Food Group: November Recap - Sustaining Snacks

Our November Meeting brought new friends and old alike together to discuss Sustaining Snacks, and the whys and hows of better eating throughout our days. For those who were unable to join us, the evening's outline is shared below.

Please, feel free to leave recipes or links in the comments section to share your personal favorites. The more inspirations, the better!



The Trouble: Poor snacking habits, midday hunger pangs, easy access junk food at work, expensive packaged foods, and the consequential loss of productivity and depleted energy at the end of the day (especially when it's time to cook dinner!).

The Encouragement: Think ahead, re-build habits, re-train taste buds, try new foods, follow through.

{ Discussion }

Why do we need new ideas and routines?
What types of frustrations do you have with your own midday food choices and options?
How do we get to the point of midday hunger? (Lack of breakfast, empty lunches, hard work?)
How does this affect life at home and work? (Low energy, low concentration, low productivity for accomplishing tasks and making meals.)

How can we think ahead? (Anticipate busy seasons; prepare snacks in advance)
How can we rebuild habits (Reach for water before a snack, delay first instinct to grab filler foods)
How can we re-train taste buds? (Pay attention to flavors/textures; appreciate nuance vs. sugar/salt)
How can we try new foods? (From ideas shared tonight, think about trying something unfamiliar)
How can we follow through? (Build new habits slowly; pick one or two small changes to make well)

What Stops Us From Making Changes & Eating More Nourishing Foods?
Habits. East. Time. Money. (Money is at times a valid strike against nourishing foods, but expenses can often be mitigated by an investment of time: a vicious cycle.) Many of these ideas are not rocket science, but they require forethought - one of the biggest personal challenges.

{ Ideas }

What snacks and make-ahead foods have worked well for you in the past? Favorite recipes, stories?
For those with children, what kinds of kid-friendly snacks do you recommend?

Food Combinations
Fruit & Nuts: Apples & Almonds...Pears & Walnuts...Cherries & Cashews
Soaked Nuts: Soaked and dehydrated to unlock nutrients
Plain yogurt with dried fruit/nuts
Sliced fruit dipped in nigh quality nut butters or honey
Chopped veggies and hummus
Whole grain tortilla with nut butter and fruit slices
Homemade Lara Bars
Dehydrated fruits
Muffins with high quality butter
Cheese & fruit slices or homemade jam/preserves on nutritious bread or crackers


How Can We Save Time?
Boil a handfull of eggs at the beginning of the week
Make Lara Bars in a large batch and freeze/refrigerate
Bake muffins ahead of time and freeze/thaw as needed
Make bulk snacks at the beginning of the month and host a snack swap to trade with others

{ A Few Random Recipes }

From The Nourishing Cook:

Nut recipes

Whole Grain Crackers
Lemon Muffins

From Kimi at the Nourishing Gourmet:
Directions for soaking nuts

From Googling Around A Bit:
Energy balls
Carrot zucchini squares

And...just because we're fun like that - Homemade Poptarts

Homemade Lara Bars
Hazelnut & almond crackers

{ Ideas }
Add below!