Everyday Snacks

As promised, I thought I'd share some of my tricks of the trade to saving dollars and cents on grocery bills.  This week, on top of making pretty much every single thing my family ate, I also made sure to put together snacks for my snackie boys (if you know my hubby, you know what I'm talking about).

You know those little plastic containers that baby food come in?  Well, I kept them.  LOTS of them.  They are awfully handy for stuff.  Small snacks, organizing, jewelry or vitamins when traveling...I've found lots of uses for them.  However, my favorite is making faux pre-packaged snacks.
 

This is how I do it.  It is all about mise en place.  I line up all of my small containers (they all hold approximately 1/2 cup) with their matching lids.  I get all snacks ready to go and once I get my banshees down for their naps, I go to town.

I make sugar free jello and pour it into 8 containers.  Sometimes I'll make sugar free fat free instant pudding (that fills 6 containers).  On this particular day, I portioned out applesauce and sprinkled cinnamon on top before putting the lids on.  I also portioned out canned mandarin oranges and vanilla yogurt (I threw in frozen berries with the yogurt).  The sky really is the limit on this. 

Benefits: healthy foods in convenient, easy to grab-and-go containers.  You are also minimizing trash / waste.  I love these containers as well because if *ahem* hubby or somebody forgets that he has an item in his car and it grows into a small animal, I can toss the container without feeling guilty.  :-)