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Tasty After-School Snacks for Kindergarten Through College
By Jasper Joyner
August 4, 2023
Sound the alarm: School is officially back in session! That means it’s time to stock up on tasty after-school snacks and healthy dorm room treats. Of course, you want the best of the best. August is the busiest time for school shopping, but snagging the trendiest school snack deals with Fetch is as easy as 1,2,3!
Read on for all the best after-school and dorm room munchies and treat deals.
Trending after-school snacks and dorm room treats
Today our favorite subject is math because we’re here to save, save, save. Pro tip: Shopping in bulk is a great way to cut costs on snacks and food.
Quick after-school snacks for busy parents and kids
While a nice yogurt or soft drink may sound great, try to avoid those for a bit as the cost for both is higher than usual. Consider a few of these low-maintenance snacks instead.
Totino’s Pizza Rolls are a crispy and delightful after-school treat in between lunch and dinner. You can even dress them up with Totino’s snack hack recipes.
Snack bars: Cereal isn’t just for breakfast anymore. General Mills cereal treat bars let kids have a taste of their favorite brands in bar-form.
Other after-school snack ideas
1. Veggie Sticks with Hummus:
Cut up an assortment of colorful veggies like carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers, and celery into sticks. Pair them with a small container of homemade or store-bought hummus for a delicious and nutritious snack.
2. Fruit Kabobs:
Thread chunks of your favorite fruits, such as strawberries, grapes, melon, and pineapple, onto skewers or wooden sticks. Fruit kabobs are fun to eat and provide a variety of vitamins and natural sweetness.
3. Greek Yogurt Parfait:
Layer low-fat Greek yogurt with fresh berries, granola, and a drizzle of honey in a reusable container. Greek yogurt is a great source of protein, and the fruits add vitamins and antioxidants.
4. Rice Cake Delight:
Spread natural almond or peanut butter on whole-grain rice cakes and top with banana slices or a sprinkle of chia seeds. This snack offers a good balance of carbs, healthy fats, and protein.
5. Quinoa Salad Cups:
Prepare a quinoa salad with diced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, black beans, and a light vinaigrette dressing. Fill small silicone or paper cups with the quinoa salad for easy portioning and storage.
Healthy dorm room snacks
From decorating to buying textbooks, shopping for college can be a doozy. This year, save time and money finding your favorite dorm room snacks by opting for the best deals, like stocking up on energy drinks and sports drinks (they’re cheaper than usual!).
Here are a few other healthy snacks and recipe ideas:
Fruit: You can never go wrong with fruit, especially when in season. Up your fruit intake by using it in a healthy homemade treat like candy-style frozen grapes, “apple sandwiches” or chocolate bananas. And check out your local grocer for weekly discounts on berries, peaches and more.
Nature Valley Bars are the perfect healthy, satisfying dorm room snack to buy in bulk. The more you buy, the more Fetch reward points you get.
Annie’s Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks are a healthy alternative treat to stash in any dorm. Sign up for Annie’s email list, and you’ll get access to cool, healthy recipes and the occasional deal!
Other dorm room snack ideas
1. Trail Mix:
Create your own trail mix using a mix of nuts (e.g., almonds, walnuts, or cashews), seeds (e.g., pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds), and dried fruits (e.g., raisins, cranberries, or apricots). This snack provides a good balance of healthy fats, protein, and natural sweetness.
2. Rice Cakes with Nut Butter:
Keep whole-grain rice cakes in your dorm room and pair them with natural nut butter, such as almond or peanut butter. Nut butter offers protein and healthy fats, while rice cakes are a satisfying and low-calorie base.
3. Greek Yogurt with Fresh Fruit:
Stock up on individual portions of Greek yogurt and keep some fresh fruit like berries, sliced kiwi, or mango in your dorm’s mini-fridge. Greek yogurt is an excellent source of protein and calcium, and the fruit adds vitamins and natural sweetness.
4. Veggie Chips or Crisps:
Look for baked vegetable chips or crisps made from ingredients like sweet potatoes, beets, or kale. These alternatives to traditional potato chips are often lower in fat and higher in vitamins and fiber.
5. Instant Oatmeal Packets:
Choose plain or lightly sweetened instant oatmeal packets, which are convenient to prepare using hot water from a dorm room kettle or microwave. You can add sliced banana, berries, or a tablespoon of nut butter for extra flavor and nutrition.
Pro tip: track those offers and snap those receipts
Don’t forget to log your receipts on Fetch to get reward points. Review your offers before shopping to earn extra rewards on after-school snacks. And you can even use your Fetch rewards to help with grocery costs later on.
Topics: back to school, Shopping
Jasper "Jaz" Joyner is a copywriter, humorist, and author. Outside of the #FetchFam, you can find their essays, poetry and/or yuk yuks in Teen Vogue, Huffington Post, The Mary Sue, Oldster Mag, or their self-titled bi-weekly newsletter.
