Snacks

Watching football is fun. Watching football with people you care about is even more fun. Watching football with people you care about especially when the chips are down and you’ve made play by play bets against each other…unbeatable. And speaking of chips being down, it’s always important to know what snacks are best when watching 22 tiny men fight over pig skin.

I was obsessed with banana chips when I was a kid. Living in Hawaii, they were a popular portable snack for the kids. I still love to pack them for snacks on road trips. Nate, however, hates bananas. He’s a weirdo. So I make a variety of other dried fruits and vegetables for him to enjoy. Strawberry chips are a family favorite, along with dried apples, mangoes and pineapples.

I mentioned awhile back that the oldest boy has started preschool. He’s been learning so much that I decided to enroll the middle kid as well. Now I’m REALLY looking to kick lunch up a notch to keep my dudes excited about the changes in their lives! Little reminders that I’m thinking about them can ease the transition. I remember how much tasty midday snacks meant to me as a kid, with sweet handwritten notes in my lunchbox. A gesture as quick and easy as tic tac toe pizza can go a long way.

The Super Bowl is coming up and in our house, that means it is time for snack wars. Everybody has their preferred Super Bowl go-to: Nate wants something salty, the kids want something sweet, and I simply require anything and everything covered-in or wrapped-up-with BACON. This white chocolate bacon snack mix is our solution.

I get a lot of emails from exhausted young parents asking for tips to make life run a little smoother. Oh tired parents, I feel your pain. One little trick that we’ve just started using in our home is the preschooler snack drawer.

I love hanging out with Some Boy. I even like to take Some Boy on impromptu trips around the area I live. Whether it be up into the mountain areas, to the beach or even to go shopping at the local "manly" store of some sort, I like to just pick him up and go.

Remember the days before parenthood? When you would actually go out into the world and eat at a restaurant and see stars on the BIG screen? I always liked to seek out movie theaters with extra-decadent snacks. You know, the ones with cinnamon rolls and bon bons. Man, movie night’s changed for us in the last couple years! Our theater nights have been replaced by couch-lounging afternoons, and since I’m trying to minimize gluten in our diet, those treats are now gluten-free snacks. This is movie night at the Day family house. This is how we roll.

More on the back-to-school front, it’s dawned on me that I’m suddenly responsible for packing lunches every single day. I decided to create a little snack station to make the job a bit easier.

They say that toddler snacks account for 25% of the average kid’s calorie intake.

Spring is upon us! I’m currently staring at a big box of fresh herbs ready for planting. I’m so excited for berries harvested from the garden, jelly made at home and my kids’ favorite DIY fruit roll ups.