Layers of flavor : part 2 (breakfast, snacks and lunches)

When trying to cut our food costs I knew there were certain things I needed to have on hand all the time, not for specific planned dinners, but for Silas' lunches, Seth's bento lunches, and random snacks for all of us. I never want to have so much on hand that it doesn't get eaten, but enough that we have choices. So I set about making a few lists.

breakfast foods

• cereal
• bread/english muffins
  
• jam
• fruit
• yogurt
• milk
• bagels/cream cheese
  
• coffee/creamer
  

Silas' snacks

• raisins
• trail mix
• crackers
• cheese
• fruit
• turkey
• V8
• milk
• peanut butter/bread/honey

Seth's bento lunches

• salami
• pepperoni
• string cheese
• spreadable swiss
• crackers
• peanut butter
• trail mix
• tortillas/bread
• carrots
• celery
• cucumber
• hummus
• pita chips
• tuna
• turkey
• chewy ginger candies
• fruit (grapes, apples, plums work best)

Granted, I don't have every one of these foods on hand at one time: I'd constantly be throwing things away. But I try to have a decent selection based on what's on sale, what's in season, and what everybody feels like. This shopping is a little more impulsive and based on our whims, not what's set on a menu. Which is good... it helps me know we're still flexible about food.


Here's a couple of classic examples of Seth's bento lunches -

chewy ginger candies, trail mix, string cheese, turkey wraps with salami, cheese, tomatoes and some lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, celery, dip, and a plum. The cukes, tomatoes in the wrap and the plum were all things we picked from his mom's garden.

A plum, trail mix, string cheese, salmon cakes, dip, cukes, ginger candies, carrots and crackers! Variety is the spice of life.

Layers of Flavor:

Part 1 - (the intro... or appetizer, if you will)
Part 3 - (dinner construction zone)
Part 4 - (sometimes easy is... easier)
Part 5 - (the run-down)