I would be naive to assume we have pantries stocked for ONLY whole foods eating. I, like most of you, live a modern life where I wear many hats and need convenience more than I care to admit. Processed foods have become a part of many of our lives but we still have control over what those foods are. We are lucky to be living in a time when there are food companies that offer healthier options over other companies. The secret is knowing which ones to choose. We have many great choices now- just walk into any Whole Foods, Trader Joe's or natural food section of all large grocers.
I tend to have these processed snacks on hand year round but they are especially convenient as we transition to summer, a season made for snacking. Road trips, airplane traveling, stashes for your hotel room, at the pool, as a crunchy side to a healthy lunch,and all day movie marathons are summertime fun when snacking is almost impossible to avoid. You'll always find fresh fruit, veggies and dips, as well as homemade snacks (you can find a couple of them in my recent blog post, Spring Clean Your Pantry for Healthy, Warm Weather Eating) offered first but it's nice to know healthy does not need to be sacrificed when we do make choices for convenience and time-constraints.
Here is a sneak peek at what always rotates on a regular basis on my snack shelf:
Who doesn't love popcorn? Especially when we now have all these incredible flavor combos beyond ho hum butter to crunch away on. Skinny Pop is GMO-free, low in sodium and fat, and their sweeter varieties are low in sugar. Our current favs are Original, White Cheddar and the new Jalapeno and Dusted Dark Chocolate.
These are truly addictive and I buy two at a time; one bag just for me! I love that they are roasted and not kettle-fried. These are very easy to eat right out of the bag but my girls like to dip them in sour cream and I prefer the heat of a good salsa verde.
Yes, it is easy to make your own trail mixes, but honestly, both Trader Joes's and Whole Food's make some pretty amazing mixes that I usually defer to their prepackaged bags alot. Favs from the 365 line include the Cherry Chocolate and Double Feature (we fight over those cute peanut butter cups!). Trader Joe's favs include Simply Almonds, Cashews and Chocolate and Happy Trekking: Almonds, Cashews, Pistachios, Chocolate, Cranberries & Cherries.
Snyder's Gluten Free Pretzels
It's tough to find products that are gluten-free and taste, well, just like wheat. Snyder's is one of the pretzel companies that has figured it out. We love the plain mini and stick versions.
Kind Bars
You would be hard pressed to find someone that has NOT had a Kind bar (unless you are allergic or don't like nuts) and my family is no exception. I tend to keep the low sugar varieties around (5 g only) but the other varieties make into the pantry on occasion ( the coconut-almond is amazing) especially for a pre-workout/sport quick grab and go food.
Bear Naked Granola
I don't always have time to make raw or regular homemade granola so The Triple Berry variety is our "go-to" granola as it only has 5 g sugar per serving. I've never seen my girls eat it right out of the bag rather it's is the granola part of their yogurt parfaits they make for breakfast, afternoon snack or even dessert.
Publix Greenwise Unsweetened Apple Sauce Cups
My girls love these by themselves but will also mix a cup into some plain Greek yogurt with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Runner Ups that make an appearance here and there include Krave Beef Jerky, any brand of organic tortilla chips, Kettle and Trader Joe's Guilt-Free potato chips, Love Crunch granola mixes, Trader Joe's and Endangered Species 70-85% chocolate bars, Mi-Del Gluten Free Ginger Snaps, Go Raw Ginger Snap cookies, and Trader Joe's Gluten Free Crispy Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies.
* Did you notice that I tend to stay gluten-free? My oldest prefers a gluten-free diet to manage her eczema, which is aggravated by wheat (and sugar), so I tend to keep our snacks gluten-free and lower sugar.
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