blackberries

Top 10 Healthy Snack Time Alternatives

May 12, 2013 by Veronica Grace 11 Comments

I know that for some of you eating healthy all the time can seem like a drag at first. Sometimes you feel fed up with eating only what you’re “supposed to” and what you really want to do is sit back and relax with one of your favorite treats like a bag of potato chips, pretzels, cookies, candy and more. But that can lead to a slippery slope and make it hard for you to get back on track to the path of health (and keep that weight off).

So instead of moping about what tasty treats you can’t snack on, why not be open to trying some new ones? And best of all these are all natural, easy to get and low in calories so even munching on a few to curb your cravings isn’t going to cause you any harm.

Let’s check out some delicious alternatives for those who crave crunchy or sweet snacks after dinner or any time of day.

1. Sugar Snap Peas are a great choice because they are naturally sweet and often come pre washed in a bag. Simply open the bag and snack. A handful of these will only run you about 20 calories! (I also like to add sugar snap peas to salads and stir fries for an extra crunch!)

2. Carrot Sticks aren’t just for kids you know! You can enjoy freshly sliced carrots as is because they’re naturally sweet and crunchy. Of course there’s also baby carrots, but I’m not really a fan of how they are processed and created (ugly carrots whittled down into small pieces and bathed in chlorine). The choice is yours and it’s even better if you can enjoy them without any dip at all. A handful of carrot sticks will run you only 26 calories.

3. Celery Sticks are often popular in veggie trays but are usually served with high fat dips such as ranch dressing, Caesar dressing, peanut butter or Cheeze Whiz. Try to wean yourself off of those calorie laden dips and enjoy the crunch and natural flavor of celery sticks just as they are. If you’re craving potato chips they are a nice substitute for that crunch you desire and are just 10 calories a handful.

4. Fat Free Potato Chips So what do you do when you feel like you will actually go crazy if you don’t have a potato chip? Well I suggest you make your own in that case. Fat free potato chips are not quite as addicting (because they contain no oil) and at only 30 calories a handful they are truly a guilt free alternative to the store bought kind.

5. Cucumber Slices are a refreshing snack or addition to a salad especially in the warmer months when you’re looking for something light and juicy. Half an English cucumber or a few mini seedless cucumbers sliced up are a great choice over high calorie packaged snacks at just 8 calories a handful.

6. Cherry Tomatoes are naturally a little sweeter and more flavorful than large tomatoes and can make the perfect finger food for both children and adults. You can eat them as is or sprinkle a little pepper on them for flavor. At just 13 calories a handful you might be glad you switched!

7. Bell pepper slices are not just for stir fries and fajitas! They are naturally sweet and zesty and don’t need any seasoning or dip to be enjoyed. Bell pepper slices come in at just 19 calories a handful.

8. Strawberries and berries are nature’s candy and good all on their own. Once you start removing excess sugar from your diet you will find they can taste just as sweet or even better than candy with their fresh juicy flavor. A favorite after dinner treat of mine is just a bowl full of berries. At just 24 calories a handful (raspberries 32 a handful) it’s probably the best dessert choice you could make!

9. Fresh sliced apples are often easier to eat and more enjoyable once you cut up. A favorite for children and a great snack before or after a meal, apple slices are only 29 calories a handful.

10. Grapes are a great choice for a sweet snack when you’re cravings kick in because they’re filled with not only vitamins and water, but fibre that will leave you more satisfied than candies will. In summer I like to wash, dry and de stem grapes and freeze them for a natural frozen dessert. The sugars in the grapes will naturally crystallize and are great as a frozen treat or as ice cubes for filtered water. A handful of grapes is just 52 calories.

So how can you best utilize these healthier snacks to ensure you stick to your new found healthy eating plan?

Plan ahead and purchase some of these each week
Wash, dry, peel or chop and place in sealed containers in the fridge
Take your favorites along with you to work or while doing errands (so you’re less likely to buy something on the run)
Next time you go to the fridge for a snack, choose one of these instead
Mix it up, try different fruits and veggies each week!

I know it sounds so simple, but many people can benefit from having healthier foods within arms reach when hunger strikes. We all know too well how easy it is to give into weakness when we are hungry and cranky, so do yourself a favor and plan ahead!

