snacks

It’s All Greek for Me!

Nibbles

Yogurt, that is.

I keep a pretty repetitive eating routine (at least during the week when I’m on a schedule) that involves regular meals and snacks, primarily to keep my blood-sugar from dropping. Mid-morning means a dose of yogurt which has the added benefit of live cultures and, over the years, I’ve tried most of the brands and styles available on the market. I’d pretty much settled on an organic, non-fat vanilla yogurt, bought by the quart and spruced up with dried blueberries, frozen strawberries or all-fruit spread.

Occasionally I’d dally with a really yummy plum-lavender-honey yogurt from another organic line (preferred for its eschewing of artificial sweeteners) but I do like the ability to buy larger quantities and pack my own servings in reusable containers as opposed to single-serving varieties. And then, in February, I was down in Orlando for MegaCon and missing my yogurt routine when I saw a yogurt parfait at a local Starbucks: it was Greek yogurt, honey and granola with pepitas and dried fruit and, oh, it was good. Have you tried it? Greek yogurt in general, I mean, though the Starbucks offering is very good, too.

Compared to most low or no-fat yogurts, non-fat Greek yogurt is thick, the consistency of a rich sour cream with some of the bite of that, as well. One thing I dislike about most low-fat yogurts is the texture, so this was a revelation. Calorie-wise, it’s about 60 per 8 oz serving but I usually stick to 4 oz at a time for my mid-morning snack so, even with the addition of a dollop of honey and a small shake of organic granola, my mid-morning snack is both satisfying and low-cal all in one.

Even though most Greek yogurt is non-fat, there are some 2% versions out there, so watch the label of the brand you buy. Also, unlike other yogurts that come in quart sizes of plain and vanilla, the largest I’ve found locally is plain as a pint. It also tends to be a bit more expensive than even the vanilla organic non-fat that I was buying, but I think the benefits of taste and texture are worth a tiny increase in price.

Random Appetites: Travelling Food

Nibbles

Happy Fat Tuesday to all the revelers among us: Laissez les bon temps roulez! (let the good times roll, for the uninitiated)

(And, now, back to our regularly scheduled Random Appetites)

Seems like I spend an inordinate amount of time in my car–I’m sure many of you can relate. And even though my commute is a short one (around 20 minutes to work, less if the students are on break), the road trips have become quite regular occurences and, among other things, road trips mean travelling snacks.

It all started when I was a kid and we’d take trips back home to visit family over the holidays. The boys (my younger brothers) would be tucked into the back seat with toys to keep them occupied for as much of 6 hours was possible and a bag of simple, non-messy snacks to keep the tummies from grumbling. Just after high school I was diagnosed as hypoglycemic so travelling with food became more of a necessity than a perk. And then there’s those trips home where the sun makes you sleepy and the only thing you can do, once blasting the a/c and the radio have stopped working, is chew to stay awake–travelling food to the rescue.

When choosing foods for interstate foraging it’s best to follow a few, simple guidelines:

  • Avoid those that need refrigeration; you never know when the cooler will get wedged closed, spring a leak, or just be too difficult to get into while at top speeds,
  • Packages must be easy to open so as not to cause impediment that you’d have to explain to a state trooper or your insurance company,
  • Must be edible with only the use of hands–no cutlery allowed.

I prefer, also, to keep things on the dry side (easier to brush off crumbs than spills) and as self-contained as possible (to avoid those crumbs in the first place).

In the canvas bag that holds the snacks for the next road trip are the following supplies:

  • 3 types of organic granola bars–the Cascadian Farms bars are just too yummy and the fact that they avoid all those convoluted chemicals can’t be a bad thing
  • dried fruit (apricots, pineapple, cranberries)–can be high in sugar but it’s at least fruit that won’t spoil if left in the car for a few hours
  • packets of trail mix–good for protein
  • baked pita chips
  • Oreos (what, I need chocolate in there somewhere!)

The cookies, admittedly, are more for destination snacking when the post-con sweet-tooth hits. The rest are prime examples of road snacks.