As a follow-up to my blog post on meal planning – I'm sharing some tips & ideas for eating between meals. To get started ask yourself - “How many times do I snack a day, on average?” Now – how did you define a “snack”? Is it defined by the time of day you eat something, the type or amount of food you eat, or where/how you eat the food? According to Merriam Webster a snack is a small amount of food eaten between meals. The concept of “snacking” is widely agreed upon but vaguely defined: ‘small amount’ of food is relative and everyone’s nutrient needs are different, not to mention the variation in meals and timing. When I work with clients, I’m not as concerned with which definition you use to define snacking – what I care about is ensuring we have agreed upon our definition, if snacking is something we develop goals around. For this article, I’m going to ask you to think about snacks as ‘mini meals’ that can be eaten any time of day and that provide the calories & nutrients YOU need to meet your daily needs. Why a mini meal? Because just like a meal, snacks that include multiple foods groups will provide a wider variety of nutrients and help keep you fueled until your next meal or eating occasion. How do you know if a mini-meal is right for you or your family? |
Ingredients:
| Directions: Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth, scraping the sides occasionally. Portion into containers, cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. BONUS: the sides of your blender will likely be coated in chocolate – after scraping what you need to portion it out, place ½-1 cup of milk in the blender and make a glass of delicious chocolate milk while ‘cleaning’ the insides of your blender. |
Nutrition Info: (for 1/8th of the recipe, about 100grams)
110 calories, 5g fat, 19g carbs, 7g sugar, 5g fiber and 2g protein (will vary depending upon the type of ‘milk’ used)
Jobs for Luciana (2-3year old helpers):
110 calories, 5g fat, 19g carbs, 7g sugar, 5g fiber and 2g protein (will vary depending upon the type of ‘milk’ used)
Jobs for Luciana (2-3year old helpers):
- Peels & sorts the bananas – peel goes in the garbage and banana in the blender
- Plops the avocado in the blender that mommy cut, pitted and left in the peel
- Holds the measuring spoon over the blender while mommy pours the vanilla and we dump it in together
- Helps mommy count the number of Tablespoons of ingredients we put in
- Once the lid is safely on and she gets the go ahead – Luciana flicks the on switch and turns the speed up
- Official taste-tester
What is your favorite 'mini-meal'? Let me know in the comments!
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Caroline
I'm a busy mom with a passion for sharing practical advice to help you live the healthy and balanced life you envision. Warning: the information is evidenced-based, but the delivery will often contain humor!
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