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Help with economical packed lunches and snacks for kids!

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LadyMustache:
Hi all,

I'm looking for some ideas for thrifty (and healthy) packed lunches and snacks for kids. I make lunch every day for my two older ones (8 and 6) as well as for my husband. Husband has salad and nuts every day, and is happy with that, but I suspect the kids' lunches and snacks are killing my food budget as I will often pack a ready-made granola bar/applesauce/packaged pretzels. I buy from Costco, but I know I don't need to tell you these things really add up. I know there have to be better options!

What do you make for them? What afterschool snacks do you give? Any cheap/healthy recipes to share? I'm happy to cook muffins/bars/whatever, as long as it's cheap and fairly easy.

Thanks!

LadyMustache

Millennialworkerbee:
Have you looked into reuseable pouches? I have these and we love them. The super easy route is adding canned applesauce to them, but of course you could go way more DIY than that. They are freezer and dishwasher safe! I think they have multiple sizes too.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00TXBSHBQ/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

elaine amj:
Why not just fresh fruit and veggies for snacks? Carrots, cucumbers, apples, grapes, oranges, tangerines, etc etc

I hate lunches though. My kids often take sandwiches, buttered pasta, fried rice, grilled cheese, pizza. So many crappy choices and not enough healthy meals :(

MBot:
This recipe is easy and unbelievably adaptable. Don't let the "low fat" moniker scare you, they just use some applesauce instead  of all oil

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/52635/low-fat-blueberry-bran-muffins/

I make these with half the sugar. These freeze great too.

Substitutions I have made
- for applesauce: banana, pumpkin, zucchini, chopped fruit
- for flour - usually I use all regular flour. I've also done part oats or part oat flour, all white flour and a little extra bran
- for egg - if I'm out I'll use a flax egg
- spices/add-ins - I've added molasses and pumpkin pie spices; added cranberries instead of or in addition to blueberries, or made plain with no add in an
- toppings - putting oats or pumpkin seeds on top looks nice :)

jeninco:
The majority of our lunches for years have been a piece of fruit, some veg, a muffin (for a snack) and little corn-tortilla quesadillas: warm corn tortillas, spread with mashed black beans, add salsa or hot sauce and some cheese (not too much), fold in half and toast in a dry skillet.

We also pack leftovers whenever we can make that work. Fallback is PBJ.

But there are always muffins and fruit. I estimate I've made over 5000 muffins since my kids were born. I recommend heavy-duty muffin tins and spray oil so that they are easy to remove. Also, make several dozen at a time: they keep fine in gallon-sized ziplock bags in the freezer, and are easy to either pop into lunches (they'll defrost) or the microwave to eat immediately.

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