Garbage bag snack mix……a large family snack

That title doesn’t even sound appealing. But for our large family its a monthly item. With so many little ones we were always grabbing a bag of pretzels or snack mix for a quick treat for them. They grew tired of always having plain pretzels (but they were cheap) and they loved the snack mixes but at $4 a box we couldn’t afford that. So we came up with the garbage bag snack mix. I would purchase their favorite snacks–cheese balls, bugels, combos, etc but then I would throw in the boring stuff like cheerios, chex cereal, oyster crackers, and pretzels. Then we would have a snack mix that would stretch our budget.

First we gather all items

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Next we get a heavy duty trash bag

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Then we let each child participate.  Each child taking turns dumping their snacks into the bag.

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Then we let an older one roll the bag to mix it up.

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Doesn’t that look good???Image00033

 

 

Scoop into gallon ziploc baggies.

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We store ours in a cool basement, but you can store them in the freezer for longer than the month.  It will ensure the freshness of the snack mix.

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An easy to grab snack when on the go, don’t forget to bring small plastic cups for everyone’s portions.

You can use any combination of items you like.  Here is the ones that we typically use.

4 boxes crispy oats cereal
3 boxes rice squares cereal
3 boxes corn squares cereal
4 bags puff corn–buttered and cheese flavored
1 large box goldfish
2 boxes wheat thins
2 bags frito twists
1 bag multigrain crisps chips
1 bag nacho cheese chips
1 bag pretzles
1 bag combos
2 boxes cheese snack crackers
1 bag potato skins
1 bag cheese puffs
2 bags bugels cheese and regular

Investing in your children’s lives

I was just about to do yet another load of dishes for the day, when our 2 year old came crying by my leg. It has been a busy day for me, lots of little ones sick this week, and I hadn’t gotten much one on one time with her. She has been extremely fussy, maybe teeth, maybe just feeling yuck. My first response was to send her off to play with someone else, but I knew I had to do better. I scooped her up and set her on the counter where I was doing dishes.

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As she sat on the counter helping me wash, she instantly became a happy child. As we went about washing the dishes we sang some bible songs, talked about how special she was and how much Jesus loves her, her love bucket was instantly filled. But if I would have went with my first response and ignored the opportunity to pour myself into her life, I would have missed out on a very important teaching time.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

In these verses it declares that God’s word was to be passed on from generation to generation. Parents were charged with the responsibility of passing the faith on to their children. They were to instruct their children throughout the course of the day.

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Mothers, sometimes its easier and faster to do all the work yourselves, especially when you are having a hard week due to sickness but what are we going to gain from all of that? A super clean house? A loss of our children’s hearts maybe? Children need to feel included and that they are a necessary part of the family. The best way to do that is to include them in everything that you do, don’t send them away, let them help you in your work. Be a team. Help grow your relationship together. You will not regret investing time in your children’s lives.

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