When I started having a larger than normal family, one thing I realized we could not get much of was convenience freezer snacks. Yes, I know that they are not good for you, but every once in awhile I like to get a bag to eat for a special treat. Well when you have lots of mouths to feed, that cost for a simple snack, gets quite expensive. Plus I don’t want to feed my children those types of foods, if I can help it.
I decided I needed to come up with some alternatives to help feed those cravings of fun snacks. I took inventory of some of my children’s favorites and came up with healthier versions.
southwestern chicken taquitos
These were probably one of my very favorites. Deep fried and so good, but I knew I could not honestly feed these to my children, or myself for that matter and feel good about it. I came up with my own baked version. We really like them. Serve with some ranch dressing, guacamole, or salsa and they are DELICIOUS!
baked corn dogs
I am not a big hotdog person, but my children love them. They really like corndogs on a stick. Well with little ones, you really don’t want to be handing them a stick. Eventually someone is going to try and poke someone’s eye!! Plus deep fried, oh so not good. I came up with this baked version. That to me tastes like the Bagel Dogs we used to get from the Schwan man as a kid. Not bad.
twice baked potatoes
Ok well, we technically liked the potato skins that are from TGIFridays, but as a Mom, I didn’t want to waste the inside pulp, came up with these very yummy tasting twice baked potatoes. They are filled with bacon, sour cream, cheese, and green onions. So yummy!!
pretzels
My girls really like to make homemade pretzels, they find it quite fun to sculpt the dough into different shapes. We used to buy these in large bags from the grocery store and have since resorted to our homemade ones. After making them we place them onto a cookie sheet and freeze them until solid. Place them into large sized plastic freezer bags. You can pull out as many as you need to serve. Fun treats for children to make.
poor boy subs
These are kind of convenient to have in your freezer. I didn’t know that you could “freeze” subs and have them taste good. Well you can. This is nice for my husband who would like a quick snack, without me having to make them. After preparing them, I wrap in tin foil and place into large freezer bags. If you didn’t want to make them onto large bread, like I did in the post, you can make them on smaller sub sized buns for single servings.
What are some of your families favorite snacks that you have learned to make yourself instead of buying store bought?
