New Snacks

There are so many cool, tasty snacks at the store, that most of you, me in the past included, would call "birdseed," "hippy food," or "stuff for those vegan people."  Going through Publix (Florida's local grocer) the other day, I noticed a whole new snack shelf in the veggie and fruit section.  It's got loads of yummy dried fruit, nuts, seeds, and trail mix.  FRESH.  It's not packaged with M & M's.  It's not loaded with extra sugar to make you want to eat it.  However, it does replace not only chips for me, but kills the sweet tooth as well.  (Not saying that I don't throw in some brownies or ice cream too sometimes.)  I am in love with soy, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds.  Yes, I am a bird now.  They are yummy though.  Why?  I know they aren't bad for me, they're better than chips, and in soy nuts, for example, they have 8 grams of protein per 1/4 cup serving!  That's an awesome power snack with a piece of fruit or cheese.  I'm also in love with summer fruit.  Grapes, berries, mangoes, and particularly cherries do the trick for munching and something sweet.  I love to munch grapes or cherries after dinner for a sweet bite, and I adore (but not often), blackberries or blueberries with some cool whip.  Mangoes are for anytime!  Also, take a blender, throw in some fresh fruits of your choice, 1 cup of milk - I use low fat 2% - some ice cubes, and you've got yourself a smoothie!  SO, so yummy for breakfast, snack, or dessert.  See how much fun this is?

FRESH CHERRIES

Roasted SOY NUTS