What are your favorite healthy snacks?

[Lynne]

Or semihealthy?

Some of mine are:

-Reduced-Fat Triscuits with lower-fat cheeses
-1/2 of a peanut butter sandwich on whole-grain bread
-a low-carb Slim-Fast on occasion (20 grams of protein)
-cottage cheese with whole-grain crackers
-1/2 cup of beans, heated
-yogurt with walnuts added
-1/2 cup of chicken with rice
-frozen grapes and frozen banana chunks
-raisins
-handful of nuts (especially a heart healthy mix like walnuts, macadamias, and almonds)
-100% cacao - Baker's Chocolate - no sugar
-Cracklin' Oat Bran (tastes like Teddy Grahams!)
-Nile Spice Soups (180 - 220 calories)

Not as healthy - pretzels, trail mixes, full-fat cheese and crackers, popcorn

I was just thinking (dangerous, I know) that I rarely eat junk. Today, I bought a Symphony Bar though.

 

[Kacey]

Fresh berries, pretty much any variety
Grapes
Bananas
Air-popped popcorn (or the low-butter microwave variety) with Kernel Shaker's flavoring (okay, the flavoring is kind of so-so in health, but I don't use that much, and it's a lot better health-wise than butter)
Honey Nut Cheerios (when I want something crunchy)
Quaker Caramel Rice cakes
1% milkfat cottage cheese - especially with berries on it
Low fat swiss or mozzarella on granny apples

The thing to remember about reduced fat versions of normal foods (like the Triscuits - and I like them too, so keep that in mind) is that they are still not as good for you as something fresh and unprocessed - which is why I started putting my cheese on apples; then I found out I liked it.

 

[Lynne]

Fresh berries, pretty much any variety
Grapes
Bananas
Air-popped popcorn (or the low-butter microwave variety) with Kernel Shaker's flavoring (okay, the flavoring is kind of so-so in health, but I don't use that much, and it's a lot better health-wise than butter)
Honey Nut Cheerios (when I want something crunchy)
Quaker Caramel Rice cakes
1% milkfat cottage cheese - especially with berries on it
Low fat swiss or mozzarella on granny apples

The thing to remember about reduced fat versions of normal foods (like the Triscuits - and I like them too, so keep that in mind) is that they are still not as good for you as something fresh and unprocessed - which is why I started putting my cheese on apples; then I found out I liked it.

I know what you mean about the processed foods. I think the RF Triscuits taste as good as the regular ones and they are addictive (to me). I watch the cereals, too, even if they are high fiber. They often have a boatload of sugar which makes me crash.

I haven't tried apples and cheese. I can't usually (sometimes I can - squirrly blood sugar) eat fruit by itself because of the natural sugars, but coupled with cheese would probably work.

 

[Kacey]

My aunt is allergic to eggs (along with a few other things - but eggs are the worst), which means that she can't eat many common baked goods, so she often uses cheese in place of crackers - she particularly likes tuna fish on top of cheese sliced just thick enough not to fold in cracker-sized pieces.

 

[qi-tah]

Bananas
Apples
Uncle George's Lemon Pears (A Castlemaine special!)
A handful of pecan and brazil nuts
Raw salmon sushi
Reduced fat yogurt
20g of 70% dark choccy with a cup of tea (Confined to once per day - apparently the science at the mo is telling us it's healthy and i'm not about to argue!)

 

[JadecloudAlchemist]

1. Tea. When I do not have time to eat I will drink tea
2. Vegetable juice or fruit juice orange juice one I like.
3. Yogurt smoothies.
4. Raw vegetables with lime and fresh garlic.

 

[Ping898]

To snack, I try to use left over roast chicken pieces. I have to be careful about eating for the sake of eating, so if I am truly hungry then the chicken will give me protein and if I am not, well, I won't end up eating much chicken....

