Cheap, reasonably healthy snacks

[Sergeant Bob]

I'd bet hummus would be good with peanut butter in it!

[Chuck Dye]

Only if the PB is ground at the last moment from FRESH peanuts!

FWIW run a search on ground nut soup.

Nota bene.:  Your blender can make you great peanut butter if fed freshly roasted peanuts (and nothing else.)

[sanglant]

only if you have high oil peanuts, the normal eating peanuts take at least a few teaspoons of oil per cup of peanuts.

recipe somewhere in these vids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpR3mFdpqsM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuUGJAmdJlI

oh and it's easier to clean out of a food processor. especially if you have a blender with the built in blade.

[KD5NRH]

especially if you have a blender with the built in blade.

Uh, if a bit of ice, a half cup of water, a couple drops of Dawn, and the "military-grade data destruction" setting won't clean your blender, you need more horsepower.

[sanglant]

lol, was just sayin', it's something to think about. have you ever done the quick clean thing, and had it throw (nasty) water all over the kitchen? and yes the lid was on tight and i was holding it down. leaked between the lid and cup thing, so it was a nice high pressure stream.

[Ron]

This is a good snack, or for a quick lunch, spread it on saltines.

[zxcvbob]

It sparkles! :D

I wuz gonna mention this, but it's totally outclassed by that unicorn meat (here it is anyway):


Seriously, walnuts are a good healthy snack.  They are high in calories, but a small handful will stick with you for a long time.  And they have omega 6 (or is it 3?) fatty acids, and natural antiinflammatories that will get you peeing like a 30 year old again if you are 50+ and starting to have prostate trouble.

[tyme]

anyway):
Seriously, walnuts are a good healthy snack.  They are high in calories, but a small handful will stick with you for a long time.  And they have omega 6 (or is it 3?) fatty acids, and natural antiinflammatories that will get you peeing like a 30 year old again if you are 50+ and starting to have prostate trouble.

It has both, but like most non-animal sources, it has more omega-6 than omega-3.
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed-products/3138/2
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/pork-products/2183/2
(that site has the nicest nutrition information I've seen online)

at brains.  If the cholesterol weren't bad enough, there's a risk of several neurodegenerative prion diseases depending on what kind of animal they're from.

[230RN]

Also seriously, I recently discovered apple chips to satisfy the crunchy-munchies.  With or without cinnamon.

http://www.senecafoods.com/ourbrands/snackchips_applechips.shtml

I started out where I work at 182 lb, already overweight, and I hit 205 recently. 

At home, weekends and holidays, I can go until 1 or 2 PM without getting hungry.

At work, damned if by 8:30, 9:00 AM, I'm ravenous.

These apple chips seem to do the trick, and I got below 200 lb last week.  Nice and crunchy, like potato chips, but they stop me from going out and getting a five-thousand Calorie sausage-and-egg-on-a-muffin every morning.  I may go buy a case of them from my local bodega.

I sometimes wonder if the crunchy-crushy noise in your jaws and ears isn't hunger-killing all by itself.

Maybe I can develop a battery-operated "Crunch-Noise-Making" device that you clamp your teeth onto and it reproduces that oh-so-satisfying crunchy-chewy noise and transmits it throughout your head-bones..

Eh?  You heard it here first!

Of course, I'd have to put a warning label on it saying, "Caution!  You may starve to death using this device."

Terry, 230RN

[tyme]

At work, damned if by 8:30, 9:00 AM, I'm ravenous.

Do you eat anything for breakfast other than apple chips and maybe coffee?  Forgive me if I'm less than convinced that those apple chips constitute a healthy snack, given that they're about 1/4 added oil by weight... not to mention all the antioxidants and who-knows-what other helpful but unstable organic compounds that get obliterated by cooking.  Real apples, or trail mix with dried fruit, would be better than those cooked apple chips.  Some stuff is impractical for most people to eat raw -- asparagus, broccoli -- but not apples... why cook them only to eat them as a snack?

Related to green smoothies, a couple weeks ago I learned not to add watercress.  I don't think I'd ever tasted it in quantity before.  I had no idea.    I suffered through two pints before I had to blend in more sugar in fruit form.

[zxcvbob]

Watercress smoothie was a bit peppery?  Another thing you don't want to add to a fruit smoothie, especially if it has any milk or cream in it, is frozen rhubarb.  DD bought a bag of that stuff; I told her not to try it, but she didn't listen...

(the oxalic acid, besides being very sour, has such an affinity for calcium that it actually splits the calcium out of the milk and makes lactic acid and gritty crystals of calcium oxalate.)

[230RN]

Tyme observed, correctly:

Do you eat anything for breakfast other than apple chips and maybe coffee?  Forgive me if I'm less than convinced that those apple chips constitute a healthy snack, given that they're about 1/4 added oil by weight... not to mention all the antioxidants and who-knows-what other helpful but unstable organic compounds that get obliterated by cooking.  Real apples, or trail mix with dried fruit, would be better than those cooked apple chips.  Some stuff is impractical for most people to eat raw -- asparagus, broccoli -- but not apples... why cook them only to eat them as a snack?

