Having snacks without feeling guilty
Snacks for every day with less than 200 calories
One of the most difficult things to do when going on a diet is to get to meals without being too hungry which would compromise your efforts to eat less. To avoid a grumbling stomach dieticians recommend interrupting mornings and afternoons with snacks, usually something light such as an apple, or some raw carrot. Not exactly the tastiest things, are they? Luckily there are other snacks with the same calories as an apple!
Blackberries and pistachios If the season is right eating blackberries and pistachios is much better than the usual apple. Blackberries contain folic acid and pistachios have many vitamins and minerals that are useful for our bodies. Like most dried fruit, you must not overdo it and, above all, buy versions without salt or without sugar.
Dates and coconuts Dates and coconuts contain good oils and mineral salts such as potassium and, when eaten in moderation, are excellent mid-morning snack. You can open the dates and fill them with a piece of coconut, or shredded coconut and a teaspoon of honey. However, do not eat more than two!
Carrots and hummus
Yes, carrots alone are a little boring, but if you add some hummus to them the flavour will improve and you won’t exceed your calorie plan.
It is always better to make a lighter version of hummus with chickpeas, a touch of spice and a spoonful of oil.
Blueberries and frozen yoghurt
Blueberries are already good on their own, but if you put them in some yoghurt and then freeze them they are the perfect snack to prevent you from straying from your diet, though tasty and fresh for the summer. The best way to do it is preparing your own homemade yoghurt with KitchenAid Artisan Cook Processor, preserving all the nutrients of fresh food. You can decide to prepare directly a blueberry-flavoured yoghurt, or to add the fruits later, when preparing the mix to be frozen. Do this: take some blueberries and mash them with a toothpick in some yoghurt, put them in a container covered with baking paper and place them in the fridge for an hour. Once they have set you can put them in a bag in the freezer and eat them a little at a time when you have a craving.
Banana fudge
Fudge is a sweet that originated in the Unites States and the United Kingdom. It has a very creamy consistency (it is not a cake, but rather a soft cream). In particular, it typically has few, sufficiently oily ingredients: banana fudge has only three, very mature bananas, a spoonful of peanut butter and enough coconut oil to create a soft mixture. Put this all in a muffin tin or ramekins and put it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.
Strawberries, yoghurt and balsamic vinegar
Rather than a chocolate mousse, it is better to add Greek yoghurt to some strawberries and with a few drops of balsamic vinegar. It is a light and tasty snack that is really easy to prepare!
Roast apples
Yes, apples are very dietary, but they are not always very tasty. Instead of eating them raw you can fill them with some creamy cheese mixed with a teaspoon of honey, some crushed hazel nuts and roast them in the oven. A classic dish revisited!
Avocado toast Avocados are famous for their great properties and are used a lot in vegan and vegetarian cuisine. A slice of toast, better if wholemeal bread, with a few slices of avocado, or even crushed, is an excellent method to drive off mid afternoon hunger pangs. You can add a small sun-dried tomato, but only one.
Smoothies
You can go crazy with smoothies! It is important to choose ingredients that are low in calories, such as fresh fruit, and add to the mix with soy, coconut or other vegetable milks. Even though ingredients are easy to blend with the new KitchenAid Artisan Power Plus Blender, which has a powerful Motor that easily cuts through frozen fruits and fibrous, nutrient-dense vegetables, for smoother results. It comes also with specific programs to create juices and soups.
Banana chips and other dried fruits
With KitchenAid Twelix Artisan Oven, equipped with 3 cooking levels, is very simple to prepare your own desiccated fruit chips, made with apples, bananas, pineapple or apricots. Just put the cutfruit on a baking tray, heat the oven to reach a temperature between 50 and 60 degrees and keep it in ventilation mode for 50 minutes (it really varies based on the size and the kind of fruit). They are very good and contain few calories but be careful. Since they are dried they are very sweet and it is easy to lose control and eat too many!
Sorbet
This is a lighter version of our beloved ice cream and allows us to indulge in something cool in the afternoons without weighing us down. Lemons, strawberries and raspberries are the most famous, but you can find interesting variations or you could make it at home, even without an ice cream maker.
For example, peaches and thyme is a winning combination but you should always be wary of the amount of sugar.
