You’re crunched for time. You have children to get off to school, errands to run, a demanding job, and extra-curricular activities with your kids in the evening. You’re sorely tempted to pick up a burger and fries at a drive-thru or grab a candy bar and soda at the 7-Eleven. What are you to do to keep your diet from flushing down the tubes?
The best strategy is to plan ahead and be prepared. If you don’t you’re leaving yourself wide open to every high carb and high calorie temptation in your path. Set aside an hour or so on a weekend and prepare enough healthy snacks to last through the week. A handy appliance to have on hand is a Seal-A-Meal. You can easily make portion controlled packaged snacks to take along when you’re on the go.
Another handy item is a small soft sided cooler or lunch box to carry your snacks.This allows you to widen your snack selections to include perishables. This is a trick most bodybuilders, fitness models, and other athletes use to stick to a clean diet. They carry their food with them.
The following low carb snacks are easy to prepare, convenient on the go, and tasty.
1. Mixed nuts, almonds, pecans, cashews, peanuts, any combo you like provides a delicious and nutritious snack.
2. Boiled or deviled eggs (recipe below) are easy to prepare ahead and make a tasty hand held snack.
3. Beef jerky is a great choice and you can actually grab a bag on the go at most mini-marts and grocery stores.
4. Individually packaged cheese sticks are another easy snack and readily available in most stores.
5. Tuna packets are now available in many flavors, they’re very convenient and go with other easy to carry foods like celery, carrot sticks and lettuce leaves (for sandwich wraps), even whole wheat crackers.
6. Laughing Cow cheese is a delicious snack spread over celery sticks or paired with low carb fruits. BabyBel mini cheese is also a convenient option.
7. Cottage cheese is an old reliable that’s easily jazzed up with pepperoni slices, Canadian bacon slices, pork rinds, or real bacon bits.
8. Plain yogurt has less sugar than flavored and fruit added varieties. Add fresh berries and you have a healthy sweet snack.
9. Seeds like pumpkin and sunflower seeds are available shelled and easy to snack on anywhere.
10. Chicken strips are available in the deli section and also easy to make yourself if you’re on a budget. (Recipe below)
Quick and Easy Deviled Eggs
12 hard-cooked eggs
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Splenda
2 teaspoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon salt
Paprika
Slice eggs in half, remove yolks and set whites aside. In a small bowl, mash yolks up with a fork. Add mayonnaise, Splenda, vinegar, mustard and salt and mix well. Spoon or pipe yolk mixture into egg whites. Sprinkle with paprika. Chill before serving.
Nutrition Information per egg: 70 calories, 0.5 grams carb, 6 grams fat, 4 grams protein.
Quick and Easy Chicken Strips
1/4 cup butter, melted2 cups pecans, finely chopped
4 tablespoons soy or almond flour
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning blend
1 pound boneless chicken breast tenders
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish. Place butter in a shallow pie pan. In another shallow pie pan, mix together the chopped nuts, flour, and seasoning blend. Dip chicken tenders in butter, then press into the nut mixture to evenly coat. Arrange in prepared baking dish and drizzle with any remaining butter. Bake 25 minutes until chicken juices run clear.
Nutrition information per 4 ounce serving: Calories 424, 2 grams carbs, 31 grams fat, 35 grams protein.
