Works for Me Wednesday: Snack Packs

It's summertime. The kids are out of school, playing hard, sweating, coming in and going out my back door and my front door all day long/ They're building forts and tearing them down. They're swimming and slip 'n sliding and sprinkler splashing and puddle stomping.

And they're hungry.

All. The. Time.

I found something that works for me.

I make snack packs for them to eat between lunch and dinner. This eliminates the following:

• "Can I have a snack?" --> The kids know that they can have whatever they'd like from their snack pack, at whatever time they need a snack.
• Standing at the fridge with the door wide open. --> They simply grab their snack pack and close the door. They choose their item(s) and put the snack pack back in the fridge. Less electricity wasted.
• Eating too much junk. I treat kids' meals and snacks this way: I will decide what to serve you. You will decide how much and when to eat it. By packing snack packs for the kids, I am giving them choices that I approve of.
• Being wiped out of the "good" snacks on shopping day. --> I don't know about you, but my kids eat about six snacks per day on an active day. SIX SNACKS! EACH! The "good" snacks include freshly baked cookies, purchased fruit leathers, and anything that might remotely be considered junky. If allowed, they would devour those before reaching for fruits and healthier alternatives. By packing Snack Packs, I'm rationing the junk. Better for my wallet, and better for their bodies.
• The hassle of preparing snacks throughout the day. --> Like I said, they eat a lot. Preparing snack packs takes about five minutes of my day, all at once, instead of having to prepare snacks all throughout the day.

And finally, the Snack Packs let my kids have control over their snacking. The first day I did this, Picky Eater ran out of food in her Snack Pack halfway through the day and was upset. I gave her extras, but I've told the kids that once it's gone, it's gone. The Snack Pack is meant to carry the kids over from lunch until dinner. Every day since then, it has done just that. Here are some example Snack Packs I've made the kids:

watermelon, strawberry Greek yogurt with fresh strawberries added, and Snapea Crisps

Jammy Sammy, two sandwich cookies, Pocky (yes, a junky Snack pack on this day!), applesauce, and a large strawberry

Watermelon, Blueberry Greek yogurt with fresh blueberries on top, and a candy necklace kit.

Freezing Veggie Scraps Works for Me!

Here's something new I'll participate in: Works for Me Wednesday. Basically, it's about sharing tried and true techniques for...well...everything under the sun. Since mine is a cooking blog, I'll keep my tips in the kitchen. Or at least about food.

Today, I'd like to tell you about how I get rich vegetable stock from scraps. And I do it in my sleep.

Summertime is quickly approaching. While I love soups, summertime just isn't a good time of year to enjoy them. However, many recipes still require broth or stock, and those cans and boxes of broth and stock at the grocery store are just...bad. Salty and bland. Who wants that? Not me.

Instead, I make my own stocks and broths. Not long ago, I wrote about making chicken stock using the oven and stove top. But again: Do you want to heat up your house for it? I don't. Enter the slow cooker. This marvelous piece of chicken brilliance saves energy and doesn't heat up your kitchen like a simmering pot of stock would.

Here's how I make vegetable stock in my sleep"

1. I keep a freezer bag in my freezer for collecting vegetable scraps. Almost anything goes: onion skins, broccoli stalks, cabbage cores, carrot peels, lettuce leaves, celery leaves...whatever I wouldn't use for a recipe, as long as it was just vegetable (no fats added in cooking), it goes in the bag. It takes me about a week to accumulate enough scraps to make stock.
2. I fill my biggest slow cooker with the scraps, then I fill the rest of the space with water, all the way to the top of the pot. I add a little salt, and some pepper, and some freshly cut herbs.

3. It cooks all night while I'm sound asleep.

4. The next morning, I position a colander over a large bowl or pot and strain the liquid out of the vegetables. The vegetables go in the trash, and the liquid can either be used immediately or stored for future use. If I'm storing it, I like to freeze it in 2 cup portions. It'll keep for 6 months in the freezer.

And there you have it. "Free" vegetable stock, with very little effort. That works for me. :)