It seems to be the common knowledge that snacking throughout the day is bad for us, and we always feel guilty about doing it. But in actual fact light snacking can do us good and in several ways- but it needs to be healthy!

Having a light, healthy snack between meals can:
• Boost your energy levels to keep you going throughout the day
• Curb your hunger before a meal, to prevent over eating.
• Enrich your diet with all sorts of good nutrients that you may not usually eat at meal times.

Right so now I’ve assured you that you CAN snack I suppose you want some ideas on want to snack on? O.K here are a few quick suggestions for light and healthy snacks. If you want full recipes be sure to check out our recipe book for some more great meals and snacks.

• Right let’s start with the obvious. If you like fresh veggies and can stand chomping on them raw, then do it! I know a lot of you will turn your noses up, and to be honest I wouldn’t choose to take this option either, but dipped in some low-fat dip or even houmous, raw veggie sticks can be pretty tasty.

• Popcorn is great as a substitute for crisps. With a munchable-factor of 10, popcorn can calm those evil urges to eat bag after bag of Quavers and Wotsits. Try to buy the popping corn kernels so you can pop them yourself in a saucepan (with a lid!) on the stove. Popcorn is still tasty without the added salt, sugar, buttered toffee etc. So be strong and don’t add it!

• Smoothies are excellent at filling you up! Though I really despise paying the earth for some mushy fruit in a bottle, so I make my own! I know I’m sure you’re all thinking I’m housewife of the year- I’m definitely not! But it really does only take a few seconds and I’ve found that if I leave the food processor plugged in on the kitchen side I do tend to use it a lot more than when left at the back of the pantry along with the sandwich toaster and the Sodastream! Just chuck in whatever fruit you’ve got (and let’s hope you do have some!) and whiz it up with a little milk or natural yoghurt. I like to chill mine first but if you need a quick fix then enjoy straight away!

• Flapjack! And not the kind you but in a foil tray that’s 50% butter 50% butter! If you can’t get your hands on a healthy version (one made with honey and no added sugar) then make your own. Check out our recipe book for a full recipe. You honestly don’t need to be Gordon Ramsey to make this work- it’s very simple and delicious straight from the oven when it’s all warm and gooey!

• If cakes and biscuits are you thing then fear not! Fig Rolls are a brilliant source of fibre- just watch how many you eat, or you’ll be on the loo for the rest of the day! Scones are also good at satisfying a sweet tooth. Fruit scones are tastier and you could always try baking your own with different small fruits like blueberries and raspberries.

• Have some chocolate! What? You thinking I’m kidding! Ha! Do not be fooled, I’m talking about high quality dark chocolate not scrummy-yummy Mars Bars. Dark chocolate not only contains anti-oxidants but it can also help lower blood pressure! Obviously it does contain a fairly high number of calories so if you are going to blend it into your snacking routine do so moderately and then try to be good elsewhere.

OK so now you’ve got some ideas, next time you feel a snack attack coming on don’t panic. Snacking doesn’t need to be unhealthy, and honestly don’t feel like the worlds worst person for having a chocolate bar once in a while, we all do it and remember “a bit of what you fancy does you good!”

Useful Links

• Our 100% Recipe Book

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 27th, 2007 at 4:52 pm and is filed under Health & Beauty, Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.