afternoon snack - bar alternatives

what can i eat mid-afternoon instead of having snack bars every day??

i would like some ideas that are filling, vegetarian & less than 250cal

thanks !

Well first obvious choice are fruits. For that many caloires you can have 4 kiwis, or HUGE apple, or a BIG banana.

Another thing I like to do is get some light tofu, cut it in half width wise. Drain it. Make a thick sauce with unsweetened cocoa powder then bake it at 350 for 25 minutes. It goes great on sandwiches the next day.

Take a veggie burger, I like Dr. ... something or other that are sold in Trader Joes, cook them stir fry some mushrooms and mix everything together. Next day warm it up and wrap it La Tortilla factory tortilla, 80 Cal, with some sauce made from non-fat greek yogurt.

Honestly there are so many possibilities I don't see why people eat those bars.

UD

I like having a soy latte and about 8 - 10 almonds if I'm out and about and don't have anything prepared. I find that does the trick. Or if I'm really hungry I'll go for cottage cheese mixed with berries and some peach yogurt - yum!

IMHO bars are a waste - too many preservatives/chemicals and too many calories for too few nutrients. If you're hiking up a mountain, then maybe take a bar, but in regular day to day life, try to stick to real foods.

If you`re big on bars, you should definitely consider making your own. Some healthy cereal, chopped nuts, maybe a bit of dried fruit/unsweetened cocoa for flavour, mix with honey and spread into a lightly greased oven tray, bake until crispy and golden, let cool, cut into bars and wrap individually, pop into freezer. Plenty of yummy recipes online to experiment, you know it`s healthy, nutritious, and not loaded with nasty chemicals, plus it`s really easy to get as many calories as you`d like per bar if you adjust the serving size.

McDonalds fruit and walnut salad has 210 calories and its a treat. Glazed walnuts vanilla yogurt and sliced apples and grapes. They only cost $1.59. I purchase 5 at a time and take one to work daily.

A piece of fruit usually doesn't quite do it for me, so I usually do a fruit + ____ combo and get in a smidge of protein and fat.

My most common choices apple + cheese or nectarine + a few nuts, something like that. Yum!

Honestly, why do bars have such a bad rep?

I eat them every. single. day. and my doctor is amazed at how healthy/fit I am. I'm a very active person, and a piece of fruit never just "does it for me". 

Half of a sandwich, yogurt with berries, celery with peanut butter and raisins (ants on a log), a smoothie, edamame, a homemade snack bar as ily51 suggested, a bowl of leftover roasted/steamed/grilled veggies from dinner the night before, a small salad, an apple with peanut butter, a glass of milk, whole grain crackers with cheese, sunflower seeds, a bowl of cereal or oatmeal, or some crisp, munchy carrots.

Hope something in there helps!

Fruit Cup, or any type of fruit for that matter.

mixed nuts. preferably unsalted, or else your a lot more liable to binge.

A little plate with some crackers, celery, bell pepper strips, carrots and broccoli with hummus and/or salsa for dipping

Yogurt with a little cereal on top

Crackers or an apple with peanut butter

Cottage cheese with berries or any other chopped up fruit

A small handful of mixed nuts

A piece of toast with a smear of peanut butter and a smear of jam

A packet of kashi GOLEAN instant oatmeal and something fun and less than 100 calories stirred in: peanut butter, mixed nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, coconut...

oh i eat trek bars and larabaras so im not really worried about the nutritionals - its more of a cost thing

thanks for all the ideas though i'm going to try them out in the coming weeks. cottage cheese & fruit sounds good as does the hummus 'platter' ! yumo