Cheap Food for a Large Crowd: Snacksby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 20 Apr 2009 03:42 AM
With our family or five, we need a large refrigerator that can hold at least three or four gallons of milk for the week. In addition to our kids, we often have a few extras over at dinner or lunch, especially on the weekends. So, I'm starting to get good at producing inexpensive meals that will feed everyone. Even the neighborhood kids will eat this stuff. Snacks For kids, at least, snacks are a big thing. Their active growing bodies tend to get hungry in between meal times, right after school, etc. The worse thing, generally for the budget, that you can do is buy a bunch of drink boxes and individually wrapped snacks. Some better ideas include: Home-popped pop corn. Stay away from the expensive and chemical-laden microwave varieties. Butter can be a cost when added to popcorn, but generally it is a small amount, and there are also other alternatives for toppings, such as grated cheese (a little goes a long way). Home made bread sticks or pretzels. This is easier than you might think. If you have a bread maker, you can use it to make the dough. Or just use a food processor or your hands to mix the dough, let it rise in a greased bowl and then form the breadsticks. Then bake the breadsticks for a cheap filling treat. Bagged produce. If you can get apples in a bag at $1.00 a pound or less, go for it. While produce can be pricey, one apple per kid won't break the bank, and the fiber is very filling. If your bag yields any bruised fruit (a careful inspection beforehand can eliminate this), cut it up, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top and microwave it for an instant cobbler. Do you have an inexpensive snack ideas? Check back again for inexpensive meal ideas. Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog, caring for little ones in the Baby Blog and now relationships in the Marriage Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here or subscribe to the blog using the subscription box on the right. Favorite Deal Websites: Related Articles: Fun and Free Things to Do on a Saturday Backyard Preschool Summer Olympics Best Frugal Food Ingredients 2 Frugal Homemade Seasoning Recipes Flattening Your Freezer Cooking Incorporating Freezer Cooking into Your Life Making Your Freezer and Crock Pot Work Together Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments No comments on this article yet. Be the first to comment! Community Tags cheap snacks, frugal living, frugal food, Kids Discuss this article
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Whether you are hosting an event or just trying to feed your large family, being able to prepare good, inexpensive food in large quantities is important if you want or need to keep your food budget from exploding. Here are some ideas for frugal food recipes.
