Inexpensive summer snacks

[disneyhand]

It's really hot here and I'm on an even tighter budget now, as I just lost my part time job. I'm also trying to eat more healthy. Here are some of my snack ideas, how about sharing some of yours?

Celery sticks and peanut butter
I clean and cut the celery as soon as I bring it home and store it in a ziplock bag. That makes it easy for snacking and cooking.

Fresh fruit ready to eat
I buy things like watermelon and strawberries (on sale) and store in the frig cut and cleaned.

Faux ice cream sandwich
I like to make them with chocolate graham crackers and cool whip. There are many ways to change these up, by using regular flavor graham crackers, sliced bananas or strawberries, chocolate chips, jimmies, ice cream, lowfat, nonfat etc. They are so good!

Yogurt parfaits
I like vanilla yogurt with sliced strawberries and granola

I know I have more, anyone else?

 

[sharonmickey]

I lost my part time job last month too. Trying to find another one.

I like to freeze fruit in individual servings. On hot days like this it is great to pull some out of the freezer and snack on.

 

[smb6]

I just got a big watermelon Monday and cut it all up and put it in a big bowl in the fridge with easy access.....

I've also found my kids eat cucumbers and strawberries better if I cut them up and keep them in a bowl in the fridge..... They get eaten 10X's better than if they were in the fridge un-cut...

I've also been keeping sugar free popsicles in the freezer this summer.....

Gold fish is a staple in our house also

 

[prncess674]

You can make a big batch of hummus for much cheaper than you can buy it. It also tastes so much better. You can then dip all kinds of veggies: celery, carrot sticks, cucumber slices and pita chips. Hummus also makes a gook spread on bagels or on sandwiches instead of mayonaise.

Not exactly healthy but any sweet treats that you make yourself are usually cheaper, so make a batch of homemade cookies and you can freeze them and pop them out one at a time.

If you are tired of plain peanut butter look into buying Nutella for a sweet treat.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Frozen grapes.
I take refridgerated cups of yogurt and put them in the freezer.
I buy gold fish in the big milk carton packages.
Carrots and ranch dressing.
Saltines and peanut butter
raisins with m & m
Honey nut cheerios are great for snacking on.

** plus now is a good time to buy produce from a road side stand. Its fresher and cheaper. My local farmer charged me .50 center per pepper and I looked a Walmart after I stopped at his stand and walmart wanted $1.88 a piece.

 

[3boymthr]

I just made Slushies!

aka snow cones.

Stick ice in blender or food processer and crush like you would for a daiquiri or margarita, put in bowl or paper cup and pour a few tablespoons of juice or soda or kool-aid over the top. 1 can of rootbeer will make 5 or 6 or more slushies depending upon how big they are. I like them best with juice, but the kids like em best with a little bit of rootbeer.

 

[wishesuponastar]

cheddar cheese on top of sliced apple
frozen grapes
chickpeas (DD-10 loves this)
pretzels
fruit
yogurt

 

[HeatherC]

Popcorn

 

[Mkebound]

frozen green grapes.

Take 'em off the stem, wash 'em and freeze 'em.

Mmmmm....

 

[Arkansan]

Nutella or cream cheese on Nilla wafers. My kids love to make little "sandwiches" out of them. Use the reduced fat cream cheese and/or Nilla wafers for healthier treats!

 

[pannm]

Nutella with 'marshmallow cream' (I got a few of these on sale and they last for a while and grahm crackers (indoor smores that kids have a LOT of fun making)

Marshmallow cream on ice cream is a big hit at our house (since we've had the marshmallow cream)

Pretzels with peanut butter

tortilla shells, with peanut butter and bananas (or other fruit).

Strawberry, peach or fruit slushies...lots of versions!!!
freeze the fruit, take it out of freezer and put it in the blender with a few ice chunks...Add a little milk for it to blend well. OR, If you have a little sprite/ginger ale you can add a little of that instead of milk. Or add a little milk and yogurt...many options.
my kids LOVE strawberry ones with a little milk, ice and yogurt.

fruit rolled 'pizzas'...tortilla shells with yogurt spred on them (OR cream cheese!!!) then top with what ever berries, bananas, peaches or grapes that you may have on hand and roll-up.

veggies and dip- my kids love to mix some ranch seasoning into a little sour cream themselves and use it for carrots, celery, broccoli

We make our own frozen fruit cubes...fresh fruit with a LITTLE sugar blended and pour into our ice cube trays. Pop them out and eat them...

Frozen chocolate bananas.

JELLO JIGGLERS!!! SUPER cheap and the kids LOVE them!!!

A good summer 'dessert/snack' is what my kids call "Better than a DQ Ice cream cake!!!" (cause it's 1/5th the price and it tastes OOOHHH soo good!!!) Get 1 or 2 boxes of ice cream sandwiches, 1 jar of fudge, 1 can of peanuts, 1 carton of cool whip. In a deep cake pan (small square one if using 1 box of bars...regular sized one if using 2 boxes of bars) layer (listed from bottom to top):

1 layer of ice cream bars covering the bottom of the pan (covering the bottom)
2nd layer: spoon fudge over top and spread evenly.
3rd layer: Finely chopped peanuts sprinkled on
4th layer: another layer of ice cream bars, covering everything
5th layer: cool whip covering the bars
Drizzle fudge and sprinkle nuts on top to make it look nice. Then, freeze it.

You can also add caramel, marshmallow cream or any other yummy ice cream topping... It's a little HIGH on sugar and not that healthy, but it is a great OCCASIONAL summer treat!!! My girls love when I make this for their friends coming over!!!

I find that if I CLEAN THE Fresh fruit and or veggies and cut them into pieces and put them in small snack baggies or bowls in the fridge, they get eaten a lot better by my entire family. I ALWAYS have fresh fruit on hand. If it's available and ready to go, my girls will eat it instead of junk food.

A friend of mine is a member of a large local 'health foods in bulk' type of club and she gets LARGE amounts of dried beans, peas, grains, oats, dried fruits, nuts and those types of things. She buys it, three of us get together once a month and make up large batches of 'snack mixes' 'granola' granola bars and those types of things. It ends up being really cheap split into 3's...great time for the kids to all get together and have fun helping us get it all together. We take some peas and beans home and prep them to freeze and we have them to just pull out of the freezer. I use a lot of white beans in a bean dip for veggies, crackers and such as well.

 

[soccerbabies]

We have a small vegetable garden each year. My girls LOVE snacking on tomatoes and cucumbers. We even make refrigerator pickles!

 

[mrseace711]

I just made Slushies!

aka snow cones.

Stick ice in blender or food processer and crush like you would for a daiquiri or margarita, put in bowl or paper cup and pour a few tablespoons of juice or soda or kool-aid over the top. 1 can of rootbeer will make 5 or 6 or more slushies depending upon how big they are. I like them best with juice, but the kids like em best with a little bit of rootbeer.

I am going to do this for the kids tomorrow!!! awesome tip

 

[scrapquitler]

Air popped popcorn

 

[lovehoney]

Great thread. We are going to the beach for a few days and these will come in handy. Please add more!!!!!

Our kids love flavor-ice in the summer. They are usually really cheap at Walmart.

 

[mjantz]

I found some yogurt on clearance at Kroger. It wasn't expired, just too close for them (I think a week). I put popsicle sticks through the foil lids & stuck them in the freezer. Easy cheap yogurt pops.

 

[mjantz]

I found some yogurt on clearance at Kroger. It wasn't expired, just too close for them (I think a week). I put popsicle sticks through the foil lids & stuck them in the freezer. Easy cheap yogurt pops.