Healthy snacks

[4atHome]

Deleted 

Edited February 24, 2021 by 4atHome

[mathnerd]

Hummus made from scratch with cut veggies for dipping 

dry fruits: Trader Joe’s has a lot of varieties 

Guacamole with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and cilantro added: apply on toast made from healthy bread

plain Greek yoghurt with berries 

sweet potato fries made from scratch 

 

[4atHome]

She does like hummus.

Dried fruits, she will eat apricots and cranberries and cherries, but cranberries have added sugar.  Unsweetened dried cherries have more sugar than gummy bears.  Dried fruits aren't the best because they have the calories but not the water content, so you end up eating more calories than if you just ate the fruit.

I don't think she likes greek yogurt but she does add homemade low sugar jam to regular mountain high plain yogurt and likes it.

She doesn't like sweet potato fries.

 

I guess I'm looking for something I can fill a canister with and say "Snack on this" without too much guilt.  Something that she can adjust to snacking on now and it would transition well when she is burning fewer calories.

[NancyPrince]

We make our own smoothies, pretty much on a daily basis. The kiddos get the chance to pick their flavor and I get the satisfaction knowing that organic honey is pretty much the only added ingredient.  I toss in a spoonful of flaxseed and they never even know. Good luck!

[wendyroo]

Beef jerky - you can easily make your own to tailor salt level and flavor profile

Pre-made, frozen burritos in whole wheat tortillas - made with beans, veggies and some cheese

Egg "muffins" - pretty much scrambled eggs with mix-ins, baked in mini muffin tins kept in the fridge (my kids eat them cold)

Roasted chickpeas - my kids just like them salted and baked until crunchy, but there are a ton of flavor options

Other healthier muffin recipes - like some made with oatmeal or quinoa in place of most of the flour

Flavorful pre-cooked meats (like grilled BBQ chicken) - just store in fridge in bite sized pieces for easy snacking

Does she like cottage cheese - can be served with pineapple, berries, etc.

Hard boiled eggs - I store them pre-peeled in the fridge for several days at a time

Low-sodium lunch meat

Black Bean Brownies

Cocktail shrimp? - my kids would rather starve to death, but it would fit the bill

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bites

 

[4atHome]

@wendyroo , thanks.

The precooked meats is a good idea! She loves grilled teriyaki chicken, even cold, but I could make a lower salt version. And I think deli turkey would be low sodium?  She would snack on it rolled up.

She likes beef jerky and I have made our own but never low salt.

She likes eggs, but they are high fat, and I think yolks are high iodine.  I'm still unclear on how much iodine she should have in her diet.

I have made roasted chickpeas but cannot recall if she likes them!  I could try them again... hmm thinking curry to go low salt.  She loves curries.  This is a good thing to try to fill a canister and a nice crunchy snack.

She loves cottage cheese but it is high sodium and fat and she may need to drop dairy from her diet.

[wendyroo]

13 minutes ago, 4atHome said:

The precooked meats is a good idea! She loves grilled teriyaki chicken, even cold, but I could make a lower salt version. And I think deli turkey would be low sodium?  She would snack on it rolled up.

I would just read labels. There are low-sodium deli turkey options, but others are quite high. I also saw that Boar's head has a low-sodium roast beef that also isn't too high in fat.

[Ditto]

1 hour ago, wendyroo said:

Egg "muffins" - pretty much scrambled eggs with mix-ins, baked in mini muffin tins kept in the fridge (my kids eat them cold)

This looks wonderful.  My teen would love them.   Can I put them in regular muffin tins?  What temp and roughly how long do you bake them for? 

[wendyroo]

5 minutes ago, Ditto said:

This looks wonderful.  My teen would love them.   Can I put them in regular muffin tins?  What temp and roughly how long do you bake them for? 

Sure, we make ours as mini-muffins because my kids are still little. We also keep our fillings and toppings very simple, but the sky is the limit.

One Version. Another.

[Ditto]

2 minutes ago, wendyroo said:

Sure, we make ours as mini-muffins because my kids are still little. We also keep our fillings and toppings very simple, but the sky is the limit.

One Version. Another.

Then regular tins will be a good size for my teen.  Thank you for the recipes! 

[Farrar]

Popcorn? You can make it without much oil and very lightly salted. You can definitely fill a cannister with it.

[4atHome]

1 hour ago, Farrar said:

Popcorn? You can make it without much oil and very lightly salted. You can definitely fill a cannister with it.

She's been saying she wishes she could have popcorn, but she can't with braces.

