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layoff scare…we're good
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So my husband kept his job under a 12-month contract. This is a blessing as it provides income and benefits as he considers other options. He’s in a declining field right now! Anyway, it’s the 5th time we’ve faced this and as much as we prepare for emergencies we aren’t as prepared as we thought. So we are making major changes to how we spend our money. The main 1 is food…I’m tired of fighting the food industry and running from farmer to farmer for good meats, organice produce, etc. So, after letting it go to God I decided that while still choosing healthy foods I’m at a loss for what to make for snacks. We are gf (dd is gfcf) but please include any snack you love as I can usually convert it to gf easily.
We usually make our own granola bars and banana bread but the kids seem a little tired of eating that 2-3 times/week. We usually eat a snack at 10am and 3pm. Any input on snacks, food or saving money is more than welcome. Thanks for all your support during this trying time.
Snacks here typically are:
apples
carrots
bananas
homemade pumpkin muffins
pretzels
cheerios
green smoothies
Tristan, are there any other kinds of muffins you make or buy? Or was the pumpkin variety chosen because that’s all your family likes?
Snacks here:
fresh fruit – whatever is in season and a good price
carrots & sugar snap peas (I buy them at Sam’s for pretty cheap)
popcorn
homemade baked goods – I have a variety of recipes we cycle through (wheat bread (w/butter & jam/peanut butter or as toast), banana bread, apple bread, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, mookies, granola bars, Lara balls, energy balls, etc)
Mookies – I take a muffin recipe and bake it like a cookie and we call them mookies. I hate cleaning muffin tins so this is what I do intead. It makes a pretty big cookie, maybe tennis ball size, but not as tall. They’re super easy to freeze as well.
Dried fruit and nuts – I dry most of the fruit myself (when a certain fruit is at a good price I buy a lot and dehydrate). Nuts I buy from Sam’s (then I soak them and dry them).
If you have access to Azure Standard they have good prices for many items, but sometimes you can get it cheaper locally so don’t just assume their price is best.
To save money on food I try to cook from scratch as much as possible and buy in bulk, but ONLY those things I really need. Bulk fruit snacks or chips are not worth the money, bulk beans or rice are. We also try to limit meat consumption to 2 or 3 times a week and have cut down on dairy as much as possible (but we have a LOT of dairy lovers here so we do have it sometimes). I also try to cook simply – recipes that don’t need a lot of uncommon or expensive ingredients. A price book is also helpful for knowing which store has the best prices and when a sale is actually a good deal. When there is something we use regularly on sale, I buy as much as my budget allows (or that I can use before the expiration date).
* cheese with crackers and fruit (usually apples or pears)
* meatballs (cold with veggie sticks and dip – these are usually tiny and made from elk or deer or moose)
* rice cakes w/peanut butter and decorations like raisins or fruit for faces
* fruit pizzas
(cream cheese or peanut butter on rice cakes w/fruit pieces on top – kiwi,apples,grapes,cuties)
* we even do warm pizzas – rice cakes with marinara and parm/cheddar cheese
* popcorn w/fruit
* fruit leather
* apple sauce
* cottage cheese
* yogurt (I haven’t done this yet, but you can make your own fairly cheaply, and cottage cheese too)
* toast with jam & butter
* chips and salsa (I make tortillas then cut them into chip sizes and bake or fry)
* nuts
I am glad you brought this up. I was just thinking about it this morning. My problem is also bigger. We have a picky son that can’t have dairy. Usually can’t have sugar either or yeast bread products. So, my dilima was what to make for breakfast. I guess the mookie sounds like the best idea for me also. I also hate the muffin tin thing. We do use some paper liners but I hate those things. Anyway,
@ crazy4boys Can we have the mookie recipe? and can we use any muffin recipe or is it just a special thick one?
chocodog – You can use any muffin recipe. I have tried many and they’ve all worked. If, when you spoon them onto the cookie sheet, they look a little runny, add a bit more flour. They should hold their shape fairly well on the cookie sheet before baked. They will grow in the oven, but not much. Some quick bread recipes also work as mookies, just pick the thicker ones. I’ll post some of our favorite recipes later today.
Here is a picture of some of the first ones I made (bad lighting) to give you an idea of size. There are 2 on the plate as I usually give each kid 2 for breakfast and 1 or 2 for snack.
