One of the things I’ve learned in dealing with hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), is that I can’t rely on spur-of-the-moment snacking decisions to keep me healthy.
Really, how many of us start feeling a bit lightheaded because we’ve skipped a meal – hey, we’re busy parents! It’s easy to get distracted by rambunctious small children and let our own need for food go by the wayside. Or maybe the kiddos actually cleaned their plate for once and the deliberately small portion we chose for ourself won’t be supplemented by our children’s leftovers.
And there we are, in the midst of our busy schedule and we need something FAST! So we make a grab for whatever is closest – or make a pit stop at a convenience store or fast food joint – and hurriedly stuff our face with junk that’s overloaded with carbs, fat, sugar, chemicals and barely any redeeming nutritional value whatsoever. The short-term sugar-high may feel good for a few minutes before you inevitably crash and burn, feeling a little ill and regret all the empty calories you ingested.
In my car, my purse, my workbag, my work area and my kitchen, I’ve got a stash of tasty healthy snacks that I can grab on the go. (Sometimes I feel a little like a squirrel hiding its stash in all these places!)
Here’s what I have in my basic Snack-Aid Kit:
- A bottle of water
- A mini-can or two of Low Sodium V8 (higher potassium than regular version)
- A packet of nuts
- Dried fruit (Currently, my fave is Funny Face Cranberries)
- Whole grain crackers
- A nutritional food bar like Clif or Larabar (no relation to me :D)
If my budget allows, I’ll even get those DIY Tuna Salad mini-kits and add that.
You can even combine the nuts and dried fruit in a tasty trail mix!
Try out this recipe for Choo Choo Cherry’s Easy Pumpkin Seed Trail Mix from the Funny Face Cranberries Recipe Page!
Besides being a change-up from same-old same-old raisins, let’s do a nutritional comparison between the two:
famous brand of raisins Funny Face Choo-Choo Cherry flavored Cranberries
There’s a heckuva lot more sugar and a lot less fiber in the raisins compared to Funny Face Cranberries! Wow! Half my daily requirement of fiber in just one serving of the cranberries! Half the sugar per serving, too! And that’s with the raisins’ serving being a miserly 1/4 cup, while Funny Face treats me nice and serves me 1/3 cup of tasty goodness! (It means I get to stuff my face with a lot less guilt :D)
Funny Face Cranberries are also a great substitute for any recipe that calls for raisins – bread pudding, muffins, oatmeal, etc.
The little snack-sized boxes are the perfect size to slip into your children’s lunchboxes, too!
And with Thanksgiving coming up, here’s a useful tip: nibble on some of your healthy snacks prior to sitting down for the Big Meal. You can still enjoy all your favorites, but it’ll be easier to keep to smaller portions if you’re not going into the meal while suffering from hunger pangs!
If you’d like to win a chance to nibble on Funny Face Cranberries for yourself, and receive a nifty reuseable lunchbag and other fun treats, please enter our giveaway below that’s been generously sponsored by Funny Face Cranberries!
And if you enjoy hanging out on social media, you can find Funny Face Cranberries here:
Happy Holidays!
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*I received samples of Funny Face Cranberries from the manufacturer to facilitate this review and they have sponsored a giveaway prize for my readers. The opinions expressed in this review are my own and were not influenced by the sponsor and do not necessarily reflect the sponsor’s point of view.
I enjoy both! However, eating out of a packet as a quick and healthy snack is my fave!
Sweet or Savory..i would have to go with sweet! Who doesn’t love a good sweet recipe where you can add some fun mix-ins like dried fruit!?
Dawn Parsons recently posted..Review: Graze.Com – Snacking Reinvented
I usually use dried fruit to cook. They are such a healthy snacks and I feed them to my son.
I prefer sweet foods with dried fruit.
I prefer dried fruits on their own.
I prefer sweet foods with dried fruit.
Marija recently posted..On Staying Sane During Winter, Part 1
I like making trail mix w/ dried fruits.
I like sweet foods with dried fruit.
I prefer them in recipes.
I prefer sweet foods that contain dried fruit.
I love snacking on dried fruit out of the box! Thanks for the giveaway! 🙂
I prefer sweet foods with dried fruit.
I love to snack on dried fruits right out of the box, but I am trying to add them more into my recipes!
I prefer dried fruits in my sweets! I love them in cookies or cakes!
I actually enjoy dried fruit right of the box or in recipes. It tastes amazing either way and cranberries are especially awesome in salads!
I think that dried fruit is one of those things that you can go sweet or savory with. It’s really good in savory trail mixes, but it is also sooo good in sweet things like cookies. I love it!!
I love to cook with dried fruit. It really gives the recipe something special.
Sherri J recently posted..Hello world!
I love the sweet taste of dried fruit.
posted comment on Mint/Feta Figs on the Recipe link
Sherri J recently posted..Hello world!
I usually eat dried fruit right out of the box because it’s so tasty.
I love both sweet and savory foods with dried fruit.
I like snacking out of the box
I like them in sweet foods
I love them right out of the box!
I usually like dried fruits in savory dishes.
I love eating them right out of the box and also use them in cooking and baking. Thank you for the great giveaway.
Love them both but if I would have to choose my sweet-tooth would win out. Thanks again…
I like eating them right out of the box.
Makes no difference to me I like them in sweet and savory both.
I prefer to eat dried fruit right out of the box. I would rather use fresh I suppose is the term, for recipes.
I love both sweet and savory dishes with fruit in them. I love cranberries in stuffing and I like them in scones and other sweet dishes.
I enjoy snacking on dry fruit right out of the bag.
I prefer sweet recipes with dried fruit.
I love dried fruit right out of the box!
I like them in recipes.
I prefer sweets.
i like eating them out of the box better 🙂
i love sweets better 🙂
Right out of the box!
Savory, just like stuffing!
mostly sweet, like yogurt, but i also enjoy dried fruit in my salad!
i usually put in recipes like salad or chicken!
I love to have the dried fruit right out of the container!
I prefer dried fruit in sweet recipes!
I like dried fruit right out of the bag & mixed in recipes!