How to set up a lunch and snack station!
(Part 2)
Last week I showed you how to set up your lunch packing station. This week I want to show you how to set up your snack station!
If you have kids like mine they seem to always want a snack right when you are in the middle of something, or you have just sat down after being on your feet all day, or when I had wee little ones I had just started to nurse or feed the baby. Setting up a snack station will help you during all of those times. Infact I started a snack station shortly after I had my third child as a way to cope with being overwhelmed with having three kids, moving, homeschooling, and just life in general!
It is really easy and once you do it a couple of times it won’t take you long at all to load it all back up after its been emptied. On average I set up my lunch and snack stations once a week. It could be less if I was really on top of things and I would just make a double batch of the muffins and breakfast cookies and put some in the freezer but I am not that organized…yet! The packaged foods usually last about 2 weeks ( Ill explain below what the packaged foods are in case you missed the first post that explained it).
What takes me the longest is the cooking times for the snacks. I make up a batch of mini muffins and breakfast cookies ( which I also use as quick breakfasts some days of the week). These I keep in the fridge in one of the drawers so they are easy to grab. I put them in individual ziploc baggies. I am slowly buying more containers that I can use to make it a little better for the environment. My problem is the ziploc baggies are so much easier to store than containers so I am looking for other options right now for those. If you have any please let me know, but I dont want to pay an arm and a leg for a container.
Here is the other great thing- if you have already set up your lunch station you already have some of your snack station complete. I use the packaged foods (popcorn,pretzels, granola mix, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds) for snacks too. My kids are also encouraged to grab an apple (which I keep in huge bowl on the table), and orange, or any of the fruit when they want snack too which is already made up with the lunch stations.
This is what my fruit drawer looks like-
One of the things I add in is peanut butter crackers. I buy the boxes of saltine crackers and ritz type crackers and just make up a bunch at one time. These are not the healthiest option but they are quick and easy. When I use them as snack I always pair it with some fruit or a smoothie.
This is how I keep the packaged foods stored. The little container is actually an old ice cream container. It just happen to fit perfectly in my cabinet.
The point is to have it all ready and easy to grab either for you or for your kids. Look at what you usually do for snacks and just do some prep work ahead of time. The first couple of time it may take a little longer but soon you start to work it into your routine. Depending on the age and maturity of your kids will depend on where and how you store your snacks. My middle child is in charge of snacks so everything is where he can reach it but my youngest is 3 so things have to be put up to a certain extent or she would be in the snacks at 3 in the morning.
It is the little tweaks you can make in life that will add up to bigger changes in your life. I really encourage you to look at your life and find some places you can make these changes. For me it was several areas but the lunch and snack stations certainly helped tremendously!
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