First thing is this awesome company called 'NatureBox' that sends you snacks on a monthly basis. They're basically foodie snacks that you can enjoy without having to worry about preservatives and any other dietary preferences you may have. I know there are other companies out there like this, with this one you can customize your order to what you want. It's the one I know of anyway. So we got our first box in and it was a hit. We got a savory snacks, sweet snacks, sour snacks and dried fruit basically. And they were all good! I'm already looking forward to next month's shipment. I highly recommend this company if you're looking for a fun alternative to the regular grocery store fare.
The other thing is Open Nature hummus. I've found it at a Randall's near where I work, but it's not in HEB. They have all kinds of preservative-free products, but I have gone nuts over their Garlic and Chive hummus. I pack it in my own lunchbox with either cucumbers or celery. It's a way I can sneak in an extra serving of raw veggies instead of eating some kind of "veggie chip" or some other good intention snack that's not really all that great. Just eat the actual vegetables. They're cheaper anyway.
The last thing is I've noticed I keep some staple items in my house for quick backup. I don't do 100% gluten free for my kids, so I do keep pretzels around for a quick "cover snack". They don't eat them on a daily basis - this is just a backup snack for when the Larabars are gone (they love those, too) - but they're handy and they're still better than a lot of other quick-grab snacks. I also like to have a chunk of the (Hormel??) All-Natural Ham. It's their "preservative free" type of pre-cooked ham. It takes almost no time to cube up some of that in a hurry. And it's protein so it's filling! Last thing - and I always say this when I talk about lunches - keep apples around. Apples are always good. They're like bananas. You should just have them in your house. There's no excuse for crappy snacking when you maintain a supply of apples and bananas.
And that's a quick little snippet of some recently attained lunch wisdom, so ... you're welcome. :)
