I have 3 kids, and a husband. So I would typically keep a lot of snacks in the house. It was expensive and unhealthy. Not to mention that when my will power was feeling particularly low, I would succumb to snacking as well.
My husband and I could definitely benefit from these types of snacks being absent in our pantry. We put on weight so easily, and we weren’t as strong as we once were. We had gained a little extra weight around our middles and that at this age, it was not a good thing.
I wanted to get us on the right track, and I had hoped our children would follow suit. I figured if the processed store bought stuff started to dwindle and were replaced by healthier homemade snacks, then what choice would they really have anyway? Unless they wanted to buy their own groceries.
So I delved into some research, learning that if I wanted to really commit to making all of these snacks at home, that I was going to need a food processor. I was also thinking that I was going to just find boring and tasteless recipes. On the contrary, what I found surprised me. And in a great way.
I found the KitchenWorksInc website, where I came across the Cuisinart Custom 14 Food Processor. I made the choice to order one, seeing it as my real only hope. It seemed like the necessary tool for me to be able to make all of these great recipes that I found.
There were all kinds of things. Hummus, granola bars, guacamole and salsa, and so many different kinds of dips. I also found a lot of sweet stuff, like almond coconut lemon bars, different tartlets, and butter toffee. And maybe some of the sweet stuff wasn’t necessarily healthier, but at least I knew the ingredients that were going into it. I also thought it would be interesting to try out homemade potato chips. Those would start in the food processor and end up in the air fryer.
I shopped for all of my ingredients and decided that I would experiment with different oils to see which gave me the most chip-like texture. I soaked the potatoes after slicing them in the food processor to remove some of the starch. I started with 4 batches with 4 different types of oils.
Everything came out so good, but it did seem like different members of the family had different preferences on oils. So we’d see who liked what and adjust from there. We could experiment with different spices too. That sounded fun.
We gave the dips I mentioned earlier a try with the homemade chips. While it wasn’t your typical chip and dip experience, it was so very good, and almost made it a whole new experience in itself.
So as we ran out of our store bought snacks, I replaced them with these things that we’d all made together. It really is working to keep them eating healthier snacks. I’m sure they sneak things when they’re not home but that’s totally fine, since it isn’t all the time.
Now once a week we sit together to decide what we’re making for the upcoming week. So we’d decide on sustainable snacks for the week, and then we’d plan for things that were more meant to be junk food. If there was something we particularly liked from another time, we’d talk about making that. We’ve gotten to the point where we make regular potato chips every week.
It’s nice because it’s family time spent together, having conversations, and actually using our brain to make decisions on something that we want to do. It’s great for family bonding, and it’s really changed the way our family consumes food, and the habits that my children are forming.
I’m so glad I looked into better alternatives for store bought snacks. I never would have thought that the options were so many. I’m thankful that I chose to buy the Cuisinart food processor and that we are making better decisions overall about our health.
