Are you a snack lover?
Eating is not always about being hungry our emotions play a huge role in when and what we eat. Stress, anxiety, depression, tiredness and boredom can cause us to reach for the cake tin or the bag of chips. It’s always worth checking in with yourself and asking “am I actually hungry or is there something else going on?” We can also snack out of habit. Do you always have a muffin or some banana bread with your morning coffee and then a smoothie with the kids after school? Perhaps your snacking time is after dinner, like mine, I am often prowling around looking for cheese or chips at around 10pm – hello eating out of habit!
There is certainly a school of thought that encourages eating multiple times a day to up your metabolism, help control weight and maintain blood sugar levels, we just need to be careful about what we choose to snack on of the excess calories can get out of control. Due to tiny tummies and the fact that they don’t sit still long enough to eat a lot in a sitting, kids can often benefit from smaller more frequent meals.
My top tips for making your snacks count are:
Plan your snacks just like you would a meal, this will help you avoid the call of the vending machine or café muffin.
Treat snacking as a way to increase nutrients, naturally crowding out the not so healthy stuff.
Focus on vegetables as snacks, did you know that nearly 50% of Australians do not meet their minimum vegetable requirements?
Make a dip or some protein balls on the weekend so they are ready to grab during the week.
Stock the cupboards with healthy snacks like nuts, wholegrain crackers, popcorn, seaweed or my personal favourite roasted chickpeas ( yep I buy these, they burnt when I tried to make them)
Stock the fridge with yogurt, cheese and eggs which are quick and easy.
Stock the freezer with broad beans, soya beans and berries
Try to avoid eating on the run and make the time (usually 5 minutes or less) to actually sit down and enjoy what you are eating.
Avoid eating straight from the packet – its much easier to overeat this way, think about how easy it is to eat pretzels, nuts or chips while watching a movie.
The following snacks are on high rotation at my place:
Broad bean dip (just boil the broad beans then blend with lemon juice, salt and olive oil – no need to peel first)
Carrots/ cucumber/ celery with hummus or pate – (check out these hummus variations from Serious Eats)
Sliced tomatoes with olive oil
Celery with nut butter ( I am addicted to the Meyers Super Spread)
Small handful of nuts, a few almonds, Brazil
nuts and cashews give you all the essential amino acids for the day)
Frozen peas and frozen grapes – I swear these are requested at least twice a week.
Plain corn chips (cause they have less additives) and salsa (here’s my recipe for a fresh Mexican salsa Pico de Gallo)
Olives
Toast with butter and tahini – yep I add butter
Yogurt with frozen berries and a few walnuts
Cheese and crackers
Snow peas and green beans with mayo to dip
Mini Muffins – I make a batch and freeze
Homemade Chocolate Fudge (I keep this in the freezer so it’s harder to eat, it’s sooooo good)