Long ago were the days that I would be in homeroom thinking about when my break and next snack time would be.  Food has always been a passion of mine, ok, obsession, and I think about my next food while I am eating food.  My options used to be simple:  granola bar, fruit roll-up or gummies.  Kids now have so many options!

But alas, then come in the rules (which are different each year).  Some are ok with peanut butter, others not.  Some are ok with sweets, while others, like my 4^th grader, are allowed chips and cheese doodles, but no cookies or granola bar ( it hurts my brain ).  For little kids, they have to be able to open their snack easily and not make a mess, while the older kids needs a single snack that will fill them up instead of having to grab 2 or 3 to do the trick.  Once you are doing before and maybe after school snacks for 3 kids at 3 ages and 3 rules, you need schematic to keep track of everything not to mention a huge pantry and lots of trips to the store.

I know lots of people use peapod or Instacart, but I am not that person.  For one, to do my entire shopping list online, I would have to do it at work as that is the only time I don’t have someone saying look at me or asking me a question at home.  Also, although I have that convenience now, until I moved to Indiana I never had that delivery as an option as the closest Target ( not even a Super Target) was 45 minutes away.  As a mom and everyday human, Amazon became my friend.  Add onto that the fact that you can find awesome and healthy snacks that aren’t available at Aldi’s, Meijer or Giant Eagle and that the extra flavor varieties are awesome!  A lot of these you can even get a subscription to so it can automatically be delivered to your door every 2-3 weeks.

You can of course find any regular chip or granola bar on amazon, but below are a bunch of the other favorites I have found from the trade shows that I go to for work or just trial and error.

My Super Cookies  are an awesome option for kids ( or your own sweet tooth) that are practically guilt free.  I met the owner that started this company at Expo East a few years back and she began it because she was a mom who wanted healthy options!  I will say, if your kids ONLY eat Oreo’s, these are not the exact same ( they don’t have hydrogenated oil).  They are high in whole grains with the added bonus of chia seeds and are nut free and vegan.  Perfect for a classroom with allergies 🙂

Stretch Island’s fruit leathers are a great snack for anytime and anywhere.  Did you ever think, hey, I can make my own fruit roll ups in the dehydrator?  Then when you are scraping half a**ed fruit shrapnel off of plastic wrap you are cursing your great idea?  This is basically that with the only ingredient being 100 fruit concentrate!  I love these because unlike crackers and cookies, they can go in the bottom of any bag and won’t get smashed.  You can also keep a handful in the car as it won’t melt in the hot sun or go bad.  This is one of our favorites!

You can’t get any simpler than Solely fruit jerky.  It is literally just the fruit and so amazingly naturally sweet.  I will warn you, it is a bit pricey, but a great tasting treat offered in a few different flavors!

I am a chickpea fiend and love how versatile it can be while giving you the feel of a full on carb, but having tons of protein as well 🙂 One of the chickpea items I haven’t been able to master at home are the puffs ( can you say cheese curls?).  With many of the other items on the market however, most of those are fried.  Why take something so healthy and then ruin it?!?  Biena’s chickpea puffs are baked and available in a few different flavors for both kids and adults.  They are poppable for snacks, but then also great to throw on salads instead of croutons as well.

When cheese is the first ingredient, how can anything be bad?  The Imagine lineup of products has a good overall variety, but their cheese stars are an awesome one for the salty snack craving.  Think Cheez-it but healthy(er).  You can get individual flavors or a multi-pack, but this is good for taking to a game or somewhere that you want a shareable snack.  Or, I totally won’t judge if you eat the whole thing yourself! .

Hopefully some of these snacks make their way to your cart for an easy way to get snacks crossed off your list.  What is your favorite go to snack during the week?