12 Healthy Snack Options To Help You Choose Your Snacks Wisely

I am not a nutritionist, but I am in my 30's and the mother of a toddler. Here I am sharing a few effective snack options - to help you eat well, and stay healthy!

I am not a nutritionist, but I am in my 30’s and the mother of a toddler. Here I am sharing a few super healthy snack options – to help you eat well, and stay healthy!

These recipes are for those who don’t want to spend much time in the kitchen. We may place a check on eating high calorific food during breakfast, lunch and dinner but we are prone to eat something tasty between the meals.

Here I am going to provide you with a few healthy snack options that can help you to stay energetic throughout the day, while satisfying your taste buds; what’s more, they are pocket friendly too! You can make these snack options quickly during the TV breaks and eat them while you watch your football matches or you can pack them up for office.

  1. Mixed sprouted seeds (gram, wheat, red kidney bean, soyabean, pea, chickpeas, unpolished peanut, any type of unpolished lentils) along with chopped tomatoes, green chillies onion, few drops of mustard oil, few drops of lemon, salt and black pepper. You may also add cucumber, lettuce, Beet root, radish, carrot according to the availability of these vegetables. This will make you feel full and yet very low in calories with lots of dietary fibre.
  2. Dry roast a mixture of nuts like almonds, cashew, peanut, hazel nut, walnut, pistachio, little amount of salt and grab it any time. These nuts provide you energy and contain antioxidants.
  3. A bowl of fruit salad with papaya, guava, apple, mango, banana, different types of grapes, black plum, lychee, different types of citrus fruits – cut into cubes and sprinkle a pinch of black salt and chaat masala according to your taste. These fruits are full of vitamins and increase your body’s resistance/immunity.
  4. A bowl of salad consisting of raw vegetables like cucumber, onions, radish, carrot, tomatoes, cabbage, lettuce, baby corn, baby spinach (you may never imagine raw spinach can taste so good – just give it a try) chopped or sliced with a spoon of mustard oil/extra virgin olive oil and salt. You may wish to add a few herbs like dried or freshly chopped coriander or fenugreek leaves.
  5. Cut into cubes and boil potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, pumpkin, raw papaya, broccoli, mushroom, squash – then toss them in a salt and spice mixture. Garnish with fresh herbs and roasted nuts. Don’t throw away the vegetable stock, add a spoon of flour to thicken it and use it in soups.
  6. Instead of using mayonnaise dip you may use hung yogurt mixed with Indian spices like coriander seed powder, ginger garlic powder, cumin seed powder, and black salt. Hung yogurt can also taste good with rosemary, dill, oregano, dry tomatoes and chilli flakes. You could also experiment with some other options like finely chopped tomatoes, onion, green chillies and Indian spices. Sometimes you may wish to add some sugar to enhance the taste. A fine paste of herbs like coriander along with a tangy option like tomato can also make a delicious dip.
  7. Instead of processed store brought cheese, try some home made paneer.
  8. Roasted papad is a good option to avoid the deep fried chips available in the market. Brush some oil on either sides of a papad and grill it. It ‘almost’ tastes like a deep fried papad. This can be done with sliced potatoes and other vegetables as well. Serve them with a pinch of spice mixture of your choice.
  9. Instead of store bought cakes which contain preservatives, bake a cake on weekends and store it for the rest of the week. You can cut down the quantity of sugar and use whole wheat flour for the cake. Add dried dates, raisins and nuts to enhance the flavour.
  10. Instead of using chocolate syrup or chocolate bars, use chocolate flavoured heath drinks mixed with coffee and voila, we can made cold coffee or coffee mocha.
  11. Instead of using store bought ice cream, put a mixture of frozen yogurt and ripe bananas in the mixer. Then add your favourite flavour and freeze it.
  12. Instead of purchasing energy bars, mix roasted nuts, popped, puffed or rolled rice, oats, ragi, wheat – add caramel or jaggery. The best part is that you can control the sweetness as per your taste. Your very own energy bar is ready. It’s easy to take away to office.

A few things to check on for a healthy life:

  1. Try to confine your oil intake per month within 1 lt. If you are using two types of cooking oil like mustard oil and refined oil then 500ml each.

  2. Try to consume home made foods rather than store bought packet food. I know store bought foods are easily available, come in attractive packets, and are tastier but try to stick to home made food. It will help you to fight obesity and is good for the long term.

  3. Cook in batches and pick up new recipes each month. Nowadays we travel a lot and eat different cuisines. Learn the recipes and recreate them. Cherish the memories of your travel.

  4. Try to make spice mixes for a month. There is a huge choice of spices from all over the world that you can pick.

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  5. Try to eat all the available vegetables, fruits, and herbs of each and every season.

  6. Exercise at least a little each day, at any time convenient to you

  7. Take the trouble to present your food well because, “first you eat with your eyes”.

  8. Drink a lot of water.

It doesn’t mean that you give up eating your favourite foods like chocolate, pizzas, burger, or chips for rest of your life but you can try these recipes for healthy snack options twice or thrice a week. It doesn’t mean that you will achieve a size zero figure overnight but it means that you would have fewer health issues relating to diet. With a diet like this your skin will definitely glow, you will be fit and in good shape.

In short, this is my fitness mantra, and something I have learnt it from my mother. If I inspire a single person to start a healthier life then I believe my goal for writing this article will be successful.

Image via Unsplash

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About the Author

Atrayee Paul mandal

I am a ordinary woman studied in a all girls school. Love to cook, eat, sing, dance, write, travel,drive, sleep, dream. Busy raising my son so left my job in a leading MNC and read more...

13 Posts | 42,391 Views

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