Lauren Ambrose is a director at a school textbook publisher, where she edits and writes English language arts educational materials for middle- and high-school students.
She has previously written for Seventeen, Mirabella, and Fit magazines. When she's not inspecting manuscripts, she can usually be found pouring over restaurant menus and recipes and carefully planning her next meals. Lauren prefers the term "foodie" to "food-obsessed" and thinks that snacks are always better when smothered in dark chocolate.
Snack Review: Scrack’s Griss Pomodoro e Basilico (Tomato Basil)
I recently spent time in Italy, where, not surprisingly, I ate really well. One of the things that struck me most about the food was its simplicity.
Italians generally aren’t into complicated preparations—no fancy sous-vide cooking methods or heavy sauces; they prefer to just use a few high-quality, fresh ingredients, and let those ingredients speak for themselves. For example, to make a delicious margherita pizza, Italians basically just use flour, yeast, salt, olive oil, tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella. Forget the processed cheese blends and jarred sauces we use in the U.S.; they’re all about natural flavors and goodness.
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Justin’s Peanut Butter and Almond Butter Squeeze Packets
Come on, ’fess up: How many of you can’t buy peanut butter because you know that once you open it, you won’t be able to get your finger out of the jar?
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If chocolate is good for you, and almonds are good for you, then chocolate-covered almonds must be good for you… right?
I love anything coated in chocolate—chocolate-covered nuts, chocolate-covered fruit, chocolate-covered graham crackers, chocolate-covered chocolate… But how do you know which of these treats are in the good-for-you category, and when they’re in the once-in-a-while-indulgence category?
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Can you have a chocolately delcious mid-morning snack that’s also healthy? It seems to be a paradoxically sticky situation, but… the gang at The Healthy Snacks Blog has done it again!
Check out Lauren’s review of VitaMuffin Deep Chocolate VitaTops:
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Here’s the lowdown on why almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts, and pistachios are good for you… and why peanuts didn’t make the list.
Okay, here’s the honest truth: I’d eat nuts whether they’re good for me or not. But, it does make me feel better to know that they are indeed nutritious. Here are four particularly healthy kinds and their benefits.
Almonds
Almonds are small but they’re packed with nutrients. According to Men’s Health, 1 ounce of almonds provides 50 percent of your daily value of vitamin E, 8 percent of your calcium (more than any other nut), and 10 percent of magnesium. Vitamin E is important because it’s an antioxidant that can help protect cells and thus possibly protect against heart disease and cancer. Almonds are also a good source of protein, which helps fill you up, gives you energy, and helps your muscles develop. And they have fat, but it’s mostly monounsaturated fat—the good fat—which may help lower cholesterol. (Justin’s makes single-serving almond butter packs that are healthy and very tasty!)
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November 26th, 2007 · 8 Comments
Traveling somewhere this winter? Don’t take off without reading this…
Whenever you fly, it’s a good idea to pack your carry-on bag with a healthy snack. Flights usually don’t serve real food anymore, and those little free cocktail nut or snack mix bags they give out are usually too salty or just too darn unsatisfying. You could wait and pick something up at the airport, but then there’s a chance you won’t find anything particularly healthy, and you may end up impulse-buying a candy bar (which will give you a short-lived sugar high instead of real sustenance). Flying is definitely one area where planning your snack ahead of time is key. (See Chris’s post on the importance of deciding your snacks in advance.)
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