Posted in Organization

One thing that makes my life easier at times is creating a snack shelf. I do this for my daughters sometimes. It helps to save me time during the week, which can be spent on educational or family activities.

A snack shelf is easy to create. Do it after you go shopping, while you are putting groceries away. Make sure you have all of the supplies that you may need on hand when you begin. You may need zipper baggies, a cookie jar, reusable containers or other supplies. You will also need a cupboard or a shelf for storing everything.

This is what I do:

I have a box of snack size baggies available, as well as a cookie jar and a large mixing bowl. I also have crackers, nuts and other ingredients on hand.

* I usually have 2 or 3 types of crackers available. Crackers are things that children will eat way to many of, so I look on the box to see what an actual serving size is. Usually, each type of cracker has a different serving size. I put only 1 serving size in each snack size zipper baggie. These are placed in a big mixing bowl on the shelf.

* On rare occasions, I may buy a bag of chips as a treat. This usually occurs during the summer. I use sandwich baggies for these if they are big chips, or snack size baggies if they are small. They may have a bag every couple of days. When children are very active, this helps to replenish salt. They really only need one bag a week, but I do not mind them having a bag every couple of days if they are otherwise eating healthy meals.

* I like to keep a small jar of peanut butter on the shelf so that they can put it on their crackers if they would like.

* I also like to put fresh fruits on the shelf, and any canned ones that are available for snacking.

* The last thing that I like to do is make a trail mix. The amounts and ingredients vary according to what we need (and what is cheap) at the time. Here is the basic recipe:

4 cups of assorted store brand Chex Cereal

½ to 1 cup of nuts

1 small candy per bag

1 cup raisins or 1 dried fruit per bag

1 cup seeds

This makes a generally healthy snack. I store them in snack size zipper baggies and put them into the cookie jar.

It is a good idea to have your children’s first snack of the day be a piece of fruit. I also would not allow snacking for an hour or so before a meal. This could ruin their appetite. You could even set up a set schedule, like snacks at 10:00, 2:00 and 7:00. Whatever works best for your family.

This also makes it easy for grabbing snacks as you are on your way out of the house. It will be cheaper in the long run to do this, because you do not have to keep stopping at convenience stores while you are out.

If you wanted to go a step further, you could dedicate a shelf in the refrigerator for pre-made (by you) drinks in small 1-serving containers. The ones in the store are generally more than 1-serving. For instance, 1 serving of juice is only 1/4 to ½ cup, depending on the type. It is also a good idea to keep water bottles filled during the summer months. These can all be easily grabbed on your way out the door as well.

***

Shannon Buck is a single, homeschooling mom of 2 residing in a small town in Maine. You can visit her sites at http://www.thehomeschoolmomof2.com and http://www.thelowincomewayoflife.com