Portion Controlled Snacking, healthy and afordable
Thursday: Health Issues and Ideas
First thing in the morning I see Cereal boy grabbing a granola bar. Before lunch, he gets another. Mid-afternoon, another! As soon as I calculated the damage, I had to put a stop to it. At my threshold of 0.20 per snack, times three kids, three times a day, we are spending $54 a month on snacks! You know what I could do with $54!
Our solution is portion controlled snacking via a snack box.
First we have the unlimited snacks. I seldom regulate carrots and pretzels (and sometimes popcorn). Other veggies and fruit depending on the season and price. Sometimes apples can be .050 per apple, thus they are restricted to the snack box.
Then we have limited snacks. Those $0.20 per serving, store bought snacks. These include granola bars (or homemade), portion measured goldfish, string cheese, dried fruit, nuts, etc.
I divide the snacks into a shoebox for each child. I measure or weigh certain things like goldfish, nuts, bagels, canned fruit, etc. These are their snacks for the entire week! If they want their granola bar at 6am on Monday morning, they can, but then there won’t be one for the rest of the week. They can self regulate and be more independent. This way our snacks last longer, and its easier on my budget. You can also ensure your kids are getting a variety of snacks. One day they might have a hard boiled egg, the next day an apple, etc. You can make their box of snacks varied and nutritious. You can have a box for the fridge, and one for the pantry.
I’ve typed up a list of snack ideas for each box. Tape the list straight onto the lid of the box and fill it once a week.
I read this idea first on Everyday Food Storage where a family did this with sack lunch items that they sorted into individual bins for each child. Read it here.
Posted: May 20th, 2009 under Ideas and Issues, Snacks.
Tags: affordable, healthy ideas, healthy snacks, inexpensive healthy snack ideas, kids, portion control, threshold
Comments
Comment from heidi
Time May 20, 2009 at 10:10 am
Great Ideas!
Comment from Lisa
Time May 20, 2009 at 11:22 am
LOVE THIS! especially for summertime when they’re home all day and also snacking ALL DAY! what type of containers do you like to use? thinking more sizes than materials
Comment from cathy
Time May 20, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Great ideas! I love the idea of “unlimited snacks” and sometimes snacks. Snacks can be so expensive, and this is a wonderful way to keep costs down AND to encourage healthy snacking. Love it!
Comment from Amy
Time May 20, 2009 at 1:09 pm
We use the shoebox size clear containers from the dollar store. I actually had a picture of my daughter getting into her box, but I couldn’t post it when I realized my husband was in the background, not exactly looking modest. 
Comment from Jackie
Time May 20, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Yeah! This is great. And Practical. You are so organized and have it with it. Thanks for passing this along.
Comment from angee
Time May 20, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Love this idea! Totally implementing it with my own family! Thanx for the idea!
Comment from Susan
Time May 21, 2009 at 6:48 am
I need to make one for me! I kind of get carried away with unhealthy snacks (i.e. chocolate), so this sounds like a good solution.
Comment from Sarah
Time May 21, 2009 at 11:19 am
That is such a good idea. I’m going to be doing that for the kids this summer too! I should make one for my husband. He eats 6 string cheese in one snacking!
Comment from Beth
Time May 20, 2009 at 9:09 am
Everyone in my ward loved this idea. I’ve had several people tell me, even recently, that they’ve implemented several of the ideas you shared.
Awesome.