Tips for keeping kids fed and food stocked when school is out...

With Spring Break "extended" another two weeks I've seen a little panic from parents on how to keep food in the house when all the kids are home.  I get it.  When the kids are out of school it seems they eat everything in the house.  Any kind of break--spring, summer, winter, fall--that is beyond a 3 day weekend tends to bring out growing appetites like no other.  You buy snacks and the kids eat them.  All of them.  In ONE DAY!  You stock the pantry on Saturday for a whole week of the kids being home and when you get home back work Monday evening the kids are like, "There's nothing to eat!"  So you open the cupboards, fridge, freezer and pantry and...they're RIGHT!  THEY ATE EVERYTHING!!!  Now what do you do?  The whole week's budget was seemingly blown in 48 hours!  Here are some helpful tips can help bring the food and child population back into balance over the next few uncertain weeks ahead:

1. Don't buy snacks.-It is more costly and less filling when you buy snacks like chips, cookies, fruit snacks, crackers etc. than if you had just purchased bread, lunch meat, and some fruit.  If you buy snacks they WILL eat until the snacks are gone because it takes that much for them to feel full.
2. Limit quantities-If you are going to buy snacks, limit their intake.  Um...yeah, you could hide them and bring out a box one day at a time.  But let's be honest, the kids will figure it out, go hunting, and you will find a Cheez-it box in the corner of your towel cabinet with nothing more than crumbs inside.  Be open with them.  Explain that things in the world are a little uncertain right now so we have to practice moderation.  
3. Meal prep-I heard a girl at work once complain of the kids eating all the food she bought in bulk from Sam's over the weekend.  The next day my co-worker had paper sacks with her kids' names on them and "breakfast" "lunch", "snack" labeled on ziploc bags inside.  She made dinner so there was no need for a sack with that label.  Her warning to them, "Once your food is done, it's DONE.  So eat sparingly."  Then you give the mommy glare or the psycho twitching eye and they know you mean business.  If they do finish it all, you simply DON'T replace it.  Eventually they will learn their lesson without starving to death.  Everyday, you restock their daily supply and they are happy again.
4. Keep food available that requires reheating-Have you noticed that you feel fatter in summer and slimmer in winter?  Its because heat expands.  When you're hot, your body fat, organs, and everything else expands a bit making you feel more plump.  This scientific concept can work FOR you when the kids are home.  Encourage them to reheat leftovers, and made-ahead meals.  The warm food will make them fuller.  See my post for Make Ahead Breakfast Burritos that can be frozen and reheated for a quick, healthy and filling breakfast.
5. Purchase food that requires cooking-Cooking and reheating are separate things.  You REHEAT the frozen burrito from the freezer.  You COOK a breakfast burrito from all the ingredients in your refrigerator.  Which one takes longer?  Cooking, obviously.  But guess what?  Kids know this.  If the only food you keep in the house is the kind that MUST be cooked, they will only eat when they are truly hungry and not just bored.  It requires effort and time to cook which is only motivated by true hunger.  So they cook food themselves or they will wait until you do it.  Either way it keeps them from eating out of boredom ALL THE LIVE LONG DAY.  
6. Choose healthier options-Healthier foods have more of the nutrition kids need for their growing bodies which contributes to FEELING FULLER LONGER in addition to all kinds of good health benefits: stable moods, restful sleep, fewer cavities, clear skin, less unpleasant body odor, easier bowel movements, being more productive, etc.
7. Give them choices, not free reign-If you don't want to dictate everything your kid eats every meal of the day, give them TWO choices and that's it.  It is not taking away their freedom.  It is letting them exercise their agency.  And it helps lower your electric bill because otherwise they will stand in front of the refrigerator for 15 minutes at a time trying to decide what to eat or figure out what is available.  "You can have a bowl of cereal OR 2 breakfast burritos."  "Do you want an apply or an orange?"  Even if you're meal prepping for them you can plan together what snacks and meals they want to eat on which days.  Consistency and boundaries actually make children feel safer.  They know what to expect thus eliminating the anxiety of an unknown.

Don't feel bad for limiting their intake of food.  You realize that the USA has the largest population of obesity in the world right?  Besides, whether your kids usually eat school lunch or pack a lunch for school, it is never a buffet.  They have single servings of each item on their tray and you don't pack man size lunch pails for them on a daily.  They will be fine.  Hopefully these tips will help you find a perfect ratio of dependents to food.  If you have an idea that works for you and your family, please share!