Paleo snacks

[Housekat]

This is where I fall down. I need ideas of easy, filling snacks. I'm tandem feeding my toddler and my four months old and mid afternoon seems to be a crazy food craving time.

So far I have:

eggs
nuts
raisins
hummus (I could do with a good hummus recipe)
raw carrots/cucumber/peppers
cheese
salami :shifty I know it's not good 'cause of nitrates, but I love salami

Anything glaring I'm missing? Needs to be simple (smalls are commanding all my time)

I can't eat 5 eggs a day - we average two or three in the morning in an omelette or scrambled.

[Katigre]

1. Do a baking day once a week and make a bunch of easy snacks in the freezer - 'nutty protein balls' are popular here as are elana's pantry blueberry muffins.

2. Almond butter packets by Justins are a quick and easy protein snack

3. Lara bars

4. Can you do dairy at all? Yogurt is good.

5. Make a big pitcher of green smoothie with some avocados and banana in it for extra fat/carbs and keep it in the fridge - sip on it whenever you're hungry. Those things fill me up (especially when I add protein powder too).

6. Leftovers - always make enough for dinner so you ahve leftovers to eat with quick and easy reheating. Ex. I made shepherd's pie a few nights ago and still have some left. If I'm hungry I just scoop some out and heat it up. It give me protein, fat, and TONS of veggies (mine has cauliflower 'mashed potato topping' plus carrots/peas/onions/brussel sprouts/spinach in it).

[Hannah Elise]

The nutty protein balls... do you have a recipe? I used to have one but it involved wheat germ and I'm GF now. Would love to hear how you make yours.

Pardon the typos - this was sent via Tapatalk on my cell phone!

[PaperMomma]

My kids love jerky. If you have a dehydrator(I just have a cheap $30 one), it's really easy to make. I mix 2lb ground beef, 1T salt, 2t each garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin, and then spread thinly over parchment paper and dehydrate for 12-24 hours. It's highly portable and my kids go nuts for it. :)

[Katigre]

The nutty protein balls... do you have a recipe? I used to have one but it involved wheat germ and I'm GF now. Would love to hear how you make yours.

Pardon the typos - this was sent via Tapatalk on my cell phone!

Here's the recipe with a pic of the cookbook (I found it by googling):
http://www.paleomadeline.com/2011/06/15/nutty-berry-protien-balls-and-snacking/

I make a batch and put the in the freezer so I don't eat too many at once. Ours normally turn out a bit purplish from using frozen wild blueberries in them. They take about an hour to make start to finish (depending on how fast you are at rolling each ball) but if you eat only two a day they last a few weeks.

I need to make a double batch to freeze before this baby is born in fact. :lol

[Housekat]

1. Do a baking day once a week and make a bunch of easy snacks in the freezer - 'nutty protein balls' are popular here as are elana's pantry blueberry muffins.

2. Almond butter packets by Justins are a quick and easy protein snack

3. Lara bars

4. Can you do dairy at all? Yogurt is good.

5. Make a big pitcher of green smoothie with some avocados and banana in it for extra fat/carbs and keep it in the fridge - sip on it whenever you're hungry. Those things fill me up (especially when I add protein powder too).

6. Leftovers - always make enough for dinner so you ahve leftovers to eat with quick and easy reheating. Ex. I made shepherd's pie a few nights ago and still have some left. If I'm hungry I just scoop some out and heat it up. It give me protein, fat, and TONS of veggies (mine has cauliflower 'mashed potato topping' plus carrots/peas/onions/brussel sprouts/spinach in it).

1) will try those!
2) must see whether I can get those in the UK
3) Can't get those in the UK :)
4) DF atm - Libby spits up mucuous (sp) whenever I have dairy :(
5) they sound great! How do I make them??
6) good idea. will try to remember

sorry - :nak

[Katigre]

Just google 'green smoothie' - it's usually adding 1/2-2/3 cup of frozen spinach to a frozen fruit blend (I use berries plus pineapple), then I also break up a banana and 1-2 small avocados for even more calories/fat. I add a few scoops of protein powder (I use hemp powder) and then almond milk or coconut milk and blend it altogether. It's VERY filling and nutritious.

