This year is all about taking care of myself. From eating right, to working out, to mindfulness, i'm focusing on myself.
So far, it's been going great! l'm more conscious of what I eat and drink, and I've cut out a ton of unnecessary calories. I've made simple swaps, such as not using creamer in my coffee, and instead using an unsweetened vanilla syrup to add some flavor. I don't drink juice any more, and instead I have sparkling water.
One thing I have struggled with in the past is snacking. I love to constantly snack, especially on Flavor Blasted Goldfish, they're just so good!
I have come to realize that I can't completely cut out snacking, or I will just eat it all at night even after having a great day of eating right. Instead of cutting it out, I've made some simple swaps for snacking, and they're actually really good!
Here are my 3 healthy go-to snacks!
Sweet Potato Fries
I have never been one to enjoy sweet potatoes on a casual day, but I've always had a love for fries. One day my mom came home and bought mini sweet potatoes, but she had no idea what to do with them. I didn't either since I've never cooked with them before, but then it dawned on me... sweet potato fries!
They are super simple and easy to make, and customizable to your liking. Get 2 large sweet potatoes, or 5 mini ones for the recipe. So first you must peel the potatoes, cut them, and let them soak in a large bowl of water for an hour to get rid of the starches.
After the hour is up, preheat your oven to 425*F, and then take your potatoes out of the water and dry them using a clean dish towel or paper towels. Now in the same bowl without the water, put the potatoes back in, and add 1 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch and mix it up. Then add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and mix.
Now comes the fun part: adding your spices. I prefer to use brown sugar, paprika, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I usually use about 1/2 teaspoon for each ingredient, but you can play around with that and add as much or as little as you like.
Then put them on parchment paper on a baking pan, and cook for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes, make sure to flip them over and cook for another 15.
Once they're done cooking, you can eat them just plain or with ketchup, and they taste so delicious. Bonus points: its only 161 calories per serving!
Chocolate dipped bananas with peanut butter
This is my go to healthy sweet treat when I'm just craving some chocolate. You'll need one banana, some peanut butter, and dark melting chocolate (I use the Godiva brand!).
In a microwave safe bowl, I grab a handful of the melting chocolates and pop them in for about 30 seconds. After that, I stir them, and microwave again for as many 30 second intervals it takes to get the chocolate smooth.
Then I cut up a banana, and get 2 slices to make a little peanut butter banana "sandwich". Once those are assembled, I grab my melted cholate and dip about half of the sandwich into the chocolate.
I put them in a plastic container, and into the freezer they go to harden up for about 2 hours. After that, they are ready to eat as a sweet and healthy treat!
Terra chips
So these are not a homemade recipe, but they're some of the best chips I have ever had. These chips are made from a combination of vegetables, such as Taro, Sweet potato, Ruby Dipped Vegetables, Parsnips, and Batata.
Whenever we get these chips, they are always gone within one sitting because they are just that good. Plus they are only 150 calories per serving, and are a perfect substitute for potato chips.
These 3 snacks have completely changed my snacking game, and I don't think I'll ever go back!
