Easy, Healthy, Tasty, Snacky

Choices are hard...

Snacks, the thing that keeps my boyfriend existing considering his huge appetite and need to eat up just about everything in the home. While my habits do lean toward the less healthy by default and due to issues with money, anyone who knows me knows that leaving out fruit or veggies is a way to make sure they vanish right before your eyes. It is well known that a bowl of blueberries will disappear in a few minutes if I am left to my own devices. There are ways to remedy this issue of healthy snacking being far infrequent, and as I find the more I write down my own advice, the more likely I am to follow it, we’re going to be talking about snacks and how to get on a better snacking habit. After all, if you’re going to be eating anyways, might as well eat something healthy.

First thing to understand is your own favorites and hates. Sure, everyone has a go to snack thing, but do you know what about that snack food you like? When I go for snacks or treats, I go for sweets normally but sometimes dip my toe into the salty. Savory things are also my thing, but more often than not it needs some type of sugar. I cannot stand sour things, pineapple and coconut gross me out and I cannot eat spicy food without my mouth in intensive pain. Why is this important? When looking into getting yourself out of the pre made snackland, you need to know what you like so you’ll go for it yourself over the “easier” stuff. It does me no good to start making spicy salsas for snacks, or coconut bars, but buying a bunch of apples and making a caramel dip? That would be ideal for my snacking loves. My boyfriend, who has a serious salty snack addiction, figured out how to make his own homemade potato chips in the microwave to help not only give him something to snack on, but to get rid of a lot of the extra potatoes we had floating about. With it, he can add what he wants to it and not be at the whim of some company that really likes their oils (not to mention use healthier ones for his chips). Another thing that goes along with it is allergies, as easy as making “ants on a log” (raisins with peanut butter on a celery stick) is, you don’t want it when you’re allergic to peanut butter (substitutes would probably work, maybe some other savory spread).

So what gets in the way besides cost? Effort. Prepping healthy snacks often feels like a chore over opening up a wrapper of some granola bar that has been processed intensively.  This is why I find if I am going to get into making any sort of healthy snack or even dinner, I want to make it in a way that is as quick as I can. Often when I make these sort of treats, it is something like the banana pops I mentioned last week. Freeze fruit, make chocolate sauce in microwave by melting chocolate, dip fruit into chocolate and eat. If it is too complicated it will never get made or won’t get made until way too far late into the night. This is where simple cut fruits tend to be my best bets. Often for my lunches I will throw in a banana or apple just so I have an extra bit of fruit, but I also have frozen fruits that would do equally well like raspberries or blueberries. Put some of those in a container and let them warm up during the work day, and when it is lunchtime, they are no longer frozen. No muss, no fuss, and I get to eat something yummy to look forward to at lunch.

Another thing I have heard, which makes a lot of sense, is to try and keep your food colorful. Bright and colorful fruits and veggies are naturally appealing to the eye, and make you want to eat them. After all, what would you prefer, some gray or white looking dish, or one with a lot of different colors within it? When I try to make food, I always try to include some vibrant green or red just to add something to the color appeal. You don’t need crazy food dyes to do what nature already does so well, brighten things up. So when you’re looking at how to eat healthier snacks, don’t forget how it looks and how to add in things like bright peppers, orange carrots, brilliant blueberries, and other fruits and veggies to brighten up your snacks.

So any ideas of how to eat healthier when it comes to snacks? I also think that remembering to portion them helps. Don’t have a meal sized amount of carrots and call it a snack. There is such thing as too much of a good thing, and forgetting that I think is the major issue with plenty of people today. Let me know any other advice or ideas you have and let me know if you like this spaced out schedule. I’m going to be getting busier as I am going to be a part of a local stage play, so I am rather glad I helped space things out. Anywho, I shall see you next week for Horror Tuesday or on Twitter!