40 Nutritious Snacks That Won’t Blow Your Diet

You’ve smartly planned your oh-so-nutritious snacks, but sometimes that plain Greek yogurt or handful of raw almonds just isn’t what you’re looking for in an afternoon or after-dinner treat. Whatever you’re craving, one of these 40 snack ideas is sure to satisfy. They’re not all perfect, nutritionally speaking, but unlike store-bought 100-calorie packs that often consist mostly of enriched wheat (white) flour, all of these snacks provide at least some nutritional benefit. Check out these diet friendly snacks – all for approximately 100 calories!

Here are some healthful options to munch on if you’re craving …

Cold & Creamy
– CC’s Grande Mochasippi; optional sugar-free vanilla or chocolate syrup added
– Single-serving 100-calorie ice cream cup (such as Kemps or Blue Bunny)
– Mini ice cream sandwich
– Jell-O Mousse Temptations
– Gelato — bambino or kid-size scoop
– Frozen yogurt, most flavors: TCBY Kid’s; Pinkberry Mini; 3 or 4 ounces at self-serve shop
– Fruit smoothie: 1/2-cup berries blended with 1/2-cup of fat-free milk or soy milk and ice (sweetener optional).

Sweet & Salty
– Six dark chocolate-covered dry-roasted and salted almonds
– Three thin slices of prosciutto (total of 1 ounce) wrapped around three small melon wedges
-1 cup of kettle corn
– One wedge of Laughing Cow Light Blue Cheese spread onto a small sliced pear or stuffed into three dates
– 1 tablespoon of reduced-fat cream cheese with 1 teaspoon of fig preserves or pepper jelly spread on six All Bran crackers
– 20 to 25 honey-roasted peanuts
-Dip half a serving of whole wheat pretzel sticks into 1-1/2 teaspoons of peanut butter

Chocolate
– Deep Chocolate VitaTop muffin top
– 1 cup of Hood Calorie Countdown chocolate milk
– 1 cup of Silk Light Chocolate soy milk
– Cookies & Cream Think Thin Bar
– Two bite-size Dove Chocolate Promises
– Four Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Kisses
– 2 tablespoons of semisweet chocolate chips
– 15 cocoa-roasted almonds

Crunchy
– Half of a whole-grain sandwich thin topped with spray butter (or a half-teaspoon of real butter) and one tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese, broiled until crispy
– Two servings of dried, baked, or popped fruit crisps (such as Brothers All Natural crisps or homemade crisps)
-1/2 cup Honey Almond Flax Go Lean Crunch! cereal
– 15 chili-lime almonds
– Six Triscuit Thin Crisps topped with 2 tablespoons of hummus
– 1 cup of veggies (raw or grilled) dipped into 1/2 cup of ranch dip made with 2-percent plain – Greek yogurt
– 14 soy crisps, any flavor
– 12 baked blue chips dipped into 1/4 cup of salsa
– 1/4 cup wasabi peas
– 15 Snapea Crisps (such as Calbee Snack Salad Snapea Crisps)
– 3 tablespoons dry-roasted edamame

Sugary sweet
– Three omega-3 orange-flavored soft-chews
– Fruit leather/dried fruit strip
– Fruit slush: 1/2 cup of berries plus half of a small banana or two wedges of mango; add ice and blend 20 frozen grapes (once frozen, grapes become crystalline, almost candy-like)
– Cinnamon toast: one slice of whole grain toast topped with spray butter (or 1/2 teaspoon real butter), cinnamon, and Stevia or Splenda
– Chocolate-covered fruit: 1/2 cup of berries or fresh fruit cut into bite-size pieces, dipped in chocolate (melt 1-1/2 tablespoons of chocolate chips)
– Sprinkle Truvia, Purevia or Splenda over 1 cup of frozen blueberries, add a splash of milk or soy milk, and stir briefly. The milk freezes instantly, creating a slushy, icy treat. . . . . . .

I’d like to thankMolly Kimball, registered dietitian in New Orleans for contributing this article. I met her at the American Dietetic Associations Annual Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo. She is a Sports Dietitian and manages the nutrition program at Ochsner’s Elmwood Fitness Center.  A weekly columnist for The Times-Picayune, Molly covers the latest trends in the nutrition and the fitness industry.  She is also the nutrition expert for ABC26, with a weekly segment on Good Morning New Orleans, Get the Skinny with Molly.  Serving as a spokesperson at events targeting the New Orleans community, Molly is featured regularly as a nutrition expert, and has been interviewed for national media outlets including Vogue, The New York Times, Newsweek, Shape, Fitness, Runner’s World, Cosmopolitan, WebMD, and CNN.com.
Her column appears every Friday in Living and her nutrition video blog appears  every Tuesday on nola.com/health. She can be reached at eatingright@timespicayune.com. © 2010 NOLA.com. All rights reserved.  Here is the link to this article.