Stress can oftentimes derail your diet, causing you to reach for high calorie unhealthy snacks that will leave you only more depressed and stressed out. It’s a vicious, downwardly spiraling circle. Nutritionists agree that when stress triggers our emotional eating urges we crave either salty or sweet foods first. My solution is to substitute naturally sweet and moderately salty healthy snacks that you can quickly put together, then store in your pantry and/or freezer. My secret weapon to help fight salt and sugar urges is adding spice to all my healthy snacks. Heat (capsaicinoids) generates feel good hormones, endorphins, which is the perfect solution to combat stress.
Here are my 3 favorite healthy recipe snacks
Caliente Cottage Cheese & Fruit
This is one of my favorite snacks, because it combines sweet and salty to satisfy both my stressed induced emotional food cravings.
Ingredients
½ cup low-fat cottage cheese
½ cup of your favorite fresh seasonal fruit
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. fresh cracked pepper
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
Mix all ingredients together & enjoy! Serving size: 1 cup. Calories: 130.
Latin-Asian Spicy Roasted Soy Nuts
This healthy, high protein salty snack stores well for a few weeks. Plus, I can place them on Baggies for an easy go-anywhere snack when I’m on the go.
Ingredients
16-ounce packet raw soy nuts
1 T. low sodium soy sauce
1 ½ tsp. Kosher or sea salt
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
½ tsp. ancho chili powder
Preheat oven to 400 degrees C.
Place raw nuts in mixing bowl. Coat with low sodium sauce to moisten nuts to hold spices. Then, add salt, cayenne and ancho chili powder.
Spray large cookie shoot with non-fat cooking spray. Place nuts on sheet then, back for 10 minutes or until light, golden brown.
Serving size: 1/3 cup. Calories: 140.
Spicy Mexican Dark Hot Chocolate
There is nothing more comforting when it’s cold or nasty outside than a cup of hot cocoa. Using a high-grade, unsweetened dark chocolate powder gives this hot cocoa a rich, deeply intense, chocolate flavor without the Calories. The spices (with a touch of salt), add a few additional layers of depth. I recommend using a 60 to 70% unsweetened dark cocoa powder. You can readily find and purchase high-grade cocoa powder at Costco (or try a restaurant supply store) for a reasonable price, (and cocoa lasts forever).
Ingredients
1 T 60 to 70% unsweetened cocoa powder
1 capful of pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
¼ tsp Mexican cinnamon
1/8 tsp. cayenne powder
¼ tsp. ancho chili powder
3/4 cup 2% milk
3 packets of Splenda or 1 tsp. of sucralose
1. Heat cocoa powder, vanilla, milk, salt, cayenne pepper, ancho chili powder, cinnamon and 3 packets of Spenda or sucralose in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Stir well with a small whisk until your desired temperature, making sure not to bring to boil.
2. Pour into cup. *You may add 1 T of nonfat real dairy whipped topping, as it is a “free food” (meaning negligible calories). Serving size: ½ cup. Nutrition Content: 155 Calories, 13.5g fat, 1.5g protein, 16 carbohydrates, 100g sodium.
For more healthy recipes to help you lose weight and keep it off forever, buy my SOUPer Slim Diet eBook and join my free digital magazine, Make Healthy A Lifestyle.
Comments are closed.