Snacks

 

For me, the most difficult ‘meals’ of the day are my snacks. I have up to 5 a day and I’m easily bored by eating the same thing over and over again. My constantly growing collection of recipe books (currently over 40) is testament to that. Below you will find a list of snack ideas. Some require minimal preparation and others are slightly more time consuming that you can prepare in bulk ahead of time; I will also provide the recipes for these snacks. Please tell me about your favourite snacks so I can add them to the collection for other people to enjoy.

Zero preparation

  • 1 handful of fruit (e.g. 1 apple, 1 orange, fresh pineapple chunks, watermelon slices, 2 mandarin oranges, 1 small banana, fresh mango chunks, 1 large or 2 small stone fruit, fresh summer berries, grapes)
  • 30g/ 1/4 cup nuts (e.g. 23 almonds, 25 pistachios, 10-15 walnuts, 10-15 cashews, 15-20 hazelnuts, 10-15 pecan halves, mixed nuts)
  • 30g/ 1/4 cup seeds (e.g. pumpkin, sunflower)
  • 30g of dried fruit with no added sugar (e.g. 6-8 Dried apricots, 1 heaped tbsp raisins, 6-7 prunes)*
  • 1-2 pieces of 72%+ dark chocolate*
  • Half a banana with peanut butter
  • Glass of milk
  • Small pot of natural yogurt (125-150g)
  • Handful of frozen grapes

Minimal preparation

  • 1 large hard boiled egg
  • 1 tbsp nut butter with vegetable sticks (e.g. celery, cucumber, capsicum, carrot)
  • 2 tbsp hummus or guacamole with vegetable sticks
  • 1/4 cup cooked beans
  • Fresh fruit salad
  • Super fast berry frozen yogurt
  • Toasted sweet potato slice topped with cottage cheese
  • 1 small wholegrain tortilla with 1 tbsp nut butter or guacamole
  • Toasted mini pita with protein filling e.g. nut butter, hummus, cottage cheese & cherry tomatoes
  • 3 tbsp natural yogurt topped with sugar-free granola
  • Apple slices with 1 tbsp nut butter
  • Home-made smoothie
  • Porridge with fresh fruit
  • Half a corn on the cob (without butter)
  • 1 slice of toasted bread (wholegrain, rye, or soda) with topping such as ricotta cheese, avocado & tomato or peanut butter & banana
  • 3 small oat crackers/oat cakes with protein topping e.g. peanut butter
  • 3 wholegrain crackers with protein topping e.g. cheese, ham, avocado
  • 3 rice cakes or corn thins with protein topping e.g:
    • avocado, sliced tomato, red onion & a pinch of salt
    • avocado, hummus & a drizzle of sriracha sauce
  • Steamed edamame

Moderate amount of preparation

  • Cinnamon roasted mixed nuts
  • Fresh fruit popsicle
  • kale chips
  • Chocolate covered banana chunks (frozen)
  • Home made muesli bar
  • Home made bliss balls
  • Baked courgette crisps
  • Choc banana “ice cream”
  • Berry banana “ice cream”
  • Cinnamon popcorn
  • Sweet potato and courgette slice

For when you want something extra special

*The sugar in this food, even if it is naturally occurring, means it is not the healthiest of the snack options so you should only choose to have these occasionally.