I’m always in search for original, healthy and delicious recipes. When you search around on the internet you can find a million ideas and recipes, also for afternoon snacks. I love to experiment with that once in a while! But to be honest, in my everyday life I don’t have time to hang around in the kitchen for too long to create myself an afternoon snack.. But ‘Less is More‘, right? So today I’ll present you a few of the easiest healthy snack ideas for everyday use!

I always have that ‘snack-attack-feeling’ around 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Still a few hours to go until dinner and I know that if I don’t have a little (healthy!) snack to calm this snack-attack I will eat much more and less healthy afterwards. That’s why I always carry a few healthy, pure and superdupereasy snacks with me!

Fruit (fresh and dried) and nuts!
What’s easier then taking a piece of fruit with you? Choose the seasonal fruits, that’s best for you and best for your wallet 😉 Keep in mind that some fruits peek up the bloodsugar more than other types of fruit do. A banana for example gives a higher peek than strawberries do. Take a look at the Glycemic Index of the fruits of your choice (Why is this important? Read here about the effects of a high bloodsugar and insuline!). It the GI is high it’s best to combine the fruit with a handful of nuts to temper the effect on your bloodsugar.
This is even more important for dried fruits, such as dates, figs, raisins and apricots! They’re GI is generally higher than the GI of fresh fruit so they will make your bloodsugar peek much more than fresh fruit will do. Personally I love dates as an afternoon snack, so I always combine them with some nuts. A perfect natural snack to kill the afternoon-snack-attack!

You’re nuts!
Nuts are high in fat, but our body needs some fat, and the fat from nuts is mostly unsaturated fat. These fats seem to have a positive effect on our health. Besides fat nuts also contain important vitamins and minerals. Make sure the nuts are unroasted and unsalted! The best kind of nuts are walnuts, pecans, brazil nuts, hazelnuts and almonds.

Another snack-time favorite of mine are mulberries (moerbeien in Dutch)! They are small berries and have a sweet taste and a nice ‘bite’, and of course they are high in different vitamins and minerals! You can probably buy them in a local natural foodstore.

Veggies
Another ‘easy-to-go’ snack I like to take with me is chopped, raw veggies, such as carrots, bellpepper, cucumber or cherry tomatoes. It only takes a little moment to chop the veggies and you can easily take them with you in a small tray or lunchbox.

Of course every idiot can think of these simple tips, but sometimes you just have to DO it! We don’t need all those fancy (and highly processed?) snack bars and bites, the easiest and simplest is best!

♥