Some of you may be wondering what about other snacks such as nuts, trail mix, dried fruit etc. The answer is, if you’re trying to lose weight, these foods are too rich in calories and too small in volume (compared to fruits and vegetables) to really satisfy your hunger when compared to the above suggestions. The idea behind successful weight loss is to eat less calories than you burn and using high water content, high fibre foods instead of calorically dense foods will help you get there. I prefer to use nuts and dried fruit in small quantities as part of a meal such as a garnish for salads or oatmeal so I am less likely to over eat on them. So choose low calorie high fibre, high water content snacks instead.

What’s your favorite healthy whole food snack? Do you plan ahead and stock your fridge with fresh sliced vegetables and pre washed fruits?

80/10/10 Recipe: Purple People Eater Green Smoothie with Chard and Blackberries

June 19, 2012 by Veronica Grace 9 Comments

So maybe this smoothie is not a “people eater” per se, but it is purple and it is delicious so I think you need to make this green (err purple) smoothie recipe so you can become a purple smoothie eater! “Purple People Eater” is just a silly song from the late 1950’s about a monster that comes to earth because he wants to be in a rock band. He happens to have only one eye and one horn as and he apparently only eats purple people, so most of us should be ok… I said should… if you drink a lot of this smoothie there’s no guarantee that might not turn purple! Just sayin. I warned ya…

I like to keep my green smoothie recipes fairly simple, so bananas are a very common choice as a base flavour and natural sweetener for my green smoothies. Next I like to throw in some ripe mangoes if I have it (or frozen if I don’t). Make sure your mangoes are soft to the touch like a ripe avocado and the skin will be slightly wrinkled. Ripe mangoes should smell fragrant and have a dark yellow or yellow/orange flesh on the inside. If your mango is still firm, not very fragrant and pale yellow and too tart when you cut it open, it’s not ripe enough yet. It’s not a bad mango, you just didn’t let it ripen and let those enzymes do their job and create the natural sugars that make fruit sweet when ripe.

Baby spinach is a really easy addition to any green smoothie recipe, and if you don’t have any other greens to work with I suggest to start with that or even some leaf lettuce. Swiss chard is a great green to use in smoothies as it’s generally fairly available at the grocery store or farmers markets. If not you can easily grow it at home. It comes in green, red and rainbow coloured stems, any kind will do for a green smoothie. You can either just use the green portion or blend the stalk and the green. The stalks are actually really tasty steamed if you want to save them as well or add them to a fresh stir fry.

One of the best parts about a purple green smoothie is that it looks fairly similar to store made smoothies and no one will know you put some greens in there. So it’s good to give to children or your spouse and they won’t be as likely to turn their nose up to it on account of it being green and looking like a swap smoothie. But you never know, green smoothies are fairly popular, even trendy nowadays and many people who aren’t even into raw or vegan foods are making green smoothies and throwing things like green vegetables into their blenders assuming that will do the trick…

By the way I don’t recommend you throw anything like a bunch of broccoli or really strong cruciferous vegetables (Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower etc) into your green (fruit) smoothie either. They contain sulfur and can be pretty strong and untasty in combination with sweet fruits. Save those veggies for blended soups or raw vegan blended salads or savory smoothies and mask the taste of them with a combo of tomatoes, cucumbers and mangoes (or dates) and this will mellow out the flavour.

Greens like Swiss chard and kale can still get by in smoothies without being too overpowering or strong if you use them in moderation. I would start with 1 leaf (stalk removed) if you’re new to green smoothies and blend it with the rest of the fruit and taste test it before deciding to experiment with more. Even myself I don’t really like more than 2 large leaves of chard or kale in my smoothies as they can add a stronger flavour and some grittiness to it. Baby spinach can always be added as it barely affects the taste of a green smoothie, so that’s why I’m throwing it into the mix as well.

Purple People Eater Green Smoothie

Serves 1-2

Ingredients:

2 ripe spotted bananas
1 ripe mango (flesh only) (about 1 cup)
1 handful of baby spinach
1-2 leaves of Swiss chard (stalks optional)
3/4 cup fresh or frozen blackberries
1/2 cup of water (or more to blend as desired)

Directions:

Place ingredients into Vitamix or blender in order above using the tamper if necessary and blend. If you have a low powered blender you may want to blend the bananas and water first, then add the mango and blend, then add the spinach and blend and so on so that each item is incorporated in the smoothie. Add more water if necessary for your type of blender.

Additional Tips:

To make this smoothie nice and cool you can use frozen blackberries and frozen mango or substitute one fresh banana for a ripe frozen one.

Have you ever used Swiss chard in a smoothie? What combination did you use?

