Anyone who has lived with me, worked with me, or just spent the day with me, is well aware of the fact that I am all about my snacks. When I come to work each morning, it’s never without the world’s largest lunch box (i.e. a recyclable grocery store bag) filled to the brim with containers of food and my giant bkr water bottle. A doctor I worked with once remarked, “Look at that! It’s Mary Poppins!” He was right. If you looked in my bag today you’d find no less than seven separate containers of food (and a Bernese Mountain Dog 2014 calendar, obviously).
I’m not necessarily a grazer. I eat my snacks right on the dot, at 10 am and 3:30 pm, and they are always meticulously planned out. Why the obsessive-compulsive snack disorder? If I go more than 30 minutes past my scheduled snack time, I’m stricken with a major case of hanger (hungry-anger for those of you not familiar with the term).
Luckily for you, with my inability to go more than four
hours without eating and rapid food burnout, I’ve built up quite the
repertoire of nutritious and filling snacks ideas. As I’m sure you’ve already guessed, my snacks don’t include cans of
pringles or fiber one bars (fart bars as I like to call them). Even if these processed snack foods were good
for you, I’d still pass, as they don’t fill me up for more than 30
minutes. Instead, I like to treat
snacks as mini-meals, full of nutritious, whole foods.
My secret to a filling and nutritious snack? Pair one serving of an unprocessed or minimally processed, high fiber carb with another serving of a food that contains fat and/or protein. The high fiber carb keeps blood sugar levels stable and the fat/protein keeps you satiated until your next meal. The easy version – just eat one serving of food from two different food groups. You'll almost always end up with the right combination.
Some of my favorites:
- Slices of avocado on ak-mak or wasa crackers
drizzled with sriracha (or hot sauce if you forgot to hoard it for the
impending sriracha shortage) - Tortilla chips topped with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese or black beans and salsa
- A baggie of unsweetened whole grain cereal, nuts and dried fruit
- Popcorn drizzled with a little honey or maple syrup and tossed with toasted walnuts, almonds or coconut flakes
- Sardines (yup!) on rye crackers
- Plain yogurt mixed with fresh fruit or all-fruitjam
- Microwaved baked potato chips with yogurt dip
- Celery sticks spread with cream cheese and chopped black olives (fancy pants ants on a log)
- Homemade tuna or salmon salad in whole wheat mini-pitas
- Fresh fruit with peanut or almond butter
- My favorite snack - leftovers!
Each Sunday when I plan out our weekly menu, I make sure to
include snacks. Although I go a little
crazy with everything homemade, there are some good premade options out
there. Trader Joe’s especially has a
great selection of hummus, guacamole and salsas, plus their organic blue corn
tortilla chips and ak-mak crackers are an inexpensive favorite!
Lately, I’ve been
really into homemade energy bars, which are generally simple to make and portable. I used to think I hated granola bars because all the store-bought versions I tried were syrupy sweet. Since starting to make my own, I've changed my mind. Most of the ones I’ve made in the past (like
both of these guys) are a combination of nuts, dried fruit and maybe a smidge
of honey, but even that can get a little too sweet for me.
The quinoa bars I'm sharing with you today
are just lightly sweetened with dried dates, my favorite new sweetener to cook with. Dates impart a rich, caramely flavor, but are
a rich source of fiber, iron, potassium, selenium, and vitamin A.
These bars are on the smallish side, but they’re packed with plenty
of satiating healthy fats. If you feel
like you need a little more to last you until your next meal, pair one with
fresh fruit or raw veggies, which serve as a low calorie filler food. Speaking of calories, you might think with all the high fat ingredients, these bars would be rather high in calories, but one bar contains only about 140 calories. You could boost the nutrition of these bars
even more with all sorts of healthy add-ins – cacao powder, maca powder, flax seeds or chia
seeds would all work beautifully.
Quinoa Energy Bars
Makes 10
Adapted from Peru Delights
12 chopped dates
¼ cup tahini
¼ cup coconut oil
¼ cup almonds
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Add first five ingredients to a food processor. Blend until you have a mostly smooth
paste. Add the quinoa or aramanth and
blend until just combined.
Scoop paste out of the food processor and into a medium
baking dish. Press down with wet hands
to spread it out evenly and smooth the top.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Once firmed, cut the bars into rectangles and store in the
refrigerator until ready to eat. Do you have any favorite healthy snack foods to add to the list? Please share in the comments!
Yum!!! Thank you!
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