We were regularly finding ourselves opening up all the cupboards and wondering what to snack on. But since we implemented a snack drawer, that hasn’t been a problem!
Related: Toddler Activities
What Is A Snack Drawer?
We decided that we need to have a designated drawer to give us options for what we should turn to for snacks. Thus the snack drawer was created. This drawer is amazing because it makes it so that my son can grab a proportioned snack by himself, even when I’m nursing his sister.
My husband knows where to turn if he needs a quick snack after work or late at night. It also helps us with our portion control. Instead of purchasing individually packaged items, we buy most items in bulk and pack them into small plastic bags as it’s usually cheaper to purchase in bulk. When our drawer is fully stocked we have both sweet and savory options available to us in proportioned bags.
What We Keep In Our Snack Drawer
Prepackaged
- Fiber one bars- these are extra tasty and basically exclusively my go to snack
- Cliff bars- we don’t always have these around but we get them from Costco for a quick and easy snack
- Fig bars– for my husband. They’re great for a last minute breakfast
- Granola bars- we sometimes have these, but my son hasn’t quite yet learned how to eat them so my husband and I end up eating them.
- Fruit & veggie pouches- for my daughter if she seems hungry right before we need to leave and I don’t have time to get her anything else
- Fruit leather- we get these off of Amazon they’re healthier than other options
Savory
- Pretzels- these are salty and great for a quick snack
- Gold fish- my husband and son actually like Walmart’s off brand whales better than goldfish
- Club crackers- again we get the off brand Walmart kind
- Wheat thins- the off brand Walmart kind is usually what we have. If our budget allows it we will get the roasted pepper kind of the brand name
- Ritz- the off brand kind again
- Pub mix– we buy this off of amazon. It’s delicious!
- Chex mix- we buy this from Costco in a huge bag. They’re a great snack for kids and adults
- Nuts- we tend to always have one or two nuts that my son loves
- Popcorn- we buy a big bag of un-popped popcorn kernels and either make them in the microwave or over the stove. We eat this a lot less frequently than other items on this list
Related: Rocky Road Fudge
Sweet
- Animal crackers- we get them from Walmart
- Graham crackers- once again we purchase the off brand ones
- Fruit snacks- my son is obsessed. We limit them to one a day
- Raisins- we package these in tiny bags for a small sweet treat
- Yogurt covered raisins- my daughter loves these and we put them in tiny bags like the raisins
- Nilla wafers- we get the off brand Walmart ones
- Cheerios- these are great for younger babies as long as they don’t have honey in them
- Puffs- my daughter loves these and they are also great for babies
Related: Peanut Butter Balls
What We Switched To
As my daughter got older, it became a problem for her to have access to snacks at all times. She liked to crush everything in the bags and couldn’t open them herself, so we made a switch. We now have a locked cabinet that has two pull out shelfs for our snacks. When snack time rolls around (at 9:30 and 3) I grab a small bowl for each kid and fill it with a variety of items. I have also prepped these before snack time for ease. We stock almost exactly the same things in our cupboard, but instead of using tiny plastic bags for portions, we empty all the boxes into a large plastic bag so everything fits in our pull out shelfs. For portion control we use a small pyrex bowl to pour our snack into and make sure it’s not too much. It takes a bit of the ease of grabbing a proportioned bag out but it really helps me to keep my sanity.
It’s a simple idea, but it’s beyond helpful for my family to have everything accessible.
