy kernals and make it on the stovetop with a little oil)
cheese (okay, sometimes I do buy individual cheesesticks, but for lunches, I cut from a large block)
cheesits or other a whole grain style cracker
yogurt and cottage cheese (I do buy some individual containers for lunchbox, but mostly buy large container of plain or strawberry and add fruit)
cereal (dry or with milk)
canned fruit (I hate this, but I try to always have a few cans on hand for emergencies - like the end of the week and we are out of food!)
toaster waffles
peanut butter or cream cheese on bread, crackers, or waffles
cherry tomatoes, carrots, green beans, sugar snap peas
smoothie with yogurt and fresh and frozen fruit (frozen is expensive, so it takes me months to get through a couple bags)

I will occasionally offer sweets like pudding or sweet breads or ice cream, but we usually only have one dessert in the house each week for after dinner one night.

I am with you on the groceries being a fortune. I have started using coupons like they are going out of style which has helped but snacks I tend to do a lot of apples and peanut butter or crackers and cheese, celery and peanut butter. Having the protein seems to satisfy them more than just crackers do. Otherwise I find they are still looking for another snack after they finish the apple. If you have the space try growing some veggies. My husband and I did this during the summer and were able to get a lot of corn, squash and tomatoes. This season is a lot of green stuff so we are going to try again. It will at least lower the bill at the grocery store. I'm def checking out the link below for the baskets. I also hit the farmer's markets when they are open bc you can usually get a lot more for your money and it goes directly to the farmer.

If you are spending $180 per week for food, not counting non-edibles, then you are spending about twice as much as I do.

Food waste is the largest part of my kids' family's food dollar. In each family, the child is permitted to eat what they want and then throw the rest of the food on the plate away. In a lot of cases, the child will be back in 10 to 15 minutes wanting something else to eat.

In my home, the kids ate what we put on their plates. In my kids homes the grandkids eat what they feel like. The rest of the food gets thrown away. We took two of my grandkids on an 800 mile road trip. While on the road trip, they ate what we ate and if they didn't want all of what they had on their plate they didn't get dessert or anything else to eat. Amazingly (scarcasm) they ate all their food and didn't come back for something else to eat in 15 to 30 minutes.

I know from practical experience, that if you don't buy lots of prepared foods (corn dogs, chicken nuggets, chicken breast filets, chicken wings, toaster waffles, etc) and require that your kids eat all of their food, you will cut your food bill in half. Don't buy fruit roll ups, buy fresh fruit. Don't buy Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches, buy english muffins, and bacon ends and pieces.

I spend about $20 per person per week on groceries, and non-food items like toilet paper, dog food, and detergents. I shop the sales and make my weekly menus based on what is on sale.

If you have at least 40 days to your first frost you can plant spinach. It will be the baby spinach you see at such high prices in the store. But it eats just as well and you know what pesticides are in it because you grew it.

Good luck to you and yours.

Make your own snacks, homemade costs a whole lot less than prepackaged!
Cookies, cakes, fruit burritos, fruit crisps, fruity bars, chocolate covered pretzels, trail mix, Chips, all can be made from scratch and all cost less than prepackaged. Also making your own snakcs, and bringing the kids into the kitchen to help teaces them lessons that last a lifetime to come.

Preppackaged just goes to the gut and fulfills a temp fix!
See/ sharing mtn recipes cookbook for recipes!