My husband and I are trying to eat more healthy and drop some winter weight -- well, OK, maybe it's two winters' worth of weight that we forgot to take off last summer! The problem is, Jeff is a night-time snacker -- he wants something sweet or something crunchy and salty. Neither of which seems to go along with the "healthier" recipes I have.
Does anyone have any recipes they can share? I'm looking for lower-in-fat, lower-in-calories snacky foods. You can suggest fruits and vegetables, but it's not going to happen unless it's apple chopped up in a cookie. I do supply him with no-fat, low sugar ice cream and sugar-free pudding, but he wants something with a crunch to it -- whether it's sweet or salty.
I'd sure appreciate it if you can share any recipes or web sites you have! I'd like to go with homemade foods instead of processed, but right now I'm open to all suggestions.
2 comments:
I know you're looking for recipes, but I hope you don't mind suggestions. I have a few comments on this. I can go on forever, but I'll try to keep it reasonable!
First, my favorite website for low-fat, low-cal recipes is still Weight Watchers. You can sign up for a free membership (you don't have full access to the site) and they send you weekly newsletters which have great recipes! I have never tried a WW recipe (actually recommended by WW, not just by other members) that wasn't excellent, and they have many dessert recipes.
Second - I used to have a lot of those types of cravings, so I've come up with some things to work around it. For sweet and crunchy, I have Grape Nuts in yogurt - yum. If you don't like Grape Nuts, granola is great. Not low-fat, but certainly better for you than other snacky stuff. Another thing I like to eat is fresh fruit, yogurt, and granola all mixed together. I'm assuming you've thought about this, but what about popcorn for the salt/crunchy craving? If I'm in the mood to crunch on something like chips, I'll make the low-fat microwave popcorn instead.
I think it's important to remember that there can be a difference between healthy and low-calorie or low-fat. If he's craving something crunchy, what about roasted almonds (or even better for you, raw almonds). Those are very tasty--not low-fat-- but good for you and the "good kind of fat." Homemade breakfast bars (there are good recipes everywhere) are also good for you, but not low-cal.
I've also heard that one reason our cravings are so bad is that we might go an entire day without eating any of what crave. So, for sweets cravings, try putting dried fruit (or fresh fruit) in with the dinnertime green salad, or have a small amount of cheese and crackers as a snack during the day. That kind of thing.
And one last comment - if the sugar-free stuff works for your cravings, great -- but it sounds like in this case, it is not working sometimes. That happens to me as well. Sometimes a sugar-free pudding hits the spot and sometimes it doesn't. If I crave the "real stuff" for more than a couple days, I go ahead and have a small portion of something I really want to curb the craving. So, what does he really wish he could have? Find the real stuff and make small portions. For me, it's chocolate chocolate chocolate - so I've taken to buying the large Hershey's Organic dark chocolate bars and having 1 or 2 squares, and that curbs my craving (really)!
Hope some of this helps. If I come across any fitting recipes in any of my newsletters, I'll email 'em to you!
How about kettle corn? I don't have a recipe for it, but it is crunchy, sweet and salty all at once. I buy huge bags of it for about $4 at the grocery store. One bag will last about a week at my office with lots of people partaking.
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