Pantry-Friendly Snacks to Have on Hand

Most snacks are pantry-friendly anyway, it's true, but as I created my 21-Day Pantry Friendly Meal Plan, I allowed for 3 meals a day plus dessert every 3 days.  This is great for me, but as I made the plan I quickly recognized that it doesn't account for all the snacking my sons do, not unlike many teenagers and growing kiddos.

Because the 21-Day Pantry-Friendly Meal Plan is designed to be used either in case of emergency or as easy, last-minute meals, I wanted it to be a healthier version of a freezer full of pizza or a pantry full of mac-n-cheese.  Now that I'm thinking about snacks I'd also like to have on hand, I'd like them to be a healthier step up from Cheez-its.  They are still things my family will eat of course (no dried kale chips or anything), but they have more nutritional value than your average bag of chips.

It's wise to have a 72-hour kit in case of emergency as well, and I keep many of these snacks in my 72-hour kit.  They can serve as small meals if you're desperate (such as if the power goes out for an extended period and you can't cook).  We actually rotate ours every year to keep them fresh.

Here are some ideas for pantry-friendly snacks that have some nutritional value that are great to have on hand in case of emergency.

• granola bars or protein bars
• dried apple slices or pear slices or strawberry slices  (You can get individual packs at Target or Walmart, but if you want apple slices in bulk, you can get them here [my favorite] or here.  I get my apple slices here because the price is good, though they're not as crunchy as the freeze-dried varieties.  They're perfect for my Pantry-Cooked Apple Crisp, though!)
• jerky
• instant nutritional drinks (such as Ensure or Carnation; I also like Ruvi which is just fruits and vegetables; so is V-8)
• trail mix
• freeze-dried cheese (I've seen this as Moon Cheese at Target, but you can also get them as Snackies; Snackies also come in other combinations of freeze-dried fruits and vegetables and nuts and yogurt bites--it may seem funny to see freeze-dried corn as a snack, but it's SO good!)
• fruit leather (Joray have always been my favorite.)
• individual drinkable soups (Campbell's makes easy-to-eat ones.)
• nuts
• tuna salad or chicken salad with crackers (from Bumble Bee)
• individual milk boxes or bottles (From my grocery store I usually just get Nestle chocolate milk bottles or Lala white milk [in the Mexican food section], but the shelf-stable milk from Gossner Foods comes in quite a few flavors, all of which I've tried, so I order those a couple of times a year.  Fair warning:  shipping isn't cheap, but it's good, shelf-stable milk.  You can sometimes find Gossner milk at Dollar Tree, which is awesome.)
• peanut butter and crackers
• popcorn (high in fiber)
• applesauce pouches
• specialty olives and tapas spreads with crackers
• crunchy wheat snacks
• tuna salad and chicken salad (Bumble Bee makes them in snack sizes, pre-made)
• MREs (Meal Ready to Eat--just Google to find availability at food storage companies or even on Amazon)

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What nutritional pantry-friendly snacks do you like to have on hand?  Or do you have great ideas for a 72-hour kit?  Comment below and let me know!  I'll add them to this list.  

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Crunchy Wheat Snacks

My kids like these crunchy wheat snacks.  They assumed they wouldn't because this snack is basically just wheat, but they came back for more.  And more.  And said things to me like, "I can't believe it's just wheat, but it's really good."  And "I can't stop eating this."

Whole wheat berries are a great thing to store (because they can store about 30 years!) and because they're packed with nutrition in their whole-grain state.  (I wrote about that here.)

These simple snacks can be made savory or sweet, and to me the savory ones resemble tiny corn nuts.  Give this a try with different seasonings and see what's your favorite.  My sons like the version with salt and ranch dressing mix, and my daughter and my husband like the plain salt ones.  I'm partial to the cinnamon-sugar ones.

The savory flavors would also make great a salad topping.  Like "think outside the box" croutons.

CRUNCHY WHEAT SNACKS

pictured here:  salt and ranch dressing mix
pictured below:  cinnamon-sugar

PREP TIME:  about 1 hour
COOK TIME:  4-5 minutes (repeated 3 times)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 c. wheat berries (Wheat berries are just wheat in whole grain form.  Find them in the bulk foods section of a health food store, or order online here or here or here.)
• 3 c. water
• 6 Tbsp. oil
• seasonings of your choice, such as salt, dry ranch dressing mix, garlic salt, seasoned salt, or cinnamon-sugar

DIRECTIONS
Place wheat berries and water in a medium pot.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Boil 5 minutes.  Reduce heat to low, cover the pot with a lid, and simmer for 45-50 minutes.  Drain off excess water.  In a large skillet, heat 2 Tbsp. oil over medium heat for 3 minutes.  Add 1 c. cooked wheat berries to the hot oil.  Cover with a lid and cook for 4-5 minutes, shaking the covered skillet every 30 seconds so the wheat will fry evenly.  Drain on a paper towel to remove excess oil.  Sprinkle with your choice of seasonings.  Repeat twice more (using the remaining 2 cups of cooked wheat berries).  Store in an airtight container.

Try this recipe, then comment and let me know how you like it!  And Pin it to Pinterest to save and share using the image below.

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