The roasted chickpeas for a snack sounded really great until I saw the serving size. ARE YOU KIDDING????? 4.8 g is about a teaspoon... maybe 3 chickpeas? Why bother? If you have a craving for something crunchy, I certainly wouldn't go with 3 chickpeas to satisfy my craving. Hopefully that serving size is wrong. Could someone veryify it? If it's correct, someone wasted their time inputting all that information (in my opinion).

If you take the 4 cups of chick peas and divide by 12, you get a 1/3 cup serving. So it should be 48g, not 4.8g

Thinking of these as my most appetizing options would make me lose my appetite so........maybe that's a good thing 

?? Why not just buy a bag of pretzels??

Here are the other recipes featured in today's newsletter

These chips will satisfy that crunchy craving without the guilt.  You get a full serving of leafy greens as a snack.  What could be better? continue reading

These cookies cook up quite dense. It's the original quaker oatmeal cookie recipe made healthier for you.  Fill the cookie jar with these, to enjoy anytime... continue reading

Chewy snack bars with fresh strawberries, almonds and popcorn.  There's no need for a high calorie bar when you have these on hand... continue reading

And also this one, which I liked too:  Dried Fruit & Nut Bars

You are correct.  The serving size is off because the analyzer can't allow for the dehydration of the chickpeas.  As an ingredient they are wet.  When they are finished they are completely dry.  12th of a recipe is about 1/4 cup.

If these homemade snacks don't appeal, how about sharing recipes for your favorites?

Yes, you could buy a package of pretzels, but they wouldn't be these big, soft ones, and your house would not smell like heaven as they bake.

Where is the recipe for the above pictured granola bars?  Or is this just a pic?

Why not have some hummus, (garlic or whatever flavor) with raw veggies or baked tortilla chips?

Because this is "Grab and Go" snacks.  I explain it in the introductory paragraph.  I love hummus but it's not something I'd pack to go to the park or the pool.

Good point! But I found it already prepackaged in snack size at Target, in the refrigerated section of the vegetable department.

Hummas is not really a healthy choice and pita chips may have a lot of calories.  Not a very healthy snack, although it feels healthy.

Thank you for the clarification!!! NOW it might be worth trying!

I'm guessing the applesauce in the oatmeal cookies is unsweetened.  Is that correct?

The pic of the granola bars looks yummy! The pretzel and corn snack recipe looks like empty, processed calories and the chickpea snack, well... YUCK!

Who said anything about hummus?

We do the roasted chickpeas all the time, sometimes we even eat them as a meal with some fruit. We do toss them with olive oil and minced garlic before we roast them. Super delicious!!! My kids even love them and ask for them often.

Yes, the applesauce used in recipes to replace oil and fats is always the unsweetened variety.

Yeah, all that pre-packaged stuff is OVERPRICED and a useless waste of packaging materials.  How lazy a society we have become that we cannot take a few seconds  to put a couple of cookies in a 'lil bag or reusable container that we may have to rinse out! Check out the price for ounce!  Quit wasting your money on stupid things AND ruining the environment at the same time.  I can't imagine the pre-packaged snack crowd bothering to make their own nutritious snacks!  WDYT?

The sweetened applesauce usually works okay too, but it takes away from the "healthy" aspect and tends to be thinner in texture.  It's a shame that the sweetend applesause costs so much less that the good, natural stuff.

I am considering trying sweet potatoes sliced real thin and fried in just a little bit of extra virgin coconut oil until I can get them crispy.  It will be a total experiment.  The other possibility is to get a dehydrator.  You can dehydrate all sorts of fruits and veggies and use them for snacks.  Banana chips are really good and nice and sweet.

Another thing I did try was popping some popcorn then put some goodies in it like fresh chopped roasted pecans or walnuts and then a very tiny bit of butter, just for a smidge of flavor (not much) and a PINCH of salt is all. Tastes ok.  Another thing I tried was quaker old fashioned oats.  Toast them in a large pot on the stove on low/medium for about 15/20 mins until they smell really nutty and are golden brown.  Then put a small amount of butter just for flavor (not much) and a small amount of honey.  Put in a baggy or some type of container and that is something that you can munch on too.  I would love to hear more healthy and low fat/low sodium snacking ideas because I am a snacker.

Someone has already ask, but a response was not given, how much oats are used in the strawberry popcorn bars. I really would like to make the recipe.

See lisamn123 post, talks about hummus

Here's another wonderful oatmeal cookie recipe

http://caloriecount.about.com/oatmeal-harvest-breakfast-cook ies-recipe-r158103

I've sent a message to the author of the recipe so that she can revise it.  I hope she does because I'm unable to edit your recipes.

Try adding some dry sugar free jelloe to fresh pooped corn.  If you crave something swet this will satisfy

Correction on typos.   I had to laugh out loud (LOL) when I read my tip.  Should be:   try adding some dry sugar free jello to fresh popped corn.  If you crave a sweet treat this will satisfy.

does anyone know the nutritional breakdown of the healthy oatmeal cookies if you eliminated the raisins?? thanx

Original Post by: perlyyyy

I am considering trying sweet potatoes sliced real thin and fried in just a little bit of extra virgin coconut oil until I can get them crispy.  It will be a total experiment.  The other possibility is to get a dehydrator.  You can dehydrate all sorts of fruits and veggies and use them for snacks.  Banana chips are really good and nice and sweet.

