Snack Hacks for the Busy Mom

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Mondelez via Mode Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Mondelez.

Now that my Princess is attending our local private school – our calendar of events is filling up. There was a slow calm when we were homeschooling, at least with our external life. Now, I have parties, events, and field trips – and my Princess has never been quite so happy. I have to make her a sack lunch each day for school. They do offer hot lunch for $4, but not everything is worth $4 in my opinion, and some of the items my Princess just doesn’t like.

After school, she is usually hungry for a snack too. So I try to bring something wholesome for her to snack on either in the van (when I remember) or she gets it right when we get home while she is reading her 20 minutes a day. Getting creative with snacks is actually something I like to do. I am not big on creating fancy recipes, but offering fun snacks for the kids?  I am liking it.

I scoured the internet for snack hacks and found some great ideas. First I want to share what I am already doing. Then I will tell you the snack hacks I am going to start incorporating.

Snack Bin

I have a few bins in my pantry. One is my bin, the kids aren’t allowed in it. (Can you say, chocolate?) Another bin is filled with baking items, and the third bin is filled with snacks for the kids. They know they can grab a snack out of the bin. They are all kid-safe snacks that are wholesome.

Pre-packaged Snack Bags

I like to bring home a snack, like Honey Maid Go Bites, and look at the serving size. I then dole out the snack into plastic baggies. That way, we can grab and go.

Ready-to-Eat Fresh Fruit

I keep fruit washed, cut, and pre-portioned in the fridge for easy grab and go snacking. I use fruits like sliced apples (with cinnamon and splenda), grapes, baby carrots, and cut up cucumbers in the fridge.

I also have been cutting my watermelon into “popsicles” for easier eating. We love this method! We’ll never go back to the old school style of cutting watermelon.

Homemade Yogurt Pops for Dessert

Freezing the kid’s favorite yogurt, and even adding fruit and flax seed to it has been a hit in our home – especially during the warmer weather months. We love yogurt pops that we can pull right out of our freezer.

Fruit Kabobs

Any creation that is placed on a long stick is fun for my kids. We’ve made dessert fruit Kabobs for play dates and family dinners. They are always such a fun snack hack. Kids eat more fruit when it is placed on a stick. I’ve seen cute “caterpillars” made with green grapes on a stick.

Here are a few more snack hacks that I’d like to start using in our home:

• pre-cut an apple and hold it together with a rubber band (they don’t turn brown?)
• pre-made yogurt dots or yogurt covered blueberries (freeze ahead snack hack!)
• chocolate and yogurt covered banana bites
• homemade fruit snacks
• homemade granola bars
• use an ice cube tray for frozen snacks (think chocolate strawberries, frozen bananas, and mini-popsicles)
• reuse old creamer bottles as snack dispensers (I’d like to do this instead of constantly using plastic baggies.)
• use a foil cupcake liner when eating frozen fruit bars, popsicles, and yogurt pops

What snack hacks do you recommend for busy moms?

Wholesome snacks that fit into our routine are really appreciated by me! I realize that our family is a lot like other families in this regard. Living together day to day, we like to give our kids the best we can, and despite being busy, it’s nice to take time to enjoy snacks together.

No matter how things change, what makes us wholesome never will. Honey Maid: everyday wholesome snacks for every wholesome family. This is Wholesome.