Healthy snacks!

/ Food as Medicine, Natural Health, Pregnancy / By

I have seriously slacked in the area of snacking lately. Inspired by this post on late night snacking (one of my bad habits!), I wrote a list for myself of healthier alternatives. I figured I would post it here in case anyone else has similar snacking struggles. 😉 The only foods that made this list were quick, easy, real foods that are affordable. 15-step recipes with exotic ingredients and elaborate pinterest presentation did not make the cut! As a bonus, these healthy snacks could also be great for pregnancy cravings, nursing snacks (when you can never seem get enough to eat!), and toddler snacks!

PRODUCE

    • finger food vegetables:
        • baby carrots
        • cut up celery
        • bell pepper strips
        • raw broccoli or cauliflower
        • sugar snap peas
    • hummus with any of the vegetables listed above
    • finger food fruit:
        • apples (with a nut butter for more protein)
        • bananas
        • canteloupe (pre-cut and refrigerated for quick snacking!)
        • clementines or full-sized oranges
        • cucumbers
        • grapes (try them frozen!)
        • grapefruit
        • any kind of berries
    • cottage cheese with berries
    • tomato & cucumber salad (throw in a little olive oil, wine vinegar, salt & pepper to fancy it up!)
    • lettuce salad with vinaigrette (or simply squeeze lemon juice over the salad, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt & pepper – done!)

GRAIN, DAIRY, PROTEIN

*Remember that while these are healthy options, they are more substantial snacks and most will be higher in calories and fats than the produce options listed above

      • cheese and crackers
      • yogurt and granola
      • almonds
      • sunflower seeds
      • pumpkin seeds
      • 1 egg: hardboiled, scrambled, fried or poached
      • 1-egg salad (mash with plain yogurt instead of mayo!)
      • baked tortilla chips with salsa
      • oatmeal with nuts and/or dried fruit
      • trail mix (fill a container and add to it regularly for an ongoing, ever-changing trail mix!)
      • peanut butter balls (1c oats, 1/2c peanut butter, 1-2 Tbsp honey; mix & shape into 1″ balls)Healthy Snacks! | natural abundance.me
      • POPCORN!
        No popper? Go old school:
        Mix 2-3 tbsp oil
        (coconut oil or ghee are both amazingly delicious, but almost any oil will work) with 1/2 cup popcorn kernels in a large cooking pot with a lid. On med-high heat, wait for kernels to start popping; shake gently above the burner until popping slows to 3 seconds. Transfer to bowl immediately and salt to taste.

FROZEN TREATS

      • banana “ice cream” (slice a frozen banana, pulse in the blender with a couple splashes of milk)
      • berry “sorbet” (put any mix of frozen berries in the blender; add milk, water or juice to thin, as needed)
      • frozen finger foods (grapes, peas, even corn can be eaten straight from the freezer!)

BEVERAGES

    • tea! – herbal, green, black, rooibos, oolong… I love them all! Just be sure to go light on the sweetener
    • iced tea – steep a double amount of any kind of tea in a mug of hot water, add desired sweeteners and pour over a tall glass of ice
    • summerade
    • sugar-free lemonade by the glass – my kids came up with this one on their own! To a glass of water, add a very generous squeeze of lemon juice and 2-4 drops of stevia glycerite)
    • fizzy juice – pour a small amount of juice in your glass and top with carbonated water or mineral water

For more information about getting the best possible nutrition during pregnancy, a downloadable food and activity journal PDF, exercise guide for pregnancy health & to prepare for labor, as well as an entire module dedicated to stress reduction for improved health – check out this $15 mini childbirth course: Nutrition, Exercise and Stress.

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