This is one recipe we’ve made for giant breakfast cookies. I serve them for snacks too. Will post more after lunch!
Oh, I also buy in bulk. Stock up on those items that we need. I made out a schedule of food and meals we ate. Things that were relatively cheaper meals and that seemed to help. Like we have a refried bean burrito sometimes for lunch sometimes for snack. For dinner we add a can of beans to our tacos to make them go farther. We can usually get a dinner and a lunch out of it. I don’t buy tomatoes any more. I use salsa. I found that tomatoes don’t usually have much of a flavor anyway out of season. It is cheaper to use a can of salsa and their is no waste. We can eat it with chips. those you can also make. We do buy our milk locally nonpasturized. I like to keep the digestive enzymes that way. It makes me feel better. We also hunt and usually fill the freezer with at least a deer or two a season so we have meat. I raise chickens for eggs and because I love chickens. 🙂 Not always cost effiecient but I love them so it doesn’t really matter to me. Plus I don’t have as many bugs in the yard. 🙂
We also eat spegetti. I like it without meat even though my husband is a carnavore. 🙂 We found that if we cook the meat seperate and add it to the sauce then we waste far less meat and we can get another meal out of it. Usually tacos… teehe he…. I sometimes make lasagna without meat also. That usually makes a couple of meals and a lunch if we add our garlic bread and carrots on the plate. I also put carrots and broccoli in the lasagna. I got busted out by one of my sons last month though. Only because I forgot to add the cottage cheese and I usually mix it with the sauce and the shredded veggies. He went a looking because he knew it tasted different. I said it was the same but he proved me wrong. UGH! to smart! anyway, we have a soup once a week and usually I make it with veggie broth. Potato is my favorite. Simple and cheap. I add divits to it to make it go farther also. Divits are Flour, egg, and you stir it around until all the egg has made little crumbles. Then you add them to the potato soup. I also add celery seed. Onions finely grated. 😉 You can usually get a few meals out of this also. I usually have the potatoes in bite size chuncks not pureed. You could add cheese and some garlic bread of some sort and that would be good also.
We usally also have a stir fry night. Chinese. 🙂 This is with frozen veggies and our deer meat. And of course rice. I use to buy a Turkey, Ham , Or Roast for the weekend. Then it would last us for lunches and an extra meal. I can usually get a few meals out of the turkey and the Ham. Turkey enchilladas on Mon. and Turkey and dumplins or noodles. Cheesy ham and Potatoes and ham sandwiches out of the Ham and Ham and Beans out of the leftovers. 🙂 Roast usually doesn’t go as far. But that is usually a deer roast with carrots and Potatoes. The left overs are sandwiches or I make Italian beef. Then, if it has made it that far drop some homemade egg noodles in and have beefy noodles or put some buiscuts on top with carrots/veggies in it and make a casserole or pot pie. Chicken usually goes a long way with me also. Same as beef/deer. You could even pour that extra salsa on the chicken and it is great in the oven for 40 min. We usually have oats for breakfast or eggs. This is what my son is so upset about he wants to change becasue he is getting sick of them. 🙂 I just want a quick meal that is good for him. He is so picky it is hard for him because of his many allergies.
Anyway, that is what we do. I hope this helps. I set it up so it would coincide with what meat we had. I also throw in a few other things But that is the basics. Have a blessed day!
Wow, these are great ideas! Not only is my dd gfcf, my ds is a picky eater. He basically eats applesauce for dinner 3-4 times a week as I refuse to make a separate meal for him. It sounds mean but I give him 1 helping of applesauce and then he has to try the meal we are eating in order to get more appleasauce. Sometimes he takes a mouse size bite and that’s it.
How do you moms handle when 1 child doesn’t want to eat the meal? We usually say there is no snack and if it’s dinner then that’s it for the night. They don’t usually eat after dinner anyway.
We’re waiting for our 1st deer to come back from the butcher!
If my kids won’t eat the meal, they don’t eat until the next scheduled time…. now this rule generally only applies to those over the age of 3. For my 2yo, I’ll let her eat a plain piece of bread or 2 – or something similar – especially if it is supper time. (Even a 3yo in our house that doesn’t eat supper will get something simple like a piece of bread… I’ve learned from experience that if a really young one doesn’t eat supper, they will wake up (and therefore I will too) in the middle of the night! – I like my sleep!)
