Snack City, Snack-snack City
You guys already know the love I have for popcorn. It is the superior snack, I don’t care, fight me!
Potato chips try to be as versatile as popcorn but it can’t be a sweet snack no matter how hard it tries!!
We often talk about snacks and I needed to finally put all the ones I recommend down on paper—and by paper I mean a blog.
Heeeeerrre we gooooo
SALTY
Popcorn— the pre-popped stuff* with all the chip flavors you can imagine. Did you know a serving size is around 3 cups?! THREE CUPS! You can mindlessly eat and entire bag of chips but I bet you cant eat that much popcorn without getting full.
Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, shelled pistachios—what can I say about these three? Shelled nuts and seeds are good for giving you something to do while snacking and eventually you are going to get tired of cracking and spitting out shells while getting the satisfaction of having something salty.
Beef Jerky—homemade is best as usual, but it is a protein snack so I am good with it.
Homemade chips—yes, chips are going to get some love. The issue with store bought chips is the amount of processing they go through. So even if you make your own chips and deep fry them (baking is better), they are still going to be less processed than that bag of Doritos.
Fruit with tajin seasoning or salt— nectarines and watermelon with a lil dash of pink Himalayan salt is chef’s kiss*. Tajin, if you don’t know, is a combination of traditional Mexican spices, salt, and lime. This on any fruit is just going to blow your taste buds’ mind.
Carrots/celery with Hummus— low calorie crunchy devices to put delicious, nutrient packed protein source into your mouth!
Chickpea puffs— these kind of look and taste like Cheeto puffs. They have that airy texture to them and come in a ton of flavors. These are great because a serving has around 9g of protein. And even though they are technically a carb source, they aren’t all carbs. Been seeing them more and more in convenience stores as well so the options at 7-11 aren’t so limiting.
Cheese—super random but munching on some cheese really curbs hunger pangs.
Rice Cakes- plain ones are a good crunchy option to replace chip cravings but also can be dressed up with peanut butter and a couple chocolate chips. Super versatile.
SWEET
Fruit—always
Popcorn—the sweet, pre-popped stuff. C’mon, you already know.
Protein balls—definitely something I rather you make at home because store bought is either going to have a shit ton of sugar or a shit ton of fake sugar. Plus they are expensive as hell, for no good reason.
Homemade trail mix— what’s a good trail mix without some sweet stuff? This is quite easy to do in the bulk section of the grocery and is going to be way cheaper than buying a pre-made mix. And, bonus, you can put all the stuff you actually like instead of picking out the raisins.
Dried fruits—these are a bit more easy to go over board on because sometimes the whole fruit is dried (like apricots) and we don’t realize we are 20 deep until our stomachs hurt but still a good option, generally speaking.
Spoonful of peanut butter— classic kid snack, still effective in your adult years.
Yogurt— a lot of brands do load it with sugar so a plain yogurt that you can sweeten with honey, agave or maple syrup and some fruit would be best.
Sweet rice cakes—you can get the savory ones too, OR, hear me out, the plain ones. Then you can dress them up savory or sweet with a nut butter or chicken salad. Super versatile yet so underrated.
Make a little charcuterie board of some various flavors to satisfy all the taste buds.