One of my biggest weaknesses, and therefore one of my greatest challenges when it comes to my new Paleo diet, is snacking. I am an absolute sucker for crisps, chips, nibbles, anything sugary or salty - I love it. It's not even really a question of being hungry; snacking is just an integral part of my day! For me, it's been relatively easy and very exciting to research and create new fantastic recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is no shortage of ideas at our fingertips for these meals. But for snacks it's a little more difficult. There are suggestions out there for healthier versions of snacks, but I have never found one which really filled that requirement for me. Yes there is fruit and carrot sticks, raisins and sliced celery... but, for me, none of these really satisfy me when I get the munchies.
If you can relate to this at all then don't worry! I've managed to come up with three really delicious and filling snacks that are extremely easy and quick to make and they are all good for you! This means that there is no sugar involved, no fatty sauces, no disgusting chemicals - just natural food. And the great thing about all three of these options is that you can make them in bulk so that whenever you start to feel peckish you know you have a reserve of healthy snacks to turn to. At this time of year, when our pantries are swelling with sugary goodness, it's definitely a good idea to have some healthier backups around to make sure our trousers still fit us in the new year!
Spiced Nuts
Nothing says Christmas quite like a big bowl of nuts. You probably have some hanging around in your house right now - that's exactly what gave me the idea for this snack, something that you could just make quickly from ingredients that you might already have. I saw we had some walnuts, almonds and pecans on our shelves - these are all a little boring by themselves but spicing them up a bit makes for a great snack!
Ingredients
❄ any mixture of nuts you fancy
❄ spice mixture*
❄ 1 egg white
*This can be a mix of whatever you like, but for my recipe I used:
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
You could also go down the curry powder route, or keep it simple with a basic lemon pepper
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 150°C.
2. Spread your nuts out on a lined baking tray and toast them at 150°C for 20 mins.
3. Prepare your spice mixture by mixing all of your chosen spices together in a bowl.
4. Remove nuts from the oven and let them cool for 10 mins. Then add them to a large mixing bowl.
5. Separate your egg white and add this to the bowl of nuts. Then toss in the spice mixture and mix thoroughly.
6. Put the nut mixture back on the baking tray and bake for a further 10 mins at same temperature.
7. Once they are golden brown, turn the oven off and let the nuts cool off in the oven for 2 hours. Then enjoy!
Cauliflower Popcorn
Popcorn is one of the things I have missed most since being on the Paleo diet, I just love it. Luckily this recipe is almost identical to the real thing, and you can eat as much of it as you want!
Ingredients
❄ 1/4 head (150g) cauliflower
❄ 2 tbsp coconut oil
❄ 2 tsp salt
❄ 1 tsp turmeric or curry powder
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Chop the cauliflower into popcorn sized chunks and place in a mixing bowl
3. Heat coconut oil in a small saucepan to melt it.
4. Add the salt and turmeric to the coconut oil and melt together.
5. Add the coconut oil mixture to the cauliflower and mix it all together.
6. Put the cauliflower mixture in a lined baking tray and bake at 200°C for 20 mins.
7. Let them cool, then enjoy with a movie!
Banana Chips
The newest addition to our kitchen is a dehydrator and, if you haven't already got one, I would seriously recommend investing! You can make chips out of anything: bananas, kale, spinach and it just makes it so easy! I wanted to include a recipe to utilise this as it might inspire you to get one and expand your culinary repertoire, but you could also make these delicious banana chips directly in the oven too!
Ingredients
❄ 4-6 bananas
❄ spice mixture*
*Again you can use whatever you fancy but I went with the traditional Christmassy choices of cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg.
Method
1. Chop up the bananas into thin slices. The thinner you cut them, the thinner the chips will come out.
2. Distribute the banana slices into the dehydrator.
3. Cover each layer of banana slices with sprinkles of your chosen spices.
4. Leave in the dehydrator overnight - by the next day you should have some tasty banana chips!
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Labels: Life
