My daughter Lea will be starting school on Sept. 4th, 3 days after her birthday. At school she has to bring a lunch, they have no hot lunch there, and a snack. But not just any snack, all healthy with no chocolate and no pop or red dye. Fortunately, I have been adjusting Lea already to eating more healthy because after my best friend died I decided that was one of the lessons we were going to learn from his death. So, we now eat much healthier with whole grains, brown rice, etc. With having to add a snack too, I'm thinking...this is going to bust the bank. I know I can sit down and come up with cheap alternatives to like organic snacks etc. I know I'm gonna buy some at Trader Joes, but I can't buy everything there. I know I'm gonna have to make alot of things. I make a delicious granola that I got off of Hillybilly Housewife, I put flavorings in it and a little honey, along with cinnamon and nutmeg. I need to learn to make granola bars, since those cost up to $4 for 2 boxes. I can't go to the dollar store for those items because its FULL of sugar. My mother bought 2 boxes for Lea and I and I said, "wow these are good..." that's cause they were loaded in sugar. I saw on hillybilly housewife that they had a fruit bar recipe, I need to look at that again. Maybe if I buy bulk cans of apples again, like I used too and divide them up-(oops, I don't have a deep freezer anymore, I had to sell it because it was draining the electricity in my kitchen)...maybe when I get another one I can do that. But, I have to come up with some inexpensive but very healthy snacks for both lunch and a daily snack. With working during the week and soon to be working the weekends at my uncle's restaurant baking for the restaurant, I won't have much time. I am going to pick up two freecycles today and maybe tomorrow that are bread machines and that way I can make some healthy breads at night. The only thing at the restaurant I could probably slip into her lunch box would be the sweet potato pecan bread I make. Its healthy and really good.

I have a late growing garden, so I should have some fresh tomatoes, peppers, and beans all the way up to November.

We buy a lot of organic whole foods...produce, meats, flour, milk, etc. I make most of our snacks and they are cost effective as well as healthier than packaged snacks. Here are some things my dd likes, she is 3.

-homemade ginger snaps...not a lot of sugar and not high calorie. You can freeze these as well.

-homemade raisin or apple bread in the bread machine. I use organic flour and milk and slip a slice of this in her lunch sometimes as a treat.

-homemade mini muffins, again, I am controlling what goes in them so they are healthier than store bought and MUCH less expensive. I use applesause in place of oil to make it more healthy. These can be frozen. I make zucchini muffins, apple cinnamon, banana nut, nutmeg muffins...the list goes on and on.

-whole fruits, apples, bananas, pears, oranges, berries, just buy whatever is in season that will travel in a lunchbox well.

-carrot sticks

-we buy large chunks of cheese at Sams Club...DD loves Havarti, and send it along with crackers and sometimes pepperoni for her to assemble there. I got a flip lock container at Target for $3.49 that has 4 removable inserts that are perfect for this kind of thing. I just throw some fruit or carrots in the 4th section and she is good to go. I also bought two Rubbermaid reusable juice boxes and she takes either milk or water for her drink (dd doesn't drink any juice, sodas, etc...only milk or water), but it would be a cheaper alternative to buying individual drinks for lunches.

-As far as organics go...check your stores for non-advertised specials. My Harris Teeter recently had organic seedless red grapes for 99 cents a pound...it was actually cheaper than buying the regular grapes which were on sale for $1.49/pound.

-take advantage of your garden. My dd LOVES cut up tomatoes in her lunch.

Super Walmart now carries organic food. It's mixed in with the other stuff..but it's there! I love Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes! Every recipe that calls for tomatoes..whether it's a soup or a pizza sauce...I use crushed or diced fire roasted tomatoes. That brand also has regular too...I just think the fire roasted ad a non-spicy, smoky kind of a kick to food...make it more flavorful and less bland.

They also sell Stacy's pita chips with sea salt. Those chips are great with fresh salsa:
Chop up, tomatoes, bell pepper, onions,..throw in some crushed garlic, lime juice, little bit of raw sugar, and some seat salt! The salt and sugar bring all of the juices out of the veggies...let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so...or even over night...you have a great after-school snack!!

Oops..I almost forgot...look up and see if you have a "Trader Joes" in your local area. It's sort of a health food store but they snack foods too. You can find things like organic cranberry oatmeal cookies....so yummy!! They aren't too sweet and you can taste the oats when you eat them....I'm have a craving right now! But yeah I love that store. I used to shop there when I lived in Arizona...now the closest one is in Maryland (2 hrs away!!) I really think you would love that store if you can find one near you!

If you have a Trader Joe's, you just might have a Grocery Outlet too. I buy organic snack food all the time. I have been able to buy organic single serving boxes of six or eight little bags of crackers for $.99 - $1.49. I have bought cheese crackers, the equivalent of wheat thins, cinnamon animal crackers, etc. Their stuff changes all the time. Raisins, nuts, beef jerkey, etc. are always a good price there. If you have a Grocery Outlet, go look there. What I like is that because the stock changes all the time (they go through the grocery warehouses and buy after the grocery store chains go through) and they get discontinued items or items near the sell-by dates. I have also bought single serving packages of cheese, applesauce, etc.

Wow! Thank you much! I'm going to look that up right now!