Meals On-The-Go: Snacks

Good Morning and Happy Friday! Today's topic - healthy and filling snacks!

Snacks are a terrific way to satisfy that hunger and get all the vitamins and nutrients your body needs. They also help energy levels going all day long, keep you satisfied all day so you don't over eat at meal time and help you metabolism stay strong to help shed and keep off unwanted pounds! Try to steer clear of foods with lots of added sugars like candy bars, soda, chips and other processed foods. And look for foods that contain fibre like whole-grain breads, cereals, fruit, and vegetables and combine them with protein-rich snacks such as peanut butter or low-fat yogurt or cheese.


Here are some great ideas:

Fresh fruit or individually packed containers of cut-up fruit and 1 piece of string cheese

Raw vegetables including carrots, peppers, zucchini, cherry or grape tomatoes with 2 tbsp light

    ranch dip

Baby carrots and whole wheat pita triangles with hummus.

1 slice whole grain or Ezekiel bread with 1 tbsp peanut butter and 1 small banana.

Fresh, frozen or canned fruit with low fat yogurt or in a smoothie

 

1 small whole wheat tortilla wrap made with salmon or tuna and salad dressing, onions, celery and
    green peppers.

English muffin with melted mozzarella cheese and apple slices.

1/2 cup kashi cereal and 1/2 cup of skim milk

Dark green leafy salad with orange sections and almonds with 2 tbsp oil based dressing

1/4 cup nuts, pumpkin or sunflower seeds and 1 medium apple

2 cups plain popcorn

Popsicles made with 100% fruit juice or yogurt

1 package of instant oatmeal

1 cup skim milk, chocolate milk or fortified soy beverage

1 cup 1% cottage cheese with 1/2 cup fresh fruit

1/2 mango, 1 piece of 70% dark chocolate & 10 almonds

 

3/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce sprinkled with 2 tbsp chopped pecans and a sprinkle of cinnamon

8 tortilla chips with 1/2 cup of salsa and 1/4 of an avocado

When I'm in a hurry starving and don't have any snacks or time to make a snack my go to is:

Grande Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte from Starbucks: 120 Calories, 0 grams of fat, 12 grams of protein, and 12 grams of sugar



On the flip side of things here is an article from Fitbe.com on the worst snacks you can pack in your kids lunches and why:

http://fitbie.ca.msn.com/slideshow/worst-snacks-pack-your-kid-s-lunchbox



I hope I've given you lots of new meal and snack ideas this week to help make meal planning just a little bit easier. Stay tuned next week for a delicious creamy (healthy) pasta recipe and a mouth watering breakfast cookie recipe that helps make morning easy!

Have a great weekend and talk to you on Monday!

Stay Healthy!
Andrea :)