Eating healthy is the goal of just about every American household, but it can be hard to do. Our lives are busy, filled with school, work, organized sports, volunteering and a host of other chores. Who has time for a healthy snack to tide you over until dinner when so much is happening? This is when we all too often grab something loaded with salt and sugar such as a bag of chips, and head for the door. But our habit of eating this way has led to an epidemic in overweight children and adults.
To push against this tide of unhealthy eating, we need to find ways to create healthy snacks in our spare time that we stock around the home. Paired up with naturally heathy snacks like apples and carrots, these can be a great way to bridge those times when we are hungry but don’t really want to take the time to make a true meal.
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Fruit and Nuts to You!
Nothing quite goes together as well as fresh fruit and some nuts. You can make this easy with dried fruit and nuts in a healthy trail mix for snacking or you can go further. Why not pick up some simple unflavored yogurt and top it with fruit and nuts? You can pre-make these little cups and tuck them into lunches, pop them in the fridge, take them to work for a mid-morning break.
Since it is mostly a bit of assembly you can even take the yogurt, honey, cut fruit and assorted nuts with you and assemble it at work. This is a quick and easy way to make something tasty and good for you instead of that Pop-Tart or sugar laden muffin that might tempt you mid-morning at work. Get the kids to get in the habit of grabbing one of these after school as well.
High Protein Snacking
While adding jerky to this list may seem out of place, if you make the jerky yourself at home it is a quite healthy mid-day snack. Plus the pure protein in homemade jerky makes it a good energy food that will last the afternoon. If you buy good quality meat you can slice it into slices for oven drying by chilling it a bit first before cutting.
Marinating in spices can add to the flavor and some spices like turmeric are anti-inflammatory that can be quite healing. Be sure to prop the oven door open, I use a wooden spoon, so that you get a bit of air circulating when you slow dry it at the lowest temperature your oven can go for several hours. The end result is tasty, nutritious and easy to have on hand for snacking.
When a Cookie is More
If you have ever walked down the grocery cereal aisle you have probably noticed that cereal bars and power bars have begun to really take over the breakfast aisle. While many of them claim to be healthy, a quick check of their ingredients will reveal far more sugar and fat then is good for us.
But you can make your own version of these in the form of healthy cookies. Just because they are called a cookie doesn’t mean they have to be laden with sugar. Take a look online for some great breakfast cookie recipes that are fast to make and easy to store for quick eating. Who says healthy can’t be tasty too?