 

[RachelK]

Good topic - I just noticed this one! I'm on Weight Watchers, also, fish is the only meat I eat (well, I don't know if fish is meat, but I think you know what I mean), so my snacks reflect that:

My favorite salty, crunchy-type snacks to quell my secret longings to scarf down an entire bag of potato chips are:

- plain popcorn, or light butter-flavored popcorn without hydrogenated oils
- 100% whole wheat pretzels (Trader Joe's)
- dried roasted peas (I don't like the Wasabi ones much, prefer the plain ones)
- brown rice crackers or 100% whole wheat crackers like Ak-Mak or Triscuits
- boiled, salted edame (soybean pods)
- cole slaw made without mayo, just vinegar and poppy seeds

Sweet snacks, some more filling than others:

- bowl of oatmeal cooked with a handful of frozen wild blueberries, almond milk, pat of butter, and cinnamon
- small bran and blueberry muffin sweetened only with fruit (Trader Joe's)
- plain fat-free or lowfat organic yogurt with a spoonful of fruit-only jam
- glass of unsweetened vanilla-flavored almond milk (Blue Diamond)
- canned fruit in fruit juice (fresh fruit upsets my stomach unless I eat it on an empty stomach, so I can't have it after dinner)
- applesauce or apple-apricot sauce with cinnamon
- fruit-only popsicle

As you can see, I'm watching my calories, which means I avoid sugar, potatos, and refined flours as much as I can - even fruit juice is a bit too high-calorie for me, as I am aiming to tailor my diet to match my activity, and 6-7 hours of martial arts practice a week unfortunately does not allow for eating pizza, donuts, hot-fudge sundaes, potato chips or many of the other high-calorie foods that I enjoy. I just don't metabolize calories fast enough to eat those sorts of foods very often without blimping out.

But if I feeling completely deprived, I'll get a can of diet chocolate soda, add a splash of almond milk, and have a fake egg cream. I'm a New Yorker, I can't overcome my love of egg creams, so even though diet soda is filled with all kinds of toxins, I enjoy the occassional fake egg cream anyway, just to treat myself.

I plan to eat a slice of cake on my birthday, which is nearly six months away, ha ha!

 

[Drac]

Watermelon
Cantalope
Bananas
Grapes
Tomatoes

 

[Lynne]

Bananas
Apples
Uncle George's Lemon Pears (A Castlemaine special!)
A handful of pecan and brazil nuts
Raw salmon sushi
Reduced fat yogurt
20g of 70% dark choccy with a cup of tea (Confined to once per day - apparently the science at the mo is telling us it's healthy and i'm not about to argue!)

Chocolate really is good for us. Isn't that great? A legal high.

I haven't tried sushi. Do you "cook" the salmon with lime juice?

 

[Lynne]

1. Tea. When I do not have time to eat I will drink tea
2. Vegetable juice or fruit juice orange juice one I like.
3. Yogurt smoothies.
4. Raw vegetables with lime and fresh garlic.

I love yogurt smoothies.

 

[Lynne]

To snack, I try to use left over roast chicken pieces. I have to be careful about eating for the sake of eating, so if I am truly hungry then the chicken will give me protein and if I am not, well, I won't end up eating much chicken....

Protein is great for appetite control and avoiding the snacky carbs.

 

[Lynne]

Good topic - I just noticed this one! I'm on Weight Watchers, also, fish is the only meat I eat (well, I don't know if fish is meat, but I think you know what I mean), so my snacks reflect that:

My favorite salty, crunchy-type snacks to quell my secret longings to scarf down an entire bag of potato chips are:

- plain popcorn, or light butter-flavored popcorn without hydrogenated oils
- 100% whole wheat pretzels (Trader Joe's)
- dried roasted peas (I don't like the Wasabi ones much, prefer the plain ones)
- brown rice crackers or 100% whole wheat crackers like Ak-Mak or Triscuits
- boiled, salted edame (soybean pods)
- cole slaw made without mayo, just vinegar and poppy seeds

Sweet snacks, some more filling than others:

- bowl of oatmeal cooked with a handful of frozen wild blueberries, almond milk, pat of butter, and cinnamon
- small bran and blueberry muffin sweetened only with fruit (Trader Joe's)
- plain fat-free or lowfat organic yogurt with a spoonful of fruit-only jam
- glass of unsweetened vanilla-flavored almond milk (Blue Diamond)
- canned fruit in fruit juice (fresh fruit upsets my stomach unless I eat it on an empty stomach, so I can't have it after dinner)
- applesauce or apple-apricot sauce with cinnamon
- fruit-only popsicle

As you can see, I'm watching my calories, which means I avoid sugar, potatos, and refined flours as much as I can - even fruit juice is a bit too high-calorie for me, as I am aiming to tailor my diet to match my activity, and 6-7 hours of martial arts practice a week unfortunately does not allow for eating pizza, donuts, hot-fudge sundaes, potato chips or many of the other high-calorie foods that I enjoy. I just don't metabolize calories fast enough to eat those sorts of foods very often without blimping out.