Oil-Free Vegan Fudgey Blackberry Brownies

May 30, 2012 by Veronica Grace 29 Comments

So these brownies are a little “healthier” for you than the standard recipes (as it avoids added oils, butter and eggs) but they’re not completely sinless. Brownies are treat, let’s face it and sometimes you want to have a better-for-you treat for yourself or your loved ones. I have tried fat free brownies with just cocoa powder, flour, sugar and applesauce but they weren’t really brownies, more like dense little cakes and ended up being just ok and nothing to rave about. These brownies however are delicious!

This recipe is inspired from the Post Punk Kitchen’s Raspberry Truffle Brownies, but I changed the recipe around. I made a big double batch of these brownies because we had a lot of fresh blackberries on hand and I was thinking of something to make for my friend’s birthday and the Canadian edition of Vegan Food Swap. (If you have a vegan food blog in the USA or Canada and are interested in swapping goodies every month with fellow vegans check it out!)

These vegan fudgey brownies feel a lot more decadent when you eat them than they really are. You may have noticed I try to cram as much fresh fruits and vegetables as I can into my recipes as I don’t enjoy eating a dish without them.

I think you’ll have a lot of fun making these and enjoy them too. You can impress your guests or make them as a little treat for yourself and freeze any leftovers in individual plastic wrapped pieces. The pieces shown below are the size you get if you cut into 9 pieces. You can of course cut them smaller as well.

I even put some extra blackberry pieces on top and it made these turn out very pretty looking, so you don’t need any frosting either.

Oil-Free Vegan Fudgey Blackberry Brownies

Serves 9

Ingredients:

1/4 cup/3 oz./85 grams semi sweet chocolate chips or semi sweet baking chocolate
1/4 cup/59 mL blackberry or mixed berry jam/preserves
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp/~210 mL sweetened apple sauce (plain) (you could probably try adding ripe mashed banana as well)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or AP white flour. Do NOT use regular whole-wheat or whole grain flour)
1/4 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup fresh or frozen blackberries, blueberries or raspberries
2 tbsp semi sweet chocolate chips (1.5 oz./43 g)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F/177 C. Line an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper and lightly coat with non-stick cooking spray.
If using fresh blackberries you can chop them in half. Put in the freezer to firm up while preparing brownies. If using frozen ones keep in freezer until ready to use.
Melt the chocolate chips using a double boiler or in a dish carefully in the microwave. Set aside to cool slightly.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the jam and applesauce. Stir in the vanilla and almond extract and the melted chocolate.
Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix very well until a stiff batter forms. Fold in the blackberries and chocolate chips.
Spread the mixture into the prepared pan if you can. You may need to use your hands as it’s very thick. Crush some of the berries on top of the brownies if you are having a hard time mixing them in.
Bake for 16-18 minutes for gooey brownies, bake for 20 minutes for slightly drier brownies. (Tinfoil pans will be done at 15-16 min.) A toothpick will NOT come out clean when inserted in centre, this is normal.
Let the brownies come to room temperature and refrigerate for at least 3 hours to firm up and become fudgey inside. Do not serve right from the oven.

Additional Tips:

If you want to use unsweetened chocolate and unsweetened applesauce you will need to add some granulated sugar (don’t use liquid sweetener). Use 1/4-1/2 cup depending on preference. If you like your brownies really sweet you may want to add another 2-3 tbsp of sugar to the existing recipe.

Whole wheat pastry flour or white all purpose flour works best for a lighter brownie (as they are already pretty dense). If you use straight whole wheat or another whole grain flour it will be way too heavy and too dense and have a grittier texture. Make sure you use the suggested flour for best results. Pastry flour is made from soft wheat, white flour is also softer than hard whole wheat or whole grain flour. If you can’t find pastry flour you can try this: To make two cups of pastry flour, combine 1 1/3 cups (185 grams) all-purpose white flour with 2/3 cup (90 grams) white cake flour.

Sifting in the dry ingredients is essential so you don’t get any uneven lumps. Using a large fine mesh strainer to sift works well. (Pour your powders through the strainer and shake. Discard any rough particles that don’t go through.)

For these brownies to be fudgey in the middle they WILL NOT be baked all the way through like a cake or muffin. If you bake them until a toothpick comes out dry in the centre they will be rather dry and like a very dense cake, and thus not fudgey. In the pictures you can see that the center is not baked and has solidified. Once they’re refrigerated they will become fudge-like in the middle and be ready to eat.

FYI I don’t often make desserts or treats, so don’t get all angry and freakout if this recipe isn’t for you. I made these for friends and thought I’d share the recipe in case others were interested in healthier alternatives for those not on strict dessert free diets.