Food shopping tips appreciated!

[Strugglingmama1]

Hi all, I am fed up with expensive shopping and its not the meals that is the problem really - its the snacks.

I have 5 kids that are always hungry for snacks and I’m wondering is it actually cost effective to go to places like B&M and stock up on crisps, choc etc once a month for example, Or does it work out the same to just get it from the supermarket? Not just food but toiletries, cleaning products etc?

Does anyone have any tips on saving on the weekly food shop?

sometimes i go to the food warehouse thinking its cheaper but I don’t think it is. I can’t help but wonder if its better to just stick with aldi and be done with it?

I would consider going to the supermarkets for yellow sticker but I’m rural and the nearest supermarket is a 20 minute drive.

I’m also happy to make snacks but if you have fussy kids you’ll understand that that can be a waste of time and money too!

thanks in advance!

Fairs. Think my middle child would be lost with out his ham sandwiches. Each to their own eh 😊

I was always allowed fruit, or toast or yoghurt if not too close to a meal. We didn't have other snack options.

I have a silicone microwavable popcorn box. You could get something like this and teach them to make their own popcorn. It takes less than two minutes. Not that filling but might seem more fun.

I have a 16 year old that will munch through snacks as if they are air.

So I stopped buying to meet his snack needs. I buy x amount to alow a packet of crisps per day and he has muesli bars/snack bars for his school lunches. If he eats them all at once so be it, but the stock doesnt get replenished until I go shopping again.

If he's hungry there's toast, fruit, a healthy ish cereal, or eggs. He makes much better food choices when the snacks aren't available AND I make him eat bigger healthier dinners, which definitely helps too.

Get everyone a Tupperware. Share out what you can afford to buy. It lasts them the week.

Have bread, eggs, yoghurt, fruit and popcorn kernels unlimited.

Can you elaborate on the sushi child? Is it eating meals or just eating sushi?

Hi i dont know why all the hate about giving kids snacks i find in the holidays snack boxes help so they each have a set amount for the week in there own boxes and once there gone they have to wait till the next week this is more for nicer snacks.
fruit, yogurts and other healthy snacks are available it just stops them eating to much chocolate and crisps
I also get alot from poundland lidl and Iceland
Iceland do 5 items for 5 pounds alot as well which is really good

@Strugglingmama1 Hey, I know it's crap when you feel you can't feed your kids, but if they are hungry, a peanut butter sandwich is cheap and filling and costs way cheaper

I also have a 14 year old (and a 12 year old), both very sporty and on the go the whole time. They absolutely need to eat in between meals in order to be properly fuelled, and even teens who don’t do so much physical activity but are simply growing a lot, need to eat enough. Mine both eat very well at meals, but I also sort them out a healthy snack for after school and after training finishes (fairly late at night usually, 8:30-9:30pm ish finish). What I don’t do is allow them to have crisps and biscuits as snacks as that’s just empty calories. They are allowed 1 small packet of crisps a day in their packed lunches (not at all at weekends). For breakfast during the week they have porridge or weetabix with honey and fruit, they take a packed lunch to school or sometimes have school lunches instead, and for supper it’s things like veggie fajitas, fish burritos, chicken thighs, new potatoes and roasted veg, jacket potatoes, home made egg fried rice with spicy chicken, spaghetti carbonara, homemade meatballs either veggie couscous etc. After school snacks tend to be easy things I can prepare and leave for them, or stuff they can quickly make themselves - wholemeal toast with peanut butter, a fruit plate with Greek yoghurt, eggs on toast / savoury french toast, rice cakes cheese and salad, a veggie plate (carrots, mangetout, sweetcorn, radishes, baby tomatoes, peppers, cucumber), homemade banana and honey flapjack….then when they come home after training they’ll often have a glass of chocolate milk (not healthy but great as a recovery food after intense training) with a small omelette or a wholemeal roll with ham or cheese, a cheese and salad wrap, that sort of thing. Sometimes I take a little packet of sweets for them in the car on the way home. What they aren’t allowed is sweets every day, too many crisps or processed junk - I never limit food quantities but what’s available to them in the house is by and large pretty healthy so that’s what they eat. My eldest is pretty wise with his choices anyway, my youngest is getting there - he loves a j2o drink for example, but we’ve talked about it and agreed that sugary drinks should be a rare treat so he has one about once a month.

Mine are older teenagers but enjoy Greek yogurt with honey and fruit, or a banana, or a bowl of bran flakes with fruit. Pain au chocolate or cake, which I make once a week - usually banana bread or almond and cherry cake. They'll make themselves cookies if they want.

growing up in poverty and having empty fridges and cupboards - I have to have snacks in the house but I choose the following (I panic when the cupboard looks sparse!)

1. popcorn machine (loads on FB marketplace or use a big saucepan!)
2. popcorn kernels. Huge bag for £1.50
3. I love baking so I make flapjacks

The popcorn lasts all month! Probably longer!

