Snacking

You know how nutritionists and doctors always tell you to eat 6 meals a day. Three meals plus 3 snacks.

I never got that.

I guess I just wasn't much of a snacker to begin with.... until I started restricting what I ate.

Its funny how ravenous you get for something when you can't have it. So, here is what i have learned .... the more I snack, the less I cheat.

I guess its that whole phenomenon that we call in this house called "Hangry"... you know when you get so hungry you get kind of angry.

And for  me that results in "I don't care how many carbs it has it in, I'm eating it anyway." which turns into "Well, now my blood glucose numbers are already high so who cares." ...and then I eat a cookie.

If there isn't room for hangry eating then I tend to make more rational, thought out decisions about food.

Why is food so emotional??? Seriously. blah.

Some healthy snack ideas:

1. nuts and seeds - almonds are a great super food but pretty much all of them are good.
2. popcorn
3. Hummus- since I don't eat carbs, I dip celery, carrots, or cut up cucumber in my hummus
4. dried fruit - dates are a good choice
5. granola bars - watch this one! I'll have to write a post about reading labels soon but in the meantime... I would avoid the packaged stuff. In our house we call them "Ferris Bars" and I added a quick easy recipe below.
6. cheese - save money and buy a big block of cheese and cut it up into sticks. You can even wrap them individually with plastic wrap if that makes it feel more like the real thing.
7. I love the Healthy Trim Appetite Chews from here . They are a yummy little snack that doesn't affect my blood sugars at all... and the added bonus is that they are supposed to help you burn carbs easier...SWEET!

Whatever it is that you can have readily available to avoid the irrational eating phenomenon... Its worth it to be really intentional about having options for snacks.

In our house, we ALWAYS have Ferris bars on hand.  I usually make 2 big batches at a time, wrap them individually and store them in our Lance cracker container (My husband's name is Lance and he is the one that eats them the most so we thought it was comical.)

Here is the recipe:

7 cups of oats and Rice Krispies (you can use any kind of cereal but watch your labels). I actually double this recipe so I do 7c oats and 7c Rice Krispies..but really whatever ratio that you want works for this recipe

Throw in whatever add ins you want. I don't  like to measure things so its hard to give you an exact amount.... the point is to adapt it to what you like so if you like lots of raisins then put loads of raisins. Here are some other ideas for add ins:

chocolate chips, butterscotch chips...etc..
raisins
chia seeds
goji berries
cinnamon

Just whatever yummy things I have laying around the  house.

In a pan boil 2 cups Honey and 1.5 cups peanut butter and a few spash's of vanilla (I know, I'm so technical - maybe 2 tsp)

Boil is the key word here. It helps the honey harden and hold your bars together.

Mix your honey mixture with your oats mixture.

Line a 9x13 pan with plastic wrap to make it all come up easier, pour it in and refrigerate.

VOILA you have yummy granola bars that you can feel great about giving to your toddler (and for yourself to snack on too!)