Snack Ideas and Recipes

[LinzyRA4]

Hi Ashley!
I was hoping we could compile some snack ideas for those people (maybe me 😉 who do want something to snack on.
Some healthy snacks I have heard you mention are…
Raw Nuts
Veggies (with hummus)
Or Veggie Chips… Kale, sweet potato, zucchini

Any other thoughts? How about Roasted Chickpeas? Seeded crackers?
I have made some no bake energy bites in the past but they contained honey or maple syrup, can you give us the low down on those sweeteners?

I would love to hear what others are doing to curb those cravings!

[ashleypoptodorova]

Love this!! 🙂 You got it girly!

Roasted chickpeas are ok in moderation but if your goal is to optimize fat loss, you are better off not doing this because this is still considered a starch. If you are going to do these, make them a snack for the earlier part of the day.

I also love the following as snacks:

*Mary’s Gone Crackers with my favorite brand of Supernaturals Cottage Cheese
(SO far, Marys are my favorite because a lot of other brands contain wheat, gluten etc)

*Green grapes coated in greek yogurt and frozen (this is especially nice during the hot summer!)

*Granny Smith apple with organic PB or almond butter.

*Celery rolled with Boars Head Nitrate Free meat

Also, here is a YUMMY recipe for Kale Chips:

Preheat your oven to 275 degrees. Remove the ribs from a bunch of kale (10 or so leaves). Toss with 2 T of melted coconut oil, sprinkle with sea salt and some pepper (you can also add nutritional yeast which is optional) and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes until crisp and still slightly green. Cool on paper towels. These taste delicious with salsa or a little bit of hummus! 🙂

More to come! Thanks for this post and I would love to hear from the rest of you! 🙂

[ashleypoptodorova]

Also, as far as the no bake energy snacks, I would definitely replace the honey or maple syrup with stevia. Whether raw, natural or organic, these are still sugars.

They are obviously MUCH better than high fructose corn syrup but ultimately when you ingest them your body will metabolize it like any other sugar. Your pancreas still has to pump out a lot of insulin to be able to put the sugar away. At the very least, this can prevent fat being used as energy.

My suggestion is to use stevia to replace the honey for sweetener.

Ultimately, the key with sweeteners is to try to stick to all natural options like LIQUID STEVIA to maintain healthy blood sugar levels but also to detox off of other sweeteners. Once you bake like this long enough, you start to love it and crave it!

GREAT question! 🙂

[ariahimar]

Ashley,

You’ll have to tell me if this is a bad snack or not…but when I REALLY want something sweet, I blend dates, almonds, and cacao to make “brownies.” I put them in a mini muffin tin and refrigerate. They are so good and keep me off the cookie. It’s a once in a while thing or what I bring to work for potlucks.

I usually snack on raw nuts, Simple Truth brand turkey slices, Quest bars, and almond butter.

I am going to try your frozen grapes this weekend! Sounds so good!

[ashleypoptodorova]

These sound awesome but this would be more of something you would do weekly rather than every day or every other day snacks. Dates can cause blood sugar disregulation big time but again for a weekly treat and structured.. much better than other alternatives.

This reminds me… I love the almond butter packets too that are quick and you can throw them in your purse.. great idea!

[LinzyRA4]

Considering chocolate wasn’t on the recommended snack list and I am just not one to eat raw veggies and pretend it’s delish, I took your advice about making ranch. Heres what I did…
I mixed Tessame’s Zesty Ranch (which is not ranch at all) and mixed it with plain greek yogurt and some Flavor God Ranch seasoning.
AND IT’s GOOD!

Another thing my hubs brought home to snack on the other day was banana pepper rings. Any reason those wouldn’t be ok?

[ashleypoptodorova]

Banana Pepper Rings are a great idea Linz! I love these ideas and also how you modified the ranch dressing. I believe they have 2 different ranch flavors and I was not a fan of the plain ranch either, lol! So I appreciate the modification. After I am done show prepping, I will try this. 🙂