Food Swaps: Healthier Snack Ideas For Your Family
We're a snacking family here in ye olde Williams household. I think Mike's world vastly improved after Harlow started eating solids and I started buying more snacks to have in the house. It's a good thing Harlow's pretty good at sharing for a three-year-old because Mike is a certified snack stealer! Sorry but it's true, boo...
I love to see my babies -- both the little and the full-grown -- fed, and I always feel a little like a hero when I whip up their favorite foods at the right time. But I can't go toooo overboard with the food shopping because frankly groceries are SO darn expensive I just can't afford to. I also really really hate wasting food so I try not to buy more than I think we'll eat in any given week. Basically, whatever groceries I get need to:
A | taste good,
B | fit our grocery budget, and
C | be wholesome foods i.e. no antibiotics, hormones, high fructose corn syrup, nitrates, chemicals...uh uh, no ma'am Pam!
With all that in mind, I'm loving Earth Fare for delicious snack foods and family comfort food quick meals. Their boot list screens all foods they carry to ensure they're free of any and all scary crap, which comforts this novice label reader. (I mean, what the heck is maltodextrin?) Once you walk in the door you're free from worrying about all that mess -- kinda huge, right? I've found lots of affordable organic options in the Earth Fare Brand, everything from fruit and olive oil to popcorn and pizza.
This is big for me because -- speaking for the masses here -- it sure is nice not having to sign over a kidney just to afford healthy, wholesome foods. So with that in mind, I wanted to share the round-up of snacks and easy meal ideas I love to shop for at Earth Fare. From school lunches to snack time to whipping up a quick bite in a pinch, all of these foods spark joy in our tummies...and in mommy's wallet.
The Williamses canNOT watch movies without popcorn! Apparently microwave popcorn is the devil itself, but I'm super lazy about using our air popper machine. I just am. This kettle cooked popcorn tastes so good I am shook! Buttery and salty but still good for you! It doesn't taste coconut-y and it isn't pink. Only delicious.
Ummm watch the throne, Pirates Booty, there's a new cheesy puffed snack coming for you. Y'all, I'm downright obsessed with these Hippeas organic chickpea puffs. Gluten-free, vegan, there's a vegetable/legume in there...and y'all, these taste so good you'd think they're bad for you and they're NOT. The trick is not eating a whole bag in one sitting.
I picked up these breast meat chicken tenders for Harlow's school lunches. I'm big on buying meat sans antibiotics, and these are cheaper than another brand I was buying. They also come with spices and they make fish fingers, too.
These ready-bake Earth Fare pizzas for just $10 are a Friday night special in this house! And just read the box: every ingredient is wholesome and free of the bad stuff! These are large pizzas and could feed a family of four.
Little grab-and-go snacks are the biggest crowd pleasers when Harlow has a play date or we have friends over, and what's more popular than pizza?? These Earth Fare uncured chicken pepperoni pizza bites are super yummy, and I like they come in chicken pepperoni in case any of our guests doesn't eat pork or beef.
Every single morning Harlow wants oatmeal for breakfast. This ThinkThin oatmeal actually has 10g of protein in every serving which is HUGE! I always try to give Harlow protein at every meal but breakfast can be hard bc she doesn't like eggs. This oatmeal just changed that, what whaaat!
Fair warning: once you eat Roots hummus you will never, ever be able to eat anything else. It's next level. You can't go wrong with any of the flavors.
I have found that Earth Fare carries more varieties than other local grocers, like the Thai Coconut Curry hummus which we LOVE. A Roots employee suggested mixing it 2-to-1 with peanut butter, spreading it in a wrap, and filling it with some veggies and a protein of your choice. We're making that for dinner tonight!
I go through berries like crazy for my smoothies which I mix with Vega protein and collagen peptides I also get at Earth Fare. This whole bag was under $12, a great deal IMO.
What is your snack philosophy? Are you a stickler for the ingredient label or do you just eat what tastes good? I love Earth Fare because I get to have it both ways on that ya know? We've got enough to think about as modern day moms so whatever I can make easier, I will. Hopefully some of these healthy snack ideas will make life a little easier for you, too, sister!
Thanks for coming by The Tony Townie today! Love your support so, so much!
xxBrooke
Thank you to Earth Fare for partnering with me on this post. I'm a longtime Earth Fare shopper and believer in their food philosophy. They make me feel safer and more confident in the food I feed to my family. While there's no doubt partnering with them is a dream come true, rest assured all opinions expressed herein are my own. I will not vouch for something if I don't believe it to be true.