So whether you're a Mama like me, or just a regular person on the go, this page is for you. I'll be updating it regularly with delicious, nutritious, and simple recipes that you can snack on- at home, or on the go.
Spinach Dip
You might be thinking, "this is a party food! Is she nuts?!" Well, yes, but not because I'm telling you to eat spinach dip. My recipe contains (3) vegetables, and I recommend eating it with either pumpernickel bread or whole wheat crackers.
Ingredients:
- (1) 8 oz package of chopped frozen spinach, defrosted.
- (1) package of vegetable soup mix
- (1) container of low fat sour cream (Or plain greek yogurt)
- (3)Tb mayonaisse
- (3) medium carrots, shredded
- (1) sweet onion, coursely chopped
- (1) can sliced water chestnuts
- Squeeze out all of the water from the spinach and add it to a medium sized bowl.
- Pour the vegetable soup mix into the bowl.
- Add the remainder of the ingredients and mix well.
- Chill for at least two hours.
- Serve!
Silken Tofu Smoothie
When I was a kid, my father made my brother and I try tofu. It was the one thing in my entire life that I hated so much, he never made me try it again. Ever. So when I came across a health cookbook saying that I HAD to try silken tofu in a smoothie, I almost gagged. Okay, I totally gagged. But curiousity and my love of smoothies won out, and now Laela and I have these for breakfast whenever the mood strikes.
Ingredients:
- 4 oz silken tofu
- 1 cup raspberries
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 tsp sugar
- splash of vanilla
- 1 banana
- Ice
- 2 Tb vanilla yogurt (I prefer non-fat)
Pour all of the ingredients into a blender or food processor. Pulse until well blended. Enjoy!
*You can add pomegranate juice or orange juice if that tickles your fancy!
*This recipe can be frozen after preparing. Just defrost for five minutes before enjoying!
Tuna Fish
I'm sure most of you already know how to make tuna fish, and I don't mean it as an insult by having it on here. I'm only sharing because I've found a way to make it well, a little more palatable for little people, and for people that don't like tuna or mayo too much.
Ingredients:
- (1) can tuna (everyone has a personal preference over what they like, I like personally like chunk light.)
- (2) carrots, shredded
- (1/2) onion, shredded if you have an onion hater, chopped if you don't.
- (1)Tb sweet relish
- (1)Tb mayo (I prefer low-fat)
- (2) stalks celery, chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. Taste before serving. Add salt and pepper as needed.
*This is one of those things that is GREAT on crackers.
Fruit:
This one may be a little obvious, but I think that fruit is a super snack and for whatever reason, gets overlooked. Here is a list of fruits that are easily portable:
- Make your own fruit cup! Slice up ANY of your favorite fruits. Put them into whatever size container works for your snacking needs Squirt in a bit of lemon juice to maintain the color and deliciousness. Eat when ready!
- Bananas! I always have one in my car and diaper bag in case Laela gets super hungry out of no where, or if my blood sugar gets low. They've saved my day more than once.
- Apples. My biggest problem with apples is that they're a mess. Instead of bringing them with me whole, I slice them up, put them in a container, squirt in some lemon juice, shake up the container to get the lemon juice all over, and eat when I'm ready. I usually bring a little container of peanut butter so that I can have a little protein boost.
- Clementines and oranges are great, but they're a hot mess. Peel and slice them up, and put them in a container so you don't make a juicy mess out of yourself when you eat them.
- Grapes are one of my favorites. You can put them in a container and that's it! I've forgotten to put them in the fridge, and they still taste great!
- I love love love carrots. They're super great plain, or with any kind of dressing (especially blue cheese or ranch!) on the side.
- Celery sticks are great! You can eat them with peanut butter, cheese, cream cheese, sun butter, almond butter, or ranch dressing! I have a girlfriend who would probably eat them with all of the cheeses on there, with some raisins or craisins on top!
- Edamame. I know it's not technically a veggie, but it's so great I had to include it. I get the pre-shelled kind that you can steam in the microwave in mere minutes! I shake it up with some sea salt or cajun spice, toss it in a ziploc bag, and hit the ground running!
- Sweet potato chips! Use a mandolin to slice your sweet potato, drizzle on some olive oil, and bake at 350 degrees until crispy. Shake on some sea salt or cinnamon and bag it up either in a paper bag or a container!
- Kale chips! Heat up some oil in a deep pan at medium high heat. Drop in each "chip" sized piece of kale for 1 minute. Take out of the oil and place on paper towel. Shake on some sea salt when it's all done and put it in a to go container! (I'm sure you can bake this too, I just haven't tried it yet.)
I have always thought of these as sweets, and hadn't really considered them as a snack for Laela- until I read the label. We bought some Honey Maid low fat honey grahams, and they've got 2g of protein, 2g of fiber, 60mg of potassium, 6% of your daily value for iron, and 15% of your daily value for calcium. I'm no nutritionist, and I'm not saying they're necessarily the healthiest snack on the planet- but they do blow most cookies out of the water (sorry Cookie Monster), especially when topped with some of the following:
- Laela LOVES graham crackers and peanut butter. It's one of her favorite treats!
- They're also great as little peanut butter and banana sandwiches. You can also add dried cranberries for some extra vitamin C!
- Sun butter is also really good on graham crackers if you haven't taken the peanut butter plunge yet, or if you're little one is allergic.
- Cream cheese is a great topper! I sprinkle on some cinnamon and Laela gobbles it right up!
- Yogurt! Laela loves to dip her graham crackers in vanilla yogurt with fruit mixed in.
- Did you go nuts making and freezing baby food? All of the pureed fruits are great as toppings for the graham crackers. Laela loves hers mixed with yogurt or cream cheese.
- Sweet potato puree with cinnamon. Talk about vitamin packed and a great, filling snack! Sometimes we mix bananas, apple sauce, or pears into the puree.
We are big yogurt fans in our house. We mix it with fresh fruit, oatmeal, or just plain old cinnamon. It's also really great mixed with pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie seasoning, and some yummy vanilla yogurt. (We always get low fat.)
Laela's absolute favorite yogurt treats are yogurt pops. Laela's favorite are a simple mixture of low-fat vanilla yogurt with cinnamon. You can also mix it with pureed fruit (I'm not a big fan of chunks of fruit in my popsicle, but if you are, go for it!) Or you can mix 2/3 vanilla yogurt with 1/3 pureed sweet potato or pumpkin with some cinnamon or pumpkin spice mix. Put the mixture in popsicle makers (you can get them for pretty cheap at Target), or just put them in some ice cube trays or plastic cups with tongue depressors or popsicle sticks in them. Give them some time to freeze and enjoy!
Hummus:
This is a great source of protein for you and your little one. Try it on a sandwich with any of your favorite toppings. Eat it with pita chips, crackers, or veggie slices such as peppers or carrots. Or, if you're like Laela, just grab a spoon for a quick snack!
Tips:
- One thing to consider buying not just for bringing lunches to work, but for snacks as well, is picking up one of those insulated bags that zips or velcros closed. Don't spring for an expensive one, a cheap, $5 one with flat, removable ice packs will do the trick just fine.
- If you're a Momma, you probably have one of these packs already, because most of the hospitals give them to you with your departure gift when you have your baby.
- You can substitute sour cream for greek yogurt when you want to.
- When you're out of sour cream, and all you want is nachos or tacos, try plain yogurt. You might be surprised how good it is.
- Pack snacks the night before, or better yet, on Sunday, have them all ready for the week, and then you don't have to stress about forgetting things.
*If you have any snack questions or requests, shoot me an email and I'll try my best to help! Stay tuned for more snackolicious recipes!
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