Afternoon Energy Slump? Easy Snack Ideas to Fuel Your Afternoon
I’m just going to come out and say it. Veggie straws are not healthy for you. Ugh. Ok, Ok—I’ll admit I love veggie staws and we sometimes buy them but they don’t really fit the bill of a healthy snack. Today I’m going to break down the benefits of snacks, give you some guidelines of what to look for and give you some of my specific healthy snack ideas.
Transcript of this Episode
Hi friends this is Andrea with another episode of adventures and feeding my fam. All right, I am just going to come out and say it. veggie straws are not a healthy snack. Just because they have the word veggie doesn't mean they're a healthy snack. Okay, okay, I admit I love veggie straws, and we sometimes buy them, but they don't really fit the bill for a healthy snack. So today I'm going to break down the benefits of snacks, give you some guidelines to look for, and then also provide some specific healthy snack ideas. This one is going to be a lot of fun. But first I want to tell you guys that I've got coming up in another week or so I'll be releasing my pantry cooking mini course, where I teach you to utilize pantry basics in many ways to make simple healthy meals. I'll be sure to let you know when that comes out and how you can find it.
00:56 adventures and feeding my family is a weekly podcast discussing the challenges and fun around feeding your family healthy meals. I'm Andrea Heyman, and I've been a registered dietitian for over 25 years. So I know the importance of good nutrition. But I'm also a mom of three so I understand the challenges and tumor that comes along with trying to make this happen. 01:21 In this podcast, I'll share my tips, tricks and menus, but also share the stories and food prep failures that come along the way to interview guests. We'll discuss family food traditions, how to strengthen bonds around the family table, as well as their favorite family recipes.
01:40 There isn't one right way to feed your family. But there are countless stories, you can take bits and pieces and learn from all of them.
01:52 All right, friends, let me set the scene for you. Are your kids starving when they come home from school, do they run in the house. And the first thing they do like they can barely even have a conversation, they go to the refrigerator, they go to the pantry, sometimes they climb the shelves in the pantry to find something to eat, you would think that they have never seen food before. It's kind of ridiculous. I feel like they can eat an entire meal here. Or then there's me in the afternoons, they can get so long and tiring. And I'm often looking for a pick me up. But I don't want something that's going to give me little energy for the short term, but result in another energy slump in 20 minutes or so I want something that's going to provide longer lasting sustained energy. So let's back up. What is a snack. So the definition that I found was simply a snack is a small amount of food eaten between meals. Yeah, that seems fair. But I like to give a couple of other guidelines when defining a snack, so that we know what to look for, to provide good nutrition for ourselves and for our families. So in addition to that definition, I would include two food groups in a snack. And ideally, I would include something that has a source of dietary fiber, and a source of lean protein. So why fiber and protein. So these are two components that are most associated with a sustained energy, it takes longer to digest. So it doesn't provide an initial surge of energy, followed by a drop in blood sugar levels. When we eat something that doesn't have dietary fiber or protein. This often results in us feeling tired and sluggish all over again in a short period of time. And oftentimes when this happens, we're looking for another pick me up and therefore looking for another snack. So if your kids have ever gone to the pantries that they wanted a snack gotten a cookie, only to return to one another snack in, you know, half an hour or so. The reason is because that original cookie just wasn't giving them some sustained energy for them. Alright, so again, just to review, we're looking for two different food groups, something with dietary fiber, something with protein. So those three is what we're going to keep in mind. And you won't always meet these recommendations, and that's okay. And I know sometimes I like going for the veggie straws too. But if you think of snacking as another opportunity for you to get the healthy nutrients that you need in a day, especially with your kids who just may spoil their dinner with their snack, would you rather be something nutrient dense, or something empty calorie. So now let's move on to some really quick examples. Okay.
05:00 So here's some of my favorites, berries and yogurt. I've got two different food groups, berries have got some dietary fiber, and yogurt contains some protein. Another example, trail mix with nuts, dried fruit, and sunflower seeds. Again, all three of our criteria are met here, you've got more than one food group, we've got some dietary fiber, and we've also got some protein. So I'm gonna roll through, I think you guys are getting the idea here. So celery and peanut butter. Or if you have nut allergies, son, nut butter, again, two food groups dietary fiber, protein, cheese, and some sort of whole grain cracker, and apple and peanut butter, hummus and cut veggies, cheese stick and an orange or another piece of fruit, you guys get the idea. So I'm going to include a link in the show notes for my healthy snack freebie, which outlines these guidelines, but then also reviews some other quick snack ideas. And again, that'll be in the show notes. So I think this week, I'm going to be talking in my facebook group about everybody's healthy snack options and ideas to feed themselves and their kids. Because I always find I learned best from you all. And we can all learn from each other. So if you want to connect with my community, my facebook group is adventures and feeding my fam, folks, they're really sharing their tips and ideas and more. It's a place for you to connect with other listeners, get some ideas and collaborate and go deeper. Because this is just a quick episode today. So we can talk more over there in the Facebook group. If you like this episode, it would mean a lot if you took a minute to leave me a review and share the podcast so other busy moms can be encouraged by the episodes I have to share. I would love to connect with you on social media. You can find me at adventures and feeding my fam. Until next time, take care
Transcript of this Episode
Hi friends this is Andrea with another episode of adventures and feeding my fam. All right, I am just going to come out and say it. veggie straws are not a healthy snack. Just because they have the word veggie doesn't mean they're a healthy snack. Okay, okay, I admit I love veggie straws, and we sometimes buy them, but they don't really fit the bill for a healthy snack. So today I'm going to break down the benefits of snacks, give you some guidelines to look for, and then also provide some specific healthy snack ideas. This one is going to be a lot of fun. But first I want to tell you guys that I've got coming up in another week or so I'll be releasing my pantry cooking mini course, where I teach you to utilize pantry basics in many ways to make simple healthy meals. I'll be sure to let you know when that comes out and how you can find it.
