Favorite healthy foods/snacks

ZapBrannigan said:
You guys have expensive taste... When I was a regional guy it was ramen noodles, gas station hot dogs, meatballs from Sbarros, and rolls from Au Bon Pain... Plus anything I could liberate from hotel breakfast buffets or happy hours. Peanut Butter Cups from Trader Joe's??! I don't shop at Trader Joe's NOW! (Not insinuating that that pilot was regional, just saying that Trader Joe's, Whole Foods (Whole Paycheck), etc are out of budget for me.

I bring store brand crystal light drink packs, a few cuties (clementines), a few packs of microwave popcorn.
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You're just covering up that they force you to shop at Wal-Mart ;)
 
TowJoe said:
+1 I am regional too and am the same way as far as food goes. Our society is perfectly fine spending x amount of dollars on electronics or other state of the art fad, but when it comes to food people often don't seem nearly as willing to spend the extra dough on their health.
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Well said! I wish I took this advice to heart when I was younger...
 
rframe said:
My idea for this is to share some of those favorite meal and snack ideas that are not only good for you but really satisfying. A lot of people think they'll "diet" to lose weight rather than just focusing on making good food choices all the time. I think part of that comes from the false idea that healthy food tastes like crap and leaves you hungry.

Here's one of my favorite treats to get started:

1 cup plain yogurt + 1 cup frozen berry mix + 1 teaspoon of stevia
Approx 200 cal, 5g fiber, 23g protein, 26g carbs (9g sugar)
Using frozen berries basically turns this into a frozen yogurt treat, great for an ice cream fix.
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Yogurt is great! I like to take one cup vanilla yogurt and mix in a sliced banana and a few tablespoons of grapenuts. It is super filling for only about 300 calories. It is great to have as an afternoon snack and once you have had it once you realize you can eat a very small lunch since this is coming in the afternoon. Not to mention if you shop for a yogurt with a lot of different strains of probiotics, plus the grapenuts, it is great for your gut.


Also while we subject of snacks, I know that many of us think about the calories in a soda and opt for diet drinks, or go for lower calorie yogurts and other snacks. With the exception of Splenda and Stevia (splenda is a chemically altered sugar that the body can not absorb, and Stevia AFAIK, is a natural sweetener that the body can't absorb), the artificial sweeteners that many "low calorie" or "diet" foods and drinks contain break down into harmful chemicals in your body. While most of us don't eat or drink enough of these to be harmful there is another issue worth noting. In the process of removing these chemicals from your blood you body makes its own glucose (sugar) and releases into your blood (just like it does when you exercise), the flip side to this is that if you are not physically active in during this process that glucose gets reabsorbed by the body but in the same way it would be if you had the non diet equivalent in the first place.
The key is to try to avoid most of these simple sugars and artificial sweeteners unless we are involved in an extended activity, like cycling or running, where they are quickly used as fuel. I recommend that most people who talk to me about dieting or exercise for the purpose of loosing weight cut soda and other sugary foods out of their diet first. You would be surprised how fast 10lbs comes off.
 
Pilotforhire587 said:
Yogurt is great! I like to take one cup vanilla yogurt and mix in a sliced banana and a few tablespoons of grapenuts. It is super filling for only about 300 calories. It is great to have as an afternoon snack and once you have had it once you realize you can eat a very small lunch since this is coming in the afternoon. Not to mention if you shop for a yogurt with a lot of different strains of probiotics, plus the grapenuts, it is great for your gut.


Also while we subject of snacks, I know that many of us think about the calories in a soda and opt for diet drinks, or go for lower calorie yogurts and other snacks. With the exception of Splenda and Stevia (splenda is a chemically altered sugar that the body can not absorb, and Stevia AFAIK, is a natural sweetener that the body can't absorb), the artificial sweeteners that many "low calorie" or "diet" foods and drinks contain break down into harmful chemicals in your body. While most of us don't eat or drink enough of these to be harmful there is another issue worth noting. In the process of removing these chemicals from your blood you body makes its own glucose (sugar) and releases into your blood (just like it does when you exercise), the flip side to this is that if you are not physically active in during this process that glucose gets reabsorbed by the body but in the same way it would be if you had the non diet equivalent in the first place.
The key is to try to avoid most of these simple sugars and artificial sweeteners unless we are involved in an extended activity, like cycling or running, where they are quickly used as fuel. I recommend that most people who talk to me about dieting or exercise for the purpose of loosing weight cut soda and other sugary foods out of their diet first. You would be surprised how fast 10lbs comes off.
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Throw some chia seeds in your yogurt if you've never had them before!
 
