<p>For portion control, variety, and convenience, we buy multi packs with small bags of baked chips for my h.s. senior son’s lunches. (Lunch, unless we happen to have tasty and easily packable leftovers available, is 2 small PB sandwiches on light whole grain bread, 1 apple, small bag of baked chips, and 2 90-cal granola bars for dessert - he is not much one for variety) The little bags of pretzels are always the last thing chosen/eaten. They are “boring.” Any ideas for “improving” the little bags of pretzels? He does not like mustard or hummus, both of which I would gladly use as pretzel dip. I looked at the recipes for coating pretzels with ranch flavor and they used so much oil - one called for 32 oz of pretzels and 12 oz of butter flavored oil. My gosh!</p>
<p>I know that a sensible solution would be to buy large bags of baked chips and re-package them for lunches but that doesn’t work well for us for portion control - once a large bag of baked chips is open, it gets eaten! :)</p>
<p>I’ve taken to eating the little bags of pretzels, since my kids don’t seem to like them either. They really satisfy my late afternoon craving for something crunchy, and at only about 100 calories a bag, it’s a good little portion-controlled snack. Other than mustard, I can’t think of a packable dip that would work. Another thought - pack the pretzels anyway and suggest that he trade with or give them away to a pretzel lover. I know my youngest son often trades his small package of Milano cookies for Bachmann pretzel sticks from another boy - it’s the one pretzel that he does like and I can never find at the market.</p>
<p>Open the little bags up, melt some good chocolate, dip the pretzels, put in freezer on wax paper to firm up, then bag them and send them as lunch “dessert” or put them out for an afterschool snack. </p>
<p>I finally decided that it wasn’t worth buying the big 50 pack or whatever of snack sized bags at Costco if there were one or two items no one really wanted to eat (usually the pretzels or the Doritos Cool Ranch) . Better off spending a little more and some grocery stores sell 6 packs of an individual flavor - recently for example, I bought 3 six packs - Doritos, Sun Chips and Lay’s. Costs a little more, but they will all get eaten!</p>
<p>Why does he need more carbohydrates at all? It’s just junk calories. If it were me I’d substitute one of the following:
carrots
pickles (it could be green bean pickles, not just regular cucumber ones)
yogurt
olives</p>
<p>If no one wants to eat them, you can donate them to the food bank, or send them with your husband to work for himself or co-workers.</p>
<p>You could also make them into turtle treats for the holidays. Put some parchment on a cookie sheet, lay out the pretzels, top with a Rolo candy, and put the tray in the oven at 200 for 1-2 minutes to soften. Remove and smoosh the softened Rolo onto the pretzel with a pecan. Then freeze these candies for the holidays or parties.</p>
<p>If you go to fast food restaurants you could try asking for extra dips. If your kids like one, you could use up with the pretzels.</p>
<p>Also, there are lots of tasty dips and dressings in the grocery store. Maybe a carmel apple dip for a sweet and salty taste would be good. Maybe you could try making a honey mustard dip or buying one. They seem to have quite a variety of condiment flavors in the stores these days.</p>
<p>When I was in hs, my snacks were carrots, cucumbers, pudding (the kind made with real milk at home and you can use a lower fat milk), and cottage cheese. Those were the staples btn 3 and 5 (depending upon when I got home and when dinner was being served), and obviously not all on the same day. The veggies were washed and cut up so they were easy to just take out of the fridge. These can also be bagged for lunch.</p>
<p>Additionally, I was never given dips as a kid so I never missed them (exception was a party). I enjoyed veggies without dipping them into anything.</p>
<p>Turtles…OMG. That recipe is a keeper! Will have to try that for the cookie exchange this Christmas.</p>
<p>As for the comments about not sending empty carbs…a couple of thoughts…maybe this kid has high carb needs? Athletes who swim/run for a couple hours a day are HUNGRY all the time, and a granola bar or a bag of chips on the run may not be the BEST caloric intake, but it’s calories and short term energy. Sometimes all ya need is enough to get through til the next “real” mealtime. I’ve found that with my own kids that trying to send the super healthy stuff in the lunch bag has mixed results at best. Many times I have found the baggie of carrots at the bottom of the backpack. Sometimes more than one baggie. EWWW. Granola bars get eaten, and the kid is not sitting in class after lunch with a growling stomach. YMMV.</p>
<p>I try to balance breakfast and dinner with the good stuff, with whole grains, and lots of fruits/veg. Lunch typically has the highest proportion of “junk” calories (granola bars, chips, etc) because I know, at least, that they will be eating something. To counter those empty cals, I do pack a high protein, lean meat sandwich, a piece of fruit, and lite string cheese.</p>
<p>DS will eat baby carrots at home but if they go into the lunch brown bags, they don’t get eaten. Likewise, he eats turkey sandwiches at home but for brown bagging, he truly prefers peanut butter on Aldi’s whole grain bread. (DS doesn’t eat yogurt or pickles or olives. String cheese is a nice idea for some variety.)</p>
<p>So far, I really like the idea of sending the pretzels in to work with my husband! He often skips lunch. Those little bags of pretzels might be just enough to tide him over. DH has access to a fridge, too, so he could easily keep some honey mustard dip on hand.</p>
He often skips lunch. Those little bags of pretzels might be just enough to tide him over. DH has access to a fridge, too, so he could easily keep some honey mustard dip on hand.</p>