But if I feeling completely deprived, I'll get a can of diet chocolate soda, add a splash of almond milk, and have a fake egg cream. I'm a New Yorker, I can't overcome my love of egg creams, so even though diet soda is filled with all kinds of toxins, I enjoy the occassional fake egg cream anyway, just to treat myself.

I plan to eat a slice of cake on my birthday, which is nearly six months away, ha ha!

I haven't tried the edame yet but I have had soynuts. Funny thing, I got them at the health food store and then found they were roasted in hydrogenated oil. Grrr.

Fish and lean dairy sound like a winning combination. I love tuna and albacore but watch it because of the mercury. I buy canned red salmon and hear it's very healthy. Most of the fish in our grocery stores here are farm-raised, which means they lack the Omega 3's. Poo.

Good luck on your WW. Are you doing the Core plan?

 

[Lynne]

Watermelon
Cantalope
Bananas
Grapes
Tomatoes

I like all of that stuff! We grew cantaloupes in our garden one year...one year when it was actually warm enough here in NY to do that.

 

[crushing]

I just finished a clementine. Mmmmmm. It's one of my favorite snacks. I think it's a healthy snack, but it was so easy to peel and tasted and smelled so good I have my doubts. It wouldn't be a complete surprise to learn it has the nutritional value of a bacon double cheeseburger!

 

[Lynne]

I just finished a clementine. Mmmmmm. It's one of my favorite snacks. I think it's a healthy snack, but it was so easy to peel and tasted and smelled so good I have my doubts. It wouldn't be a complete surprise to learn it has the nutritional value of a bacon double cheeseburger!

I love clementines, loaded with Vitamin C! Bacon double cheeseburger, lol.

I usually buy a box of clementines around Christmas.

 

[RachelK]

Fish and lean dairy sound like a winning combination. I love tuna and albacore but watch it because of the mercury. I buy canned red salmon and hear it's very healthy. Most of the fish in our grocery stores here are farm-raised, which means they lack the Omega 3's. Poo.

Good luck on your WW. Are you doing the Core plan?

Yep, I'm doing the core plan, so far I have lost 23 pounds and it's going a bit slow, just 1-2 pounds a week, but as long as I keep losing weight, I'm content.

You shouldn't eat tuna more than once a week (1 can or one fillet/steak per week) because of the mercury. I prefer tongol to albacore, the mercury levels are supposed to be lower. I only buy wild-caught fish, mostly salmon. But sometimes I get salmon when I'm in a restaurant and I don't know where it comes from. Generally, salmon that is labeled "Alaskan salmon" is wild-caught.

Trader Joe's is immensely helpful for snacks and food in general. If there's one anywhere near you, it's worth going out of your way to stock up. Organic fair trade coffee is $5.99 a pound! I'd be lost without TJs! I have heard great things about Costco but have never been to one (I have also never been to a Wal-Mart - they aren't any in NYC).

Can't say I really enjoy soy nuts, I find them a bit dry and mealy. I prefer the dried peas. I could eat tons of roasted nuts but the fat and oil content is a bit high for a calorie-counter such as myself. I don't know why I crave salty/crunchy and sweet things so much. I think the sugar is addictive and hard to break the habit.

I used to love a square or two of 70% cocoa Lindt swiss chocolate with a cup of herbal tea - when I get down to a more reasonable weight (once I lose another 20 pounds perhaps), I'll resume my more indulgent treats, for now I have to be a bit stingy with the sugar.

 

[tshadowchaser]

I enjoy most fruit and raw vegies

I eat less and less junk food as the years go by but I would not say i eat what i should all the time

 

[Drac]

but I would not say i eat what i should all the time

Who does..I have a few weaknesses myself..Ruffels potato chips is at the top of the list....