Healthy Snack Ideas

Basic Granola

Serves: 12

2 1/2 cups Quick-cooking rolled oats
1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 cup raw sesame seeds
4 TBSPs margerine
1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt (leave this out if the margerine is salted)
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
1/2 cup raisins

(These are the basic ingredients. You can add other things such as pumkin seeds, flax seeds, cashews, almonds etc. according to your preferences.)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly grease a 13×9x2″ baking dish. In a large bowl combine the oats, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. Spread the mixture in the pan and bake for about 20 minutes stirring occasionally.

In a small saucepan, combine the margerine, brown sugar, honey and salt. Allow it to simmer while stirring until well mixed. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla.

Raise the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Add the wheat germ to the toasted oats mixture. Drizzle the honey mixture over the granola stirring to make sure that everything is evenly coated.

Put the pan back in the oven for five minutes longer or until golden. mix in the raisins and allow the granola to cool a bit in the pan. Use a spatula to break up the big chunks. After its completely cooled store it in an airtight container.

Yields 6 cups.

Healthy snacks can help you to stick with your weight loss plan because they will ensure that you are not starving all of the time. Eating frequent, small portions will help to keep your metabolism fired up and your blood sugar levels even making it less likely that you will feel tempted to make a poor food choice because you are weak from hunger.

Plan ahead and keep a supply of these snacks in your purse or bag, in your desk at work and in oyur cabinets at home. If you have a ready supply of good things to snack on, you won’t even think of grabbing a candy bar or a bag of chips.

Here are a few healthy snack ideas that you can enjoy while losing weight:

- Nuts such as Almonds, and walnuts. Cashews and peanuts have a lot of fat so keep these portions small.

-Seeds such as sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumkin seeds (unsalted)

-Low-fat yogurt or cottage. (Buy it plain and add a sprinkle of ground flax seeds for an Omega 3 fatty acid boost)

-Peanut butter; spread it on a cut up apple, whole grain crackers or just enjoy a spoonful by itself. Enjoy in moderation when dieting as it contains a lot of fat.

-Popcorn popped in an air popper with no butter added is an old standby healthy snack.

-Raw, cut up vegetables with a low or non-fat dressing dip

These are just a few healthy snack ideas that you can try when you are dieting. Make sure to keep these foods around so that when you are hungry you can make good food choices.




When kids come in the door after school the first thing they want to do is eat something. It’s been hours since lunch and they will need a new supply of energy to power them through the homework and after school activities.

With childhood obesity at epidemic levels, it’s clear that not all parents are providing healthy meal and snack options for their kids. The snacks that kids eat should be factored in to their overall caloric intake for the day, but snacks are important in keeping blood sugar levels even and energy levels steady.

Here are some basic tips for stocking your cabinets with healthy snack options for kids:

• avoid most pre-packaged food laden with lots of sugar, fat and salt

• always have a supply of fresh fruits and vegetables on hand

apple slices
bananas
grapes
melon slices

• fruit cups or canned fruit preserved in juice or light syrup (heavy syrup is a lot of added sugar)

• baby carrots, celery, and broccoli served with a low-fat dip (reduced fat ranch dressing works well)

• guacamole and rice cakes or baked pita chips

• low fat, low sugar yogurt served with graham crackers

• air-popped popcorn with no butter

• low fat, low salt pretzels

• low fat granola bars

Make sure that kids eat their afternoon snack as early as possible  so that they don’t impact the child’s appetite for dinner. Keep the calorie count low by controlling the portions so that it doesn’t end up counting as a meal.

Be mindful also of the additional calories in the beverages that they consume along with their snacks. Avoid sugary sodas and juices and encourage them to drink water, lowfat milk or 100% juices that don’t have added sugar.

If you keep a good variety of healthy snacks in the house you’ll be prepared when the hungry children are ready to eat.