Summertime is just about here and if you have kids, you know that you need to get the “snack” situation in order – fast. In our home, I have a “snack station” for my kids (both in the fridge as well as the pantry). In between meals & throughout the day, they get hungry. Because I work from home, I don’t always have time to prepare the snacks so I have them packaged up and ready to go ahead of time. Whatever your kids like to eat, you can make in single serve portions. I’m sharing the types of things my kids like to snack on. Yes some of it’s processed. It’s what makes them happy so I allow it (in moderation). You can decide what to allow in your “snack station”. It’s all up to you. 🙂
Find a shelf in your pantry or cabinets that you can devote to snacks. Gather a few baskets and fill them with snacks your kids like to eat. To save money, you can prepare single serve snacks at home.
Pantry snacks you can fill with single serve baggies:
- Freshly popped popcorn
- Granola
- Nuts & Seeds
- Pretzels
- Crackers & Chips
- Cereal
- Dried Fruit
- Cookies
- Raisins
- and much more!
Fridge snacks you can fill with single serve baggies & containers:
- Fruit
- Veggies
- Cheese cubes
- Diced or sliced meat
- Hummus
- Salsa
- Yogurt
- and much more!
I purchased these single serve baggies at Target. They are already pre-measured for you. They are great for just about all snacks!
I keep crunchy snacks in large storage containers. I use a measuring cup to scoop out the snacks for lunch time. My kids like to eat something crunchy with their lunches. You can also pre-measure these types of snacks and place them in the “snack station” baskets.
I always have single serve fruits and veggies in snack baggies (in the fridge). By keeping these bins full, the kids are more apt to eat them when they are hungry. If they are not washed, sorted, and ready to go, the kids are not likely to eat them.
Another must have snack in my fridge is fresh whole fruit. They are washed and ready to go.
Keep cold juice, fruit cups, cheese & yogurt in the fridge. When you go out for the day, pack them in a cooler. You will be less likely to visit a fast food restaurant if you have snacks on hand.
And always have fresh fruit (in a bowl) on your kitchen counter. If your children see fresh fruit, they will eat it – Simple as that!
Just for fun – Here is my snack shelf in the pantry. 🙂
Below is a free printable full of summertime snack ideas! Print it out and take it to the grocery store with you. Just click on the picture to download.
For more ideas on snack time, visit my blog posts here and here.
I hope you have a great summer. May it be filled with many fun memories. I will be back in a few days to share some more “summertime organizing” tips with you. Happy Organizing!
Tags: kitchen, kitchen organizing, organize, snacks, summertime organizing
Blog, food, food storage, Kitchen, lunch station, May 2014, menu planning, Organize, storage, summer, summertime organizing Posted in
31 comments
31 comments on “Summertime Organizing: Snacks”
Thanks Toni for these great tips!! I had a question, where did you buy the storage containers?
Thanks again for the post!! I love your website
The green baskets are from Target dollar section and the oxo containers are from here… http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D78XB6M?ie=UTF8&creativeASIN=B00D78XB6M&linkCode=xm2&tag=abfolshop-20
Where do you get the baggies from? Thank you for such a fab site 🙂
What about the blue containers in your fridge? Those are too cute!
I Love that they have straight edges = no lost space!
The blue containers are fridge and freezer binz from TJ Maxx. Toni posted about them in her fridge organization post at the end of March. Hope this helps 🙂
The small round containers with blue tops are by Glad.
Hi everyone! None of the Targets here in western pa received these pretty file bins for their one spots 🙁 I have searched for something similar and came up empty handed. Would anyone be willing to look at their local Target and let me know? Thanks a bunch 🙂
Wow! Great photos and tips on snacks for the summer. I love it! I also like to create a list of the healthy snacks that we have in the house as a reminder for the kids. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for such great tips. I wish I had a beautiful refrigerator like yours. Ours is so small but this definitely gave me some good ideas. The kids love veggies, I never thought of putting them in snack bags. Cold treats are always a great idea!! Thanks so much!
Great Post! I was wondering where the one cup tall narrow plastic bags in the picture with the peanuts and almonds are from. I have never seen those style “ziploc” type container.
I think I have seen them at Target. I think it is their own brand.
Love this idea. I was just trying to come up with healthy snack ideas the other day! My son keeps asking me what we have to eat for snacks and wondering why we don’t have potato chips in the house! Great ideas!
I love these ideas! My question to you though is this…how easy will this be to do for 5+ kids ranging from the ages of 6-12 on a small budget? What would you suggest would be the most cost efficient way to supply good snacks for an affordable price?
These are great tips for adults too! I know having pre-packaged healthy snacks increases my chances of eating fruit and veggies and decreases the chance I will eat a whole bag of chips… 🙂
I love you for this. Plain and simple. I have never seen the Ziploc portion packs before, and I’m not sure my small town has ever heard of them, but now I’m on a mission. Thanks for such a great post!
Great ideas! More than just being organized…this is a great way for the kids to have snacks you want them to have! healthy and good for them! My daughter did similar like filling a baggie iwth an apprpriate amount of chips or cookies or whatever and then her daughter could have 4 baggies a day of whatever she wanted. Worked great and also created a diet kind of thing.. she could have all her fav snacks..but the serviing size was just enough to make her happy and not over do eating!
I love these tips and can’t wait to put the into our kitchen. I especially love the pre portioned bags.
Just wondering did I miss the post for routines?
What brand are your snack baggies with the measurements? I love those!!
It looks like you may have a second fridge? Am I correct?
nope, just the one.
these are some awesome ideas! love all the bins for easy storage!
This is just the organizing tip I needed this week! Thanks! I love the fridge bins. Were they included with your fridge? Or do you remember where you got them? They seem to be a great fit and perfect for this purpose. Thanks!
I love those bags with the pre-measured amounts listed on the outside, what a great way to help with the portion sizes. Great post with so many creative ideas!
I looked at Target and Meijer for the portion zip lock bags. I even checked Amazon and the Zip Lock website. No luck:(
Oh, just found some on the Walmart website. Walmart brand, in store only. 🙂
What a wonderful idea, my little creative juices are just flowing (along with my tummy rumbling). I’m going to start trying to get my pantry more organized so the snack section will work more efficiently. My first step is to find those wonderful little baggies.
Can you offer more help on storing the mini bags of fresh fruit and veggies? Obviously you prewash them but do you also cut some up? I’m wondering about things like cucumber or strawberries. Do you add a little extra water to the baggies? About how long will these snacks keep? I want to keep fresh fruit and veggies available but seem to have trouble keeping them fresh and not wasting. I only have one little one at this point but having these available will probably help me with healthy snacking too! Thanks for this post 🙂
Here’s the baggies she referred to in her post. They’re sold in-store only: http://www.target.com/p/up-up-trade-double-zipper-portion-bags-80-ct/-/A-14472770#prodSlot=large_1_10&term=Bags
Great idea’s, but hate it’s not very environmentally friendly with all the ‘use-ones’ items (ziplock bags and the flimsy Glad containers). I’d love to see more eco-friendly reusable containers for all the snacks to reduce our huge waste problem!!
Great ideas. I also do the same with my boys snacks, but instead of plastic containers, I use snack bags. Love your ideas!