Finding and eating healthy snacks can be one of the biggest obstacles to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. We all know that store-bought snacks are nothing but processed, dead matter marketed as “food,” so I won’t beat a dead horse listing facts we all already know.
Instead, I’ll just offer HFFG’s Master List of Healthy, Whole Food Snacks!
- Hard-boiled eggs (sprinkle w/ paprika and/or salt for fun and extra flavor)
- Veggie Trays (We make one at the beginning of the week and refill as needed for quick and healthy afternoon snacks right out of the fridge every day. Switch up the selection each week. For example, one week you can do carrots, cukes, and broccoli. The next week, do cauliflower, grape tomatoes, and snow peas
- Nuts (either raw or dry roasted; without hydrogenated oils) (Walnuts are a great source of omega 3’s; pecans and almonds are other great choices. And don’t let the fat content scare you off; a small daily handful of these is a requirement in our house because of the incredible nutritional content!
- Raisins, dates, figs, banana chips & other dried fruit (Stay away from choices like Craisins which have added sugar.)
- Air-popped popcorn (Air-poppers are available at just about every thrift store for under $5 and brand new for $15). Add butter, coconut oil, or olive oil, sea salt and/or nutritional yeast flakes for a great nutritional boost and a cheesy flavor!
- Fruit – bananas, apples, fresh berries, etc. Since we usually have about 3 different fruits in our daily smoothies, we will rarely have any other fruits throughout the day. While they are very good for you, they also contain sugar (natural, yes, but still sugar). Also, vegetables are usually much cheaper and so our 8 servings/day of fruits and veggies are normally about 3 fruits and 5 or more veggies. However, apples and bananas can be incredibly easy, delicious and healthy on-the-go snacks!
- Applesauce–natural w/ no added sugar
- Apples and nut butter
- Yogurt without added sugar (if you don‘t already have it in your smoothies), with fresh fruit, honey, homemade granola, etc.
- Salad–Yes, I know this sounds weird, but it’s one of my favorite afternoon snacks. Especially on days where I think we’re not getting enough veggies in our meals, afternoon salads are YUMMY! Besides, you can never get too many leafy greens!
- Guacamole/mashed avocadoes and whole wheat pitas cut in small triangles and/or made into chips
- Homemade whole grain (or grain-free) crackers
- Leftover whole grain (or grain-free) pancakes, waffles, or muffins (We try to make extra when we have them for breakfast or lunch and freeze them.)
- LaraBars-homemade or from the store when you’re on-the-go
- Kale chips (http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/03/baked-kale-chips/)
- Roasted garbanzo beans (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/spicy-baked-chickpeas-recipe/index.html)
- Squash chips (zucchini, yellow squash, etc. with a little oil and salt in food dehydrator)
- Sweet potato chips (also in food dehydrator)
- Homemade sugar-free whole grain (or grain-free) cookies
- Ak-Mak crackers (found in the natural section of most grocery stores) are a great whole-grain healthy cracker without vegetable oils and are very delicious.
- Cheese cubes
- Whole wheat tortillas made into homemade tortilla chips
- Whole wheat pitas made into pita chips
- Homemade fruit leathers (made in food dehydrator with pureed fruit)
- Homemade popsicles (made with kefir/yogurt, fruit, etc.)
There you have it! Happy (and healthy) snacking!
