Enjoy a Free First-Day-of-Spring Treat!

by Lauren A. on March 15, 2009

Ices

It may not feel like it yet, but this Friday, March 20th is technically the first day of spring. Rita’s Ices is celebrating with an Italian Ice giveaway! Stop by one of their stores from noon until 10 p.m. on Friday and receive a free 10-oz ice. Yum! (Note to all you healthy snackers: Rita’s has seven sugar-free flavors of ice. And the store has other guilt-free treats like Slenderita, fat-free frozen custard.) To find a store near you, go to their Web site and enter your zip code.

-Lauren

PS My favorite flavor of ice is chocolate (big surprise). What’s yours? Vote below! If you pick "other," write a comment and tell me what it is.

POLL: What is your favorite flavor of Italian Ice?

View Results

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Who Else Wants To Try Organic Granola That Is Truly Healthy?

Snack Roundup: Healthy Chocolate Brownies

by Lauren A. on March 5, 2009

I’ll admit that I get chocolate cravings a lot. Sometimes I want a simple piece of dark chocolate. Once in a while, I have a hankering for fudgey ice cream. And often, I crave a gooey brownie.

Since my craving for brownies strikes pretty regularly, I can’t always satisfy it with a real, delicious, fattening brownie, or I’d surely pack on the pounds. I try to stick with healthier brownies during the week, and then have a more indulgent kind on weekends (and sometimes Thursdays end up counting as part of the weekend!) and special occasions.

Here’s a roundup of four of the healthiest chocolate brownies I’ve tried—a ready-to-eat one, two frozen varieties, and an easy baking mix.

Glennys" Glenny’s 100-Calorie Brownies

Type: Ready-to-eat 100-calorie brownies.

Quick Facts: One brownie has 100 calories, 4 grams fat, 7 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein.

Ingredients: Contains mostly organic, recognizable, and natural-sounding ingredients, such as organic cocoa, organic soy flour, organic butter, organic whole eggs, organic milk chocolate chips, and organic evaporated cane juice.

Tastes Like: Slightly drier version of those thin Entenmann’s single fudge brownies.

What I Liked: These are easy to eat on the go. And since one brownie has only 100 calories, you can have one anytime without feeling guilty.

What I Wasn’t Crazy About: They’re kind of thin. I generally like thicker, gooey-er, chunkier brownies. I finished it really quickly and wasn’t fully satisfied. They do taste pretty chocolately, though.

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Snack Review: Blue Diamond Oven Roasted Almonds with Sea Salt

by Lauren A. on March 1, 2009

I sprinkle these nuts in my cereal, oatmeal, and granola, I use them in homemade trail mixes, and I eat them plain by the handful!

Why I like them:

  • The flavor. Most flavored nuts are either too salty (e.g., smokehouse almonds) or too sweet (e.g., honey roasted peanuts). And plain, raw or natural almonds are too bland for some people. But Blue Diamond’s Oven Roasted Almonds with Sea Salt are the perfect happy medium—just the right amount of flavor without all the unhealthy gunk. I love the roasted flavor, the crunch, and the delicious addition of sea salt. (The Oven-Roasted line also comes in No Salt, Vanilla Bean, and Cinnamon Brown Sugar. The No Salt ones are great, too—you still get the roasted flavor, so you don’t really miss the salt. I’ve never tried the vanilla or cinnamon ones.)

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Healthy Snack Idea: Chocolate, Almond, and Sea Salt Crostini

by Lauren A. on February 22, 2009

In my post on maple walnuts, I promised that I would eventually write about chocolate, almonds, and sea salt, which go marvelously well together. So, voilà: a recipe for chocolate, almond, and sea salt crostini. The recipe is mostly Amanda Hesser’s, from her book Cooking for Mr. Latte, but I’ve added the slivered almonds. These crostini are deliciously sweet, salty, crunchy, and healthy! Make a slice for yourself if you have extra baguette lying around, or buy a whole baguette and make the full recipe for company!  Your guests will be impressed—these crostini seem unique and are so flavorful, yet they’re really quite simple to put together.

Recipe: Chocolate, Almond, and Sea Salt Crostini

  1. Make chocolate crostini according to Amanda Hesser’s recipe (she calls them chocolate sea salt toasts). Here are Hesser’s instructions:
    • Preheat your oven to 350 F.
    • Cut a thin baguette diagonally into ¼ inch wedge slices.
    • Place the slices on a baking sheet and top each one with a thin square of bittersweet chocolate (not more than a mouthful of chocolate on each slice).
    • Place them in the oven, and take them out when the chocolate is melted but still holding its shape.
    • Put them on a platter, and sprinkle them with extra virgin olive oil and fleur de sel or coarse sea salt. (And as Hesser says, don’t add too much oil or salt–do it to taste. The salt is not supposed to make these taste salty; its purpose it to bring out  the taste of the chocolate.)
  2. Then, my add-on: top each one off with a small sprinkling of slivered, toasted almonds. I like Blue Diamond slivered almonds. I toast them separately in the toaster oven and then add them on when the chocolate crostini come out of the oven. (If you cook the almonds with the chocolate, they won’t be done when the chocolate is done.).
  3. Pass them around and enjoy!

