The Perfect Snack

When you're trying to eat healthier or lose weight it's often the cravings that are your undoing.  You just feel like something a little savoury or something a little sweet and the next thing you know you've eaten a whole packet of chips or a whole chocolate bar!

The trouble is a lot of healthy snacks become very monotonous.  They just don't seem to hit the spot. Salted nuts might do it for me but raw nuts certainly don't.  By raw almond number eight I'm still feeling unsatisfied.  Sometimes we're looking for the feel good.

Then I hit upon the idea of making my own trail mix, full of mostly healthy foods but a good variety.  I make up a large bowl of the trail mix and then divide it into small plastic bags so I remain aware of how much I am eating.   I find the mix gives me a good selection to pick through and there is usually something there that hits the spot to put an end to any cravings.  By the time I've had a few nibbles from it I'm usually feeling satisfied.   

Eating a handful of raw seeds or nuts on their own feels to me like a bit of a chore or even deprivation but when they're in a mix suddenly they seem to take on a new appeal and no longer seem so bland. Variety really does seem to be the spice of life!

I usually put all or some of these into my mix:

Banana chips (dried)
Crispy noodles
Pretzels
Crystallized ginger
Dried apricots
Dried fruit such as pears, apples, cranberries, mangoes, melon, pineapple, blueberries etc (use whatever you enjoy)
Dark Chocolate buttons or dark chocolate pieces
Sultanas
Raisins
Glace cherries
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds
Brazil nuts
Cashew nuts
Walnuts
Almonds
Peanuts
Pistachios

Other options:
Coconut
Carob buttons

 It is easy to adapt this to individual tastes by making a basic mix that everyone likes, dividing it and then adding particular items.   For example Andrew likes pineapple but I do not, so dried pineapple is added to his portion but not mine.

I limit the dried fruit in mine and usually have more seeds. 

Oaty Nut & Seed Biscuits

Don't let the words "health" and "seed" put you off - these biscuits are yummy!  They're jam packed with good things like oats, seeds and dark chocolate but very easy to make and ideal to take in the lunchbox.    It was fun to use our own homemade sultanas in these too from dehydrating some of our grapes earlier in the year.

Ingredients:
200 grams (7 oz) of butter
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of white sugar
1 cup of brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp of vanilla essence
2 cups of rolled oats
1 and a half cups of wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of dark chocolate chips
1 cup dried fruit (I used apricots and sultanas)
1/2 cup of ground almonds
1/2 cup of seeds (I used half sunflower and half pumpkin)
1/4 cup of chia seeds
1/2 cup of chopped nuts (walnut, almond, brazil etc or a combination thereof)

Method:
1. Melt the butter in the microwave or on the stove.
2. Put the butter in a large bowl and add the peanut butter, combine the two.
3. Add the salt, sugars, eggs and vanilla essence and mix.
4. Add the flour and baking soda and combine.
5. Lastly mix in the oats, seeds, dried fruit, ground almonds and chocolate chips and mix together.
6. Roll into balls and place on a greased baking tray. Press balls lightly with a fork to flatten.
7. Bake at 180C (350F) for about 15 minutes.