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Need some help in the healthy snack department? Nutritionist and GoodnessMe Box Health Editor Melissa Fine shares her top tips for wholesome snacking made simple.
1. Keep it Simple
When it comes to snack prep, you don’t have to make fancy bars and balls that require baking/blending. If you have the time, go for it, but otherwise here are some simple throw-together snacks:
- A piece of handbag/backpack friendly fruit - like an apple/mandarin/Nashi pear - with a handful of your favourite raw nuts (pop in a mini container/zip lock bag)
- 1-2 Medjool dates, each stuffed with a teaspoon of your favourite nut butter
- Low Sugar Homemade Trail Mix: Mix 1-2 handfuls of your favourite nuts and seeds with 1-2 squares of 85% dark chocolate, chopped into chunks…delicious with macadamias and pepitas
- 2 slices cheese with a handful of seed-based gluten free crackers
Or why not try my
No-Blend Choc Crackle Peanut Protein Balls
Ingredients
- 2 heaped Tbsp natural crunchy peanut butter
- 2 Tbsp rice malt syrup
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
- ¾ Cup desiccated coconut
- 1.5 Tbsp cacao/cocoa powder
- 1 heaped Tbsp chocolate protein powder (whey or plant-based)
Method
- Combine peanut butter, rice malt and coconut oil in a bowl and mix well.
- Add ½ Cup of the desiccated coconut, along with the cacao and protein powder and mix again.
- Using your hands, roll into 10 balls.
- Sprinkle the remaining ¼ Cup coconut on a plate, rolling each ball in the coconut.
- Place the balls in a dish, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until firm.
2. Make Extra
If you’re prepping snacks for tomorrow, why not prep snacks for the next few days while you’re at it? You’ll save time and money, and are more likely to stick to having healthy snacks this way…it’s much easier to say no to the cake going round the office/the sugar bombs in the café cabinet when you have wholesome snacks packed.
3. Mix it Up
Unless you’re a creature of habit, you might like to chop and change your snacks each week, firstly, so you don’t get bored, and secondly, so you’re getting more nutrients in the mix. Why not alternate between sweet and savoury, and change up the ingredients you use? Try tahini instead of your go-to nut butter, or throw a fruit or veg you’ve never tried/rarely eat into the mix.
4) Make it Tasty
Prep a snack you actually want to eat; while some people love celery sticks, personally they don’t do it for me and I know I won’t end up eating them…Red capsicum and cucumber crudités for me please, with a tablespoon of something delicious for dipping, like hummus or my current favourite, sunflower seed spread (from health food stores).
5) Keep Something in Your Handbag
For those days where you haven’t had time to prep anything, a packaged snack made with real food is your next best bet. Go for a 100% fruit and nut bar, a single serve tub of quality, unsweetened yoghurt or for a healthier sweet treat, Table of Plenty’s new wholegrain Dark Chocolate Mini Rice Cakes; these come in portion-controlled snack packs, and our favourite way to eat them is dipped in a little natural peanut butter for some protein ;) Made with all natural ingredients, a wholegrain snack with the special addition of pure Belgian chocolate. Fructose friendly, no artificial colours or flavours, and an Australian family business behind the brand.