While enjoying dessert munching on graham crackers one night, I realized 1) I love graham crackers and 2) the only reason I have graham crackers in my house is because I have kids. This seemed wrong and a little sad…I forgot how much I really enjoy graham crackers! After a quick scan around my dining room and kitchen, I realized there are A LOT of foods that our house would be lacking if not for our wee ones. Why did it take having little humans to bring the following delicious items back into our diet?
- Goldfish – This stuff is addicting. And SO salty. And now they’re different colors, different flavors and themed! (I have feelings about the pink princess-themed goldfish, but that’s for another blog post). It’s like the food version of Pokemon…you gotta try ’em all!
- Cheerios (Plain) – I know they are recommended as good practice finger food for littles…and that’s how they get you! You’re trying to empower your kid to develop motor skills and you get pulled in even deeper with the Cheerio board books where your child is encouraged to put a Cheerio in a certain space within the book to complete a picture. It’s habit forming! Cheerios, you’re brilliant.
- Juice – Our kids don’t drink juice that often. Really not at all. But whenever we’re at a kid’s party and there are juice boxes, my husband and I drink up (and occasionally take some home). Getting a hold of those little boxes and bags full of sweet, sweet nectar can sometimes be better than a beer. Sometimes.
- Savory crackers – Not only do we have crackers more often in the house, our newest discovery is nut crackers. Almond and pecan crackers have been a welcome addition to our salty snack menu. Thanks to our kids. Not at all because of our curious palettes.
- Pretzels (assorted varieties) – I know, again with the salt. But pretzels are a little “healthier” (if anyone is keeping score). We usually get the thick pretzel sticks, and also dabble with peanut-butter-filled pretzels and the thin round pretzels in the small pre-portioned bags. This one is a puzzle…there is nothing exclusively kid-like about pretzels. But it is now a staple of our snack table.
- Fruit snacks – These are so good! And definitely conjure childhood memories for me. Now they’re “organic” so that counts for something, right? We don’t have these too often because my kids love actual fruit and eat it by the fistful. But when we do, they are always a hit for all members of our family.
- Popsicles – These came back into our lives per suggestion of our pediatrician. Popsicles (sugar-free) are a good way to help a kid hydrate when they are sick. Totally worth repeated purchases. Then we found more varieties…and with real fruit included and they have been in our freezer ever since. Yum.
- Granola bars – Again, nothing that screams “kid food” exactly about this, but when we found out that our kids like and eat granola bars at day care, we hopped on the bandwagon and always put them on our shopping list.
- Sweet crackers – Last but not least, graham crackers and animal crackers! THEY ARE AMAZING! Both my husband and I eat these crackers regularly as/with dessert and snack. For me these crackers bring back yummy memories from my childhood days. Sometimes we finish them…without regret or guilt that our kids won’t get to enjoy them the next day. Don’t worry, kiddos, there will be a lot in life you’ll enjoy at our expense. Let us have your snacks.
I am sure there are more, but I am full right now and wouldn’t dare scarf more down for the sake of this blog post. Don’t worry, my husband and I will continue to enjoy our current snack selection along with our two little eating machines. My hope is that we again don’t outgrow the food we love. Whether they bring back wonderful childhood memories for us or are just gosh darn delicious we deserve snack-y solace, too. Happy munching from our family to yours!
