After the weekend of the Duke game, we were hungover, drained, cold, bloated and broke. This weekend was a loss, I can admit--Duke truly broke our hearts. Although we all secretly loved hitting the lights before midnight, our campus suffered a loss even greater than Zion's shoe. However, for some ungodly reason (Kent perhaps?), on Monday morning, our 60 mph winds cancelled our classes and snapped us right back into shape. As the wind numbed our faces, we were given a cold, yet hopeful, realization that spring break is among us. Queue the healthy snacks.
As our days till spring break approach us, Kimmel must be avoided and healthy snacking must start coming back into play. In order to get our summer bods back into shape (and prepped for more inebriation), we must start swapping our munchies for veggies and our cake pops for Halo Tops. As I have fully adjusted into my first off-campus apartment, I've had my fair share of burnt sweet potato, over-done chicken, and rotten vegetables in the back of my fridge that I've fully forgotten about. Despite my attempts, I'm continuing to stick to my oath that steers away from processed foods and unhealthy snacking. Now that I finally have a kitchen, a budget, and access to local grocery stores, I've decided to make as many healthy snacks as affordable as possible. I can promise you that these 10 homemade healthy snacks are easy, care-free, burn-free and require little to no cooking expertise. When it comes to the kitchen, I'm messy, delirious and forgetful (aka I leave the stove on 80% of the time). So when I say these snacks are easy AND healthy...I mean it.
1. Baked Sweet Potato Chips
Sweet potato chips are the perfect crunchy alternative to grabbing BBQ chips before you hit Bird. If you're craving a late-night snack, a mid-day snack, a snack to put in your pocket while you're hitting afters(??--am I the only one who does this), bake these up at 400 degrees, slice up a sweet potato when it's feeling ripe and drizzle them with any desired seasoning. Go wild, get crunching, fully guilt-free.
2. Butternut Squash Fries
Kimmel fries no longer. As long as you have butternut squash and spices, you're good to go. Pop these in the oven just like your sweet potato chips and divulge away! These fries are the perfect treat to keep you warm after class. Your roommates will easily be convinced that you're a chef in no time.
3. Zucchini Chips
This recipe does not require the extra parmesan, bread crumbs, and garlic, but why the heck not? These zucchini chips are just as simple as our sweet potato chips. As long as you dry out the zucchini prior and salt it in order to dehydrate the vegetable, you're good to go. Get your crunch on and go wild with any kind of topping!
4. No-Bake Peanut Butter Granola Bites
If you're craving something sweet, on-the-go, and a treat that'll steer away from the oven, these bites will soothe your sweet tooth and keep you full and satisfied as the winter days progress. Instead of grabbing a sugary granola bar, stick to a DIY that you can easily stock up in your pantry over the next few days. **Major bonus: this treat cost me under 5 dollars.
5. Mini Avocado and Hummus Quesadillas
If you're craving a decent lunch, brunch, or quick late-night dinner, quesadillas are my dietary weakness. Although these require a bit more recipes, there are several times where I hold the cilantro, hummus, or cheese, depending on the ingredients I do have. If you have a half hour (and another 5 min to quickly dig in), melt your gums into a meal that's under 100 cal per quesadilla. **Don't make my mistake: make sure your avocados aren't rotten before you turn the stove top on and get those tortillas warmed.
6. Cinnamon Apple Chips
Have apples to spare? Pop these babies in the oven and sprinkle with cinnamon, maybe dip into some peanut butter? These chips are quick, delicious, and put your fruit to good use. Divulge and share with friends. This is the ultimate healthy, nutritious snack that'll make you look like the mom of your friend group.
7. Frozen Banana Yogurt Cups
Craving ice cream? Halo top perhaps, but too lazy to GoPuff? If you're craving for something cold, refreshing and quick to nibble on, these are practically ice cream in a cup. All you'll need are cupcake pans, bananas, vanilla yogurt, and some bakin' cups. Once they're chilled and ready to go, stock 'em in your fridge or grab them on the go.
8. DIY RX Bars
I'm gonna be blunt--RX Bars are simple, delicious, healthy and filling. However, you're much better off saving your money and making RX bars DIY in bulk. Trust me, they'll taste the same as the ones you get at Target for $16.69 (hard pass). Once you compact these ingredients, these bars are good to keep in stock in the fridge. Plus, DIY RX bars are made with love, compared to the (quite bland) wrapping on the store-bought RX bars. The hardest part about making it is finding egg whites. Once you're past that (not-so-hard) hardship, you're good to go.
9. Veggie Fritters
If you have 25 minutes and a handful of pantry and fridge staples (and a shredder), these fritters will warm you up while keeping your gut happy. Substitute potato fritters for these veggie fritters, using the same dip that you would've used before (while feeling less guilty). Grab zucchini, carrots, scallions, egg and garlic. This'll get your apartment smelling delishhhh.
10. Green Bean Fries
These hold SERIOUS flavor and serve major crunch. This is the perfect pick-me-up to spice up your day. My green beans are always forgotten about in my fridge so I put them to good use. Pair these with hummus, guac, and or ranch dip? Share with friends and share immediately once they're out of the oven. Their crispiest moments are straight out of the heat and best sprinkled with parmesan. Once they've hit room temp., they're gone for good. Get them while they're hot!!!