Ideas for WFH inexpensive but healthy snacks, please!

Mummy2cheekymonkeys

I have the same problem with my husband working from home and 2 toddlers that seem to be bottomless pits. I have been making fruit loaf in the bread maker. Seems a better snack then biscuits or crisps as its more filling and less sugar then cakes or biscuits. I usually throw in some seeds and oats to make it healthier too.

thriftwizard

Lost Gardens of Heligan Pineapple Cake:

• 340g Mixed Fruit
• 225g Crushed Pineapple
• 225g S/R flour
• 170g Light Brown Sugar
• 170g Butter
• 50g Glacé Cherries
• 2 Eggs

First melt butter & sugar together, then mix all ingredients by hand in a bowl.
Cook in a loaf tin for 1-1½ hours at 160℃ or gas mark 2½.

That's their own recipe; I find it's just a bit too much for a 2lb loaf tin (so generally pop the extra into a tiny baking tin for a bit less time) and it often takes a good 2 hours before a skewer comes out clean. I do also tend to reduce the sugar a little, depending on your pineapple (I'm usually able to pick up fresh ripe pineapples up for £1; supermarket ones tend not to be quite ripe so not so sweet) & how sweet that is. I'm sure tinned crushed pineapple's absolutely fine, I've just never done that. A whole ripe pineapple is usually quite a bit bigger; the remainder goes into a fruit salad or sorbet, or gets eaten with Greek yogurt or pancakes. A little mixed spice is a nice addition, but as it stands it's deliciously toffee-ish.

thriftwizard

Pumpkin Bread:

This is a huge favourite in our household, even with those members who "don't like fruitcake"... it's also a bit of an anything-goes recipe, as given to me by my dear friend from Oklahoma.

• Dry Ingredients: 2 cups grain flour (I tend to use a mix of plain flour, wholemeal & oatmeal, but have also mixed in polenta, buckwheat - whatever needs using up) 1 cup sugar, ½tsp salt, 1 tsp bicarb (or 1tbsp baking powder) 1 tsp cinnamon & 1 tsp of your favourite sweet mixed spices, plus ½ cup raisins & ½ cup nuts, seeds or a mix - pumpkin & sunflower seeds work really well.
• Wet Ingredients: 1 cup cooked pumpkin, ½ cup of oil (sunflower blends in best) 2 eggs

Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly, then mix the wet ingredients; a blender or hand mixer is helpful for that, but a hand-whisk will do the job too. Combine & stir well; it should be of a "slow dropping" consistency, so add milk/water/pumpkin juice until you can pour it into a greased loaf tin. (I usually scatter a scant handful of demerara sugar over the top, but that's not there in the original recipe.) Bake for 1-1½ hours at 180℃ until a skewer comes out clean.

Wonderful warm from the oven, also excellent with a dollop cream/custard/yogurt as a warm & filling pudding. And it's the reason why I'm happy to tackle huge pumpkins; I cook & freeze most of the flesh in cup, 2-cup or 4-cup portions.

pickledonionspaceraider

I am a fan of keeping things simple
Each evening I make a tup of oats, yoghurt and frozen fruit, and pop that in the fridge overnight.
Then grab a banana if I feel peckish.
To be honest, biscuits are not that expensive, a pack can be 50p and I  do like to indulge grab a couple.  If anyone else in the house doesn't want them, doesn't mean I can't have them in for me.

wort

Cuppa soup, with a slice of bread, crackers or rice cakes, you can get small ones too.  Cheap tins of rice pudding, open and split into small individual plastic lidded tubs ,so they can be grab and go either cold or quick min in microwave. Jam or fruit in is optional.

Apintplease

I was going to suggest the popcorn - Ive been beaten to it

Now is he eating because hes hungry or because hes bored and missing the work place company? If hes really hungry a high protein snack of wholemeal bread toasted, peanut butter and slice banana will keep him full for ages and if you buy the powder peanut butter, its not so high in fat, nor is he likely to trowel it on. Or smashed avocado on wholemeal toast or rye bread.

I also actually like a light cup a soup to warm me, Im particularly fond of the naked Ramon ones. Id say theres a scant tablespoon of anything solid in them but I actually find one of those at lunchtime is enough to see be through to dinner. I do however have a high protein breakfast - eggs or cheese or tinned fish on toast ( I start work at silly o'clock so come tea break at 9 im starved )

thriftwizard

I'm fairly sure it's boredom as much as anything else, Apintplease. He is physically very active when not working, but has started to complain that he's developing a tum, which indicates to me that he is either eating more or using less energy. I think he probably doesn't eat biscuits at every trip to the coffee pot in the office, just some of the time, but he would be chatting & generally moving around the building in the normal course of events, which obviously doesn't happen here - there's a lot less building, for a start! It's a difficult one really because I wouldn't want him to think he can't eat food that he's worked hard to pay for, but he's a bit of a snack-monster & will often come & make himself a large pile of sandwiches half an hour before dinner, for example. 

Experiments with tea-bread haven't been successful so far; need to try more recipes! But certainly peanut butter would go down well, it's a great favourite of his but I haven't been buying it since the boys left home.

Apintplease

thriftwizard said:

I'm fairly sure it's boredom as much as anything else, Apintplease. He is physically very active when not working, but has started to complain that he's developing a tum, which indicates to me that he is either eating more or using less energy. I think he probably doesn't eat biscuits at every trip to the coffee pot in the office, just some of the time, but he would be chatting & generally moving around the building in the normal course of events, which obviously doesn't happen here - there's a lot less building, for a start! It's a difficult one really because I wouldn't want him to think he can't eat food that he's worked hard to pay for, but he's a bit of a snack-monster & will often come & make himself a large pile of sandwiches half an hour before dinner, for example. 

Experiments with tea-bread haven't been successful so far; need to try more recipes! But certainly peanut butter would go down well, it's a great favourite of his but I haven't been buying it since the boys left home.

Yes its boredom eating so its the light low fat, low sugar snacks that he can dip in and out of 

I get 30 mins at work for lunch and I know if Im alone at lunch I eat twice as much then if someone else is with me.

You have the natter, the showing of the funny Facebook page or whatever to share when with someone else. Home alone all day and everything is online, theres no kicking back the chair and spending 10 mins having a laugh with someone else. Working at home alone is BORING and when we are bored and totally peed off with the situation - food

Try the pop corn, cut fruit and veg ready to dip into or get him to take up a skill. Sounds daft but I learned to crochet during the first lockdown, cant eat and crochet Even something as daft as juggling or skipping