Nourished not Famished

Healthy Made Easy: Simple, Nourishing Solutions to Healthy Eating and Living

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10 Real Food Snack Ideas

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hard-boiled egg and carrot sticks, roasted pumpkin seeds, and apple with coconut ginger cashew buter

Real food snacks are fueling, tasty, and satisfying! It’s hard to say that about most of the junk that’s sold as quick-grab snacks. Picture those impulse-buy snack options stacked by the register in just about every store. Yeah, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

You know that hangry moment when you’re stuck roaming the aisles of the gas station shop, and your main choices seem to be Doritos, Cheetos, and Jolly Ranchers? (I have to admit, though, the options do seem to be improving a little bit these last few years. So encouraging, right?!)

10 Satisfying, Real Food Snack Ideas

If you are trying to swap out highly processed snacks with real food snacks, here are a few ideas to get you started. Aim to include a combination of at least two macronutrients if possibile (i.e. protein & fat, or carb & fat, or protein & carb). Doing so typically leaves you more satisfied and energized.

  • nut butter and apple slices
  • roasted pumpkin seeds and dried fruit
  • single-serving pack guacamole and red pepper strips
  • hard-boiled egg and carrot sticks (That small container in the pic is salt and pepper. I keep that little container always filled in the cabinet, so I can just grab it quickly when packing this snack.)
  • pear slices and a sharp, flavorful cheese
  • single-serving pack of olives (I get mine at Trader Joe’s) and a clementine
  • hummus and veggies
  • peanut butter and celery sticks
  • roasted mixed nuts
  • cottage cheese and fruit

Snacking and “appetite awareness”

To be honest, I’m much less of a snacker since I focused my diet on real, whole foods, and, frankly – started eating MORE at mealtime, and making sure my meals almost always include protein, fat, and slow-digesting carbs. I feel more satiated by my meals, and don’t always need a snack to get me through to the next meal. It’s pretty convenient, actually! I used to be the queen of snacks, packing SO many snacks everywhere I went. Once I focused on feeling nourished instead of famished, I discovered that I had much less need for snacking. Nourished, not famished!

If you are feeling the need to snack constantly throughout the day, check in with yourself at mealtime for some “appetite awareness”.

Are you eating to satiety at mealtime?

Is it possible that you’re simply not eating enough to meet your needs at mealtime?

Or are you missing out on certain macronutrients (protein, fat, or carb?) in your meals, leaving you with that “always hungry” feeling?

That being said, there are days when we’re going to feel a bit hungrier than other days, and you might need a snack or two. And we all have those days when nothing goes according to plan – a delayed meeting, crazy traffic delays, a last-minute trip to the pediatrician’s office, and then lunch or dinner didn’t happen when you needed it to. It makes a world of difference to keep something stashed in your bag, to get you through until mealtime. By packing your own snack, you’ll guarantee that it will be real food that will fill you and fuel you.

I’m always looking for more real-food snack ideas . . . what do you like to pack?

Print Recipe
 10 Real Food Snack Ideas
Course Snacks
Servings
Course Snacks
Servings

Instant Pot Chicken Broth

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I’ve got nothing against using store-bought chicken broth, but sometimes it’s just too easy to make this homemade version instead (and cheaper than store-bought, too!). And nothing compares to the delicious and complex flavor of homemade broth. I will warn you . . . your taste buds will find it hard to go back to store-bought broth after they’ve experienced this homemade version. It’s a harsh truth, I know.

Fortunately, this broth is ridiculously easy to make, so you can give your taste buds the pleasure of this version without spending a lot of time and energy in the kitchen.

If you need a reliable roasted chicken recipe to actually have some leftover chicken bones to make this broth, check out my recipe for Simple Roasted Chicken Breasts.

An Asian-inspired chicken soup, loaded with garlic, ginger, and greens, and made with Instant Pot broth

Oooh, collagen!

Maybe you’re here because you’ve heard a lot of hype about “bone broth”, because it’s a source of collagen. Collagen is a protein, and is a main component of connective tissues throughout the body. It’s true that collagen does contain a wide variety of amino acids. And perhaps it’s a good nutritional strategy to consume a wider variety of those building-block amino acids than you would get from eating meat alone.

The bottom line, though on collagen? I’ll leave it at this: it’s complicated, and there’s a lot we don’t know for sure yet. I am a measured, evidence-based kind of gal, so I am not going to unjustifiably oversell you on the benefits of the collagen present in broth. Check out this helpful article if you want to determine for yourself if the current evidence lives up to the hype.

what you’ll need:

  • Your Instant Pot Yes, you can also make broth on the stovetop, but this version is all about the Instant Pot. I actually prefer to make broth in Instant Pot versus stovetop because 1) it doesn’t take as long, and 2) because the Instant Pot is so sealed up during the cooking process, the entire house doesn’t smell like broth. Sure, broth smells great, but I don’t like every corner, every bedroom of the house smelling like broth for hours and hours (as seems to happen when cooking broth on the stovetop). Maybe I am just hypersensitive to that, and it wouldn’t bother you at all. You do you.
  • Leftover chicken bones If you roast a chicken, or some bone-in chicken breasts or thighs, save the bones to make this broth. (You can even add chicken feet if you want. I haven’t gone there yet, but I’d love to learn from you if you have.) If you can’t get around to making the broth right away, feel free to toss the bones in the freezer until you’re good and ready to make the broth. Just thaw your bag ‘o bones in the fridge for at least a couple of hours before you start up your broth.
  • Aromatics In this case, onions, carrots, celery, and a little bit of garlic
  • Herbs and spices In this broth recipe, you’ll need black peppercorns (whole), parsley, dried bay leaf, and salt.
  • Cider vinegar The small amount of cider vinegar helps to extract the collagen from the bones during the cooking process. Cool fact, right? Fortunately, the amount used is so small that it doesn’t impart any kind of vinegar flavor to the broth. Whew.
  • Other tools needed Cutting board, chef’s knife, some sort of colander or mesh strainer to separate out the solids after cooking

Ways to enjoy this amazing broth you’ve made:

Fill with water up to about two inches under the max fill line. Ready to cook!

