Blog
Spiced Up Crackers and Cheese
For our last week of ideas on making snacks into meals, I am sharing one of my favorite lunches. We love crackers and cheese for a quick and easy meal at our house. I often keep bricks of cheddar, pepper jack, and Swiss cheese in our refrigerator so we can cut them up for a meal when we do not feel like cooking or when we are running low on time.
Turning “Mixed” Eggs into a Meal
School’s out, and the transition to summer break is underway! Using snack foods as a meal is one way my family eases into summer. Over the past few weeks our team has been sharing their favorite snack foods that can double as meals. Any meal that is quick, filling and low effort to allow us more outside time is a win!
No-Cook Meals: Hummus to the Rescue
Last week Christine shared on the blog that she likes to use cottage cheese in her meals when she doesn’t feel like cooking. Today I’m going to share with you another idea for turning a snack food into a meal. Hummus is a hit in our house. Hummus is made from garbanzo beans, also known as chickpeas. Garbanzo beans are a good source of fiber and protein, two important nutrients to include in meals.
Dinner for Snack Lovers
This month our blogs are all about making a meal out of your favorite snacks. Whether you enjoy cooking or not, sometimes you just do not want to spend time in the kitchen preparing a meal. Turning snacks into dinner allows you to have a tasty and nutritious meal for minimal effort.
Making Snack Time Fun!
Over the last few weeks, our team has shared how they incorporate snack boards with their families. At my house, snacks are constantly being grabbed from the fridge and pantry throughout the day. When my first grader walks in the door after school, she is ravenous! Having a snack board ready for her with a mix of her favorite snacks and healthy options helps tide her over until dinner.
A Month of Snacks
We are continuing our theme of snack boards from last month into June as the weather heats up. Sometimes when it is hot outside, the idea of cooking a full meal feels like too much. So this month we are going to share some of our favorite ideas for making snacks into meals with as little cooking as possible.
Fresh and Flexible Snack Boards
Today I get to kick off our series on snack boards – one of my favorite topics! My mom makes a snack board for most family get-togethers and they’re always pretty and delicious.
What an Egg-cellent Idea!
This month I’m sharing with you a recipe that is a bit unique. It’s our recipe for Hard-Cooked Eggs. Most people call them hard boiled eggs, but when I started working with Spend Smart. Eat Smart. I learned about this recipe and that eggs shouldn’t be hard boiled. To hard-cook eggs, the water comes to a full boil, but then the pan is removed from the heat and the lid kept on. The eggs continue to cook gently in the hot water. This method produces tender eggs. It also reduces cracking and the green color that can form around yolks when eggs are hard boiled.
A Peek into Katy’s Freezer
As Jody mentioned last week, in her blog on frozen food, it can be a great option to stretch food dollars and plan meals. Having items on hand in the freezer allows me to have a variety of options to feed my family. Frozen foods give me the flexibility to change my meal plan as needed, without worrying about food waste.
Pumpkin Muffins
This past fall we had two fantastic interns who helped us with testing some new and some old recipes. For our March recipe of the month, I would like to share with you the first of those recipes – Pumpkin Muffins. This is a new recipe to the Spend Smart. Eat Smart. website and it makes a great breakfast or snack.
Refreshing Summer Salsa
Now that school is out for the summer, my kids are constantly reaching for snacks during the day. My grocery list has grown quite long over the past several weeks! To stay on top of my grocery budget, I have been trying to buy less pre-packaged snack foods and opt for items that have more fiber and nutrients to keep my kids full while waiting for our next meal.
“Mom, I’m hungry!”
As a mom of two young kids, it seems like I spend most of my day preparing meals and snacks. Now that my oldest is back at preschool, having planned snacks during the week saves me a lot of time when we are running to and from activities. I love snacks that can be thrown together quickly and are easy to transport wherever we find ourselves throughout the day.