[Saphirah]

OT my mind has gone straight to an old SNL skit.

'nutty protein balls'

[Stiina]

You can make your own larabars too - very similar to the protein balls ...
I do it like this:
1 c nuts - whiz in food processor
1 c dates \
4 T cocoa > add these three ingredients and whiz until it gets kinda clumpy
1 t vanilla /

Sometimes I have to add a couple drips of water to get them to stick. You can roll them in coconut too if you like. You can do a lot of different variations - use peanut butter, add spices etc.

I will try those blueberry ones for another variation.

THE BEEF JERKY IDEA IS GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :yes How would you do it in an oven? I don't have a dehy. :(

I struggle with snacks too. I have actually been thinking if starting this exact thread. THANK YOU!

I eat four eggs for breakfast and I'm still searching for snacks after an hour or so. I always have a skillet full of veggies plus some kind of meat, all fried in butter, for lunch. I'm usually good until suppertime, but then about an hour after supper I get the evening munchies, and I've NEVER had that before. :jawdrop It's a good thing I don't have anything "bad" in the house, because it would be g.o.n.e!!!

I don't have a food processor or else I'd be having a date ball every day. I have to go to my mom's and make another batch of them.

I eat a LOT of trail mix. I've been cutting back the past week or so because I feel bad every time :shifty the nuts aren't soaked, and you're supposed to eat nuts in moderation...but I was having at least two handfuls a day.

Something that seems to satisfy for a night-time snack is frozen grapes. They are cold enough that I can only eat 5-6 at a time and it gives you a bit of sugar and that "ice cream feel".

I also have done strawberries + coconut milk to make "ice cream" in the food processor.

My struggle is, that for me it has to be something IMMEDIATE. Not "open lid, find spoon, scoop out leftovers, put onto plate, microwave, use fork, and eat". More like "shove hand into tupperware container and put as much trail mix into mouth as possible, and quickly chew it while hiding behind the pantry door so that toddler can not see that you are eating because he will demand whatever it is that you have".

Although. We do have "scheduled" snack time around here, but it is usually an orange or frozen peas/corn or homemade fruit leather, etc. If I made a point to fry some mushrooms (my current obsession) or eat some leftovers, I bet that would help. :think

[PaperMomma]

I haven't tried it in an oven, but I've read that you can use your oven as a dehydrator on a really low setting. Maybe google "using oven as dehydrator"?

[Stiina]

I've actually done it before quite a bit for fruit leather and onions and apples etc...I don't really know why I asked...:giggle :doh

[Housekat]

Sooooo Stiina, how do you do it then? :)

Oooh and must try the Lara Bars

[Stiina]

Use parchment paper (NOT wax!!! Made that mistake before :doh) on a cookie sheet and turn your oven dow n to the lowest setting. I also prop the doorr open with a wooden spoon to let the moist air out easier and keep the temperature down. I do it during the day so I can keep an eye on it but it's often not long enough. So I turn it off at night and just let it sit in the oven and do it again the nexxt day. :)

[Housekat]

I've made the nut balls - though with my adaptations they were probably unrecognisable by the end. I didn't have coconut oil or desiccated coconut, so I substituted butter and almond flour. Worked well - Theo LOVES them. He ate three in short succesion today (which was the thing that snapped him out of a one and a half hour meltdown, poor baby :(

I'm gearing up for the jerky - very excited to see you can make jerky at home with mince! All the jerky I saw in the shops is stupidly expensive AND all has MSG in it - I can't have MSG, I react to it (so does Theo)

How long roughly does it take in the oven then? longer than 12 hours? It's nearly worth buying a cheap dehydrator for the amount of electricity that will cost me... :nails

[Housekat]

Bumping this so it doesn't disappear in the forest of my subscribed threads... :)

[Mum2Es]

Subbing cos I want to make me some nutty protein balls!

[Stiina]

I made the jerky!!! It's sooo yummy. Someone bump this thread again so I remember to come back with 2 hands to tell you about my oven-drying process :)

:nak

[JJsMom]

I need to make that jerky!