By the way, Oprah’s Magazine has a variation on these crostini, with chocolate, dried cherries, and pistachios. These are also a healthy treat. The pistachios and dried cherries have plenty of nutrients. Use dark chocolate, which is better for you than milk. I also love how colorful these ones are; they make a great presentation.

For more of a splurge…

Try Vosges’s Barcelona Bar and Lake Champlain’s Organic Milk Sea Salt and Almonds Chocolate Bar. These are amazing (and no kitchen work required), but they use “dark milk chocolate” (around 40% cacao), which isn’t as healthy as a dark chocolate (which has a higher percentage of cacao content, usually around 70%). I’m normally not a milk chocolate fan, but the milkier chocolate does work great with the salt and nuts. (Note that there are lots of other chocolate bars out there with almonds in them, but I’m talking specifically about ones with sea salt. These are the only two brands I’ve found with chocolate, almonds, and sea salt–sweet and salty perfection.)

-Lauren

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In the News: Why Snacking is Good for You

by Lauren A. on February 16, 2009

This morning, The Today Show with Hoda and Kathy Lee had an interesting segment on losing weight by snacking. Nutritionist Lisa Dryer said that many people cut out snacking to lose weight, but that this is not a good idea, because your blood sugar gets low and then you may overeat during meals. But that doesn’t mean you should snack on just anything. Dryer gave some tips on choosing the right snacks that will keep you satisfied and healthy between meals. For example, she recommended munching on pistachios, because they can actually help reduce stress (better than reaching for the Ben and Jerry’s when you’re tense…). She also said that choosing puffier foods helps you feel full without ingesting as many calories, and she explained that oils with healthy fats can reduce cravings. Click the picture above or click here to watch the full segment and also read the accompanying article, "Pig out! Drop 10 Pounds by Snacking." The article gets into more detail about eating puffy foods, and also mentions the health benefits of thick foods (like yogurt and pudding) and spicy snacks.

Need some suggestions for puffy snacks? Write me a comment letting me know you’d like to see more about them on the blog, and I’ll add them to my lineup!

-Lauren 

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Healthy Chocolate Goodies for Valentine’s Day

by Lauren A. on February 12, 2009

I have to be honest here–I really debated whether or not to post about healthy chocolate snacks for Valentine’s Day. This is The Healthy Snacks Blog, and Saturday is V-Day, so it makes sense… but here’s the problem: I don’t believe in healthy snacks for Valentine’s Day. I think you’re allowed to splurge on holidays and other occasions! (Especially on a  holiday in which chocolate plays such a big role…) Still, I realize that some people have dietary restrictions and always need healthier options. So here are two brands I recommend for those of you who are addicted to chocolate but want or need to stay on your health kick come February14th.

Gayle’s Miracles Dark Chocolate Truffles. These are tasty, soft chocolate truffles created by a nutritionist. Each one has only 30 calories and 1 gram of fat. Two truffles equal 1 Weight Watcher point. Many other truffles by compaGayle'snies like Lindt have over twice that number of calories and three times as much fat. So how does Gayle’s manage to make chocolate that tastes good but is low in calories? Remember my post about chocolate bars, where I explain that some companies use dates  to make chocolate products healthier? Gayle’s Miracles does something similar, but they use figs instead of dates. I noticed figs on their ingredient list, and I think that’s the secret ingredient that helps them achieve a soft center without all the butter and fat. 

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Snack Idea: Maple Glazed Walnuts

by Lauren A. on February 9, 2009

The strange maple-syrup smell that has been drifting over New York City recently has left me with a craving for mapley foods. Yes, there’s the obvious way to eat maple syrup (pancakes! or, if you’re Buddy in Elf—on spaghetti), but I’m trying to have lighter meals and snacks these days, so instead, I’m going to make a recipe I found on the Food Network for maple glazed walnuts. I love all kinds of flavored nuts, and these are particularly good because they are sweet and salty, which is my favorite combination. And they’re healthy, too! (Unless you eat a pound at once, of course… and we all know that nuts can be hard to put down…)

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How to Save Money on Snacks

by Lauren A. on February 4, 2009

Trying to cut expenses this winter? Here are five easy ways to save money on snacks and other groceries.

