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Snack Ideas Kids Will Love

If your kids are anything like my kids, than they seem to always be hungry. My kids can eat through a pantry of snacks quicker than I can count to ten! Over the years I have started brainstorming cheap snack ideas for kids so that they can fill up their ever growing bodies, be (somewhat) nutritious, and also won’t cost me an arm and a leg.

Below you will find a few of the best frugal snack ideas for kids. These snacks are perfect for on the go, after school, or everywhere in between. Budget friendly and parent approved! Yay!

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Homemade Cheap Snack Ideas For Kids

These frugal snack ideas will require a little bit of preplanning and effort in the kitchen. But I promise the result is worth the extra time!

Homemade Graham Crackers

My kids love when I make these homemade graham crackers. They are easy, delicious and fun to customize the shape depending on the season!

Muffins

Muffins make for great snacks and are super quick and easy to whip up. There are so many different types of muffins, a couple of our favorites are this Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate chip muffin recipe, and this Huckleberry Muffin Recipe.

Banana Bread

Don’t throw away bananas that are overripe, instead use them to make this quick banana bread recipe. This recipe is so moist and easy. It’s been a favorite in my family for a few generations!

Homemade Popsicles

Homemade popsicles aren’t just for summer, they make a great treat for all year round! We love to make popsicles with juice, leftover smoothies, or pureed fruit, it really just depends on what we food we have in the fridge.

Smoothies are also a great way to use up any extra produce before it goes bad. We freeze our popsicles in popsicle molds bought from Amazon!

Cake Mix Cookies

Stock up on box cake mix when it goes on sale and use it to make these 3 ingredient cake mix cookies. They are easy to customize to meet your current craving, and super easy to throw together.

Partly Homemade Snacks For Kids

If you don’t have the time or energy to make homemade snacks from scratch, you might want to try some of these partly homemade snack ideas. They will require a little bit of effort to throw together, but not as much as the ideas above.

Popcorn

Popcorn is a staple at my house. It’s cheap, quick to prepare, and somewhat healthy. I like to buy popcorn kernels and pop them over the stove in a little bit of oil, or you could buy a popcorn maker from Amazon for a decent price.

You can even change up the flavor by sprinkling on some yummy seasonings. My kids especially love using parmesan cheese, salt, garlic powder or seasoning salt.

Related: 10 Quick Ways to Save Money on Groceries

Cinnamon Toast

I learned about cinnamon toast from my husbands family and I’ve loved it ever since. It’s super simple and the kids love it!

All you have to do is butter a slice of bread, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top and then bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until toasted. It’s so good!

Cheese Quesadilla

Cheese Quesadillas are another cheap snack idea you can easily make at home. They are delicious and quick to throw together for after school or when you’re rushing out the door. Tortillas are fairly cheap to buy at the store, and even cheaper to make yourself.

Smoothies

I love stocking up on fresh fruit when it’s in season and then freezing it in bulk. The frozen fruit is perfect for making budget friendly smoothies.

Frugal bonus tip: Pour any extra smoothie into a freezer container and store it in the freezer. The frozen smoothie can be put into your kids lunchboxes for a quick and easy school lunch treat. These are a huge hit with my kids!

Ants On A Log

Ants on a log is a fun and quick snack. It’s made by spreading peanut butter on top of celery and then adding a few raisins! Easy peasy!

Yogurt Parfaits

Making a yogurt parfait is easy. Just layer yogurt with berries and then top it off with granola. You could even try making your own yogurt (something I haven’t tried yet….) for even more savings!

Cinnamon Sugar Tortillas

Another quick to fix snack for kids is cinnamon sugar tortillas. All you have to do is spread butter over the top of a flour tortilla and then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake the tortilla in the oven at 350 degrees for 10-20 minutes, or until golden and crispy. Lastly, cut it into triangles using a pizza cutter and enjoy! It’s one of my kids favorite after school snacks.

Related: How To Make Flour Tortillas

Grab and Go Snack Ideas For Kids

If you are in a hurry, or just don’t feel like cooking, try a few of these grab and go cheap snacks for kids. They require little/none preparation and are tasty, but frugal!

