Healthy Snacks during Stressful Times
I recently received a flyer from my son’s college, promoting their “Finals’ Care Packages.” Easy to sign up, pay, and have a package delivered just in the nick of time.
Wow! What a nice thing to do, and one that I’m sure would be appreciated.
Plus, I know doing this would make me feel like a good and caring Mom … and be oh so easy especially when I just really do not have any time to do or make something special.
So I read on. And I read what these exam survival kits are all about.
The Exam Survival Kit offers an assortment of high energy success snacks every student will enjoy. Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes … Nabisco Oreo Cookies, PopCorners Kettle Corn, M&Ms, Skittles, Cheezit Snack Crackers, Snickers and Munchies Peanut butter sandwich (whatever that is).
Now I know we can all use a handful of M&Ms from time to time, but “success snacks?!!!”
Even though the box contains things that we might really enjoy from time to time, even though we also know they are not so healthy for us, the aggregate of this box of sugary and processed food is only going to serve to jack up my son’s blood sugar level and then crash him into a food coma. Not a great formula for staying focused and alert while studying.
Other than the immediate high five of appreciation I might initially receive, I realize I cannot execute on this easy accessible ready to go care package.
And worse, now this idea of an exam survival kit is in my head … and I feel compelled to execute … even though the last thing I want to do at this point is add one more thing on to my “to do” list.
This gets me thinking about what I could do.
And take note, these snack suggestions work well for any of us … not just the college kids preparing for a tough few days of finals.
How about a jar of peanut or almond butter (make sure it’s only pure nuts with no additives), a couple of good chocolate bars (dark chocolate the best and actually good for you) and a disposable knife … for the making of your own personal “Reece’s cup?”
Add 2-3 apples, another perfect vehicle for some peanut butter.
Maybe a block of cheddar cheese … and a box of good crackers. Simple Mills Almond Crackers are a favorite of mine.
And then there’s Trader Joe’s.
If you are lucky enough to have easy access to a Trader Joe’s … you can buy a number of pretty healthy snacks.
There are many options in the nut section. Nuts in general are super healthy for us, and TJs offers different packs of mixed nuts or a bag of cashews or almonds. I recently bought:
Trek Mix with almonds, cashews, pineapple, tart cherries and cranberries
Savory Banana and Nuts trek mix
Everything but the Bagel nut duo with almonds and cashews
Also dried fruit can be a decent snack - like cranberries or apricots. Better yet - go for the dried blueberries. Blueberries are a super brain food.
Pumpkin seeds are also a great “brain” food.
In the cereal/bars aisle - I really like the Date Bars. There is a plain date bar, and a Coconut Chocolate Date Bar. Each contains only five ingredients (The Date bar for example, contains dates peanut butter, peanuts, flaxseed meal, and sea salt). Pretty clean for something bought on a grocery store shelf.
And if you have some time to make something, here is a simple, quick and healthy treat:
No Bake Energy Bites:
1 cup old fashioned oats
2/3 cup toasted shredded coconut
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 cup chocolate chips (semisweet or dark)
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
Stir everything together. Stir all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl until thoroughly combined.
Chill. Cover the mixing bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours, or until the mixture is chilled. (This will help the mixture stick together more easily.)
Roll into balls. Roll into mixture into 1-inch balls.
Serve. Then enjoy immediately! Or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Source: gimmesomeoven.com
It’s always nice to have some healthy or healthier snacks stocked in the pantry or the fridge for those times that we need an energy boost. Find some time when you can to think about your own assortment of healthy snacks and look up recipes for “energy bites.” There’s a load of them out there, and hopefully you’ll find something that just really hits the spot.
One Key Takeaway
For most of us, snacks have become a part of our every day. Especially when we are stressed, mindless eating can easily ensue. So find some time to figure out what your arsenal of healthy snacks looks like. Then you know when you're in need of an energy boost ... you have some good choices in front of you that won't make you crash an hour after eating.