00:56 adventures and feeding my family is a weekly podcast discussing the challenges and fun around feeding your family healthy meals. I'm Andrea Heyman, and I've been a registered dietitian for over 25 years. So I know the importance of good nutrition. But I'm also a mom of three so I understand the challenges and tumor that comes along with trying to make this happen. 01:21 In this podcast, I'll share my tips, tricks and menus, but also share the stories and food prep failures that come along the way to interview guests. We'll discuss family food traditions, how to strengthen bonds around the family table, as well as their favorite family recipes.
01:40 There isn't one right way to feed your family. But there are countless stories, you can take bits and pieces and learn from all of them.
01:52 All right, friends, let me set the scene for you. Are your kids starving when they come home from school, do they run in the house. And the first thing they do like they can barely even have a conversation, they go to the refrigerator, they go to the pantry, sometimes they climb the shelves in the pantry to find something to eat, you would think that they have never seen food before. It's kind of ridiculous. I feel like they can eat an entire meal here. Or then there's me in the afternoons, they can get so long and tiring. And I'm often looking for a pick me up. But I don't want something that's going to give me little energy for the short term, but result in another energy slump in 20 minutes or so I want something that's going to provide longer lasting sustained energy. So let's back up. What is a snack. So the definition that I found was simply a snack is a small amount of food eaten between meals. Yeah, that seems fair. But I like to give a couple of other guidelines when defining a snack, so that we know what to look for, to provide good nutrition for ourselves and for our families. So in addition to that definition, I would include two food groups in a snack. And ideally, I would include something that has a source of dietary fiber, and a source of lean protein. So why fiber and protein. So these are two components that are most associated with a sustained energy, it takes longer to digest. So it doesn't provide an initial surge of energy, followed by a drop in blood sugar levels. When we eat something that doesn't have dietary fiber or protein. This often results in us feeling tired and sluggish all over again in a short period of time. And oftentimes when this happens, we're looking for another pick me up and therefore looking for another snack. So if your kids have ever gone to the pantries that they wanted a snack gotten a cookie, only to return to one another snack in, you know, half an hour or so. The reason is because that original cookie just wasn't giving them some sustained energy for them. Alright, so again, just to review, we're looking for two different food groups, something with dietary fiber, something with protein. So those three is what we're going to keep in mind. And you won't always meet these recommendations, and that's okay. And I know sometimes I like going for the veggie straws too. But if you think of snacking as another opportunity for you to get the healthy nutrients that you need in a day, especially with your kids who just may spoil their dinner with their snack, would you rather be something nutrient dense, or something empty calorie. So now let's move on to some really quick examples. Okay.
05:00 So here's some of my favorites, berries and yogurt. I've got two different food groups, berries have got some dietary fiber, and yogurt contains some protein. Another example, trail mix with nuts, dried fruit, and sunflower seeds. Again, all three of our criteria are met here, you've got more than one food group, we've got some dietary fiber, and we've also got some protein. So I'm gonna roll through, I think you guys are getting the idea here. So celery and peanut butter. Or if you have nut allergies, son, nut butter, again, two food groups dietary fiber, protein, cheese, and some sort of whole grain cracker, and apple and peanut butter, hummus and cut veggies, cheese stick and an orange or another piece of fruit, you guys get the idea. So I'm going to include a link in the show notes for my healthy snack freebie, which outlines these guidelines, but then also reviews some other quick snack ideas. And again, that'll be in the show notes. So I think this week, I'm going to be talking in my facebook group about everybody's healthy snack options and ideas to feed themselves and their kids. Because I always find I learned best from you all. And we can all learn from each other. So if you want to connect with my community, my facebook group is adventures and feeding my fam, folks, they're really sharing their tips and ideas and more. It's a place for you to connect with other listeners, get some ideas and collaborate and go deeper. Because this is just a quick episode today. So we can talk more over there in the Facebook group. If you like this episode, it would mean a lot if you took a minute to leave me a review and share the podcast so other busy moms can be encouraged by the episodes I have to share. I would love to connect with you on social media. You can find me at adventures and feeding my fam. Until next time, take care