Mela Health
Nutrition and Holistic Wellness
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Journal

Fresh ideas to beat snack fatigue (*adult edition)

 

If you’re in a snack rut right now, welcome to le club. Whether you’re one of our clients looking for some fresh inspo, a breastfeeding mom on her 11th snack of the day, looking for something a little more exciting to help sustain your afternoon energy, or just sick of all your usual go to’s, this one's for you. 

*Baby & toddler edition coming soon! 

Note: we cover a lot of great information about our approach to healthy snacking (when/why to snack, what to look for in a snack, and our exhaustive list of favorite snacks) in our free snacking guide, which you can download here. 

Keep in mind: portion sizes will vary based on gender, age, goals, activity level, and life stage, etc. Use the below portions as a general framework, but feel free to go up or down as needed. Or if you want to understand your personal needs better, reach out! 

Homemade snacks:

  • Crunchy seasoned chickpeas (spiced version or buffalo style from this recipe)

    • Portion size: ~1/2 cup

  • Chili-lime almonds and cashews

    • Portion size: ~15-20 nuts

  • Organic cottage cheese*, 3 ways 

    • *We love Nancy’s and Good Culture

    • Sweet: 3/4 cup cottage cheese +  berries or fruit of choice (we love tropical fruits like papaya, mango, and pineapple) + dash of cinnamon

    • Savory: 3/4 cup cottage cheese + halved cherry tomatoes (or fresh salsa or pico de gallo) and freshly ground black pepper

    • Crunchy: 3/4 cup cottage cheese + 1/2 cup chopped cucumber + everything bagel seasoning (both Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s sell a version of this)

  • Crackers* and/or crudite with dip of choice

  • Lundberg Farms rice cake thin stackers, 3 ways (Portion: 1-3 rice cake thins):

    • Spread with 1-2 tablespoons unsweetened peanut butter (we love Santa Cruz Organics) or almond butter (we love Massa) topped with a few slices of thinly sliced apple or pear, or a handful of raspberries

    • Spread with 1-2 tablespoons Kite Hill vegan cream cheese, top with 1-2 slices lox and finish with a squeeze of lemon and a few shakes of everything bagel seasoning

    • Mash 1/2 - 1/2 avocado with a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of sea salt and spread on rice cake, then top with 1-2 sliced hard boiled eggs and a few shakes of everything bagel seasoning

  • 1 small apple or pear, sliced and drizzled with 1 tablespoon tahini and sprinkled with cinnamon 

  • Microwave apple pie parfait

    • Slice 1 apple and sprinkle with cinnamon. Microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute (or until soft). Top with 1/3 - 1/2 cup plain organic greek yogurt (or coconut yogurt) and sprinkle with more cinnamon to serve 

  • Curried chicken salad, tuna salad, or egg salad with crudite or seed crackers (see above)

    • Portion size: ~1/2 cup

  • Citrus chia pudding 

    • Portion size: 1/2 to 1 whole serving

  • Energy bites, 2 ways

    • Portion size: 2-3 bites

  • The mini meal

    • Snacks can be mini meals! Try doing a small portion of a leftover meal (i.e. ~2 oz rotisserie chicken and 1/2 cup roasted vegetables drizzled with leftover tahini sauce or dipped in Primal Kitchen buffalo sauce, bbq sauce or any of their sauces)

Grab & Go:

A few more things

Where we share all the things we’re loving, reading, listening to, cooking, discussing and purchasing as of late.

  1. We recently discovered this new sparkling water brand Sanzo and it’s become a fast favorite (and, in our opinion, far superior to its competitors). Delicious flavors like lychee, yuzu and mango without added sugars / weird additives. We learned about it from our friends Aliza and Aja via Platonic Love, their wonderful new newsletter filled with insightful conversations on creativity, motherhood, and friendship.

  2. We rely heavily on these jars of white beans and chickpeas from Jovial for both ourselves and our boys. Since the majority of canned foods are lined with BPA, we do our best to find glass alternatives when possible, and Jovial makes this one an easy swap. The white beans are super soft, so they’re great for early solids (we recommend pressing gently with your finger depending on your baby’s age). Our boys love them, especially when tossed with our pesto. We also use the chickpeas and beans for an easy source of plant protein in salads (see last week’s post for ideas!).  

  3. Lauren: I tell everyone I know about this NYT Cooking Chicken Salsa Verde recipe (instant pot version / slow cooker version). It’s so good, so easy, and it freezes really well, making it a perfect make-ahead meal (I doubled the recipe and froze it before my son was born, and often do the same for expecting friends). I like to serve it in Siete tacos with all the fixings, or over white, jasmine or cauliflower rice with a side salad or roasted veggies. Also great for summer taco parties! 

  4. We’re both on a sun protection journey (finally taking it as seriously as we should have been all these years) and always looking for more ways to cover up. We love the idea of throwing on a good sun shirt so we don’t have to lather up the full body sunscreen every time we want to go for a walk. We asked our friend and favorite Miami based dermatologist, Dr. Jeriel Weitz, for her top picks and she shared these high quality favorites for walking and swimming (Coolibar and Mott50)

  5. We get asked about prenatal vitamins often by clients and friends (we may be due for a post on this!). In the meantime, we love this comprehensive article from Dr. Aviva Romm breaking it down. Dr. Aviva is an incredible resource for all things women’s hormones and health - there are a lot of voices in this space, hers is one we trust most.

 
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