Happy Snacking

There are some days I just have to respect the urge to snack. This is a little tricky for me though, because my natural eating style is grazing, instead of sitting down for meals. A few bites here and a few bites there all day long can add up to a whole lot of food, but it never feels like a lot because there's not much consumed at any one time. I felt like I still need a real meal because grazing never made me feel full, and I forgot what I've already consumed. It wasn't until I started journaling my food and points intake that I realized how much I was really eating.

So I shifted my grazing habits to three meals and three snacks a day. The snacking respected my desire for regular nibbling, and the meals provided a sense of fullness. Keeping the snacks healthy though has still presented a challenge. I like my chips, and I will not give up my chocolate, and I want them in a quantity that fills my eye appetite for sufficient volume.

So, I mixed up a couple of my favorite treats today. The first was Roasted Red Pepper Hummus. It's a far healthier alternative to bean dip but satisfies that craving. I serve it with All-Bran Garlic and Herb flavored crackers (18 crackers are only 2 points) for that chip craving, but it's also great with veggies. It's also easy to make. Half your red bell pepper and roast it under the broiler. Let it cool in a brown paper bag and then remove the skin. Put a 16 oz. can of garbanzo beans in your blender. Add a clove of minced garlic, a teaspoon of cumin, a dash of salt and three tablespoons of lemon juice. Blend until smooth in texture, adding a bit of reserved fluid from the can of beans to help reach the texture you prefer. Then add the red pepper and blend until everything is consistently mixed. Let this sit for at least a half hour for the flavors to marry well. A quarter cup of this hummus is only one point and with the crackers (2 points) is incredibly filling. The recipe makes a little more then two cups and refrigerates well for several days.

This is a common but great cookie recipe. With the oatmeal, it provides a nice amount of fiber, and even with real butter and sugar, one cookie is only one point while tasting very rich. Stir together a half cup of milk, 2 cups of sugar, 3 tablespoons of cocoa, 3 tablespoons of peanut butter and half a cup of butter over medium heat. Continue stirring until the mixture is well blended and has reached a boil. Let it boil for a minute and thirty seconds without additional stirring. I highly recommend using a coated pan to reduce sticking. Remove from heat and add 3 cups of oats and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, stirring until well mixed. Drop a rounded teaspoon on wax paper for each cookie, and let cool. This makes about five dozen rich, chocolaty, guilt free cookies. (I got this recipe from a Weight Watchers instructor who had lost 110 pounds about five years ago and has successfully kept it off. She called them her magic cookies because every week she made and ate these, she lost weight.)

snacking, recipes, Weight+Watchers, Weight Watchers points