Snacks are always tough right? There are so many different options that are readily available like chips, cookies, cakes, and candy. The key to staying away from those is to have your meal prep done ahead of time and this includes snacks too. Today’s Meal Prep 101 is Snacks & Produce.

Meal Prep 101 Snacks

Here is a list of some grab and go snacks that you don’t really have to do any work for other than purchasing them:

1. Cheese sticks
2. Nuts
3. Greek yogurt (Good Greek yogurts are low in sugar,and high in protein)
4. Seeds
5. Hard Boiled eggs
6. Popcorn (air popped and seasoned or make your own microwave bags)
7. Dry roasted Edamane
8. Harvest Snaps by Calbee (flavored lentils sold near the produce section at Walmart)
9. Suzie’s Thin Cakes-corn, quinoa, and sesame puffed crackers with only 4 ingredients
10. Nut butter
11. Kale chips (they do sell these, but read the ingredients-you can make them at home)
12. Jerky (keep an eye out for lower sodium and lower sugar varieties)
13. Roasted chick peas
14. Tuna (only a couple times a week due to Mercury)
15. Kind or Lara bars

Meal Prep 101 Produce

I try to eat raw vegetables everyday. There are added benefits to eating them raw compared to cooked. I personally dip them in salsa now with just a 1/2 tsp of Greek ranch, but there are many things you can use as dip.  Raw vegetables are super easy to grab and eat if you do a little prep ahead of time. On the weekends I cut up a whole cauliflower, broccoli, cucumber, and zucchini for the week ahead. I soak them in 3 parts vinegar and 1 part water. I let them soak for about 15 minutes, and dry them really really well. Then I put each into their own vegetable storage container and cover with paper towels and the lid before putting in the fridge. I do use Rubbermaid Produce Saver Food Storage Containers that I have found keep them the longest which for me is a little over a week. Here is a picture of them along with my link to them on Amazon. 

Rubbermaid Produce Saver Food Storage Container

Storing

When you purchase produce go through to make sure you don’t have any hiding mold and get rid of them. Then, line the bottom of the container with paper towel to soak up any juice and store them in the fridge. Something else I use to keep my produce lasting longer is  (I have been able to keep them about a week or two) a fridge air sanitizer. The one I use is called Berry Breeze. You can click on my link to check it out.

Berry Breeze

Each morning when I am preparing my breakfast I make my container for the day with the salsa inside so that I can have for a snack even if on the go. It helps to have them so I don’t grab chips or crackers instead. I also have a couple healthier dipping options in my recipes. Here are a few:

French Onion Dip

Spinach and Artichoke

Skinny Buffalo Chicken Dip

Happy Hour Hummus

Black Bean Hummus

Healthier Ranch 

I have heard a lot of people have a hard time keeping produce fresh long enough. Besides the vinegar and these containers here are a few other tips

1) For me, I do the bulk of my shopping one day a week. However there are certain foods that I have found just don’t keep fresh as long as I’d like so I sometimes go by the  store for a mid week fruit and veggie haul or I eat the ones that will keep fresh longer later in the week. Primarily the ones that go bad first are usually berries, bananas, mushrooms, and cucumbers. So we usually eat them first and save the pineapple, peaches, broccoli, and zucchini for the end of the week.

2) To help foods last longer make sure to keep the produce that releases ethylene away from the produce that spoils from being around it. Ethylene is a gas that helps speed up the ripening process and some foods that do this are  avocados, ripe bananas and tomatoes.  Keep them away from broccoli, spinach and sweet potatoes.

3) Freeze the produce that will go bad. We go through bananas like CRAZY. Sometimes I laugh at the store about our monkey at home just so people won’t stare, lol. The whole house uses them in our daily shakes, besides snacks so we freeze them before they get too ripe.

4)  Know how long each veggie and fruit is supposed to last. Here’s a really helpful graphic on just that!

image from myfitnesspal

Here is a link to a variety of snack options to prep that are a little more on the unique side:

Snack combos that will rock your meal prep

What snack will you prep this week? Comment below.