1. Don’t buy organic snacks when you don’t need to. Organic produce is usually more expensive, and not always necessary. For example, you don’t need to buy organic bananas, because you don’t eat the skin anyway. However, health experts do recommend buying organic apples and strawberries, because the pesticides on the non-organic varieties are hard to get off, even with a thorough washing. For a complete list on what to buy organic, check out the Consumer Reports article on 1) items you should buy organic, 2) items you should buy organic if money isn’t a factor, and 3) items you never need to buy organic.

2. Make your produce last longer. Are you always wasting money on fruit that rots before you get a chance to eat it? I’m guilty of that with bananas. I buy a bunch, and half of them turn brown before I eat them… and I always intend to use the brown ones to make banana bread, but I never get to it… Luckily, Real Simple gives tons of great tips for making your produce last longer. The magazine explains the best ways to store avocados, tomatoes, raspberries, blueberries, bananas, and more.  In addition, Real Simple has an interesting article about separating certain fruits and vegetables in the fridge. Apparently, certain kinds of produce emit a gas called ethylene that can affect other foods and make them rot faster; you’re not supposed to store ethylene-sensitive and non-ethylene-sensitive foods close to one another. Who knew!

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5 Ways to Snack Healthier at a Super Bowl Party

by Lauren A. on January 28, 2009

Attending a Super Bowl party doesn’t mean you have to blow your diet or go off of your health-kick. Here are some ways to eat well during the big game.

1. Avoid mindless munching. Enjoy each chip and take smaller handfuls, that way you get to reach into the bowl more times.

superbowl

2. Go spicy! Add curry, chili powder, or whatever other spice you choose to your dips, salsas, and guacamole. Or try The Food Network/Eating Well’s recipe for spicy blue cheese dip. Some nutritionists say that when you add spices to your food, you get full faster and don’t eat as much. Also, because spices add so much flavor, you can get away with using a low-fat or reduced fat base (like mayo or sour cream), and your final product won’t be bland at all.

3. Add more protein to your snacks. Toss some pinto beans into your salsa. Make a black bean dip or a mixed-bean chili. Beans are a good source of fiber and protein, and protein helps fill you up faster so you don’t eat as many chips or as much greasy food and dessert. (Maybe you shouldn’t follow this bean suggestion if you’ll be attending a Super Bowl party with some new friends…)

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Snack Trend: Healthy Chocolate-Nut Bars

by Lauren A. on January 26, 2009

A Date with Chocolate

Sticking to your New Year’s resolutions doesn’t mean you have to give up chocolate. (How depressing would that be?) Plenty of companies make healthy chocolatey snacks. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, you can munch on chocolate-covered pepitas or a vitamin-packed chocolate muffin. And here’s a new idea: try an all-natural chocolate-nut energy bar. Three different brands now make chocolate-nut bars that are simple and contain six ingredients or fewer. (That’s a nice change from Atkins and Balance Bars that have tons of unpronounceable ingredients!) Here’s some quick info on each bar.

Larabar’s Jocalat Chocolate: 6 ingredients: Organic dates, organic almonds, organic walnuts, organic cocoa powder, organic cocoa mass, organic cashews. 190 calories, 10 grams of fat.

NectarClif’s Nectar’s Dark Chocolate Walnut: 5 ingredients: Organic dates, organic walnuts, organic unsweetened chocolate, organic cocoa, organic vanilla. 160 calories, 6 grams of fat.

Chocolada WalnutDr. Weil/Nature’s Path’s Chocolada Walnut: 6 ingredients: Organic dates, organic almonds, organic dried unsweetened coconut, organic walnuts, organic natural cocoa, organic vanilla extract. 190 calories, 10 grams of fat.

Did you notice that each bar includes dates? You can’t really taste them (at least I couldn’t); dates are just a good food substitute to use with chocolate (instead of butter, oil, or eggs) since they create a chewy texture and natural sweetness, and pick up the cocoa flavor nicely. Plus, dates provide fiber, potassium, magnesium, and calcium.

I’ve tried all three brands and there’s practically no difference between them (coincidence, or are these companies copying each other??), except that the Clif and Dr. Weil bars contain only one kind of nut, walnuts, whereas the Larabar one has almonds, walnuts, and cashews. (And the Dr. Weil one has coconut, but you can’t really taste it.) Each bar will give you plenty of health benefits—the nutrients I mentioned from the dates and antioxidants from cocoa, as well as fiber, vitamins, and omega-3  fatty acids from nuts. By the way, don’t be alarmed that the fat content seems high–nuts have a lot of fat, but it’s the good kind, monounsaturated fat.

Because these three bars taste so similar and have practically the same nutrients, calories, and fat, I can’t recommend one brand over another. Go with whichever is easiest to find in your supermarket or health food store! 

Lauren

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