Help! I have hungry, hungry hippos...
Is it mean to call my kids hippos? I don't mean to imply that they are big. It's just that they're always on the lookout for something to eat. Ravenous wolves. Vultures. Like that.
This time of year money is always tight for us, so I am looking for some frugal snack ideas that will satisfy the vultures kiddos. Except snacks is maybe not quite the word...mini-meals would be more like it. Anybody got any ideas they'd like to share?
Speaking of mini-meals, here's one that I've been making for years...
English muffin pizzas
Pkg of 12 english muffins (I get mine at the bakery "thrift" shop 2 pkg. for $1.75)
Tomato sauce (about half a can = 50 cents)
shredded cheese (cost varies, but I shred it myself and it is about $1.00 a cup)
parmesan cheese
italian seasoning
other toppings (use up leftover meat and veggies)
I'm sure you know how to make mini pizzas. The trick to keeping the cost down on these is in the cheese. You don't need to use much at all, and if you sprinkle on a little parmesan cheese you get a big boost in taste for very little $$$. I make a big batch, cook them and let them cool and then package them in twos. I don't bother freezing them (I keep them in the fridge instead) and they go pretty fast. But they can be frozen and reheated in a toaster oven or microwave.
So, what do you feed your hungry, hungry hippos?
9 comments:
It is so expensive to keep snacks around the house and I have 2 teens as well. Well my son is 12, so he is 'almost' a teen. My kids like to eat plain saltine crackers, sometimes with cheese, sometimes with peanut butter, my son like them with a dollop of strawberry jelly! I know it isn't the healthiest thing, but my kids eat a lot of chips and 100 cal. snack packs of different sorts.
We pre-pop Ziplocks of popcorn sometimes.
PB&J's and grilled cheese.
Fried rice and Spanish rice (starchy so filling but veggies so moderately healthy! LOL)
People have suggested on more than one occasion that we buy snacks (Cheese-Its, pretzels, etc.) in bulk and divide them up into portions but we're unable to afford it yet.
Just off the top of my head...
We get a big tub of plain yogurt, mix with sugar and frozen (thawed) berries and then put it into individual plastic serving cups.
I make pizza dough, roll it out and par bake a few crusts at a time, so we can have homemade pizza quickly. I also keep homemade sauce in smallish containers in the freezer - when I'm really organized. And I pre-grate my cheese, freeze it on cookie sheets and scrape it into a container to keep in the freezer. :) Love homemade pizza.
hummus and carrot sticks.
leftovers.
We don't generally buy "snack" foods either, so that's about it.
and yes, you can assemble the whole pizza and freeze those too.
chili cheese potatoes could be kept in the fridge like the little pizzas.
Oh, that's a good idea with the potatoes. Those would get gobbled up just like that around here. Hope especially loves potatoes :)
This morning I made an extra batch of pancakes. I was going to freeze them for later, but I don't think they're going to make it that far. There's 4 left. :-D
Mark's been reading a book about how to survive in the woods. I'm sure it contains all kinds of things your kids could scrounge around for - for free! Would you like the title. ;)
Love, Kari
ROFL! Thanks for the laugh! I can just picture them out there, rooting around for tasty morsels...
Thank you so much for your kind words and your sympathy. I appreciate it so much.
Denise
Post a Comment