Live For Food

So it’s nearly the end of January. All the Christmas chocolate and leftovers are gone. But is your new year’s resolution to eat healthily flagging? I personally am in need of snacking inspiration at this time of year, so that I don’t go back to the biscuit tin. I also want to try and avoid grabbing processed or packaged snacks. Here are my top 15 snacks to grab when hunger strikes that won’t ruin your new year diet and will keep the food you eat fresh and real:

1. Small slice of cheese and chutney on a cracker
2. Banana and natural yoghurt with a drizzle of maple syrup or honey
3. A handful of macadamia nuts and raisins or dried cranberries
4. A hard boiled egg
5. Carrot sticks and flavoured hummus
6. Mixed olives with feta
7. An oatcake spread with cream cheese
8. Peanut butter with celery sticks
9. One slice of wholegrain toast and marmite
10. A handful of dried apricots and figs
11. A fruit smoothie – for example, orange juice, a banana, and a peach
12. A glass of milk
13. Half an avocado with a few prawns and a drizzle of balsamic dressing
14. Small slice of cheese with grapes and apple slices
15. A handful of almonds

It’s true that fresh snacks require more work than grabbing a low fat biscuit or packet of crisps from the supermarket, but the taste is so much better! 

Not all the above snacks need keeping in the fridge. Peanut butter, dried fruit, nuts and crackers could all be kept in your desk drawer at work.

I can definitely recommend buying an insulated lunch bag with mini ice packs for work. I often take a snack that needs to keep cool in the mornings to work and one that doesn’t for the afternoon, and this works well with the mini ice packs.

What other non-packaged healthy snacks would you add to the list?