Frozen Grapes

Have you ever tried frozen grapes? They are so so SO delicious! I love to stock up on grapes when they go on sale, and then freeze them in a freezer bag. They taste like a yummy popsicle and are the perfect cheap snack for kids.

Fresh Fruit

One of our favorite frugal snacks is fresh fruit. I like to watch sales at local grocery stores and buy whatever fruit in on sale. I’ve learned that if I set fruit out on the counter, my kids are much more likely to grab it when they are looking for a snack.

Related: Best Ways To Store Produce To Keep It Fresh Longer

Cheese & Crackers

Who doesn’t love cheese and crackers??? It’s a classic cheap snack and for good reason! Stock up on crackers when they go on sale so you can help your kids enjoy cheese and crackers for an easy and frugal afternoon snack.

Raisins

Raisins are great to grab and eat on their own, or you can mix them with some nuts and chocolate chips for a cheap trail mix snack. Make sure to buy the raisins in bulk for the best value.

Apples and Peanut Butter

We love the delicious apples and peanut butter snack at our house. You can serve the peanut butter as an apple dip, or our favorite thing to do is slice the apples with a mandolin and top each slice with peanut butter and chocolate chips! So yummy!!!

Cheerios

Ok, I know it’s basic, but cheerios is one of the best cheap snack ideas for kids because it’s not only frugal, it’s also quick, easy and loved by all! Basically a win all around! Make sure to watch grocery sales because cheerios are often marked down and available as a rebate with many cashback apps.

Cheese

Cheese is the perfect quick snack! I like to buy a large block of cheese (Costco usually has the best prices) and cut it into individual slices/cubes for even more convenient snacking.

Applesauce

I love canning jars and jars of applesauce every fall. I try to buy a couple of boxes of apples when the price drops to 50 cents/lb and turn them all into applesauce.

It’s true that not everyone loves to can, and that’s fine! You can buy applesauce and it is still a frugal snack.

Pretzels

Pretzels are another cheap snack idea for kids. They are perfect for a quick grab and go snack or as a lunchbox filler. Pretzels are consistently one of the cheaper snack options in the grocery store, and almost always kid approved! Yay!

Best Frugal Snacks

There are so many options when searching for the best frugal snacks! We can feed our kids and their love for snacks without having to hurt our grocery budget.

What To Do When Grocery Prices Rise

Easy After School Snack Ideas

Mel’s Home Cooking Recipe Book

Pin For Future Reference:

What are your favorite cheap snack ideas for kids?

Here’s my honest Butcher Box review!

For years I have been asking “Is Butcher Box a good deal?” I kept hearing so many people say how awesome Butcher Box is and I have been wanting to try it out for myself! I finally got my wish when they contacted me and offered to send me a box to review. Talk about a dream come true! I know a lot of you out there have probably heard about Butcher Box, but have been unsure if it’s right for you or not. Today, I’m sharing my honest review of Butcher Box to help you make that important decision.

This article contains affiliate links. I will be compensated from purchases made from links in this article.

What is Butcher Box?

First things first, Butcher Box is a meat delivery service that offers 100% grass-fed, grass-finished beef; free-range organic chicken; heritage-breed pork, wild-caught Alaskan sockeye salmon, and more!! These high quality meat products will be sent straight to your doorstep.

But! The thing that makes Butcher Box most special is their commitment to raising animals in a humane way, with no added hormones or antibiotics, EVER!

Their mission is centered around making the lives of farmers and animals better, and helping the consumer gain access to a higher quality meat. (win, win!)

How Does It Work?

Butcher Box works very similar to other subscription services.

First, choose your box from the 5 different box choices.

The box choices include:

Custom Box Classic

9-14 lbs.
$159/month

The Custom Box Classic gives you the option of choosing your own cuts of beef, pork or chicken.

Custom Box Big

18-26 lbs.
$288/month

The Custom Box Big gives you the same option of choosing your own cuts of beef pork or chicken as the classic custom box. The Big box is just…bigger!

The Basic Box

7-7.5 lbs.
$99/month

The Basic Box includes high quality beef, organic chicken, and pork.

