Healthy Snack Ideas!
SNACK ATTACK!
Raise your hand if you are a snacker.
It varies for me but my kids are ALWAYS ready for a snack… and I bet yours are the same. Whether you snack occasionally or religiously, choosing the right snack is crucial for optimal health.
The Perfect Snack has 3 things:
Complex carb
Healthy Fats
Protein
Why? All those things combined best support your bodies functions, needs and blood sugar.
Complex carbs like fruits, vegetables or grain free crackers supply a blood sugar boost but not a sudden spike. Fruits and veggies are also loaded with essential vitamins and minerals. Healthy fats keep you feeling fuller longer. Protein helps to maintain that optimal blood sugar that the fruit or vegetable boosted and protein, amino acids, are the building blocks for a lot of your body’s functions.
I think we all know reaching for candy bars and bags of chips is not the best idea when it comes to snacking so while we all love a good crunchy chip, here are some of my families favorite balanced snacks! Some are premade, some are quick and some take a minute to prep.
- Fresh fruit or veggie with a handful of nuts. I love to get bags of raw nuts from Aldi or Sam’s. Portion is key here- I mean 10-15 nuts…not a whole cup. Apple, banana, berries, oranges, mango, carrots, peppers, celery, broccoli, almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts, brazil nuts… whatever you love. And don’t feel like it has to be different every single day. It is better for you to eat the same thing you love than to reach for something unhealthy just in the name of change.
- Apple or banana slices with nut butter (organic peanut, almond, sunflower seed, cashew butter… whatever you like)
- Carrots and peppers with Hummus. You could add in a few grain free crackers too. I like to buy the premade hummus or red pepper hummus cups from Aldi.
- Dried fruit and nuts. A little dried fruit goes a long way due to the higher sugar count. Ideally the fruit you buy doesn’t have added sugar on the ingredient list.
- A Granola or Protein Bar. We love Made Good bars, Lara Bars, Rx Bars, IQ bars to name a few.
- Grain free crackers (Simples Mills or Absolutely Gluten Free brands), Grass fed cheese slices and uncured ham. My kids love it when I make little mini cracker sandwiches out of this.
- In the summer my kids LOVE the treat of a popsicle at snack time outside. I did a No, Yes, Best post in Instagram that you can find here. Great to give them a few nuts to eat with it.
I hope this helps! You can click any links to directly buy the snack items I mention. If you do so it supports this blog a teensy amount. Thank you!
