Convenient & Healthy Snacks
We know it can be tough to find time to eat a healthy meal or snack, Bruins. Here are three convenient snacks that only take a few minutes to make at home:
- Minute Snack Prep: “No Cut” Fruit Salad
- Ingredients: ½ cup Blueberries, ½ cup Blackberries, 1½ cup Grapes, 1½ cup Cherry, 1½ cup Strawberries, 3-6 Tangerines, ½ cup Raspberries, Ziplock Bag or Small Containers, Large Bowl
- Wash all fruits
- Peel tangerines and separate into singular slices
- Combine all fruit in the large bowl
- Pack all fruit into the bag or container and leave in the fridge until ready to eat / pack for school
- Five-Minute Snack Prep: Peanut Butter Power Balls (PBPB)
- (derived from https://livingwellmom.com/5-minute-peanut-butter-snack-balls/#tasty-recipes-50863 , but gave more options)
- Ingredients: 1-1 ½ cup Peanut Butter, ½- ¾ cup Honey, ½ tsp nutmeg, 2tsp cinnamon, 2-2½ cups of oats, 1 cup topping of choice (raisins, coconut flakes, chocolate chips, dried fruit), ½ cup seeds (ie: pumpkin, sunflower, chia seeds) (optional)
- Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl,
- Add Peanut Butter and Honey and mix well. The mixture should hold together enough to shape into balls. If it is too wet, adjust amount of oats or toppings. If it is too dry, adjust with peanut butter and honey.
- Once shaped into balls, place in a sealed container and refrigerate until ready to eat
- Ten-Minute Snack Prep: Rotisserie Chicken Burritos
- https://gimmedelicious.com/quick-and-easy-chicken-burritos/
- Ingredients: 1 rotisserie chicken, ½ cup mozzarella (or cheese of choice), 4 large tortillas, 1 can of black beans, ¼ cup cilantro, lime juice, 1 avocado (optional), aluminum foil or microwave safe container
- Using two forks, shred the rotisserie chicken and discard bones, dice avocadoes, and chop cilantro
- Mix all ingredients except for the tortilla
- Layout tortillas on a flat surface or plate and add about ¼ cup of the mixture on tortillas, and roll into a burrito
- If you are eating at home = lightly oil pan and toast tortillas on a non-stick pan on medium high heat until golden brown
- If you are eating on the go = heat up in a toaster oven (preferred) or microwave burritos in a microwave safe container
There are multiple factors that influence your food choices and behaviours, choosing a healthy option is not always highly prioritized. The convenience and readability of food are common reasons for choosing what eat. While ordering food from Uber Eats, Skip the Dishes or heating up frozen foods is convenient, it is not always the healthiest choice. Busy student schedules lead us to believe that we do not have time to buy groceries, prepare, and consume home-made meals. Here are a few tips we encourage you to help prepare your own meals at home more conveniently:
- Schedule one to two hours to prepare, cook and pack meals for future meals
- Technology helps! Try an application like SuperFood or Cookspiration to help create a shopping list for a new recipe
- Prepare smaller healthy snacks to avoid convenient fast-food cravings while you are out
At the end of the day, cooking your own meals or making your own snacks may seem like a daunting task, but it does not have to be. Try these tips to help make your own meals at home to ensure you have convenient healthy option available. Lifestyle changes can be difficult to incorporate and maintain, it is beneficial and more attainable to start off with small changes and then to progress. Which is why we included recipes and instructions for three quick snacks above.
Make meal preparation fun by doing it with family, roommates or friends over zoom. The time you spend one to two days a week can save you the hassle of waiting in lines and improve your health. Make your own food conveniently to avoid unhealthy convenient cravings.
We are ALL Sheridan Bruins