Greek nonfat yogurt with Kirkland Signature by Nature's Path (Organic Ancient Grains Granola with Almonds) and partially thawed mixed berries.

Aldi brand faux Chex Mix BOLD with cocktail peanuts added and a Cesar's Oaxacan-style cheese stick.

As I'm trying to maintain my current weight, I'm avoiding cheese, crackers, etc. when I can, but I do always keep a bag of smoked almonds and beef jerky in my desk at work to get me through the day. The salty/chewy combo works well for me.

I don't know if this counts as "go-to" since I had all of one, but today I just purchased a bag of I Heart Keenwah, all-natural quinoa clusters, in ginger peanut. It was really good, and I can see this becoming an addiction, especially if Fresh Farms starts carrying Cranberry Cashew and Chocolate Sea Salt. They are rather pricey though: $5.49 for a 4oz bag.

http://www.iheartkeenwah.com/#!flavors

New obsession - cheaper than Kind bars and just as delicious - Nature Valley Roasted Nut Crunch Almond Crunch. Gotta read the nutrition info -- all the other varieties of Nature Valley bars I have seen have twice the carbs for the same amount of calories and also do not taste as great. These are mostly nuts (almond, peanut, sunflower) with just enough sugar and salt to be fabulous. (Other NV bars are lots of oatmeal and very sugary.) Hard to find, though - I finally ordered them online. About 65 cents each, way cheaper than anything else remotely as good.

Pretzels - Soft, right from the oven served with a variety of mustards

But that can be too much work.

Hard pretzels - rods or nuggets, no Tiny Tims, please.

Judy H wrote:New obsession - cheaper than Kind bars and just as delicious - Nature Valley Roasted Nut Crunch Almond Crunch. Gotta read the nutrition info -- all the other varieties of Nature Valley bars I have seen have twice the carbs for the same amount of calories and also do not taste as great. These are mostly nuts (almond, peanut, sunflower) with just enough sugar and salt to be fabulous. (Other NV bars are lots of oatmeal and very sugary.) Hard to find, though - I finally ordered them online. About 65 cents each, way cheaper than anything else remotely as good.

I discovered these recently & like them a lot too, very convenient to carry & nice portion control.

BTW, Judy, they are on sale at Walgreen's this week - 2 boxes for $5 (rather than the regular $3.99 per box) & if you buy 4 boxes, Walgreen's will give you an additional $2 coupon off your next Walgreen's purchase. Walgreen's website has a nice new feature too - pull up the item & tell the site your zip code & it'll list which nearby stores 1) carry the item & 2) if its in stock. Saves a lot of time hunting down things & wasted trips, I used it to restock yesterday.

When I am not in the mood for anything else, sliced rare roast beef with garlic salt and horseradish dipping sauce.
When sick and I can't eat anything - Hot & sour soup is the best goto for me.

I decided I like Sabra brand hummus with pine nuts. I like to eat it with Stacys pita chips. I like the Parmesan and Herb, the plain, or the multigrain. Some times I dip baby carrots in the hummus too. I also like to slice an apple in wedges and put a little bit of peanut butter on it. I love cheese too but need to stay away from it as much as possible because I feel better without a lot of dairy.

Costco sells large containers of that exact hummus for $6 or so, for what it's worth. I agree that it's great...all of the Sabra flavors are pretty awesome.

Oh great good to know. I am not a Costco member but always meaning to sign up.

Here are a few more ideas. I am trying to lose weight. I banish candy from my house but sometimes I need something...I always have raisins and dark chocolate chips. A few raisins and chips satisfy. You can add nuts too. Sometimes I snack on dry cereal like honey nut cheerios. Better than chips and you can put them in a zip loc and take with you.
String cheese is low in fat and can also be transported. Also they have individually wrapped sticks of pepperjack cheese. Also I like the low fat laughing cow cheese. I spread it on crackers or even pita chips. I also order the boston brown bread in the can and slice pieces of it and spread with whipped cream cheese or cream cheese with walnuts mixed in. Nice with a cup of tea.

These days - as I am trying to shed a few pounds - Seapoint Farms wasabi dry-roasted edamame. I would describe it as having a decadent, rich loamy flavor with a piercing wasabi kick in the pants. I am actually acquiring the taste...which scares me

Davooda

I always keep a container of homemade trail mix in my desk at work. The exact contents vary quite a bit, but it's generally 65-75% protein-heavy bits (sunflower seeds, almonds, cashews, peanuts, pecans, etc) about 25% dried cranberries and/or raisins and sometimes a bit of chocolate or coconut. I tend to be someone who needs bigger snacks to stay satisfied too, so the high protein and fat content keeps me full and the dried fruit and chocolate gives some quick energy to help with the afternoon slump.

You want something that will fill you up, while still being nutritionally sound-ish? Spice House freeze-dried super-sweet corn. Eat a few handfuls and drink a huge glass of water. Cry for an hour or so about what a terrible idea that was. I do it every damn time. The stupid stuff is just so delicious!

Recently, I have become infatuated with Fritos Chilli cheese fritos.....i have jilted my first love, Doritoes....for now

beelewis wrote:Recently, I have become infatuated with Fritos Chilli cheese fritos.....i have jilted my first love, Doritoes....for now

I love chili cheese Fritos, but they're terrible nutritionally (since they usually come in a 2 oz. bag and I can easily polish that off). But so love them.

sdbond wrote:

AlekH wrote:I'm not much of a snacker but I do enjoy settling down on the couch with some aged cheddar, pretzels and a link of kabanos.

Well, I just learned something -- had to look up kabanos! They sound tasty. Will have to look for some next time I'm at Fresh Farms in Niles.

