At our esteemed producer's request and, I think, in an effort to lose that "baby weight," Alena has asked our fool (me) to ask our other fools (you) for some healthy snack ideas... because she's tired of eating celery with peanut butter on it. Actually I don't know if she eats that, but I love it.

So, what's your favorite healthy snack? We need some answers before I begin referring to Alena as "My Russian bear!" Trust me, that won't end well for anyone.

I've come up with some clever snacks myself... actually I just called my mom and asked what she fed me when I was a kid. Here's the short list!

Frozen fruit juice! All you need is an ice tray, a stick of some sort, and presto! Healthy Popsicle. Not exactly filling mom.

Celery w/Peanut butter. Sometimes we added raisins. Bumps on a log we called it. Celery is a zero calorie food, peanut butter not so much.

Apples w/Honey. A tradition among Jewish folk. Tastes great!

Cocoa Bananas - Take 1 Banana, 1 Bowl of Cocoa powder, dip, eat. Yum! The internet tells me it's good with dried or toasted coconut. I haven't tried it that way.

Tell us your favorite healthy snacks!


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Words from The Fool:

About twice a year, maybe less, I make a huge error in a newsletter. Last week was my week! For those that noticed I had the wrong image for Kane's Plight (Still an excellent game btw). The Fools at Amaranth News (me, again) apologize for our oversight and endeavor to bring you a higher standard of reporting in the future. No fooling.

Chips

dip

and a a sweet drink

heh.

the sugar in the drink can be replaced with fake sugar. I also recommend plain ole fruit. Mango, asian pears, oranges, watermelon, persimmons, etc. With all the fruit variety, you're bound to find one you like.

I second the hummus: roasted red pepper and/or spinach can be added for color and extra flavor.

We usually use cut up pita or naan bread for dipping.

Thirded on the hummus. Hummus is awesome.

Hmm... what else for healthy snacks... Baby carrots with peanut butter; smoothies made with yogurt, frozen/fresh fruit, a banana and juice (also really good for a light meal); almonds.

Well, I'm a vegetarian, so much of what I eat tends to be on the healthier side (though I can't say much for all the chocolate and carbonated beverages I go through). But here are a few of my old standards:

Mozzarella string cheese and wheat thins (Tasty!)

Fresh French bread (without butter) and cheddar cheese (Satisfying)

Black olives, baby corn, and cubed cheddar (Unique, also makes great hors d'oeuvres on tooth picks)

Baby carrots, celery, and ranch dressing (Flavorful)

Cut granny smith apples and peanutbutter (Sweet)

Tortilla chips and salsa (Zesty)

Baby dill pickles (Delicious)

I've also found that granola bars make excellent substitutes for candy bars.

A banana is surprisingly filling if you eat it slowly. It's on the fattier side of course, but still good nourishing food. I love honey and I have some in at least one of my sandwiches every day, which keeps my voracious sweet tooth at bay as it's very satisfying. Don't forget that honey is extremely high in nutritional value.

I have a big bowl of muesli for breakfast (which is also much more filling than cereal and toast), so I don't do this. But you could get a fruit and nut mix, or one of those packs of nice soy chips. Sultana grapes are delicious too, and filling.

I also rely on tea and coffee sometimes, as they satisfy to a certain extent, but we should all probably drink more water. My doctor told me to drink a glass of water before every meal. Instead, I cut down on the biscuits and lollies at the office and walked up and down the four flights of stairs every day. That got the weight off!

If you get the munchies too much, you may want to have a rib-squeaking rice dish for lunch as it will fill you up for the whole afternoon. A big meal at lunchtime and small meal at night is supposed to be leaner and meaner.

I like to put a bunch of grapes in the freezer. I put them in a plastic bag and take them to school with my in my book bag. They are like little slushies when you eat them

Oh back in highschool I used to make a meal out of lunch meat wrapped around a stick of string cheese. Simple, quick, tasty, no carbs. Not exactly healthy, but a fine idea.

Lil pack of Carl Budding + Stick of String Cheese = Lunch for a dollar. Oh man, the days when I was poor are classic.

-Fool

Hmmm, some good ideas to chose from! Nice!
I'm always eating while working at night - there is just something about moon and food that goes together . My latest passion - cakes from Whole Foods, gotta be healthy since you know, they are from Whole Foods!!

