Anonymous wrote:A snack drawer? So American.

+1

Anonymous wrote:A snack drawer? So American.

Open contempt. So un-American.

Anonymous wrote:How old are you kids? I only have one and he's 15 and an athlete and we've never restricted food beyond "Wow you ate that whole bag of candy, don't do that" but mostly if this occurs it's an "if it's gone it's gone" thing. He gravitates towards fruits and veggies, so never any weight or health concerns.

We always have:
- fresh fruit (watermelon, berries, apples, clementines, grapes, nectarines, etc...). I cut up watermelon and pineapple ahead of time, but since he was about 8 he'll cut a nectarine or wash berries
- granola or protein bars
- peanut butter
- cereal and milk
- we have yogurt and string cheese though my kid doesn't like that
- I have a good stock of chips, cookies, and candy buy YMMV

Oldest is in sixth grade, youngest a baby not on solids yet, so we have many years of snacks ahead of us. And of course because they’re unique individuals they vary in activity level, self-regulation ability, etc. They’ll eat an enormous quantity of interesting fruit (eg, not apples and bananas) if it’s there, but it doesn’t keep them full as long as something with more protein and the run up to dinner time can get fraught.

Actually, I think part of my frustration is that I’m either snack concierge (“would madam care for a cheese stick? No? How about some almonds? These were a very good year”) or they serve themselves and don’t tell me it’s gone so I can’t replenish next time I shop. Which suggests that I should tackle that separately from the question of what food to stock.

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Okay second question: do you have rules about how much the kids eat, when, etc? I’m imagining the entire drawer vanishing in an afternoon and wondering if I need to unclench.

You will get a lot of varying answers on this…but it depends on your kids. Some kids have a bigger appetites and aren’t great at self regulation and need a little help. Ever notice at birthday parties there are kids that take a few bites of cake and run off, then there are kids that eat their whole slice, lick the plate, then are asking for seconds.

So if your kids are prone to wanting lots of snacks, I think it is fine to say limit one snack between breakfast and lunch, one snack between lunch and dinner and then they have the freedom of choice of when to get it and what to pick.

Some combination of these: Kind bars, TJ chocolate fiber bars (they are actually really good), fruit leathers, fig bars, seaweed packets, tortilla chips, pretzels, saltine crackers, graham crackers, nuts.

We have lots of fruit, veggies, cheese, yogurts, nut butters, salsa in the frig. But they want the proper “snack” foods after school, not fruit and veggies.

Kids are tween and teens

How old are you kids? I only have one and he's 15 and an athlete and we've never restricted food beyond "Wow you ate that whole bag of candy, don't do that" but mostly if this occurs it's an "if it's gone it's gone" thing. He gravitates towards fruits and veggies, so never any weight or health concerns.

We always have:
- fresh fruit (watermelon, berries, apples, clementines, grapes, nectarines, etc...). I cut up watermelon and pineapple ahead of time, but since he was about 8 he'll cut a nectarine or wash berries
- granola or protein bars
- peanut butter
- cereal and milk
- we have yogurt and string cheese though my kid doesn't like that
- I have a good stock of chips, cookies, and candy buy YMMV

Op here. Okay second question: do you have rules about how much the kids eat, when, etc? I’m imagining the entire drawer vanishing in an afternoon and wondering if I need to unclench.

Veggie straws
Rice crispy treats
Kind bars
Biscoff cookies
Chocolate wafer cookies
Pringles
Potato chips
Cheese balls
Fruit leather buttons (TJ)

Right now we have:
Animal crackers
Cheez its
Seaweed
Veggie straws
Clif/granola bars
Assorted chips
Popcorn
Gummy bears

Currently?

Trail mix
Fruit cereal bars
Goldfish
Veggie straws
Pirates booty
Fruit gummies

It’s not always the same- we rotate to keep it interesting.

Lots of almond moms here today!
We had a snack bin in the pantry when the kids were younger. It varied what was in it at any given time but usually apple sauce, bars of some sort (nutri grain, clif, granola, kind, etc.), goldfish, sometimes ritz, sometimes I’d slip in a few Rice Krispie treats, freeze dried fruit, raisins, peanuts, popcorn, occasionally I’d buy dorito packs, pringles, etc. No one in my house wants “plain yogurt” or cubed tofu.

OP. My dream is that my kids come home from school and get themselves a nutritious snack which will keep them from getting hangry before dinner but which I do not have to be involved in. I think I can probably have one of these. Maybe two if I leave the good fruit out.

In the fridge are cheese sticks, cut veggies, and hummus; on the counter is fruit; we have a small bin where I keep an assortment of granola bars, dried fruit, nuts, and one bag of a salty snack (chips, goldfish, or pretzels.). This is also where I toss random candy and whatnot that the kids might bring home. I check it every few days to top it off from the pantry.

I have teens/college kids . In our snack drawer, boxes of kind bars, granola bars, popcorn bags, tortilla chips, occasionally potato chips, crackers

In fridge, various individual yogurts, lots of fruit-especially blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, grapes, cheese. Unfortunately, kids don’t really eat raw veggies. I keep a fruit bowl on kitchen island with bananas, apples, etc.

Hippeas puffs, bada bean bada bings, roasted edamame, raisins/ craisins, veggies straws, apple sauce pouches, and then occasionally I'll buy something like traditional fruit snacks and throw it in the mix. The snacks I cant keep on hand because my kids immediately gobble them up include individual dipping portions of hummus (w/ cucumbers) and olives. I also keep some of the traditional '90s kids snacks like single serving chips in the house for the occasional treat but they aren't in the "help yourself" area. My kids are young - 3 & 5.