The Mixed Box

8.5-11 lbs
$137/month

The Mixed Box is the box that I ordered. It came with high quality selection of beef, chicken and pork. The amount and exact cuts will vary month to month, but we were very pleased with our box.

The Beef and Pork Box

8-11 lbs
$137/month

The Beef and Pork Box will give you a variety of both beef and pork cut meats. You will find anything from tenderloin to steaks to ground beef and more.

The Beef and Chicken Box

8.5-11 lbs
$137/month

In the Beef and Chicken Box you will be treated to a selection of both chicken and beef meat cuts.

The All Beef Box

8-10 lbs
$137/month

In the All Beef Box you will receive beef cuts ranging from ground beef to roasts and steaks. Yum!

How Often Will I Receive My Box?

You have three options for delivery frequency. You can choose to have your box delivered monthly, every 6 weeks, or every other month. However, you can cancel or pause delivery at any time at no extra cost. So, if you are needing a break, just put it on pause and continue whenever is convenient for you.

What Makes Butcher Box Special?

Butcher Box is special because of their commitment to delivering high quality products to their customers and their mission of raising animals in a humane way. Here are a few other highlights about Butcher Box and their animals.

Beef:

100% grass fed
Pasture raised

Chicken:

Free range organic
No antibiotics ever
No added hormones (Federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones or steroids in poultry)

Pork:

All vegetarian feed
Humanely raised
Bacon has no nitrates or nitrites and does not contain added sugar

How Is The Box Shipped?

All of the meat shipped from Butcher Box is frozen and individually vacuum packed. It will be shipped in a box with insulation and dry ice if needed. Your meat will arrive frozen, cold and ready for the fridge or freezer.

What Came In My Box?

Alright, now let’s get to the good stuff! Here is all the nitty gritty about receiving my first box.

I wanted to try out the Mixed Box and was really excited to see everything that I got. In this box I received:

2 lbs of Ground Beef
2 NY Strip Steaks
4 Top Sirloin Steaks
1lb of Whole Pork Tenderloin
3lbs of Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

The meat was still frozen and cold when arriving on my doorstep, just the way we like it! I also loved the packaging!

How Did It Taste?

The meat we received was so yummy and tender. It was delicious! In all honesty, I usually buy fairly cheap meat and we could definitely tell a difference in quality from Butcher Box and the cheaper variety.

My husband even made a point to tell me how much he enjoyed it more than the kind I usually buy. (hint noted hubby!)

Can I Cancel My Subscription?

Canceling your Butcher Box subscription is super quick and easy. You can cancel anytime with no charge. Or, consider just putting your subscription on hold for a few months.

Putting it on hold is a great way to take a break if your freezer is getting to full or your budget is getting tight.

What I Liked About Butcher Box

The Convenience

Butcher Box is about as convenient as it gets! The ordering process was quick, delivery painless and I didn’t even have to leave my house. As a busy mom, I am all about making life a little more convenient.

The Taste

We truly loved the taste of Butcher Box meat. Everything was tender, juicy and delicious!

The Quality

You just can’t get better quality than Butcher Box. I love that their animals are raised in a humane way. And, I love that the meat is fresh, organic with no added hormones.

It’s important to me what my family puts in their body, and I know I can trust Butcher Box in this.

What I Did NOT Like About Butcher Box

The Cost

Butcher Box averages about $6/per dinner. I do not think this is an extreme cost, considering the quality of the product, but it is more than I usually spend on my meat products.

However, like I said before, I usually buy much lesser quality….and we can taste the difference.

Will I Order From Butcher Box Again?

Absolutely! I will order from Butcher Box again!

After tasting this product, and enjoying the convenience of it being shipped right to my front door, I definitely want to start ordering from them with an every other month subscription.

I decided (to help offset the cost) to keep a mix of higher quality Butcher Box meat and lower quality grocery store meat in our freezer at all times. It’s a good way to get the best of both worlds.

Try Butcher Box For Yourself

If you want to try Butcher Box out for yourself click here and start enjoying some delicious meat!

Cheap Snack Ideas For Kids