A good snack and/or breakfast is granola cereal mixed with yogurt (flavour of your choice!) Simple, easy, and delicious. Restaurants and grocery stores will charge you, like, twice the amount of these two simple items for a "fruit and yogurt parfait" or whatever they call it.

Carrots with some kind of dip or sauce are always good. Ranch dressing makes a good dip. My parents sometimes drizzled Italian dressing over carrot sticks for something with zing (and Italian dressing has less fat than ranch).

Recently, finding frozen edamame in the shells has been easier to find in grocery stores, I think. All you do is boil them in water for a few minutes, drain, sprinkle with salt, and enjoy!

@GailP

Almost any food is filling if you eat it slowly.

Bananas are not fatty. Bananas have almost no fat. They are less than 1/2% fat, a 225 gram serving of bananas has one gram of fat:
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1846/2

Honey is not extremely high in nutrition, quite the opposite--it is extremely low in nutrition. It's basically liquid sugar. An entire cup of honey has barely any nutrients in it:
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/sweets/5568/2
You're keeping your sweet tooth at bay by eating gobs of sugar!

This is what percent of your daily requirements an entire cup of honey contains:
Vitamin A 0%
Vitamin C 3%
Vitamin D ~
Vitamin E 0%
Vitamin K 0%
Thiamin 0%
Riboflavin 8%
Niacin 2%
Vitamin B6 4%
Folate 2%
Vitamin B12 0%
Pantothenic Acid 2%

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/sweets/5568/2

You can't substitute exercise and cutting starchy snacks for drinking water. Water supplies your body with hydration. Cutting snacks and increasing exercise doesn't decrease your need for water--unless you're already getting plenty of water and your doctor told you to drink extra as a weight loss trick. If that's the case, I'd say you were smart for not taking his advice--cutting snacks and increasing exercise is, of course, healthier and far more effective.

Well, what a negative, didactic reply. Did you get out of the wrong side of the bed?

Your claim that honey is almost lacking in nutrients is false and is rejected. Here is a quick search result for interest’s sake, but ask your doctor about it rather than relying on a Google search.

http://www.google.com.au/#hl=en&sugex ... =&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=925d885ea9c683b7&biw=1366&bih=622

Bananas are high in sugar of course, sucrose, and they are more fattening than some fruit. But they are very nutritious.

Water is something of a filler, as well as hydration. You have apparently not noticed that drinking a glass of water can fill you up a bit, but I noticed. You also claim that my doctor, who is a trained, experienced GP, does not know what he is talking about - what does that suggest about you? In fact, his advice to drink water before every meal IS wise advice, it's just that it is not very pleasant, and I can't stomach a full glass of water just before breakfast. However, I drink a lot of water in the office to counteract the drying effects of the airconditioning. I should probably drink more water at home when it isn’t summer.

As for exercise, why do assume I am not taking enough? Where did that assumption come from?

Edit later - I only buy pure, cold extracted honey and cold pressed oil from the health food shop. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that heat extraction destroys some of the nutrients, but I have no real knowledge of that. I am not sure if heat extracted oil is biodegradable. I found it's cloudy, it stinks and wouldn't wash off, and I threw it out and went back to the real thing.

Agreed about the importance of water. I cannot stress that enough. Water=life. Drinking more water daily is a goal everyone should strive towards.

As long as you drink water in moderation. People have died from drinking too much water.

I remember two incidences: A kid died during a hazing ritual and a mother during a radio contest.

I heard about the woman dying for the radio contest too... Wasn't she trying to get a Wii or something?

Anyway...

Something else you can do is make one-ingredient 'ice-cream'- slice then freeze some ripe bananas, blend them up in a food processor and there you go. ^^

Well, obviously moderation must be exercised with nearly everything in life. I'm guessing the fatal water incidents had to do with drinking more than the stomach could handle; that would hold true for any liquid. The key is to pay attention to what your body needs, and water is vital.

no, not the stomach: the body. You drink so much water, you burst your blood vessels due to the osmotic shifts if i remember correctly. Something like drowning in your own bodily fluids.

Ooh, wicked way to die...

Are you trying to suggest ways to KILL our poor Russian Bear!?

I've heard both things about Honey before though, I'd guess that it is a healthier form of sugar, but still a sugar. Anywho, I don't think anyone was suggesting eating nothing but honey

-Fool
(Back from vacation)

Darn it, Fool, you discovered our plan! We are evil, evil to the core.