He who does not attempt something gains nothing. ~ Francis Bachmann #quote
Maintaining my ideal body weight is like listening to Musak while waiting for customer service, not my idea of fun. I love food and how it adds joy to my relationships and life; think cookies, party food, and punch. But from a self-care perspective, too much food equals too much me.
While strolling through my Pocket, I was inspired by this article, Low-Calorie Snacks for Every Craving from Real Simple magazine. Forty-eight slides later, I’ve walked away with some tasty new convenience snacks to try. And I’ll share some of my trusted standbys, too.
Dry Roasted Edamame by Seapoint Farms 
is a protein rich snack that tastes a bit different from regular dried soy beans and comes either lightly salted or wasabi flavored. This product is packaged in different sizes, with 100 calorie single-serving packs
(pictured) being super convenient. The article recommends mixing a 100 calorie serving of edamame, about 3 tablespoons, with 1 tablespoon of chocolate chips. Simply yummy.
Kashi Ripe Strawberry Cereal Bar
(pictured) is loved by everyone in my family (unlike the edamame which my eight year old would rather shoot with a slingshot.) We got started on them a year ago when I read The 50 Best Snack Foods in America at Men’s Health. At that time, I was looking for man-friendly snacks and this one came in at #46. Perhaps it would have ranked higher if it didn’t have a picture of a pink strawberry with pretty twirling letters on the wrapper.
Dark Chocolate Cocoa Roast Almonds by Emerald 
come in 100 calorie packs also, and if you missed it, 2013 was the year of the healthy nuts when research confirmed their benefits like weight maintenance as well as stress reduction, improved heart health, reduced cholesterol, and more. These are just chocolatey enough to keep me from grabbing for the Godviva. Most days 🙂
Sunsweet Ones Pitted Dry Plums
are individually wrapped and fit anywhere, go everywhere, and are the perfect foil to a quick drop in energy or to tide one over until the next meal. On a side note, why do kids think the word “prune” is weird?
Salty Pepper Somersaults Snack 
are crunchy, flavorful and packed with sunflower seeds. They come in regular and trial size packages as well as different flavors. While it’s hit or miss, I found cinnamon Somersaults at Ross Dress for Less for a great price.
Now it’s your turn. Please share your favorite convenience snacks. Thanks for sharing!
I’m off to make my own microwave popcorn ~~~~~~~~ Angie Mc
Family Love Does More 
I love dry roasted edamane and snap peas…I don’t have any currently, or I’d jump up right now to have some. This is the time of day (mid- to late-afternoon) that get cravings for something. I just had a Bartlet pear with a few rice crackers and some thinly sliced white cheddar cheese. Probably a few more calories that yours..150-200. Still healthier than some alternatives. Anxious to try others of your snacks. Thanks.
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Oooo, I love fruit and cheese pairings. Bartlet pear and cheddar cheese – YUM! Have you ever baked your pears? Like baked apples, but better, I think! I’m sure you’ll find some great snack within that slideshow. Some were pretty common sense but I appreciate having all the details (serving size, calories, protein, etc.) written out for me. Thanks, Mary!
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Love the dark chocolate cocoa roast almonds!! That’s my favorite afternoon-with-cafe-au-lait-moment-of-happiness-that-I-will-NOT-feel-guilty-about snack!!
Very intrigued by the Somersaults!! I’ll be on the lookout for that!
Favorites (not mentioned):
Cheese sticks or pre-cut slices of cheese (great protein!)
Snap-pea crisps
This is making me hungry!
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Cheers to cocoa roast almonds! I think you’ll like the Somersaults. I think it’s the pepper flavorful crunch that I appreciate and the cinnamon flavor isn’t too sweet.
And thanks for reminding me about the snap-pea crisps. YUM!
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I like Lara bars, especially the Cherry Pie one. They’re not low calorie, but they have a lot of fiber and are filling when you’re really hungry. And they satisfy my need for intense flavor. That’s my rap against a lot of the “healthy” snacks. They’re light on flavor and don’t satisfy the cravings that sent me to the snack cupboard in the first place!
Another snack I like, which is a bit off the beaten track, is Kefir. It’s kind of like a thinner yogurt, if you’ve never tried it. I like to drink a small glass of it. If you crave a sour/tangy flavor, kefir can’t be beat. I prefer plain, but it comes in a lot of flavors. And it’s got all those good “bugs” in it, plus calcium. Yum!
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Faith, you nailed it! I’m an “intense flavor” gal and appreciate when good-for-you-food is wonderful to the taste buds. The pepper Somersaults have a kick! I mentionedI love cherry flavor, so will definitely check out the Lara bars. And I need to put Kefir back on my list. I make my own plain yogurt so tend to not buy it also. But I do love sour/tangy and the ease of pouring and drinking 🙂 Thanks so much!
And I thought of you as I drove by Barnes and Noble this past weekend and told my family your story. Made us look at ours differently.
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I miss snacks! Since we’ve changed to a ketogenic lifestyle, we don’t snack much anymore. Those chocolate almonds sound wonderful. 🙂
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I’m not familiar with a ketogenic lifestyle so I looked it up. Did you choose this for medical and/or other reasons? Would be happy to learn more.
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Well, I guess I’d have to say yes, to both medical and other. We’ve long been advocates of a low carb diet, just not as dedicated to it as we should have been. Then, my husband’s back pain got really bad (he has a vertebrae condition) and the doc said, “ditch the spare tire, for starters.” So, because I could stand to lose some weight too, and because I wanted to be supportive, I joined him on the dedicated diet thing, knowing that 80% of weight loss is due to diet, not exercise. He can’t exercise anyway because of his back. I started looking more into low carb stuff, and found the ketogenic diet, and have learned so, so, so much. I have a lot of reasons now to be keto. It’s such a healing diet, and I can’t stress that enough.
I should do a post on my recipes blog about it, lol. Sorry to take up so much space!
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On please do consider this space as your space! I appreciate what you shared and I love that you describe this diet as healing. I need to make some adjustments to mine…need to get back to some things that work for me but that are hard to maintain with growing boys around! How’s that for an excuse, lol! Please do get my attention when you write up that post. I’ll likely be at a baseball field and I don’t want to miss it 🙂
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Yummy! My all fave snacks are walnuts, cheese and some speciality green olives from Greece . They come from Sparti area in Pelopones where my father came from and we have a house there. They are small and have an intense herb flavour. I put them in a big jar and spice them like my grandmother used to do, with a lot of local herbs collected in the mountains around and good Greek olive oil.They are simply unique.
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Oh evelen, I LOVE olives and yours sound sublime! I imagine the olives I love here in the States simply pale to yours. Sigh. I hope to someday visit Italy, Spain, and Greece… and I will stuff myself with olives!!!! Have a great week 🙂
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