I think even the most devout homesteaders among us fall prey sometimes to the harried pace of modern life. Despite our attempts to appreciate the good life and eat slow food, there are times when there just isn’t much time. Thankfully with some forethought those busy times can just be seasons of our life. Goat kidding, fairs, summer harvest or canning can throw a kink in home cooked meals sometimes. Here are some healthy snack ideas that we can grab to keep us running, even when the chickens are running loose through the garden!
Healthy Snack Ideas For When You’re In a Hurry
Over the past couple of years I’ve started being mindful of how much sugar and wheat I’ve been eating and trying to reduce it. It seems that all the quick and easy foods tend to have one or both of those ingredients, so it’s nice when I can think of healthy snack ideas that don’t. Here are some of my favorites!
Apple Slices and Peanut Butter
Apple slices and nut butter is super yummy, and super fast. If you don’t want peanut butter, this is good with almond or cashew butter too. If you cut the apple slices ahead of time sprinkle a little bit of lemon juice on them to slow down the oxidation process that turns the apples brown.
Mixed Nuts
When we lived in Oregon, I would sometimes keep a stash of granola bars in my car for the kids. Living in Texas makes that impractical, as the bars get super hot and sticky. Thankfully nuts don’t melt! Nuts are also fairly easy to pack in a diaper bag or purse if you need to run errands all day or just like to have a backup plan on hand at all times.
Veggies and Dip
Carrot sticks, cucumber slices, grape tomatoes, or similar vegetables are not necessarily my favorite food, but they do make good dipping medium! My favorite dips are ranch, hummus, or sour cream mixed with a bit of salsa. (Here’s how to make your own sour cream). What are some of your favorite dips?
Cheese
So many delicious options for cheese! I’m a huge cheese fan! You can cut it into sticks, cubes, or slices. You can mix and match flavors or go with your all time favorite again and again. (Havarti, anyone?). I just skip the cracker and spread some butter and jam right onto cheddar slices. Click here for an easy raspberry jam recipe.
Bars
Like I mentioned before, I used to be a fan of granola bars because they are quick and easy. Once I started cutting back on carbs that quickly became unrealistic. Almost all prepackaged bars have a lot of sugar in them, even if they are high in protein. Thankfully, there are more options coming available all the time.
Cottage Cheese
Cottage cheese is a super quick snack that is very filling. It also goes well with fresh fruit. When I was a kid, one of my favorite foods was applesauce and cottage cheese. Now I tend to eat it with some sugar free jam on top.
Cream Cheese Egg
This next snack is a bit unusual, but I eat it quite frequently. Soften about a tablespoon of cream cheese in the microwave, scramble an egg in it, and microwave until the egg is cooked (about one minute for me). Next top it with whatever sounds good. I like butter and cinnamon. It can be sweet or savory!
Tuna Salad
Canned tuna and mayonnaise don’t HAVE to make a sandwich. You can eat it on spinach as a salad, wrapped in lettuce, on top of cheese, or even with a spoon. Canned chicken is also good.
Zucchini Pizzas
Now this is less of a healthy snack idea, and more of a healthy lunch idea, but it’s pretty cool so I’ll include it anyway. Because honestly, we NEED ways to eat up all the zucchini! Here’s the official recipe, but the gist of it is fry the sliced zucchini, top with pizza toppings, melt the cheese, and eat.
Avocado
I often think to grab a piece of fruit and eat it, but I don’t usually do the same with avocados. It’s a shame, really, because with some salt and a spoon, avocado makes a pretty good snack.
Carrot Fries
Roasted vegetables go great with meals (here are some recipes for you!), but they also can make good snacks. When we have extra carrots, I like to chop them into french fry shape, drizzle some oil on them, and bake them until they are soft. Eat them like french fries! This also works with sweet potatoes!
Green Smoothie
Spinach, yogurt or kefir, and frozen fruit. Bam! Best snack ever.
Yogurt
You don’t have to put that yogurt in a smoothie for a good snack. Yogurt is high protein and of course has all those beneficial bacteria for good gut health. If you want to make your own, there are even varieties available that don’t need a yogurt maker to set up.
Hard Boiled Eggs
Did you ever read the children’s book, Bread and Jam for Frances? It’s a cute story about kid’s tendency to want to eat the same thing over and over, but at the end, Frances ends up enjoying a spectacular lunch packed by her mother. I think we all need Frances’s mother to pack lunches for us. And include the hardboiled egg with a little cardboard shaker of salt please!
Ice Cream
Whaaaaaat? Ice cream as a snack? OH YEAH! If there is one food in the world that qualifies as my favorite all time food it would be ice cream. Get yourself an ice cream maker, try out some low sugar homemade ice cream recipes, and you too can enjoy a healthy snack disguised as a dessert!
Ham Roll Ups
I like to buy a bunch of Christmas hams when they come on sale, toss them in the freezer, and then we have really good ham for lunches throughout the year. Just like the tuna, you don’t even need bread. Just spread some mayonnaise right onto your ham, add cheese and spinach and eat!
Glass of Milk
Milk is super fast and super filling. It’s the original protein drink! And if you’re drinking your own homegrown goat milk, even better! It’s a like a meal in a cup.
Leftovers
Totally not cool or awesome (unless it’s pizza…) but leftovers are a great way to reduce waste, skip cooking, and if you made healthy food the first time, are a good healthy snack.
Beef Sticks
Kind of like jerky, but less chewy, I recently discovered beef sticks. The funny thing about these is that my 11 month old goes crazy for them.
Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate isn’t really going to fill you up as a snack, but it IS healthy! It is delicious though. Unless you are weird, like my husband and third daughter. In that case, can I eat yours?
What’s Your Favorite Healthy Snack?
Here’s the list of my favorite snacks! Do you have any you’d like to add?
There are so many great snack ideas out there, but I know sometimes I don’t always think of them when I’m running around and scurrying from thing to thing (much like this foster kitten that is currently rampaging my living room as I write this).
How do you plan ahead for those harried days? Share in the comments below!
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