Top Ten {Tuesday}: Healthy Snacks

I’m not a big snacker. Wait. I take that back. I AM a big snacker. I could eat break-and-bake cookies, brownies and oreos all day long. But because I recognize my lack of self-control in the snacking department, I do NOT buy snacks. If I don’t have a cookie to eat, I’ll just usually grab a glass of water instead. I don’t have self-control at home, but I do have it at the grocery store.

However, with two little kids, you gotta have snacks. Asa loves to say “nack? nack?” when he gets up from his nap. So, what’s a mama to do? I’ve had to figure out healthy snacks from stuff we already have. I’m not going to succumb to organic oreos and boxed organic chocolate milk as a snack. I need REAL food for my kiddos.

So, here are our Top Ten Favorite Healthy Snacks. Well, as healthy as I know how to be…

1. Granola I am a new convert to homemade granola. I’ve always done granola bars and added store-bought granola to yogurt and even bought the dark chocolate granola cereal from Cascadian Farm. But homemade? It seemed too hard. So, we used a recipe from Katie at Kitchen Stewardship’s new ebook, Healthy Snacks on the Go. Lydia, Asa and I sat around the kitchen table, I gave them the ingredients, we mixed and poured. And that was all. When we were done they were like, “That’s it? That’s all were cooking?” It was as easy as pouring cereal. I’m not kidding. Asa adores it and every time he sees the container of granola he says, “G-nanna! G-nanna!”

Here he is stuffing it in his face. We’ve eaten plain, as cereal and now our new favorite way is to take a banana and dip it in the granola. It sticks nicely and is a delicious crunchy treat!

2. Popcorn

This may be the single most delicious food on the planet. It has been a standard in my diet for years. Literally. When I was in High School we ate Popcorn and M&Ms for dinner. After Les and I got married, I realized I had married a popcorn snob and he would not eat microwave popcorn but would only make it in a pot. We graduated from a pot to a Popcorn Popperand for some time had been using oil. After reading Healthy Snacks To Go, I took her suggestion and cooked it with BUTTER. Uhm, hello. Why have I not done this before? It is the best tasting stuff on the planet. And yes, melt some butter to pour on top, too.

3. Fruit & Cheese

This is really our top choice for snacks at home. I usually cut up a piece of cheese (they both like every kind of cheese–extra sharp, parmesan reggiano, etc.) and then couple it with a piece of fruit–apple, grapes, banana, whatever is around the house. It’s a nice full snack with lots of flavor!

4. Portable Fruit

I don’t know why but portable fruit gets me. I think it’s so creative. What’s portable fruit? You know, bananas, apples, clementines, kiwi and other fruit you can just throw in a diaper bag until you’re ready to eat it. I know most fruit seems portable, but think about throwing grapes in your diaper bag. Or a grapefruit.

5. Hummus

Long live hummus! I don’t know when I was introduced to hummus but is a staple in our house. We make hummus sandwiches, eat Mediterranean style with naan for lunch and of course dip EVERYTHING in it. Just one little tablespoon and some veggies, or fruit or bread makes a fantastic and yummy snack. I usually buy the Sabra’s Roasted Pinenut Hummus in the deli at the grocery store. But Daddy makes the yummiest hummus so I finally bought some tahini to make my own! Won’t you be impressed?

6. Pretzels

OK. I’m not sure if these are really healthy but they are a great snack. I can give Lydia five tiny pretzels and she’s satisfied. They’re crunchy, salty and easy to hold. They only have 8 ingredients, all of which are actual words. So, I feel like they should be ok. Plus, Asa calls them “cackers” which is just funny.

7. Dried Fruit

Raisins. Apricots (thanks to Vanessa for reminding me of these!). Cherries. Cranberries. Raisins. And more raisins. The kids adore dried fruit. Especially raisins. Clearly. Plus, they come in little boxes which make them extremely portable! You just have to watch the ingredients and make sure they don’t add sugar or high fructose corn syrup.

8. Milk

My kids are addicted to milk. I think it stems from when they were infants. If either one of them gets upset or hurt they ask for milk. And if we literally have nothing to snack on in the house, I give them a glass of milk and they are happy. In fact, Asa would rather drink than eat any day. I could still be nursing him…

9. Biscuits

This is a new one. So new I just made my first batch last night. And I made them with spelt flour! Are you so impressed? I don’t even know what spelt is but I’ve read about it, found it at the store and used it to make Spelt Biscuits from Healthy Snacks To Go. And even though it smelled like dirt (at first, when I opened the bag) I can tell you that these things are divine! It kinda reminds me of a whole-wheat version of The Flying Biscuit’s biscuits. I dipped mine in apple butter and I may have eaten three…

10. Raw Carrot

My kids think raw carrots are the most fun thing ever. I don’t buy baby carrots anymore after I learned they were just cut out of real carrots. *shudder* So, the kids think they are bunny rabbits chomping on a big carrot. Lydia actually gets upset when I cook carrots for dinner, “Mommy! Can’t I have a crunchy carrot?!”

So, in case you didn’t know, this list was inspired by Kitchen Stewardship’s new ebook, Healthy Snacks to Go! I told you about the 3 recipes I tried but there are tons more—including peanut butter balls, wheat thin knock offs and granola bars. I’m so excited to try some of these!

If you’d like your own ebook all you gotta do is buy one. It’s only $6.95. (Come on.) OR you could win one here! Katie is blessing TWO happy readers with a free ebook today! You know the drill:

You MUST leave a comment telling me your FAVE healthy snack (or not healthy, whatevs).

You MAY leave an additional comment for each of the following: (1) clicking over to Kitchen Stewardship and marveling at her vast knowledge, (2) picking out the recipe you really want to try first in Healthy Snacks to Go, (3) Tweeting “I’m gonna win @kitchenstew’s new ebook, Healthy Snacks to Go from @oohamanda http://bit.ly/ohsnacks #toptentues” OR if you facebook, update your status with something equally awesome. (4)If you do some other amazing thing like wear a Kitchen Stewardship Tshirt or make a spelt biscuit in the shape of my head, you might get an extra entry for that, too.

**UPDATED: I’ve got a coupon code for 25% off Healthy Snacks To Go! Just enter OHAMANDA when you check out! WOOT! (expires June 4, 2010)**

And of course, Top Ten Tuesday participants get an automatic additional entry, too!

NOW. It’s YOUR turn…

Got a fun Top Ten list to share? Just POST it on your blog. LINK to moi in your post. PASTE your Top Ten’s URL below. Then start visiting, tweeting, stumbling and otherwise LOVING the rest of the Top Ten {Tuesday} participants. If you need some help just click over to my Top Ten {Tuesday} info page!