22 Healthy Snack Ideas
To snack or not to snack. Sometimes its essential and other times/most of the time it may be driven unnecessarily by imbalanced meals heavy in refined carbs and low in protein and fibre in particular. But anyway thats a whole seperate blog topic on appetite regulating hormones, blood sugars, insulin and stress hormones. But for now here are some of my favourite snacks that are jam packed with nutrients (most of them) and will leave you feeling satisfied.
SAVOURY SNACKS
Clean Paleo Biltong – With 20g protein in a serve you could make this part of a main meal if you were out and about. Together with a piece of fruit you will feel well satisfied.
Gherkins and cheese. So simple and soooo good.
Mini Lunch box Muffins – Packed with veggies and eggs these are good ones for the freezer.
Edamame Beans – 1 serve (half packet) provides 26g protein. Plus heaps of fibre and delicious with sea salt on top!
2 boiled eggs seasoned with salt and pepper. Or dunk into some hummus, cottage cheese or pesto to fancy it up.
2 -3 Corn thins – Top with 1/4 – 1/2 an avo, sliced tomato, sauerkraut (for some gut goodness) If you would like more protein (as these spreads provide none to very little) use cottage cheese, pate, 40g slice cheese instead.
Can of sardines in brine on 1 slice of sourdough style toast. Spread with butter (throw away your marg or Olivani if you still use it), add sardines and any yummy extras such as: sprouts, sauerkraut, salt/pepper, pate etc.
40g slice cheese and 1 piece of fruit of choice – Cheese provides fat and protein to keep you feeling satisfied and manage blood sugar levels. Cheese is also one of the best sources of Vitamin K2 did ya know 😉 Important for bone, cardiovascular and brain health to name a few.
Handful of olives. Loaded with healthy monounsaturated fats, team together with sun-dried tomatoes, cheese for an antipasto inspired snack.
Chopped raw veggies (carrot, broccoli, celery) dipped into homemade chicken liver pate and/or hummus.
1 free range chicken drum stick together with a piece of fruit. Prep in advance ready for the week ahead.
SWEETER SNACKS
Fruit and cheese. I rate it! You get the best of both worlds here and its actually a great snack for weight management because sometimes fruit alone or naked fruit as I call it can leave your blood sugars lower than before you ate the fruit. Crazy huh. This is because we all respond differently to carbohydrates – for some us, fruit can leave you feeling hungrier which is a strange thing because you’ve just eaten. If this is you, keep eating your fruit because its healthy but try including a small amount of protein and fat with it like cheese or raw nuts.
Chocolate Chickpea cookies – For a proper treat that is made with chickpeas instead of flour.
Scroggin Mix – Handful of raw nut mixture with 1 -2 square of 85% Lindt chocolate for a sweet hit. Always buy raw nuts and seeds to avoid any added vegetable oils. Make up zip lock bags to take to work with a mixture of raw almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, Brazil nuts and break up a piece of chocolate. Yum!
Teaspoon of peanut butter on 1 square of 85% Lindt chocolate. Epic.
Easy Peasy Sugar Free Biscuits – Made with bananas, so easy. Not very sweet but satisfy those ‘I feel like a biscuit’ cravings.
Half cup unsweetened yogurt with 1 scoop of Vanilla or Chocolate Clean Lean Protein, handful berries, shredded coconut, raw nuts and seeds.
Half an apple with spread of peanut or almond butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon or mixed spice and shredded coconut.
1 frozen banana cut into slices, tastes like ice cream! Serve with 1 heaped tbsp coconut cream for a yummy dessert!
2 pieces Lindt 85 or 90% chocolate. Low in sugar with the chocolate hit.
1-2 small Bliss Ball eg) Tasti smooshed. Remember still a decent source of sugar (from dates) so I recommend having together with some extra protein.
Tasti wholefood bars – Made with mostly dates these contain a fair amount of sugar. It really depends on your situation, if you include extra protein eg) meat, cheese, boiled egg it won’t affect your blood sugar levels the same. But if you tolerate extra carbs fine and have just finished a hard workout then this may totally work for you. They are only made with 5 ingredients, so they get my tick of approval.