Another thing I did try was popping some popcorn then put some goodies in it like fresh chopped roasted pecans or walnuts and then a very tiny bit of butter, just for a smidge of flavor (not much) and a PINCH of salt is all. Tastes ok.  Another thing I tried was quaker old fashioned oats.  Toast them in a large pot on the stove on low/medium for about 15/20 mins until they smell really nutty and are golden brown.  Then put a small amount of butter just for flavor (not much) and a small amount of honey.  Put in a baggy or some type of container and that is something that you can munch on too.  I would love to hear more healthy and low fat/low sodium snacking ideas because I am a snacker.

yikes! stay away from the coconut oil - it is one of the least healthy oils, full of saturated fat! If you insist on using oil, go for the canola or olive. other than that, the sweet potato fries could be great. Not necessarily low calorie, but still healthy!

nlb235 - Saturated fats are essential for wellbeing. There is nothing wrong with it. Coconut oil, so long as it is used in moderation, is GOOD for you and much BETTER than olive or canola oil because it has a much higher smoke point, and does not produce free radicals and become carcinogenic when heated. However if you are truly concerned about sat fats - and unless you have a very fatty diet, you shouldn't be worried - use rice bran oil. It is lower in saturated fat and has a very high smoke point.

Actually, there is something wrong with saturated fats when they are consumed. Further, coconut oil is deficient in all of the healthy components of oils such as Omega-3 and -6 fatty acids. I still say canola, or even flax oil for that matter is very good for the omega-3's. 

Saturated Fat ~  A Vital Ingredient for a Healthy Body:  Over many decades coconut oil received bad publicity due to its saturated fat content, but research has shown that not all saturated fats are alike and coconut oil is unique in its structural make-up.  It is not only the highest source of saturated fats (92%) but included in this is the highest source of saturated medium chain triglycerides (62%) of any naturally occurring vegan food source. Furthermore around 50% of these MCT’s are made up of lauric acid, the most important essential fatty acid in building and maintaining the body’s immune system. 

Apart from coconut oil, the only other source of lauric acid found in such high concentrations is in mother’s milk.  Tropical oils and mother’s milk are by far the richest food sources of medium chain fatty acids available. The closest other source of these vital building blocks for our immune system would be milk fat and butter, comprising around 3% of its content. Any other vegetable oil is completely deficient in these medium chain fatty acids.

It should also be remembered that the negative research done on coconut oil in the past was the result of one study conducted four decades ago, using hydrogenated oil (which has been processed and altered from its original form), not on virgin coconut oil.  Research shows that some saturated fat is in fact necessary for human health and modern research shows that the medium chain fatty acids help to increase metabolism and are more easily digested than fats found in other oils.  This is because they are processed directly in the liver and immediately converted into energy.  There is therefore less strain on the liver, pancreas and digestive system and these MCFA provide the body with a wonderful, quick source of energy.  More >>>

want a grab and go snack, heres a few: peanuts, raisins, saltines, 100 calorie pack foods, granola bars, some kind of fruit(apple is my favorite). If you keep a consistent, you will never need to count them because you remember them, like I remember the calories for those snacks because I always have em. 

the saturated fats that your body makes from the fatty acids we ingest is quite different from the saturated fat you ingest in foods. But hey, we are getting a bit off topic here, we are supposed to be talking about grab-and-go snacks, lets quit arguing because it is clear that we have differing viewpoints on this matter.

Why not Ask Mary?  Then you'll get an expert explanation by a nutritionist.

Aside from packaged snacks, does anyone have a recipe for a really fabulous bar type cookie that doesn't crumble too much?

I get 3-lb bags of a ready-to-eat broccoli/cauliflower/baby carrot blend at Sam's club for about $4/bag.  Yes, it probably costs a little more than buying the broccoli and cauliflower separately and chopping them up myself -- but it also means that I always have a quick, healthy snack on hand, and I can grab some on the way out the door for breakfast (yes, I'm weird like that :D).

To get my salty things fix, I'll either go with air-popped popcorn or make some oven fries.

I made homemade pretzels a couple of weeks ago, and they were great -- the only problem is that I (who pride myself on my disicipline WRT portions, LOL!) found them utterly irresistable.

I am marginally ashamed to admit that I ate 3/4s of the entire batch in the course of less than 24 hours :)

I wish I could offer a bar cookie recipe, but I'm still learning to navigate the world of baked goods other than bread.

If you look under Nutrition Facts...it says right there that the serving size is 71.4g.

I should have specified...that is the serving size for the Roasted Chickpeas...

Those Kale chips sound interesting, I am guessing you can do that with spinach as well?

Nutrition facts:  There was a glitch with this for a while on Friday.  It's fixed now, I hope, so portion sizes should have the correct weight.

I don't know about doing the chips with spinach.  Kale is a sturdier green, not so soft as spinach.  I'm not sure how the thinner, more delicate spinach would hold up to dehydration, which is what this is basically. 

Have you had any luck in finding out how much oats are used in the strawberry popcorn bars.

I think that it would be helpful if the portion sises were not only by weight but by approximate measure as well, (eg. 1 cup, 3 Tbsp, 3 large...) because it is unlikely that most people know how much something weighs. I know that I have a recipe for berry bran muffins and they are quite large and weigh over 100 g which is the only way I can really compare how large other muffin recipes are on here... so when I see a recipe that is around 140 calories per muffin, I can see if it is a good deal or not. If the muffin was tiny, say 50 g for that many calories, I would not see that as being a good deal, but if it were a very large muffin, then that would be great!

I found the Strawberry Popcorn Bar recipe on another website, it should read 1/4 cup oats.

I've found that mixing several cereals together along with pretzels and putting them in baggies make a good grab and go snack

carrie_i thanks for the info. now i can make the recipe.                

Original Post by: keishamp723

Have you had any luck in finding out how much oats are used in the strawberry popcorn bars.

I've sent a PM to the author of the recipe but have had no response.

Does anyone know what type of Popcorn to use????

The oatmeal cookie recipe's bad point is listed as HIGH IN SUGAR. Why is that? If the applesauce is unsweetened, and the only other sugar is Splenda, how could that be considered high in sugar?