It’s back to school time and among other things, this means it’s back to packing lunches, and in our case, snacks.
Snacks can be a hard one! Most of the time I’m looking for something quick, easy, and mostly healthy. So let’s talk about easy ways to be prepared for both the snacks our kids take to school and what they eat when they get home.
When it comes to snacks, it’s easiest to not reinvent the wheel. Coming up with a plan and then simply rotating in different items each week will make snack time simple and (hopefully) stress free. Enter: charcuterie. I know it’s pretty on trend right now and for good reason!
We joke that my five year old (who will start kindergarten in just a few weeks; it’s fine) could eat charcuterie every day of her life. She routinely eats a little combo of fruit, cheese, meat (like ham, turkey, or her favorite, salami). Honestly, thinking of snacks as a moment for charcuterie has gotten me out of my snack time slumps more times than I can count! So let break down school snacks, during and after:
After-School Snack Charcuterie
After school can be a chaotic time. Kids are tired and can’t get food quick enough. Preparation is key. One of the ways I plan to be prepared for after-school snacks this year is rotating through a few different presentations, again with the charcuterie. It sounds complicated but honestly it’s all about convenience and ability to do some preplanning so I’m not grabbing some things out of the pantry at the last minute. So don’t be deterred by the fancy words and have some fun with it!
The Basics of Charcuterie
Personally, I stick to about four food groupings: Fruit and/or veggie, cheese, carb (think pretzels, crackers, goldfish) and fun (fruit snacks, marshmallows, whatever you want!). When you’re grocery shopping, plan for a few things in each food group and you’ll be prepared all week for snack charcuterie!
With the basics, let’s move in to presentation (really just how you’re going to serve, but presentation sounds fun):
Charcuterie on a Board
Like in traditional charcuterie, you can just arrange each of these four groupings on the board however you want. And a cutting board works just fine; it doesn’t have to be a beautiful wood board! Let the kids go to town while you debrief from the day.
Divided Container Charcuterie
This is a great option to use when you need to prepare a snack in advance. I have a two- pack of containers from Amazon that come with lids, so it’s easy to prepare and store in the fridge until it’s needed. In the particular ones I have, the center space is perfect for dips for fruit or veggies! Any divided container with at least 4-5 spaces is great.
Muffin Tin “Charcuterie”
This idea has been around in social media a bit and for a good reason; it’s fun and unique and makes snack time a little more interesting! This offers the most space for variety, or each child can take a “row” for their snacks, there are so many options.
Take-to-School Snacks
I did not grow up bringing snacks to school on a regular basis, so when my kids started school this was new to me. It makes sense though; seven hours is a lot so snacks are necessary. Now let me make it clear, I always have a stash of packaged snacks and I’d say that’s our go to at least a couple times a week. But I also try to mix it up a bit.
And keeping with the charcuterie mindset can help mix it up for daily snack time. We love these divided containers for lunch and the small square containers are perfect for snacks! You can stick with the four groups I’ve mentioned here or add your own to use up what you have.
One of my favorite motivators for getting things done is asking myself, “What would future me be grateful that present me did right now?” So I would suggest prepping school snacks the night before and even after-school snacks. Do future you a favor!
Before I go, I want to leave you with a few ideas for each of the four groups to get you started:
Fruits/Veggies: apples, peaches, blueberries, strawberries, grapes, cucumbers, carrots, bell peppers, celery, sugar snap peas
Cheese: Babybel cheese, cheese sticks cut in half, cheese slices, cheese cubes
Carbs: pretzels, Goldfish, Wheat Thins, slices of a baguette
Fun: fruit snacks, marshmallows, chocolate chips, gummy bears, bite-size candy
Happy snacking!