My DC help themselves now there a bit older. But it isn't about "banning snacks" it's about choosing low cost better options.

I only buy crisps that I recognise the ingredients of. Like Aldi or Asda ready salted.

As kids, we had no snacks due to being poor & DH's mum "banned" them completely and our behaviour to food is very strange. DS is very sensible

Don't "ban" anything!

@123456789kk , Hi i dont know why all the hate about giving kids snacks
It's not hate, it's that the snacks are expensive, usually not healthy or filling, and leave them wanting more. They become a habit, and if given a choice children will eat them instead of waiting for a proper meal.

Eating things like biscuits and crisps give spikes of blood sugar, whereas a piece of fruit won't.

Iceland is good for things like 'cornettos'. Lidl is good too.
Iceland 6 Chocolate & Nut Cones 372g compared to branded ones from the corner shop or ice cream van, or even a box from the supermarket.
Cornetto Chocolate Ice Cream Cones 6 x 90ml - Tesco Groceries

Exactly. And instilling good eating habits and teaching them about good nutrition sets them up well for the future.

I don't think the problem is giving kids snacks - homemade baked snack, fruit, sandwich, plain cereal, etc.

It's pre-packaged, addictive, UPF crap.

Replace the crap snacks (crisps etc) with cheaper fruit. Like apples, banana, pears etc

Have a couple of loaves of bread for toast. They can have butter or jam or peanut butter or cheese spread etc for the top. All cheap and filling enough.

They might stop always being "hungry for snacks" then.

Indeed, if they have a choice of biscuits or an apple, 99% kids will choose the biscuits, eat 3 of them and want something else a bit later.

Often they discover they're mysteriously not hungry when offered an an apple, a banana or a pear...

instilling good eating habits and teaching them about good nutrition sets them up well for the future.
We were allowed free access to the fruit bowl - apples, oranges and sometimes bananas, pears and plums if in season. We didn't really eat between meals.

There's a difference between being hungry and the false hunger when your blood sugar drops after a high glycaemic index snack or meal.

From my lay observations, slim people tend not to snack, or if they do it will be fruit or yoghurt. My chubbier acquaintances tend to leave food on their plate at mealtimes then reach for a bag of crisps or a chocolate bar/cookie an hour later.

Sorry, forgot to clear the quote.

Another observation, if you buy ready salted crisps, the multipack will probably last longer than flavoured crisps. A bag of monkey nuts will last longer than a multipack of teeny packets of flavoured nuts.
Cream crackers or oatcakes will last longer than a multipack of mini cheddars.

On the sushi front - I buy a packet of the sushi rice in Aldi and sushi sheets from Asda and my teenagers / older ones make their own when they want it putting in cucumber or pepper from the fridge. No idea what other fillings as I don't make it! It does seem to fill them up. I know Asda have all the stuff you need to make it (possibly a liquid as well ? shows I don't make it!) - sushi rice vinegar - just looked it up. It all lasts ages so they just use what they need each time.

Snacks for my kids were fruit (apple, banana, orange) or something like a toasted hot cross bun.

Sugary snacks encourage bad eating habits, weight gain and rotten teeth.

No one needs snacks if they are having decent meals.

I'd say disorganised rather than soft.

Ideally all your kids should eat the same healthy meals and no snacks.

We were low on snacks. They could have cake if they made it, so they all learned early 😂

Mine are grown up now but both had very active hobbies and were always hungry, so I do know the challenge.

Stop buying crisps and biscuits. They don’t fill you up,and sometimes they will get eaten because they are tasty not because of hunger.I’m guilty of this too so you can’t blame tbem!

Toast, cereal, crumpets, teacakes wete my go to as they are filling (they got fruit & veg as part of their main meals so not an issue that these are largely carbs). If the kids won’t eat them because they would rather have crisps and biscuits, then they aren’t really hungry.

I also made sure breakfast was filling cereal (weetabix or porridge rather than cornflakes or rice crispies)

No one needs snacks if they are having decent meals.

That's simply not true with growing teens - of course they need snacks, if only a piece of toast!

And as I said upthread, it's nice to have a treat - children's lives shouldn't be cheerless

They don't need snacks - they need decent, filling meals.

Treats should be treats not a several times a day entitlement.

All snacks are not equal and sometimes both adults and children need snacks. There is nothing inherently wrong with having a well timed, nutritious snack. I work out intensively 6 days a week and certainly do have a snack after workouts as it enhances recovery. I always provide DS with healthy snacks (banana, nuts and protein yoghurt) for him to have during long climbing and other activity sessions.

If teens are in school they don't always eat at break time.
Some do of course.

The current obesity epidemic is partly because of snacking.
50 years ago people rarely snacked.
School kitchens didn't provide snacks midmorning.
No one bought loads of crisps, chocolate etc to eat between meals.

Treats are just that- once in a while, not every day and 3 times a day!

No wonder also that so many kids have decayed teeth and most hospital admissions for the under-5s are for tooth decay/ extraction.