Ahhh, but compare that to the 5000 Calorie sausage-and-egg-on-a-muffin that it replaces. 

On which I must slather a package of mayonnaise.

By me, that qualifies as a "healthy" snack.

(I exaggerate the Calories for the sake of making a point.)

For breakfast at home, I frequently dip dry toast into my coffee.  And subsist on that until later in the day.

I could swear there are certain things that somehow "trigger" some kind of a weight-gaining mechanism in one's body far beyond their mere Caloric or fat content.  For me, butter is anathema.  Sometimes I think even the smell of butter can do it.  On the other hand, I could also swear there are some things that likewise trigger a weight-loss mechanism.  For me, apples and peaches do this.  No science, just "high suspicion" based on 7 decades of doing this "eating" thing --an accumulation of anecdotal "evidence," if you will.

Terry, 230RN

[Grebnaws]

Watercress smoothie was a bit peppery?  Another thing you don't want to add to a fruit smoothie, especially if it has any milk or cream in it, is frozen rhubarb.  DD bought a bag of that stuff; I told her not to try it, but she didn't listen...

(the oxalic acid, besides being very sour, has such an affinity for calcium that it actually splits the calcium out of the milk and makes lactic acid and gritty crystals of calcium oxalate.)

That sounds like drinking a kidney stone smoothie.

[230RN]

If I recall correctly, pure oxalic acid is a mechanical poison.  Apparently, the needle-like crystals embed themselves into the throat passages, making them swell and choking off the air supply.  FWIW.

[Regolith]

Anyone know a good trail mix recipe that doesn't use nuts?  I'm not a huge fan of the texture of nuts, and I'm slightly allergic to hazelnuts and possibly some other types (don't know for sure; since I don't really like nuts anyway I just avoid eating nuts I don't know how I'll react to).

One thing I've been thinking of doing is maybe making some "trail balls," using raisins, oats and peanut butter to form a ball and then maybe dipping it in chocolate.  Probably not low calorie, but it'd be good for hiking or hunting. Not sure if it'd work, though; just something I came up with while brainstorming, and I haven't tried it yet.

[zxcvbob]

Bob's Granola Bars

1/4 cup margarine (canola or peanut oil might work)
1/2 pound marshmallows (about 30 large)
3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup whole almond kernels
3/4 cup grated coconut [estimated amount]
generous 1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries, a.k.a. "craisins"
generous 1/2 cup diced dried turkish apricots
scant 1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup roasted and salted sunflower kernals
2 cups puffed rice breakfast cereal (like Rice Krispies®)

Toast oats and almonds in a 375 degree oven. It works best if they are in seperate bakind dishes, otherwise the oats tend to insulate and protect the almonds from the heat. Meanwhile, in a huge heatproof bowl, melt margarine and marshmallows in the microwave. Stir with a big spoon to combine. Stir in the coconut, dried fruit, sunflower seeds, and wheat germ. Next add the hot oats and almonds. Lastly, stir in the rice cereal. It will be very sticky and hard to mix. Spray a 9x13 glass baking pan with your favorite non-stick spray. Transfer the sticky glop into the pan and press it down as tightly as you can -- covering it with waxed paper while you press it helps. Allow to sit for a half hour or so, and cut into squares when they are no longer sticky.

[Tuco]

Your health is not a concern of this young lady. 
When you see her portrait, keep looking.

[230RN]

I found bananas and sunflower seeds are truly yumful.  Perfect complement of tastes and texture.  Not exactly lo-Cal.  I got the idea to frappe them together in a blender, with a cup of evaporated milk and freeze the blend.

Like a unique ice cream.  Only problem is the top layer turns brown on exposure to air, but that does not affect the flavor.

(I was a WWII baby (rationing), and was practically raised on evaporated milk, so I love the stuff.)

[zxcvbob]

How 'bout sweetened condensed milk?   

[230RN]

^ I dunno.  Try it.  For some reason I dislike condensed milk, but evaporated me like.  I don't know what the technical difference is, but one I like and  the other, not so much.

[sanglant]

^ I dunno.  Try it.  For some reason I dislike condensed milk, but evaporated me like.  I don't know what the technical difference is, but one I like and  the other, not so much.

if you want to know, this has it written up better than i could hope to.

[MillCreek]

I was inspired this morning after breakfast.  After a delicious meal of cottage-cheese pancakes and bacon, I made a batch of hummus using my standard recipe mentioned earlier in this thread.  Operating under the philosophy that everything is better with bacon, I added four strips worth of crisp crumbled bacon to my hummus recipe.  I will definitely remember this recipe.

We are caring for our 'grand-dog' this weekend while the kids are on vacation, and the dog also approves of bacon hummus. 

[seeker_two]

......and the dog also approves of bacon hummus. 

I think that phrase just set the world record for offending across multiple cultures.....GOOD WORK, SIR!!!