[JenLovie]

Subbing. I do lots of nuts for snacks and we just made trail mix for our drive. We were super smart this time and brought enough snacks (trail mix, hard boiled eggs, cooked sausage and fruit). We only bought drinks at Sonic once.
I love Lara bars and need to make my own. One of the cookbooks I've looked at has a coconut milk ice cream recipe that we plan to try. If it's tasty ill report back with the recipe.
Sometimes I'll snack on leftover meat or sausage if it's easy to get to in the fridge.

[Lily]

Another larabar recipe - cherry pie bars
1 cup almonds
4 oz dried pitted dates
4 oz dried pitted cherries ( I couldn't find unsweetened so I used the sweetened sour/tart cherries)

[JenniferJuniper]

:popcorn

Awesome ideas. I need to make some jerky I think!!

[jujubnme]

:cup for oven jerky instructions...

[JJsMom]

:bump for jerky! :poke

[Housekat]

I'm not Stiina but I made it too.

I used PaperMomma's recipe, took a cookie sheet, stuck some baking paper (parchment paper?) down with a bit of oil and spread the mixture thinly with the aid of a children's rolling pin.

Then I put it in the oven at the lowest temp setting (50 degrees C here) and kept the door open a tiny crack, by wedging a wooden spoon handle in it.

It took about 10ish hours. Then I carefully loosened the hardish sheet of meat off the parchment and turned it around (the bottom was wet) and put it back in for another two or so hours (until it was dry and dark). It ends up a little bit soft - so not totally crunchy hard - and chewy.

Couldn't take a picture as husband and son ate it before I was able to :)

[ReadingMommy]

I love making larabars too! My recipe looks like this:

1 c. almonds
1 pkg sunkist Dates (about 2 c)
1/2 c. dark chocolate (70-85%)
1/4 - 1/2 t salt
1-2 T. almond butter or peanut butter (helps it stick together!)

After I process them, I press them into a parchment paper lined pan and freeze them. With the parchment, they come right out of the pan and then you can cut them up into the sizes you want. I always keep them in a bag in the freezer...love them best frozen or really cold.

:yum

[GraemesMomma]

The nutty protein balls... do you have a recipe? I used to have one but it involved wheat germ and I'm GF now. Would love to hear how you make yours.

Pardon the typos - this was sent via Tapatalk on my cell phone!

And a chocolate version (which you could sub carob for)
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/03/decadent-chocolate-larabar-truffles.html

---------- Post added at 01:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:46 PM ----------

http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/recipe-index Actually, Kimi has several Paleo-type snack recipes here :)

[Stiina]

I even have a great pic of my jerky but alas, onceagain I am typing one-handed :)

I did about the sameas HouseKat. mix, parchment, into the oven, open door a crack. It took a couple days cause I kept leaving the house and having to keep the oven off. It was grey and wet on the bottom, but the top was brown. So I flipped it over and put it on a cookie drying rack on top of the cookie sheet, and dried it some more.

It was too salty for us though. :yes

[Mum2Es]

I made the nutty protein balls but I don't like them, which is annoying as I made a double batch, but luckily Princess and DH are eating them!They're not dense enough for me, I don't like the frozen blueberries in them.

I love making larabars too! My recipe looks like this:

1 c. almonds
1 pkg sunkist Dates (about 2 c)
1/2 c. dark chocolate (70-85%)
1/4 - 1/2 t salt
1-2 T. almond butter or peanut butter (helps it stick together!)


This morning, I made these. :yum Thank you ReadingMommy! They're delicious! How do you not eat the whole lot in one day? :shifty

[DoulaClara]

Subbing!

[JenLovie]

I found a recipe on Pinterest for Paleo crackers (almond and coconut flour). They were tasty. And now they're gone. :yum We also finally made the coconut milk ice cream. :yum :yum Sooooooo good. I'll share the recipes when I'm not on my phone.

[LearningMama]

I recently discovered roasted plantain chips at Trader Joe's, they are also a great toddler snack. I also found a recipe for bannana "ice cream". You take very ripe banana chop it and put it in the freezer. Once it's frozen blend or process it. Bam, "ice cream " :)