[City Mouse]

Boar’s Head brand deli meat has several options that are lower sodium. I regularly buy their no salt added turkey breast. I get it cut thick, and it tastes just like home cooked turkey. They also have reduced sodium cheeses. In general,   cheese is the lowest sodium of any of the grocery store cheeses.

What about just extras or left-overs of your regular meals? 
 

[popmom]

Why does having a high metabolism mean she has to restrict fat? I'm not trying to be contrary--just wondering what I'm missing. 

ETA: I think I'm understanding maybe. Is the crazy high metabolism creating a big appetite? If that is the case, you might NOT want to restrict fat because it's satisfying. Also, I think of high carb low fat snacks as spiking blood sugar--which can make you hungrier a couple of hours later. I don't know. Just a thought. For reference I have 2 dds with a binge eating disorder dx. So in that case it does matter if I have nuts in the house because the calories are so concentrated and before recovery they had very little to no control over portion sizes--a jar of peanuts would be gone in 2 days, if that.  If you have typical kid with non disordered eating, I can't really understand why eggs would be off limits. 

What type of doctor made these suggestions?

Snack suggestions: has anyone mentioned cheese sticks? You can get them low fat, too. String cheese--not the deep fried mozzarella sticks. 

Also, I apologize if I'm way off base here. Feel free to say its none of my business. 🙂

Edited January 24, 2021 by popmom

[4atHome]

@popmom

She has a huge appetite now, but her metabolism is about to drop due to meds and she will need to curb her eating or she'll have huge weight gain.  Dr just said to be careful and steer her away from high caloric foods.  I told her I got a flat of yogurt at costco, and she warned me to make sure dd only ate one at a time.  I'm just trying to have better habits established before her system slows.

Eta: Oh, and dr is endocrinologist.  Eggs have high iodine content.  Part of why I'm watching sodium also.  Dairy has iodine and bromine.  She's not a big cheese eater anyway.

[popmom]

@4atHome 👍got it. That’s hard. A registered dietitian/nutritionist might be something to consider. Our nutritionists have been integral in my dds’ ED recovery. They work as a team w our counselor and psychiatrists. Maybe there would be one that would be willing to team up w the endocrinologist. Take a little of the burden off of you to figure it all out—especially if you are having to be careful of iodine and bromine. 

Edited January 24, 2021 by popmom

[catz]

I will say both my kids ate a ton of popcorn when they had braces.  They were just mindful of hard kernels.  My kids were older when they got braces and I couldn’t really enforce those rules easily.  They also had hard fruits and veggies, we’d just cut them up smaller.  

[Selkie]

Frozen blueberries or mixed berries make a satisfying snack and are ultra healthy.

We keep bowls of prepared salad greens in the fridge along with loads of cut up veggies and fruits and a variety of healthy dressings, and we snack on that.

Roasted sweet potatoes (either whole or cubed) are another thing we always keep on hand in the fridge.

Edited January 24, 2021 by Selkie

[lynn]

maybe focus on protein snacks.  Plains yogurt with honey, berries or even jam.  beef jerky, protein bars, boiled eggs, 

[mmasc]

I recently saw an video on making dehydrated apple chips. They cored and thinly sliced them, tossed with a bit of coconut oil and pumpkin pie spice, and then air fried. What about something like that?

also, we recently discovered a good yogurt that’s higher protein but doesn’t taste as thick and tart as Greek normally is. It’s called Noosa greek high protein. My ds who normally dislikes greek yogurt really likes it. It’s creamy and sweet. It does have sugar though. 

[LastMan]

Hi, would like to recommend as honey snacks honey granola bars. It is extremely delicious! Ingredients:

2 bananas; 1 1/4 cup - almond butter; 3 1/2 cups - rolled oats; 2 1/2 cups - sesame seeds; 1 1/2 cups - roasted pecans; 3/4 cup - roasted pumpkin seeds; 2/3 cup - raisins; 1/2 cup - flax seeds; 1 1/8 cups - sunflower seeds; 1/2 cup - brown sugar; 3/4 cup + 2 T – honey.

Preheat oven to 320°F. Mix all ingredients by hand and empty the bowl on a sheet pan covered with parchment paper. Roll out the granola with a rolling pin, making them as thin as possible. Bake at 320°F until brown and caramelized. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then remove from pans and cut in bars. Serve and enjoy!

[LastMan]

By the way, we purchase honey on https://ahoney.com. Excellent service and fast delivery! They have their own apiaries, the honey is 100% pure, organic & natural. You can find a huge variety of honey: acacia, linden, sainfoin, rosemary, blossom, wildflower, mountain, buckwheat… I assure you, the products quality are at a high level!