The other day, I was looking for a new snack and decided on a graham cracker sheet with a TSB of peanut butter and some Craisins stuck on there. It hit the spot. I needed some simple carbs fast. I also like Crasins instead of jelly on peanut butter sandwiches. It seems weird, but I like real fruit whenever I can get it.
 
This thread is excellent - got a good laugh about the good decisions between Taco Bell and the Bourbon. I gotta tell you, on these long 8 hour flight, I'm good with about 4 oz bag of buffalo jerky and a Mint Chocolate Cliff Builders Bar. Keep the H20 flowing and I am dialed in....although a swedish fish may sneak in there every now and then.
 
I always fly with with a soft cooler. Turkey burgers, cliff bars, a banana, carrots/ranch. I will switch in jerky, eggs, greek yogurt, or baked chicken breasts. I love my food, but need protein and to constantly eat. Taco Bell has chicken crunchy taco's w/o cheese = 100 calories a piece. I'll grab 5 of those and still get 44 grams of protein and 500 calories. If a My Fit Foods is around I'll be in there. No pop, always water.
 
Almonds, walnuts, pepitas, celery with peanut butter, apples, pears, bananas, oranges, carrots, cheeses, salads with your own homemade vinaigrette in a separate small container... and of course in the eBags Crew Cooler an array of pre-made pre-portioned dinners made from scratch with all organic ingredients. Just make a huge batch of a meal and portion into the freezer for future consumption.

It's no mystery how to eat healthy while on the road. It can be done and on a first year FO budget - in fact it's much cheaper to eat healthy than to go to McDonald's for the $1 meal burger. Long term sickness and illness (obesity, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, impotence, depression) costs so much more money than some groceries from Whole Paycheck or the local farmers market... and it can impact your ability to hold a medical at the drop of a hat.

You can still go out with the crew for that beer, but just eat prior to going out so you aren't tempted to eat the junk TGI Friday's meal they're eating (and spending way too much money on).
 
JaceTheAce said:
Almonds, walnuts, pepitas, celery with peanut butter, apples, pears, bananas, oranges, carrots, cheeses, salads with your own homemade vinaigrette in a separate small container... and of course in the eBags Crew Cooler an array of pre-made pre-portioned dinners made from scratch with all organic ingredients. Just make a huge batch of a meal and portion into the freezer for future consumption.

It's no mystery how to eat healthy while on the road. It can be done and on a first year FO budget - in fact it's much cheaper to eat healthy than to go to McDonald's for the $1 meal burger. Long term sickness and illness (obesity, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, impotence, depression) costs so much more money than some groceries from Whole Paycheck or the local farmers market... and it can impact your ability to hold a medical at the drop of a hat.

You can still go out with the crew for that beer, but just eat prior to going out so you aren't tempted to eat the junk TGI Friday's meal they're eating (and spending way too much money on).
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This sounds great and all but the biggest problem for me has been figuring out how to keep the food refrigerated. It seems like most of our hotels don't have refrigerators so the food I bring goes to waste... Last summer I worked pretty hard to do this stuff... Filling the hotel sink with Ice at bedtime and putting the food on top of it etc... Just isn't that sanitary nor does it work very well. Any ideas? I've been eating a TON of salads from green leaf (they now have organic ingredients) but at 9 bucks a pop it's not cheap. I can make the same salad for 2 or 3 dollars.. Uhg.

P.S. Almond butter (raw, not roasted almonds) on a delicious slice of sprouted bread is my FAVE!
 
I just made a these for my last trip:

~2 cups of peanut butter
-Sunflower seeds
-Shelled pumpkin seeds
-Chocolate covered goji berries
-Dry oatmeal

Mix all ingredients at room temperature, roll into balls, and then put into refrigerator.

I am going to tweak this for my next round and add

-Real maple syrup
-Chia seeds
-Flax seed

These were quick and easy to make. Store cold. Great anytime of the day.
 
juxtapilot said:
This sounds great and all but the biggest problem for me has been figuring out how to keep the food refrigerated. It seems like most of our hotels don't have refrigerators so the food I bring goes to waste... Last summer I worked pretty hard to do this stuff... Filling the hotel sink with Ice at bedtime and putting the food on top of it etc... Just isn't that sanitary nor does it work very well. Any ideas? I've been eating a TON of salads from green leaf (they now have organic ingredients) but at 9 bucks a pop it's not cheap. I can make the same salad for 2 or 3 dollars.. Uhg.

