Tried and Tested: Health Kick #3 - Healthy Snacking

Its all very well trying to plan ahead for your lunch and evening meals, but sometimes during the day you need a quick (but healthy) snack to keep you going until meal time. Here are a few things that I've been eating recently, to help curb the hunger and give me a healthy boost.

Protein Balls
There are many recipes for these on the internet, but I found that this recipe, from the The Healthy Maven, works for me, and you can easily modify it based on what you have in the cupboard. Great for when you've got a bit of a sweet tooth, so probably shouldn't to eat too regularly, but its nice knowing what every single ingredient you've put into the mix is.

Nuts and Raisin Pot
I've got a little plastic Tupperware pot, that I keep in my hand bag - its got a mix of raisins, pecans, cashew nuts, Brazil nuts and walnuts. The ingredients don't really 'go off' or need to be kept in a fridge, so its fine if you don't manage to eat it for a couple of weeks!

Boiled Eggs
At the start of the week, I boil a few eggs to take with me to work, I keep them in the fridge, and at about 11am when I'm starting to get hungry, having a hard boiled egg really satisfies hunger pangs, and its great to have protein early in the morning too, as its when your body needs it most.

Dried Fruit and Yoghurt
Its great for a snack but will also be a tasty breakfast. Add a handful of dried apricots, dates, prunes and figs into a pan, cover it with cold water and bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for half an hour. Then leave the pan over night for the water to carry on absorbing into the fruit. It also creates a syrup that is great when you add a couple of spoonfuls of the fruit mix to some natural yoghurt.

Peanut Butter
This isn't the best snack, but when I'm very hungry and just can't wait half an hour until my dinner is ready, I eat a tea spoonful of 'healthy' good quality peanut butter. It gives me enough of a boost, but hopefully isn't too loaded up with sugar.

E x