Snickity Snack: Fish in a Stream

Food Network Magazine had a mini "Family and Kids" mag in the back of a recent issue.  In this section, they reinvented ants on a log, the classic after school snack of celery sticks filled with peanut butter and topped with raisins.  I'm pretty sure this article was all about sneaking veggies into your kid's diet but since I'm basically a kid myself, I thought it was great.  Also, raisins are not my fave so I was happy to see this fun and healthy snack re-vamped with flavors I enjoy.

For book club, I prepared the "fish in a stream" version, which consisted of celery sticks filled with hummus and topped with pretzel goldfish.  They were devoured in minutes.  It makes sense: you dip pretzels in hummus and you dip celery in hummus.  Just because you rarely see the three ingredients partying together doesn't mean they can't all get along.

Snickity Snack: Avocado White Bean Dip

This might be the healthiest snack you can make and still be satisfied.  It tastes so good but it's one of those things where you're practically burning more calories by chewing than you're ingesting.

Just combine avocado and drained white beans in a food processor with olive oil, salt, and red pepper flakes to taste.  The whole burning more calories than you're taking in is a slight stretch, but this is still super duper healthy.  Everyone says avocado "is good fat!  good fat!" and white beans have plenty of protein so you're chillin in a pretty healthy place, especially if you just dip veggies like I did.  (When I told my Mom about this recipe she said pita chips would be great but less healthy - I leave the choice up to you.  You are your own boss.)

The avocado provides a rich, velvety flavor while the white beans get the texture up to snuff for a good dip.  The red pepper flakes are necessary for dimension - this is what keeps it from tasting like mush.

Tip: prep your veggies in advance.  If you're already shaving two carrots for snack number one, might as well shave the whole bunch so you have a fridge full of ready to eat veggies for the week.  You might eat all of this avocado white bean dip in one sitting (like I did), but then you can rip into a tub of hummus and you'll have the veggies already ready to go.  It'll keep you from reaching for the chips.

Snickity Snack: Pita with Yogurt and Radishes

If I'm just snacking, I like to use pita bread (instead of flatbread because this is healthier, especially if you use whole wheat pita) to make a little open faced sandwich.  When you split the pita in half (basically, just take the hole and open it further til you have two rounds) it's just filling enough to keep you from gnawing your arm off but not so filling that it'll ruin your supper.

Once I halve my thin pita, I drizzle it with olive oil.  Side note: do you notice how I'm talking like I've made this snack oh so many times?  Well I haven't.  I just made it up.  I thought I could pull a fast one on you but then I felt guilty.  Anyway, after it has the oil drizzle, I put it in the oven for a couple minutes to crisp it up a bit.  Once it's out of the oven, I top it with Greek yogurt, sliced radishes, and sea salt.  It's kind of a new take on the whole radishes with butter and salt thing just far more satisfying thanks to a wee bit of carbs.  It's just way healthier.  Like 40 total calories or something crazy like that.

Snickity Snack: Endive Dippers

After my curried yogurt with beet and sweet potato chip post, I decided there was a hole in my food blogging.  I post big dishes all the time but I rarely ever write about snacks.  We all indulge in 'tween the meal munching but there's usually little variation.  I, myself, am partial to white cheddar Pirate's Booty or Trader Joe's herb popcorn.  Eating the same thing all the time gets boring and that's a problem because the moment you get bored you stop being satisfied.  That means you'll go through the entire family size bag of Pirate's Booty before your craving is curbed.  I'm not assuming that will happen.  It actually has happened...to me...last week.  That's why I'm introducing a new monthly feature: Snickity Snack.  Every month I'll show you a new snack to mix up your snacking routine.

The first installment of this feature is what I like to call endive dippers.  Endive lettuce leaves are perfect little boats that are firm enough at the core to hold just about anything you want to throw in there.  They are the Fritos or Tostitos Soops of the vegetable world.  I like dipping them in hummus (shown here is Trader Joe's edamame hummus one of my two faves - the other is Whole Foods' jalapeno hummus).  After scooping up some dip, I add a few pistachios for extra crunch.  This is the type of snack that will keep you fully satisfied between meals without an iota of guilt.