P.S. Almond butter (raw, not roasted almonds) on a delicious slice of sprouted bread is my FAVE!
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Get this: http://www.strongbags.com/products/coolers-duffels/canadian-ice-flight-crew-cooler.html

Put ice in a couple of double wall freezer bags from home and when you get to any motel/hotel grab ice from the ice machine and use that. Then re-fill the bags for the trip home or to another destination and repeat. Get the big cooler above and you can bring a ton of food and little tupperware containers. There's even room in one of the outside pockets for a nice thermal cup or thermos for hot drinks and hot soup or whatever.
 
Okay, here's my list...Nature Valley Bars (all kinds of assortments and they are terrific as are Odwalla bars- fantastic and a huge variety also), Granola Thins - also from Nature Valley, graham crackers (they even have them now with peanut butter and chocolate) trail mix (I make my own) any fresh fruit, (watermelon, plums, pears, oranges, apples, pineapple, grapes, bananas, even fruit cups and there is a great one with apples and granola on top from Doyle, etc) all kinds of berries, any flavors of yogurt, hummus, tuna salad, chicken salad, sliced up veggies with dips or salad dressings, shredded coconut, peanut butter, cucumber salad, egg salad, assortments of pita chips or crackers, biscottis, fruit salad, cottage cheese with or with fruit in it (I like pineapple in mine), all kinds of nuts, raisins, cups of soup and cups of noodles, various cheeses, Oscar Meyer carving board turkey breast and carving board chicken breast lunch meats, honey nut granola - which I can put in the yogurt or the cottage cheese and also a baggies of wheat germ for the same thing, whole grain bagels, healthy cookies, hard boiled eggs, dried plums, raisins, any dried fruit really, bag of popped kettle corn, restaurant style tortilla strips, guacamole, tortillas - you can put some meat and veggies in them, triscuits, and bags of a good dry cereal that you can munch on, healthy sammies.

Be creative, experiment and have a large variety of things you enjoy so you won't be bored and always bringing the same old food with you. Oh and a stainless steel thermos with a built in cup for hot soups. There are small bottles now of apple juice, watermelon juice, V-8 veggie juices and the new V-8 fruit juices too.
 
web265 said:
Why would anyone do that to a perfectly good goji berry? :sarcasm

Honestly never heard of that, half to try em. Thx for posting.
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They are awesome! The brand that I bought is Himalania. I am currently working on round two of the peanut butter bites!
 
bike21 said:
Oh I'm regional alright. My eating habits stem from my bike racing days. Trying to eat & prepare quality foods has always been part of my M.O. though.

You can eat well & affordable, just takes planning & being savvy at the grocery. I haven't had fast food since high school for instance (makes me a PITA on road trips) but of course have spent a little extra $$ over the years on grub.

I choose to invest in my health over the long run vs. eating like crap then hoping someone makes a magic pill to make me skinny and fix my ailments down the road.

Not saying you do this Zap, just an observation of our society in general. I'll sacrifice other things from the budget before cutting my organic goodies :)
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This is one-hundred percent correct.

Investing in your health is the best investment possible.

Eating healthy and exercising regular does not have to be expensive.

I also spare no expense when it comes to health. I enjoy a plain non-fat chobani yogurt with some honey drizzle or dried fruit as a healthy snack.

I understand Zap's point tho.
 
LOVE Granola Thins...all three kinds. I just got into baking whole wheat bread. I've been a bread machine fan for a long time but only used enriched flour until recently. Hoping this experiment is worth it because 5 lbs of whole wheat disappears real fast when you're baking 2 lb loafs. I keep forgetting to compare calories/dollar store vs home but I'm getting the feeling it's not much cheaper to bake your own. It tastes so good though. An ounce or two with a TSB of honey is a great snack.
 
Wait until you start baking your own whole grain breads with things like rye, oatmeal, crushed nuts, raisins, graham flour, oat bran, there's some great stuff called Bob's Red Mill 5 grain cereal mix available on line and he has a bunch of different flour grains too-http://www.bobsredmill.com/flours-meals/ , wheat berries, honey nut granola, whole wheat, honey, buckwheat, etc. You can experiment and come up with some wonderful breads of dozens of varieties that are very tasty and healthy.

We also make a lot of banana nut loafs and muffins, cranberry muffins, corn muffins, blueberry muffins, coconut/pecan/oatmeal muffins, apple almond/ muffins etc.

This site will give you some ideas and a start: http://allrecipes.com/recipes/bread/whole-grain-bread/

We make fresh bread and muffins every week.
 
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