Yogurt Bar

I have done this once before and it seemed to go over pretty well. Last time I bought 4 quarts of yogurt, but only used 3. This time I bought 3 but only 2 got used. I purchased two vanilla and a plain since they only had 2 vanilla left at the store. I prefer plain but the kids prefer the vanilla (probably because of the added sugar!).
Toppings I had included:
Teddy grahams
Peaches
Granola
Crushed up oreos
Gum drops

Some of the kids are lactose-intolerant so I also bought a loaf of manager's special raisin bread. The kids were not interested in that ha!

Total cost was about $15 (the yogurt was on sale for .99 a quart)

Veggie, Meat, & Cheese Trays

Tonight I pulled a "manager's special" and lucked out when I saw that Kroger had veggie trays for about half-off because they were close to expiration date. They had carrots, celery, tomatoes, broccoli, cheese cubes, salami, and ranch dressing. The kids really seemed to love this and they ate every last bite! I also picked up a few chicken wings on discount and some doughnuts - these items went fast too. The best deal was the price. Total was just about $13 - I love saving food from the dumpster!

Junky Trail Mix

This was a re-work of another week when I brought regular healthy trail mix. I totally broke the healthy rule and had a make your own trail-mix, or essentially a make your own junk food conglomeration bar! Things I included were:
Cheez-its
Gummy worms
Teddy Grahams
Marshmellows
Mini peanut-butter crackers
Pretzels

The kids liked it but were definitely ragging on me for bringing junk food - how awesome is that!

Total cost $15

Chili

This week one of our awesome leaders agreed to make chili. He brought a meat and meatless version and the version I tasted was delicious! He even let me take home some leftovers! :D

Brownies & Popcorn

The brownies were thanks to one of my kids complaining about the "boring" food I brought last week. I told her that she could make the snack if she didn't like what I brought. I have to admit I was pretty astonished when she told me Wed. morning that she had the snacks ready to go. I also brought microwaveable popcorn as additional nourishment.

Total cost $3 (since I didn't have to pay for the brownies!)

Leftovers & Bagels!

This night was an easy recycled night. I used up leftover meat and cheese and bread from the previous week when I purchased too much and then also picked up some bagels and cream cheese.
I get very defensive when people complain about food, so when one of the girls said she was tired of boring old sandwiches I said "Ok! Then you can make the snack next week." To my shock she actually came through!
Total cost was around $10

Meat & Cheese Sandwiches

Deli sandwiches were on the menu tonight and these seemed to go fast although I didn't hear a lot of 'ooohing and aahing' like I sometimes do. I bought the bread on "manager's special" from Kroger, which these days I always peruse when I'm in there. Four loaves of about 14" for a grand total of like $2.19. The unfortunate part was I overestimated how much meat and cheese I would need to complete the sandwiches and purchased a package of cheese and a package of meat too much. I also served them with cheez-its and some cheap sandwich cookies from Kroger.

Items I purchased:
4 loaves of bread
3 packages of cheese, 8 oz. each
3 packages of meat, 16 oz. each
1 box of cheez-its
1 package of 40 sandwich cookies

Everything was gone! We also have a few more big eaters attending our youth group (i.e. boys ha!) so I feel like it's getting harder to have enough food on my budget. I did exceed my budget ($10-$15) by about $3 today, but it would have been about $4 cheaper if I hadn't purchased that last package of cheese and meat. I plan on buying a little more bread and making some more sandwiches next week.