Healthy Snacks for the Whole Family

It is Important to Snack

Many think that eating snacks is what kills your diet and ruins your tough work, but that isn’t always true. Actually, many eating plans encourage snacking.

Eating only 3 meals each day is an outdated plan of attack when dieting. When you eat a few tiny meals every day. your body is stoked all day and you use up more calories.

More calories burned equals more weight lost. Snacking play an essential part in this equation. By eating something mid-morning and mid-afternoon, you keep the hunger in check. If you can get ahead of those hunger pains, you’ll always feel satisfied and never deprived.

Eating Snacks Helps Curb Over-Eating

If you ate breakfast at 9 and are waiting till one o’clock for lunch, you’ll probably be very hungry when you do sit down to eat. Having a little break between your meals helps you to eat less at lunch as you are not as starving. You can control your portion sizes better than if you were starving.

Healthy Snack Ideas

These are some healthy treat ideas you can buy or make at home to satisfy everybody’s tastes.

* Vegetables and dip

This is a great snack that you can munch on while watching the basketball play-offs or a horror movie. Select your favorite raw veg and use fat free vegetarian dip or perhaps hummus to add a bit of flavor.

* Fruit Fruit

Eating fresh fruit is always a terrific idea. For one, it helps to curb the sweet tooth with its natural sweetness. Eating the entire fruit also provides more fiber for your diet. Fiber keeps you feeling full and satisfied longer than eating a candy bar for a snack. If you can, invest in a food dehydrator and create easy-to-carry dried fruit nibbles to eat whenever you want a boost.

* Boiled eggs

Eggs aren’t only for breakfast. Carry a pair with you on a long trip. They’re packed with protein. Protein at each meal, especially breakfast, will fight the longings better than anything.

* Trail Mix

Make this at home and carry it anywhere. Store purchased is acceptable, but it can contain additional calories or ingredients that are not particularly healthy. Home-made trail mix only contains what you like. Fix enough for one week at a time and store.

Try peanuts, granola, dried fruit, raisins, almonds, dark chocolate pieces and seeds.

The most simple snacks are almost always the absolute best. It does not take a great deal to fill you up and keep you going between meals. Snacking healthy can be good for the entire family.

Easy and Healthy Snack Recipes

Take a Dip

Kids love anything they can dip! A baggie full of carrot and celery sticks, cucumber and bell pepper slices, sugar snap peas and cherry tomatoes will disappear like magic if there’s a tub of dip to go with them.

Make some ranch dressing using low fat ingredients, or make a batch of nutritious hummus, bean dip or salsa.

Baked tortilla chips and whole wheat crackers or pita triangles are perfect, nutritious and kid-pleasing accompaniments for dips, too.

Sliced fruit takes on a whole new appeal as well when it’s accompanied by a sweet, creamy dip. Good fruit dips include flavored yogurt, applesauce, low fat sour cream sweetened with honey or brown sugar, and caramel ice cream topping.

Healthy Trail Mix

Trail mix can be a really healthy snack food if you choose the right ingredients when you’re making it at home. This simple recipe relies on a set of truly healthy ingredients. Combine equal parts white raisins, raw almonds, raw sunflower seeds and dried pineapple. Make sure that the pineapple is organic, unsulfured, unsweetened dried pineapple. Mix together completely. Enjoy your healthy snack!

Be Constructive

Let kids construct their own snacks. You’ll keep them occupied and they might be more likely to sample whatever nutritious foods they’re working with.

Fruit Kabobs: Stick melon balls, berries, pineapple chunks, and cubed peaches, pears or apples onto frilled toothpicks.

Mini Sandwiches: Use crackers or cut-up bread–or give the kids a few slices of bread, lunch meat, and cheese, and a couple of miniature cookie cutters to make tiny, fun-shaped sandwiches.

Pizza: Who can resist pizza? Pizza can be a perfectly healthy snack. Use half an English muffin, a whole pita, or a tortilla as a pizza crust. Let them smear on a bit of bottled tomato sauce, add a light sprinkle of low-fat mozzarella cheese, and then top with chopped vegetables and maybe a bit of lean meat. Heat for a few minutes in the toaster oven or microwave, then cut into triangles for extra kid-appeal.