Day 14 of our 30-day nutrition challenge is to make a healthy snack.
Making it to lunch without a snack can be tricky, but it’s even more tricky going from lunch to dinner without a snack. Having a healthy snack on hand before your energy crashes means you’re less likely to impulse buy a high sugar snack.
Healthy snacks are great for:
- Helping avoid the mid-afternoon energy slump
- Avoid craving sugary snacks
- Maintain a healthy weight
Protein should be a key ingredient, keeping you fuller for longer. Ideally, we shouldn’t need to snack within 3 hours of eating, so for most people it will be the mid-afternoon snack that lets us down. If you’re struggling mid-morning and energy is crashing perhaps the protein content at breakfast wasn’t high enough. Here’s some of our favourite snack recipes which are quick with simple short list of ingredients that can tempt you away from reaching into the biscuit tin, leaving you feeling a little more virtuous:
Chocolate energy balls (nut & date free)
- ½ cup nut/seed butter (or tahini)
- ½ cup ground almonds
- 5 cups desiccated coconut
- ¼ cup protein powder (optional)
- 3 tbsp oil
- ½ cup chia seeds
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tbsp ginger power
- ¼ cup raw cacao powder
Add all ingredients to a bowl (except 2 tbsp raw cacao powder) and mix until dough like consistency. Roll the mixture into golf ball size balls. Roll the mixture in the reserved 2 tbsp cacao powder. Place in refrigerator to set.
Yogurt & granola
- 6 tbsp natural (not flavoured) preferably live yogurt
- 2 tbsp granola
- 1 x handful blueberries (or any red/purple berry fruit)
Add yogurt to bowl. Top with granola, and sprinkle on berries.
Hummous & crudités
- 2 x tbsp hummous
- 1 x peeled carrot/stick celery/red pepper
Dip crudités into hummous for a light healthy snack.
Nutritionist smoothie
Recipe on our website.
Pesto frittatas
- ½ courgette (in thin slices using a peeler)
- 1tbsp pesto
- 2 x large eggs
- ½ tsp olive oil
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Coat inside of two deep muffin cake tin holes with olive oil. Line each muffin hole with courgette. Whisk egg and pesto with fork and pour on top courgette. Bake for 20mins.
Mini falafel burgers
- 200g can chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
- 1 x small Spanish onion finely chopped
- 1 x garlic clove crushed/chopped
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Combine all ingredients into food processor and blend into thick paste. Preheat grill to medium heat, and roll small handfuls of the falafel mix into balls then flatten into burger shape. Place burgers onto baking tray and grill for 4-5 min on each side
Trail mix
- 3 x handfuls of mixed natural nuts
- 1 x handful mixed nuts
- 1 x handful dried cranberries/dried fruit
- 1 x handful coconut shavings
Combine all in an air-tight jar and give a good shake.
Nutty chicken skewers
- 2 x tbsp almond/cashew butter
- 2 x chicken breasts
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 2 tsp lime/lemon juice
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- ½ cucumber
- Sweet chilli sauce (to serve)
Preheat oven 200c. Combine nut butter, curry powder, lime/lemon juice, soy sauce in a bowl. Cut chicken into strips and add to nut butter mix. Mix well. Place coated strips on baking tray into oven for 10 mins checking chicken is well cooked before serving.
You can also find out more health snack ideas in our Improving energy & concentration webinar and our Bitesize Nutrition podcasts. If you’re new to podcasts you can listen free without registration on your phone or PC by clicking on the podcast link or find Bitesize Nutrition on iTunes & Spotify.
Don’t forget to let us know what you think using #nutritionchallenge30
A reminder:
- The information in this article is for educational purposes and should not replace medical advice.
- The information is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition.
- If you have a diagnosed medical condition, you should consult a doctor before making any major changes to your diet, and;
- Some supplements may interact with medications and you should check with your GP before commencing any supplement programme.
