Tasty, Nutritious Treats for the Summer
By Dr. Brenda Gill
Soon, some of you will have young children home for summer holidays, others will be planning trips to enjoy those wonderful times outside and hopefully, just getting out more in the summer. I often find it difficult to buy snacks that have enough protein, since many are mostly carbohydrates. So, here are some nutritious and quick foods for snacks, lunches and travelling for young and old!
TO EAT:
· Carrot, celery, cucumber, zucchini or jicama sticks, red bell pepper slices on their own or I often will put some almond, sesame seed(tahini) or sunflower seed butter on them for added protein
· Ants on a log (Fill celery with a nut butter such as almond butter and sprinkle raisins/dried cranberries or other cut up dried fruit on top).
· Sliced apples, pears, bananas, melons with almond or any other nut or seed butter on the slices
· Whole grain crackers like Rye krisps, corn thins, oat cakes, rice cakes, Mary’s crackers or Ry Vita with almond, hazelnut, cashew, sunflower, sesame or pumpkin seed butter
· Rice crackers with baba ganoush (an eggplant dip)
· Corn thins (these look like rice cakes, but, are thinner and taste like popcorn-yes they actually have some flavour and are easier to travel with, since they tend not to crumble) with wild salmon or yellow fine tuna on top- For those that don’t like mayonnaise, I use 1 tbsp mustard to a tin to moisten the salmon or tuna and make it spreadable. I often add grated carrot/chopped red pepper/zucchini or celery and olives on top
· Smoothies- blended fruit-usually a banana and another fresh or frozen fruit (like blueberries, peaches, apricots, raspberries or any other fruit you’ve frozen) with water. If you want to increase the protein content I often add hemp, pumpkin seed or egg protein powder. They are the least allergenic of the protein powders. NEVER use cow whey protein—it is inflammatory to the body!
· Sprouted Essene bread(a very moist sweet bread) with goat/sheep cheese and apple slices
· Oatios, almonds and raisins
· Popcorn sprinkled with nutritional yeast, curry and olive oil
· Popsicles made with fruit juices/fruit frozen in popsicle makers
· Muffins and cookies using ½ c of ground almond or sunflower seed flour to increase the protein content or adding seeds to the recipe
· Frozen bananas or blueberries and yogurt- If you take blueberries out of the freezer and immediately add yogurt, it will be just like frozen yogurt
· “Jello”- Use 1 tbsp. Agar/gelatin and add 31/2 cups fruit juice. Simmer 15 min. and pour into moulds
· “Fudgesicle”- Take carob/cocoa powder and add sweetened soy, coconut or quinoa milk and heat till well mixed. Add unrefined cane sugar if needed and freeze. Enjoy on a hot day!
· Dried fruit, nuts and seeds
· Pitted dates with a nut or seed butter
· Fruit leathers or dried fruit/veggie bars. (Sun-Ripe makes some good ones and some organic too)
· Snack bars- Be very careful that they aren’t full of sugar/chocolate/grains. It’s best to buy the 40/40/30 designed ones. This means they are 40%protein/40%carbs/30%fat. Typically they use nuts/seeds as their base and use dried fruit, such as dates/figs as the sweetener. An example are Perfect 10 bars(10 different nuts/seeds) or Organic Food Bars. You really have to read those labels!
· Whole grain crackers with hummus (I make mine with rice vinegar instead of lemon juice and sometimes add chopped olives or roasted red peppers).
· Red pepper slices filled with smoked tofu or tempeh.
TO DRINK:
· Diluted fruit juices with mineral water. There should be ¼ juice to water content, so, the blood sugar isn’t negatively affected.
· Diluted vegetable juices, especially carrot/beet/celery and any other veggie you have.
· Warmed soy, rice, oat, almond, hemp or coconut milk with cinnamon for a nighttime drink.
· Teas like cranberry razz or Cinnamon apple spice added to apple cider, again ¼ pure apple cider to ¾ herbal tea
· Herbal teas like Tension Tamer, Sleepytime, Bedtime and Licorice are calming and are great for adults and children that tend to get overly excited/nervous or anxious.
· Any herbal tea can be made and put in the fridge.
Some that are very flavourful are: Licorice (that just sweetens the tea and doesn’t taste like licorice), Blueberry, Cinnamon Apple Spice, Tangerine Orange Zinger, Raspberry, Spearmint or peppermint or if you like full-bodied teas- Bengal Spice, Vanilla Hazelnut, or English Toffee are yummy too!
For those looking for a more tailored eating plan, please call Dr. Brenda Gill at 362-5035 to set up an appointment.
