Snacks

(Pictured above is one that I discovered a couple of months ago, when I realized I liked avocado again. Hard boiled egg with yolk removed, filled with chopped avocado-drenched in lemon juice, then sprinkled with salt and pepper.)


Snacks.
They are essential to my life, mostly because I have small kids, but I enjoy snacks too.

It can be hard to make sure that you are getting healthy snacks, especially since media and school and everything else is so saturated with unhealthy choices. I make sure that I have a fridge stocked with fruits and veggies, that can be easily accessed. I cut up tons of fresh veggies and put them on a platter (pictured below-jicama, carrots, cucumber, celery, red yellow orange & green bell pepper, avocado, cherry tomatoes) and let my kids eat away. Whatever is leftover, I put in a plastic bag in the fridge and then on other days of the week when they are begging for snacks, there are already veggies ready to go. I also make plates filled with cut strawberries/ other berries, kiwi, mandarin oranges, grapes or whatever other fruit I have on hand for my kids to snack on.

When my kids beg for snacks, I tell them to choose a fruit, veggie or a protein (nuts, egg, beans) or a combination of those choices.

Once or twice a week I bake a snack/treat, which is special. It could be cookies or something like that, but it is a special treat and my kids know they aren't going to be eating cookies every day of the week. I stay away from prepackaged snacks.

Below I listed a few snack ideas that we eat on a regular basis. What are your favorite healthy snacks?


frozen blueberries
hard boiled eggs filled with guac/salsa mix, hummus, or refried beans
green pepper half filled with refried beans/salsa, - dip carrots/veggies and baked chips in it
cut up veggies
dill pickles
cheese cubes (My daughter loves Mini Babybels)
olives
garbanzo beans or other beans, eaten with fingers
hard boiled eggs
ants on a log
cut up fruit
mini pitas stuffed with hummus, veggies or pb&j/h
nuts
dried fruit
small cup of soup
scrambled or fried egg
healthy muffin
toast
apple half filled with nut butter
no sugar added applesauce (We like Mott's Healthy Harvest flavors)
air-popped popcorn or low-fat popcorn choices
hummus
tortilla roll-up with refried beans and a little sprinkle of cheese
low-fat cottage cheese
yogurt (my kids like Stonyfield yokids yogurt tubes, but we only have these once a week or less)
granola
smoothie