All these photos are from Google images, sorry about the lack of originality! If I've stolen your picture, let me know!
1. Edamame beans. Boil the beans in their pods in salty water, then shell and sprinkle with sea salt. These are full of protein, so they help to fill you up, and I find the saltiness helps if you're craving something like crisps. I know salt is bad for you, but I always cook from scratch and almost never add salt to anything, so I think it's probably OK!
Fancy plate optional...!
2. Nakd products. Nakd are a really really great company who make all sorts of goodies, which are all vegan, gluten free, and wheat free. The bars are also raw - they're just made of pressed yummies, like dates and cashew nuts, sometimes with natural flavourings. You can get lots of different flavours - cocoa delight, cashew cookie, and rhubarb and custard are my faves - and they're sweet, so they're good if you crave chocolate, like me. The bars are generally between 100 and 150 kcal, so make sure you factor that into your plan, but the calories aren't empty like they are with chocolate. The bars are quite filling, and count for one of your five-a-day. Plus, because they are made with nuts, the fat in them is good for you! Nakd also make infused raisins, which taste EXACTLY like sweets. I've tried the cherry and the cola flavours (although they also make lime, lemon, orange, and pineapple). This is a no-brainer swap if you like sweet things. Raisins and natural flavourings aren't bad for you, and sweets are!
3. Fruit! I know that this sounds incredibly obvious, and maybe you don't think of fruit as a satisfying snack, but if you try to always have a satsuma or an apple or a banana in your bag - which, let's face it, is EASY - you just throw it in there in the morning - you'll find that it will come in handy for all sorts of unexpected hunger situations. You can be more organised and take a little tub of berries, cherries, melon - whatever you like! And if you drizzle the fruit with some yoghurt (any fat-free yoghurt will do - just have a quick look at the calories to make sure you don't forget about them) and it's suddenly much more filling.
4. Kale chips or roasted chickpeas. Like crisps but... healthy. Of course, it's no good if you fry the kale or roast the chickpeas in a load of oil - then they're just as fatty as crisps - but roasted without oil, both kale and chickpeas become deliciously crispy and moreish. You can buy kale chips - inSpiral have both sweet and savoury flavours that are really delicious - which is more convenient, but also quite expensive; you can find bags of roasted chickpeas in Asian stores, but I'm not convinced that they're not very oily! You can also make them! Just line a baking tray with baking paper and spritz with cooking oil spray (or use a little normal oil - but be careful it's not too much!),then put on the kale or the chickpeas. Season (try a salt, black pepper, or a little chilli powder or cayenne pepper for starters...), and roast at a low heat. Kale takes about 10-15 minutes at 175C (350F); chickpeas also take about fifteen minutes, but turn the heat up! More like 220C (425F). Oh, and make sure the chickpeas are cooked, or use ones straight out of a can! I know that this seems like a lot more hassle than grabbing a pack of crisps on your lunch break, but try making up a big batch at the weekend and taking some with you in a little plastic tub every day - easy!
5. Leftovers! Making falafel? Bake a few extra to take with you tomorrow. Got an annoying not-a-real-portion-but-too-much-to-throw-away amount of stew left over? Pop that in a Thermos. Roasted enough vegetables to feed an army? You get the idea. You get have a little healthy filling snack with you, and to reduce the amount of food you waste into the bargain.
I think the main thing when planning healthy snacks is to think a little in advance - are you going to be out of the house for more than an hour or two? Probably best to take something with you just in case! I got some little tupperware boxes from Poundland and a Thermos, and I have a think in the morning if I'll need anything. As soon as you get into the rhythm of it, it's easy, and you'll be surprised how much crap you cut out of your diet!
What are your favourite healthy snacks?
Love,
Emy
xxx
When I was in Berlin I used to like getting Salat in Dürüm or Brot as a healthy(ish) albeit LARGE snack. Perhaps more of a light meal but GOOD.
ReplyDeleteSounds pretty healthy to me, as long as you're not having a ton of bread that day! And a Halloumitasche? Yum, yum, yum.
ReplyDeleteI like Kallo yeast extract flavoured rice-cakes, they're savoury from the marmitey topping and wholegrain too so high in fibre as well as being low in fat.
ReplyDeleteI also like wholemeal seeded breadsticks: low in fat, high in fibre and nicely savoury from the toasted seeds.
I know olives aren't fat free but sometimes just a half a dozen olives (not posh marinated ones but the kind kept in brine) can be seriously satisfying if you're craving a rich savoury kick. I like the ones stuffed with garlic.
And then there's gherkins, not the cute little cornichon variety but big fat cucumbery ones that you can buy in huge jars from places like Lidl.
Ooh, we have similar tastes! I have about ten olives (I get marinated ones as well as the ones in brine, but I drain as much oil off as I can first) as a treat, or a few gherkins... I also made my own pickled okra (there's a blog post about it), which are a nice alternative to the cucumbers.
DeleteI've never seen that flavour of Kallo rice-cakes; where do you get them?
Love,
Emy
xxx
Goodness Direct stock them. Which reminds me I'll have to add some to my GD shopping list.
ReplyDeletePS the pickled okra looks excellent!
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