Healthy Snacks Can Be Tasty and Inexpensive - Bonus - Great Hummus Recipe

I used to be what I call a "Chip-aholic." Then one day Dad gave me a list of the Worst 10 foods you can eat. Chips pretty much topped the list and I ate them everyday. Yikes! It was time to discover better snacks. Luckily there are so many and more all the time as consumers are demanding better quality, healthy food.

These days you can buy Rice Crackers that actually taste good. I have found a brand that is about the cheapest and only has 2% fat, 2% saturates, 0 trans fat, and 3% sodium per 8 crackers. That's really good. The sesame are my favorite which is good too because sesame seeds are so high in calcium.

Colorful fruits and vegetables are so good and good for you. We all know this. You can always find some that you really like; cantaloupe, strawberries, grapes, sweet oranges, red peppers, carrots, corn on the cob, juicy apples, asparagus, and the list goes on. I try to get them washed with my filtered tap water when I bring them home, throw them in the crisper and they're ready to eat. It's easy to grab a carrot and nibble away on it while I'm reading or watching a movie.

Popcorn is easy too. I still use my hot air popper. I just feel unsure of what's in microwave popcorn and it only takes about 2 more minutes than a microwave. It never burns either which is a bonus. Just don't load it down with butter! I like to add nutritional yeast. That's so good as it's filled with B vitamins, helps relax me. Many tasty seasonings are available; Spike, spirula, powdered cheese, garlic powder, etc.

Nutritional yeast and ground flax are also good on whole wheat toast or good old rye crisp breads. Peanut butter topped with ground flax is also yummy on toast. One of my favorite healthy spreads is hummus! I love it on rice crackers, pita or toast or as a dip. Try this easy recipe for awesome hummus. I use organic ingredients as much as possible, so much better for the body and the planet! Stock up on sale items when possible.

Easy Tasty Hummus

You'll need:

1 15 oz/398 ml can of chickpeas *I soak/cook my own chickpeas, tastier and low-cost

2 tbls tahini or 2 heaping tbls of sesame seeds (much cheaper)

Few cloves garlic- I love garlic so add up to 4 big ones

½ tsp of dried chili peppers or roasted red peppers....taste preference

Juice of one lemon or 2 tbls bottled juice

½ tsp sea salt

2 tbls olive oil- extra virgin and cold pressed is best (large cans are the best deal)

Method:

I used to double or triple this recipe and freeze the extra but it took so long to blend in all those chickpeas and was so hard on the blender I found that it's actually faster to make a smaller amount. If you have a newer, good quality blender go for the bigger batch!

To start I put 1 tbls filtered tap water into the blender with the sesame seeds to make my tahini.

Add garlic and dried chili peppers/roasted red pepper and salt.

Gradually add chickpeas alternately with the lemon juice and olive oil.

Add water if you want a creamier texture.