Print Recipe
 Instant Pot Chicken Broth
Course Soups & Stews
Cook Time 120 minutes
Servings
or so cups
Ingredients
Course Soups & Stews
Cook Time 120 minutes
Servings
or so cups
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Add chicken bones to Instant Pot.
  2. Add remaning ingredients except for water.
  3. Add water up to two inches from max fill line.
  4. Cover. Set valve to "seal". Set to Manual/high pressure for 120 minutes.
  5. Allow for natural pressure release.
  6. Once broth has cooled, use a large slotted spoon to remove the bones and larger pieces of vegetables. Using a mesh strainer or colander, strain broth and store in container until use. Store in refrigerator or freezer.

Six Simple Steps to Stop Restricting and Start Thriving

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Are you ready to ditch the binge and restrict cycle?

Let’s bust some myths, and drop some truth bombs about what really works to ditch that torturous diet cycle (that doesn’t work anyway!). Instead, live a life of sustainable habits that actually help you thrive.

I get it. I’ve been there. I used to make ALL of the classic mistakes. Undereat to lose weight, then wonder why I had such intense cravings. Worry about how many calories my workout had burned. Laser focus on diet and exercise, and TOTALLY miss how my terrible sleep habits and poorly mananged stress was sabotaging me every step of the way.

And I now know that I was making everything more complicated than it needed to be. I honestly didn’t know just how straightforward the solution could be.

  • No, you don’t need to atone for what you think you did “wrong” or “bad” over the weekend regarding food. Depriving and restricting yourself today in the form of undereating or overexercising, or completely restricting entire food groups will just perpetuate the binge and restrict cycle!
  • Getting yourself to a place where you feel good, you feel energized, and in your optimal health zone DOESN’T require pain and suffering.
  • It doesn’t require a hyper-detailed meal plan or elaborate fitness routine. (Unless you’re an elite performance athlete. In that case you do you!).
This week, challenge yourself to simply do your best to meet your body (and mind’s!) needs, in ways that fit your bandwidth right now.

And it’s not all about food and fitness! (Repeat that to self as needed.)

It’s all about working with your biology instead of against it.

1. 😴 Prioritize sleep. For real. #sleepisthenewcaffeine

2. 🌞 Start your day with a few minutes of natural light before you reach for a screen. Minimize screen use at night (a hard truth, I know 🤷‍♀️). Right there, you’re book-ending your day in a way that actually supports your biology, helping every cell in your body feel and function its best. This helps you feel more energized, mentally sharper, and makes hitting your health and body composition goals happen more easily! #circadianrhythm

3. 🍲 Build your plate with real, whole or minimally refined foods, and include protein, slow-acting carbs (a.k.a. unprocessed or mininally processed), veggies & fruits, and some fat at each meal. But don’t get all rigid about it either. Save the fine tuning for later (or maybe never?). Check out my recipes and meal prep tips for inspiration. Not sure what a slow carb is? Check out this explanation, and why it’s important to priortize slow carbs over fast-acting carbs.

4. 😋 At mealtime, let yourself eat the amount your body truly needs to help you make it through to the next meal. If you really need a snack to tide you over before the next meal, no big deal. Just be honest and check in with yourself when you feel like having a snack. Ask yourself whether it’s truly hunger (typically a hollow sort of feeling in your stomach), or if it’s something else you need that isn’t food. Maybe you simply didn’t eat enough food at that last meal. Or maybe you’re bored, anxious, or stressed (hello, 2020!) and your habit has been to reach for food to ease those feelings. (Hey, that’s completely normal! Welcome to the club.)

If you’ve been out of tune with your hunger and satiety cues for a long time (dieting will do that), be patient. It takes time to “hear” those signals in there again, reliably. It will probably be messy at first. Persevere, and maintain an overall focus on nourishing your needs in mind, body, and spirit. In doing so, you will help restablish your connection to those cues. And this is how you will finally eliminate your need for external cues like calorie counting to best determine how much you need at a given meal. *Accept that this skill is a work in progress, always.*

5. 🚶🏽‍♀️💪 Get some movement into your day, in whatever way it will fit. If you can break up long stretches of sedentary time, even better. Create opportunities to maintain your strength and build some muscle mass. It’s life-saving. Literally. Research is showing that muscle mass is the new vital sign! You don’t need to work yourself to the point of utter exhaustion to see benefits (in fact, killin’ it to the extreme day-in and day-out is counterproductive to seeing results).

6. 💑 Connect with your people! Do what you can to build in time to connect with the people in your life that lift you up, get you laughing, and have your back.

Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can. Grow from there.

Like me, you might just discover that it is a lot simpler than you thought to break that binge and restrict cycle. You got this.

You in? Drop a comment . . . what are you doing this week to work with your biology instead of against it?

Peace,

Jen