It's somehow too often that I hear 'mummy I'm hungry' here. I've become used to it but I must say it does get frustrating when they would have just eaten 10 minutes ago. Therefore you can imagine that I am in the kitchen practically all day (which is not my exact idea of fun :) )
Soooo I decided something needed to be done and lo behold here came the snack box! Two actually... one can remain outside whilst the other is in the fridge for those snacks that need to remain cool. I warn you that what I am about to write about is not rocket science (nothing is in my life really), some might already have this in place too. But this simple box has made my life noticeably easier so I want to share it with you too.
First of all I repurposed the children's wooden toy kitchen into a snack station. There is a water dispenser with cups for them to help themselves when they are thirsty. We had this dispenser for a long time however it never stayed out long enough as it was not being used appropriatley; opening the dispenser without the cup underneath, drinking directly from the dispenser, tipping the water from the cup on purpose etc. After showing them how it should be used countless times, I would remove it and reintroduce it later. This summer was the first time it started to be used really well so hurrahhh!! It is finally here to stay :)
Also, in their snack station, they also have a box of tissues, plates and bowls, a few containers and utensils for them to serve their snacks as they wish. And last but not least there is a cloth (which I wet every morning) and a dustpan for them to clean up after they have eaten. We have a new rule now that they should always wipe the table after they have eaten and to pick up any crumbs off the floor. They need constant reminders for this one but I am hoping that it would become routine after a while.
Most importantly now, in our snack station we have THE snack box! :) I use a small bread basket but you can use anything you want and have the space for. Every evening or early morning I prepare a selection of snacks that can be eaten throughout the day. I will be giving you a list of our snacks together with some recipes further down. We also now have a snack basket in the lowest shelf in our fridge so they can help themselves to snacks that need to stored at cooler temperatures.
So, what are the advantages of having a snack box?
having snacks ready for the day saves you a lot of time as you do not need to think about what snack to give and all the snack preperation would have been done
helps keep your kitchen cleaner as you do not need to chop, peel, cook etc throughout the day
ensures that snacks are balanced and varied. I always ensure that there are fruits, veggies, dairy, carbs and fat in our snack boxes. Before having these snacks planned out I would often resort to the fastest snacks available when I was pressed for time.. a packet of crackers vs peeling carrots?
helps children choose their own snacks and whatever they choose they can eat! If I let them choose whatever they want from the whole kitchen they would most probably try to snack on biscuits all day long. Letting them choose their own snack without giving them restrictions (because you would have chosen all the foods beforehand) is fun for them and helps them feel in control.
How to prepare your snack box
A snack box is very easy to assemble. Every night or morning I chop fruits and vegetables. If your child likes their veggies cooked, try to steam a batch of varied vegetables which will last you for around 3 days in the fridge. See what needs to be used up in the fridge and pantry and use those first. For baked snacks go for batch cooking. Prepare muffins, patties, bliss balls etc and freeze. You can pop them out of the freezer the night before and they will be good to eat the next day.
Speaking about batch cooking, Nakita from The Mama Manual is the true expert here! Apart from offering countless tips on her blog, she also offers her online signature course "Dinner in a Flash" which opens up for enrollment twice yearly. Through this course, Nakita teaches you all that you need to know about batch cooking (from the process leading up to the cooking, the actual batch cooking and beyond). If you haven't started following her on IG or facebook go and do so now and whilst you are at it you can visit her website https://www.themamamanual.com/.
What goes in our snack box
Without further ado here is a list of snacks I compiled to help me prepare these snack boxes quickly and efficiently. If your children have different food preferences I encourage you to prepare your own lists as it will help you with your shopping list preperation and the actual snack box assembly.
Snack box 1: Foods that can be kept out at room temperature
Some fruits such as bananas and chopped apples
Crackers
Breadsticks
Toasted seeds (children aged 5 and over)
Nuts (children aged 5 and over)
Homemade popcorn
Muffins
Dried fruit
Granola
Treats (I tend to include a treat once or twice a week. These may include a biscuit, croissant etc)
Here are some of my favourite recipes you can prepare in a large batch and freeze
1. Apple, raisin and cinnamon muffins https://www.babyledfeeding.com/recipes/apple-cinnamon-and-raisin-sugar-free-blw-muffins/
2. One bowl carrot and banana muffins
3. Healthy muffins that taste like pizza
4. Fritters filled with veggies
Snack box 2: Foods that need to be refrigerated
Chopped vegetables such as carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers
Chopped fruits such as watermelon, oranges, strawberries
Cheese cubes
Dips such as hummus
Energy balls
Patties
Hard boiled eggs
Yogurths
Chia pudding (check out this yummy recipe https://mylovelylittlelunchbox.com/2019/05/13/creamy-chocolate-and-peanut-butter-chia-pudding/)
Fruit dip (https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/peanut-butter-honey-yogurt-dip/). I also add some cinnamon. It's delicious I promise!
Homemade chia jam (https://www.babyledfeeding.com/recipes/raspberry-chia-seed-jam-refined-sugar-free/)
Here are some other favourite tried and tested recipes for chilled treats!
A delicious creamy chocolate pudding filled with goodness minus the refined sugar
2. Yummy carrot and cheese stars (these are gobbled up really quick here)
3. No bake peanut butter flapjacks
I also keep some fresh fruit lollies in the freezer for when they are in the mood for an ice-cream snack. Is your child a smoothie lover? Prepare some smoothie bags. Just chop up the fruits he or she likes and add to freezer bags. When they are in a mood for a smoothie I let the fruit defrost a bit, add some water and blend.
So there you have it.. our snack box! With just a little preperation, days can go by a little bit more smoothly. And if your kids are like mine, having snacks at hand definitley saves some of your sanity :)
Christina xxx
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