Saturday, January 14, 2012

Healthy Snacking Tips

Every year, most everyone makes a resolution of eating healthier during the year.  I too am one who would love to change my eating habits.  For 2 weeks, I have improved my eating habits and I hope to continue doing so in the upcoming months. 

In my home, we all love to snack.  Snacking can be a way to completely blow your diet and add a few  pounds if you do eat healthy snacks.  One of our favorite things to eat as a snack is pretzels.  I have always loved to eat things with a crunch.  Pretzels is definitely something with a crunch.  I often add them to my salad to add a little extra crunch.  I also eat them with tuna salad instead of crackers. 




Tips for Healthy Snacking:

1) Plain and Simple Don't Buy Unhealthy Snacks - If you don't have them available, then you eat them.  Pretzels is a great alternative for chips.

2) Fruit - Always have fruit available for a snack.

3) Nuts - Nuts are a great healthy snack always have available.  They are also great to add to yogurt or salads.

4) Cookies - Who doesn't crave a cookie sometime?  Buy cookies that are low calorie so if you have a craving you will have something to satisfty your craving.

5) Chocolate - Everyone loves chocolate and sometimes you need that to satisfty that sweet craving.  I find that having small chocolate bars available is great.  A small bar satisfies my craving and I am not tempted to eat more than I should.

Here is a great, simple recipe for a Pretzel Dip that my mom has passed on to me.  It is a favorite in my home, even with my small kids.  Also, the ingredients stay within my grocery budget so it doesn't cost a lot to make.

Ruby Red Pretzel Dip

Ingredients:
1 Can (14 oz.) Jellied Cranberry Sauce
3/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Vinegar
1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp Ground Ginger
1 tsp Ground Mustard
1/8 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp All-Purpose Flour
1 Tbsp Cold Water
Red Food Coloring (Optional)
Pretzels for dipping

Directions:
In a saucepan, combine the first seven ingredients. Whisk over medium heat until smooth.  combine flour and cold water until smooth.  Add cranberry mixture and bring to a boil.  Cook and stir for 2 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl and add a couple drops of food coloring if desired.  Cover and chill overnight.

Hopefully, I have shared a tip or two that will be useful to you.  If you any tips to share with me, please leave me a comment.  I am always looking for new ideas for healthy snacks.



About Snyder’s of Hanover Our tradition of good taste dates back to 1909 when Harry V. Warehime, founder of Hanover Canning Company, our parent company until 1980, began producing Olde Tyme Pretzels for the Hanover Pretzel Company. In 1963, the Bechtel Pretzel Company, founded by Bill and Helen Bechtel in 1947, was purchased and incorporated into Snyder’s Bakery. Bill developed the original recipe for the Sourdough Hard Pretzel that is still enjoyed by consumers today. More info on Snyder’s of Hanover



Disclaimer:  I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Snyder's of Hanover blogging program, for 6000 My SockialMoms Reward Points.  For more information on how you can participate, click here.

3 comments:

ff said...

Yummy! I love pretzels..especially honey wheat ones. I also do apples and peanut butter for the crunch...fruit and protein. And for some reason, every diet magazine I read says to eat string cheese as a replacement snack to loose weight, even though I know cheese is high in fat.

Maria said...

Femmefrugality,

String cheese is not a favorite of mine. I have seen it listed as a replacement snack to lose weight also. I have never understood it either.

SocialMoms said...

Maria, your recipe sounds yummy!