My local Wally World has started selling dried fruit in a new sort of baking section. It's quite reasonably priced.
The blueberries and cherries were wonderful in muffins, so I am hoping I can find a way to use them in a snack-type bar.
The packaged ones are very convenient, but I think even if I use those snack baggies and individually bag and freeze my homemade snacks, I will come out ahead pricewise (and, it goes without saying, nutrition-wise).
Try using the dried fruits in biscotti. I used to make one type that used dried cranberries (for the life of me I can't find the recipe). Biscotti keeps very well in coffee cans.
I came across a recipe for "can cake" the other day. I have solved my problem for teacher gifts and other sur of the moment situations around the holidays. You use 10ounce soup cans to bake the cakes. One batch of the recipe makes 8 of them and they can be frozen. It's a super idea for kids because the cake needs to be taken out of the can to cool and the can can be decorated before the cake goes back in, or else they can just be wrapped in colored plastic wrap.