Healthy Snack Ideas

Sometimes participants of our healthy weight loss program  at Green Mountain are surprised by the fact that we have snacks available frequently.  Snacking can be a strategy that helps us manage between-meal hunger and makes dealing with main meals a little easier.  I always get requests for a list of healthy snack ideas, so I thought I’d share some snack-planning guidelines.

1.  If a snack needs to carry you for 2 or more hours, consider making it a snack that contains a source of: carbohydrate, protein, fat, fiber, and a food that is high in fluid.

2.  At Green Mountain at Fox Run we usually include a full serving of a carbohydrate-based food (starch, fruit, milk/yogurt) and about 1 oz of a protein containing food (nuts, seeds, nut butters, egg, cheese, beans/hummus).

3.  If you are having a snack that only needs to carry you for a short time frame, such as an hour or less, you may not need to balance it.  Ex. having a piece of fruit before an hour-long workout or eating an ounce of cheese while cooking dinner.

Here are some examples of snack combinations we like:

• 1/2 cup hummus or bean dip and a handful of cut vegetables, baked pita chips, or whole grain crackers
• fruit with an ounce of hard cheese or a handful of nuts/seeds
• 1/2 cup fat-free cottage cheese with salsa and pumpkin seeds
• banana, pear, or apple slices with nut butter (peanut butter, almond, cashew, etc…)
• fruit & yogurt smoothie (add nut butter or ground flax seed for a fat source if the yogurt is fat free)
• 1 cup of vegetable, bean, and grain/pasta soup
• 1/2 a sandwich: meat & veggie
• small bowl of cereal with toasted almonds
• Ants on a Log: celery sticks or carrot stick with peanut butter or cream cheese and raisins
• homemade “energy bar”: whole grain dried cereal mixed with nuts, dried fruit, nut butter and honey or maple syrup – press into pan, refrigerate and cut into bars
• apple with our famous Green Mountain Truffle
• small portions of left-over dinner foods: lasagna, grain salad with protein (cheese, bean, diced meat), green salad with protein & dried fruit, baked potato with cottage cheese, small bean & cheese quesadilla, etc.)

Today the chefs are making “Hummus Tacos” which are a lettuce leaf filled with a southwestern-style hummus, topped with shredded carrots, diced peppers, diced cucumbers, & home-made salsa.  They are really delicious, even if they are a little messy to eat!

What interesting snack combinations do you like?