Tasty Tuesday

Today's post is about snacks. I think this is one of the biggest areas I struggle with. In the past I have fallen into eating all of my kids bag of goldfish and wash it down with a soda and a box of little Debbie's. Sounds great, but I felt terrible afterwards. So if you are eating good meals all day do not waste that with a few bad snacks. I have found it easiest to buy the kids snacks that I also will eat. That way I am not tempted by their snacks into something bad for me, which I feel better giving them healthy stuff anyways. Now I am not going to lie here, my kids do sometimes get special treats that I do not really partake in. I think yes we should eat healthy foods, but it is okay for my kids to occasionally have little treats. So anyways back to our healthy snacks. For my snacks I of course like something that I do not have to put a lot of prep into, and are both health and cost effective. A few clean eating snacks that I enjoy are as follows:

* A slice of pumpkin bread (I posted the recipe the other day), I usually will have a glass of water with it, but a cup of hot tea is also very yummy with it. Most of the time if I have this I just eat this, but you could add maybe a handful of nuts (if you did not put any in your bread) or a piece of fresh fruit.

* 1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt (I like Stonyfield) with a drizzle of raw honey or agave, 1/2 cup of granola (you can do homemade or an organic one that does not have a lot of added sugars. I like the ones from KIND. There are a lot of different flavors that are good), mix with some fresh fruits (strawberries, blueberries, banana whatever fruit you have on hand)

* 1/2c unsalted nuts (cashews, peanuts, almonds, walnuts whatever you have), string cheese (get a brand that is real cheese not processed), and a piece of fruit (pear or apple is my favorite)

* 3-4 celery sticks with organic peanut butter, string cheese

* Fruit/Veggie protein smoothie (use whatever fruits/veggies you have with some organic peanut butter or protein powder)

* Organic carrots, cherry tomatoes, celery sticks and cucumber with 2tbsp fresh hummus

* 1 slice whole grain bread with 1tbsp organic peanut butter, 1 tbsp. fresh jam (grape, strawberry etc...), whole organic carrot

* 1 hardboiled cage free egg with a little pepper, handful of fresh berries

* 1c no salt added cottage cheese with fresh fruit (pineapple, strawberries, blueberries whatever you have), 1/4c unsalted nuts, 1tbsp chia seeds

* 1 apple (I like honeycrisp but whatever you like) cut into slices, 2 tbsp. organic peanut butter

* 1c fruit salad (grapes, oranges, kiwi, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, pears, peaches, strawberries whatever you like) a drizzle of agave 1/4c chilled quinoa

These are just a few of the snacks I enjoy. What is great is all of these are also kid friendly. There are a lot more, but these are all very quick, easy, healthy and cost effective snacks. I usually drink a glass of water with all these snacks as well. What are some of your favorite healthy snacks.