Every Polish deli in town has kabanos. I like the ones made by the Shop & Save stores.

gleam wrote:Costco sells large containers of that exact hummus for $6 or so, for what it's worth. I agree that it's great...all of the Sabra flavors are pretty awesome.

Garden Fresh stores usually have Sabra and some other brands of hummus on sale very cheap. Or you could just toss a can of chickpeas and some seasonings in the blender.

MincyBits wrote:You want something that will fill you up, while still being nutritionally sound-ish? Spice House freeze-dried super-sweet corn. Eat a few handfuls and drink a huge glass of water. Cry for an hour or so about what a terrible idea that was.

If I did that, I would be crying about the price! A few handfuls runs $4.59.


A reminder to dieters that recent studies show that frequent consumption of chocolate is linked to lower BMI, not to mention heart health. http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-03 ... -steinbaum

One of my indulgences is open-faced toasted garlic and cheese sandwiches: Spread toast with garlic butter. Melt cheese on top. As the kinds of bread and cheese are infinitely variable, I nearly always have the ingredients on hand.

I was really intrigued by this recipe, from Three Many Cooks:

http://threemanycooks.com/recipes/nibbl ... trail-mix/

I've yet to try it, but will report back if/when I do. I love a good nibble and this looks good-- salty/sweet, crunchy...

Cheers, Jen

From my childhood - Gourmandise cherry cheese http://www.iledefrancecheese.com/index.php/Gourmandise/gourmandise.html
on top of nabisco bacon crackers. nabisco stopped the bacon crackers here in the states, but I have a friend in Canada who keeps me supplied with this form of crack. What is not eaten at one sitting for the cheese gets left out so that it forms a crust which is also great.

It intrigues me that some people crave sweet snacks and others crave salty or savory snacks. Sweet Baboo likes chocolate, has a few pieces of chocolate candy every day, and gets anxious when we are in danger (if that's the word ) of the candy supply running out. As for me, although I do like ice cream, I almost never crave sweets, and could go weeks without eating candy or a dessert. His candy bowl sits on the dining room table and doesn't tempt me at all. If I do buy candy for myself, which is rare, my taste runs to fruit (Starbursts, jelly beans, salt water taffy) rather than chocolate. (Ah, though, salt water taffy; now there's a great candy. Do we have a thread about that yet?)

When I have a food craving, it's always for something salty: cheese and crackers, chips and dip. Doesn't have to be highly salty; hummus and pita chips work too. Another vote for Triscuits: just takes 3 or 4 to satisfy a craving to crunch something salty. My favorite dip is Hidden Valley's Fiesta Ranch, a packeted powder that you mix with sour cream.

I eat plenty of vegetables, but need to work at eating more fruit. (I used to not buy fruit at all because I'm accompanied in life by people with fruit allergies, but then I realized that I shouldn't let others' dietary restrictions be mine.) I like pretty much all kinds of fruit--I just don't ever crave it.

Whole foods has excellent cut up fruit. Its very expensive though but I do buy it from time to time because as the commercial says "I'm worth it.". Try mixing the ranch dip with greek yogurt instead of sour cream for lower fat. Also one thing I love is weight watchers makes an "ice cream bar" that is raspberry inside and coated with chocolate. I love these!!! Only two points and love the combo of rasp and choc. Not synthetic tasting or too rich. Diet friendly.

It intrigues me that some people crave sweet snacks and others crave salty or savory snacks

My father who was in a rough state at the end I always made sure that he had a decent dark chocolate every day because of the health benefits to his heart. The real issue was ONE ONLY ONE.

I have three:

Dried figs (turkish) - 2 usually does the trick if they're decent size.

Strained yogurt with honey

Fresh pita with zaatar and olive oil paste (but only if I have a toaster oven to use)

Around Halloween I'll toast as many pumpkin seeds as I can clean and put some sort of heat on them (I may try using Tajin this year), but for me that's a seasonal thing. I'll occasionally buy a small bag of commercially packaged pepitas but I cringe at the thought of the sodium content.

Ruffles (with ridges) and Dean's French onion dip, or Ruffles and cream cheese

Beef jerky

Bugles , preferably the caramel cheddar flavor

Chicken fried rice

Chocolate covered almonds

Sesame sticks from Trader Joes

Gardettos snack mix

I just had a nice crisp apple I cut up in wedges and spread a little nutella on some of the pieces. Also a bit of peanut butter on some of them too.

This seems like a thread in need of period revival.

I have been buying Merkt's cheddar at Mariano's and have been trying to think of something more healthful than eating spoonfuls of it straight out of the container.

My favorite solution so far is buy good-quality large red grapes and put a small schmear of Merkt's on each grape.

TomInSkokie wrote:
My favorite solution so far is buy good-quality large red grapes and put a small schmear of Merkt's on each grape.

Try apples. It's a Midwestern classic.

TomInSkokie wrote:This seems like a thread in need of period revival.

I have been buying Merkt's cheddar at Mariano's and have been trying to think of something more healthful than eating spoonfuls of it straight out of the container.

My favorite solution so far is buy good-quality large red grapes and put a small schmear of Merkt's on each grape.

The Cabot horseradish cheddar spread they sell there is highly addictive and I haven't seen it sold anywhere else in Chicagoland. It's similar to the Merkt's but the horseradish flavor is quite strong, and the wider-mouth tub allows for easily dipping directly into it. I'm not sure how it would pair with grapes but it's great on crackers, pork rinds, sesame sticks, sandwiches, etc.

=R=

I love sardines, straight out of the can with a dab of Louisiana hot sauce. I like the Season-brand sardines from Costco because they're large, meaty and come packed in olive oil. Almost like mini mackerel fillets.



Some of the imported Spanish and Italian brands like Cento are really good too, but tend to be pricy. Those are my "special occasion" snacks.