Easy Snack Recipes
Snacks are mission critical for healthy eating, since most humans need to eat about every 3 to 4 hours! Having easy snack recipes makes it cheaper, healthier, & faster to get the nutrition you need between meals.
Why Snacks Matter
We need healthy snacks for...
maintaining energy throughout your day
recovering more quickly after workouts
maintaining a normal, healthy metabolism
having an emergency back-up if your day gets hectic and you can't sit down for a full meal
Building a Better Snack
A lot of us tend to eat just carbs at our snacks - think fruit, crackers, cereal, and those other easy-to-grab foods. When we do this, we tend to get a sharp increase, then drop in our blood sugar, which in turns leads to hunger, cravings, and crankiness. This graph illustrates this "rollercoaster" effect:
Why Your Snack Needs Protein & Fat
It's super helpful to eat snacks that contain protein and fat because these nutrients help stabilize blood sugar throughout the day.
Remember the rollercoaster up and down curve above? Adding protein and fat to snacks helps smooth this curve, since these nutrients are digested more slowly. Check out the graph below to see what I mean!
Having carbs is still beneficial (this provides quick energy), but you benefit from the balance of the other two macronutrients, as well.
Source: Gestational Diabetes UK
Protein-Rich Easy Snack Recipes
Nuts/seeds + a fruit
Nut ideas: peanuts, cashews, almonds, brazil nuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, mixed nuts, etc.
Seed ideas: sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds (or pepitas)
Fruit ideas: grapes, cherries, pear, apple, banana, berries, orange, 2-3 clementines/mandarins, etc.
Instant oatmeal + peanut butter powder (or normal peanut butter) + chia seeds + cinnamon
Store-bought bars
Luna, RX, + KIND are all relatively high in protein
Homemade bars: 3 Ingredient PB / PB + Quinoa / many more recipes online!
Trail mix
Quesadilla (tortilla + cheese + black beans + salsa --> microwave or bake)
Edamame + sesame seeds + soy sauce (can buy frozen and steam in microwave at home)
Yogurt + topping (high protein cereal like Kashi Go Lean, frozen cherries, chocolate chips, etc.)
Smoothie (ensure there’s some protein in there – you can get this through nut butter, milk (dairy/soy/hemp/pea), Greek yogurt, or protein powder)
Hot chocolate or chocolate milk
A cup of quinoa porridge topped with sunflower seed butter + drizzle of maple syrup
Flavored tuna packet (like Tuna Creations) + whole-wheat crackers
Egg & Quinoa Muffins (dairy-free option: substitute goat cheese, a vegan cheese, or just omit cheese)
Hard-boiled egg + salt/pepper
Guacamole + hemp seeds + sliced bell pepper
Avocado chicken salad + crackers
Whole-grain tortilla + almond butter + banana