I do make a few allowances at meals…. if my kids don’t like the sauce on spaghetti, I’ll put it to the side…. they get both, but not on each other. I’ll also be more likely to give them a bit less of a part of the meal they don’t like (they mostly have to eat what is on their plate before getting more of anything…. although if they want more veggies and didn’t eat something, I’ll let that occur.)
My kids mostly like veggies… I think a big thing that we did to help that was to have a (roughly) weekly movie night. We chop up a platter of vegetables, some meat, cheese, and bread, along with our homemade dip. We get out fold-up tables, and watch a movie while we eat supper. They can choose what they want (I do regulate the meat/cheese and bread a bit…) – with the young ones that still are learning to like veggies, I’ll pick a small selection for them. They need to eat what they have before getting more. It took a while, but all of my kids like vegetables. (The 2yo still is fairly picky on them…) They all have a few they don’t like, but they like lots – and it helps for the other times too. I have kids that like brocolli, cauliflour, mushrooms, brussel sprouts, salad, radishes, red/green/other peppers, carrots, etc. – not necessarily all of them, but a wide selection for each child. (none seem to like celery….?) I’ve had people want to trade kids at the grocery stores, as my kids are calling out “Mom, we need more brocolli and mushrooms, and can we PLEASE get some brussel sprouts???”
I have a picky eater, or one who tries to be. Our solution is to offer a meal, it is her choice whether she wants to eat it. If not, I wrap it and put it in the fridge and when she says she is hungry, I offer it again. I do not offer any snacks or treats at all if meals aren’t Being eaten. I had one instance of a child refusing several meals in a row, but they realized I meant business and decided it beat to eat the nice meal that was served with a grateful heart. Strange to me how many picky eaters we have in the USA. Friends in Europe and I have talked about this at length. For example, in France the restaurants serve kid portions, not kid meals like chicken nuggets or whatever. The kids simply eat real food.
Having done missionary work in several third world nations and held starving kids, my kids do not have the option of being picky. I make and serve ONE meal that is nutritious and tasty. In our family the kids have no “right” to refuse because they don’t like it. Not when kids are dying of starvation the world over.
My children eat what is put before them. I give them no other choice. (No one has allergy or sensitivity issues.) My mother allowed me to be extremely picky. I ate very few things (stupid things like white spaghetti, only french fries with no crinkles, only corn on the cob, etc.) and she would even take food for me if we were invited to someone’s home. This is totally unacceptable. I’ve come a long, long way but I still struggle GREATLY with eating. My children will not grow up this way. I have a one bite rule. You must take at least one bite of everything. My Chinese son, who was adopted at age 6, “does not like” ANY fruit or vegetable, no matter how it’s prepared, Chinese or otherwise. Too bad. My mother cried once when we were expecting him to eat a bite of potato and he was beginning to cry. I told her he would eat what was before him as long as he lived in my house. She said, “But what if he’s 18 and still doesn’t like them.” (This was for one bite, mind you…) I told her then he would be able to eat what was put before him and give thanks to God for the food and the one who prepared it. Every family is different, but because of my experience and how I still struggle terribly today at nearly 50 years old, I feel very strongly about it for my own children.
I grew up like RobinP. I could simply say I didn’t like it and my parent made me something else. I was ridiculously picky. I only changed when I met hubby and he took me out or cooked for me. It is an insult to whomever has prepared the food to refuse it (barring a real allergy or sensitivity). I recall meeting a Senegalese lady in the grocery store 7 years ago. We chatted and I mentioned having been to her country. She invited me on the spot to a baby naming ceremony the next day at her home. I and my two kids (4 & infant at the time) dressed in our African clothing and went. I explained to my oldest that we would be served things we don’t normally eat or drink and that we should politely eat whatever we were served with a grateful heart. We were served orange soda (we don’t drink soda, ever). Clotted cream, duck prepared different ways, and goat and assorted other things. We spent several hours at the event, eating whatever came our way, rejoicing with the family and being a witness for Jesus. I don’t think we would have had a good witness had we turned our noses up at the food offered us. I share that to say that teaching kids to eat whatever is a worthy goal!
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