Nutrition 411- Super Snacks!

Being a registered dietitian and a mom, I am constantly being asked about ideas for healthy, easy and yummy snacks to bring to school. work, while traveling etc.  I have been meaning to highlight some recipes and product ideas on this topic and I got just the motivational nudge I needed the other day...  The kind folks at Udi's offered to send me some of their new and current gluten-free snack foods to blog about as well as post some of my own recipes- a perfect win-win!! I really enjoyed trying some of their breads/rolls in my June BBQ post so I was seriously stoked to check out some of their snack foods as well!!

When I received their care package I was excited to get some of their simple but delicious Vanilla Granola plus another yummy flavor that I had not tried before- Blueberry Cashew Clusters, which has 10% of the Daily Value for Iron and 25% Daily Value for Zinc- 2 key minerals that can fall short in gluten-free diets.

A couple of new awesome snack products they sent me (which are quite tasty) were their Ancient Grains Crisps and Chewy Granola Bars. The Ancient Grains Crisps- (Aged Cheddar or Simply Sea Salt flavored) are a great chip alternative and are very reasonably low in calories, sodium and fat for a snack food. Their Granola Bars are chewy and not overly sweet, plus they have a decent 3 grams of fiber and 140 calories.

Some ridiculously amazing indulgences they sent me were some muffins and new cookie flavors that were really good and nice to have on hand for when I want an occasional sweet treat and don't want to bake it myself.

In general, the basic snacks that I tell my patients/friends/family to go with are fruit, nuts, low fat string cheese, air popped popcorn, PB+celery, carrots and hummus... For those not on gluten-free diets- whole wheat pretzels, 1/2 pita with veggies and hummus or light laughing cow cheese spread inside are other favorites.

For recipes check out my SNACKS section and learn about my favs like home made protein bars, smoothies and other yummy treats. I also wrote a snack article you can check out HERE.

Happy snacking and thanks Udi's!!

(Note: I was provided with products by Udi's to review but all of the views and opinions stated in this post are my own.)