10 Simple Summer Snacks
June 25, 2014Summer is my favorite time for snacks. With fruits and vegetables at their best, creating healthy and simple summer snacks is easy. Support your local farmers by visiting a farmers' market. You’ll find amazing fresh fruits and vegetables picked at their prime. Better yet, plant your own garden and enjoy the bounty that you have grown.
Below are some of my favorite simple summer snacks.
1. Fruit Kabobs – Chop bite size chunks of your favorite fruits and pile on a skewer. Berries, melons and pineapple make for a colorful and delicious kabob. You can make multiple kabobs, put into a lined chiller with an ice pack and take with you to the pool, beach or picnic. Add lean protein for a delicious meal.
2. Vegetable Kabobs – Yummy Kabobs aren’t limited to fruit. Chop up vegetables and put on a skewer. Bell peppers, onions, little tomatoes, squash, zucchini are a few vegetables that are skewer friendly. Put on your bar-b-que for more intense and grilled flavor for your veggie kabobs.
3. Frozen Fruit – Pop grapes and berries (especially blueberries and grapes) in your freezer. They make a great snack that is refreshing and a healthy snack to plop in your mouth and enjoy.
4. Fruit Salad – Chop chunks of your favorite fruits and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle one small box of dry sugar free vanilla pudding mix on the chopped fruit and stir until coated. Place in refrigerator for 1-2 hours to chill. Once chill, remove from refrigerator, stir again and enjoy.
5. Salty Snack – Craving salt and crunch? Pickles satisfy both salty and crunchy cravings, and have no fat. You can also wrap a pickle or pickle spears in thinly sliced lean roast beef, chicken or turkey to make a roll-up.
6. Veggies and Dip – Cut up slices of bell pepper (red, yellow and orange are best), zucchini, baby carrots or other vegetable favorite and dip in a couple of tablespoons of Hummus or Laughing Cow cheese wedges.
7. Apple Pie without the Pie – Slice up an apple and sprinkle cinnamon on the slices. You’ll get the flavor of the apple cinnamon combination that you get from eating apple pie minutes the fat and carbs of the crust.
8. Yogurt Pop – Place a wooden stick in the center of a small container of your favorite yogurt (preferably Greek yogurt for extra protein) and place in the freezer. Allow yogurt to freeze. Once frozen, pop the yogurt out of the container to enjoy as a yogurt pop.
9. Zucchini Fries – Who needs the deep fried snacks when you can make zucchini fries? Slice length wide zucchini with width of thinly slices potatoes. In a separate bowl, whisk one egg. In another bowl, place whole wheat bread crumbs. Zip the zucchini in the whisked egg then lay on the bread crumbs (one side of the slice) and put on baking sheet. Bake in 350 degree oven until bread crumbs are golden brown and zucchini are fairly crisp. Betcha can’t eat just one!
10. Kale Chips – Kale? Yes, kale. Kale is super nutritious and can be made into chips that are yummy and a great snack. It is a little tricky to get them just right so follow these tips:
- Wash the kale and pull out the stalks so you only have the leaves.
- Dry the kale well to the point you don’t see any water on the leaves. If the kale is still wet, your
- chips won’t be crispy.
- Use a little bit of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or coconut) – no more than 1/2 tablespoon per large baking sheet of kale chips. Rub the oil into the leaves well to make sure they are coated.
- Spread kale in a thin layer (no overlap of the leaves). If desired, mix up spices in a separate bowl. Sprinkle on kale.
- Bake in oven at 300 degrees for 10 minutes, rotate the pan and bake for another 15 minutes. Take out and check for crispiness. Your results may vary depending on your oven so you might need to bake for additional time.
- Allow kale chips to cool for 2-3 minutes on the baking sheet.
If you’re a WLS post-op, depending on your body’s ability to digest fruit (if RNY, without dumping), or other produce that don’t work for you, these summer snacks are great choices to take advantage of the bounty of fruits and vegetables that are jam-packed with nutrients.
What are some of your favorite healthy summer snacks? Tell us in the comments below.
 | ABOUT THE AUTHOR Cathy Wilson, PCC, BCC, had RNY surgery in 2001 and lost 147 pounds. Cathy is a regular contributor to the OH Blog and authored the "Mind Matters" column in ObesityHelp Magazine. Cathy is a licensed pilot and loves flying. She is a member of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC).Read more articles by Cathy! |
