healthy snack ideas

After School Snacks: 12 Great Ideas!

August 28, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 3 Comments

Thanks to Foodie.com for partnering with me today to form this curated collection of AWESOME school lunch recipes! All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

We’ve been back at school for a week and a half, and we are starting to get in our lunch groove, which is good. But we haven’t figured out this after school snack business AT ALL. It only make sense that my child would be hungry after 7 hours of work and play, but I have NO plan for what to offer her that will give her a boost but not spoil her dinner (especially since we have dinner at 5…we’re bringing early bird back, friends).

So check out my 12 ideas for simple and good snacks on Foodie. Then let me know what you are serving up because I could use some more ideas!

Somersaults: An Awesome Sunflower Seed Snack

November 11, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

Thanks to Somersaults for providing complimentary packages for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

Tim has a new favorite snack in the house, and it is also one of my top choices! In fact, even Darah loves to munch on these yummy sunflower seed snacks called Somersaults. Just check out her demonstration of love for the product below!

I first showcased Somersaults back in 2011, and since that time, we have purchased these delicious snacks quite a few times. They have also recently released the Cinnamon Crunch flavor, and it is most definitely my favorite! It’s a great choice for folks like me with a sweet tooth because it tastes great and only has 7g of sugar! It also has half the fat and more protein than a serving of almonds, making it an excellent choice for a healthy snack.

Somersaults can now be found in Target stores (woo hoo!) so the next time you are there, be sure to check them out. You will love them, I’m sure! Definitely check out the store locator to find your nearest retailer, and also be sure to follow Somersaults on Facebook for updates and promotions!

Healthy Snacks for Work

August 13, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

I know, I know…this post should be all about great lunch ideas for kids, since we’re in the midst of the back-to-school season. But I didn’t want the parents to feel left out! Whether your work space is on a factory floor, behind a desk, or in the driver’s seat of a vehicle (Carpool line! Hello!), you need something to snack on while you are working hard, too! So I created a list of some of the healthy snacks I have stocked my pantry with for the grownups when break time rolls around. Some of the snacks were recently provided for review and I fell in love, and others are products my family discovered a while back! Affiliate links below.

Best Healthy Snacks for Work

FiberOne 90 Calorie Brownie. These are a total favorite of mine. So yummy. So friendly on the waistline! So satisfying!

Saffron Road Crunchy Chickpeas. The wasabi flavor will WAKE. YOU. UP!!! And either way you go, these are tasty little treats, packed with flavor.

KIND bars. Have you tried these??? You guys. SOOOOO good! And they really help me to stop grazing once I have one. Very filling and did I mention that they are REALLY good? These are new to me, and I’m a little bit bitter that I didn’t know about them sooner. Just sayin’.

PopCorners. I so rarely get to enjoy these because Tim always takes them to work. As I recall, though, they are REALLY good! 🙂 Definitely be sure to try the barbecue flavor!.

Balance Mini Energy Bars. I love the taste of these bars, but even more, I love the size! I’m working in New York this week, and I’m spending a lot of time creating cooking demonstration videos. I’m surrounded by food all day, and yet, there is very little opportunity to eat! I put a handful of these bars in my purse so that I could have something to eat that would give me a boost!

Lovely Candies. These seriously taste like homemade candies you could only get from a loving grandmother. I don’t know how that got that all wrapped into little squares of wax paper, but they did. Consciously made. Gluten-free. A must try!

Van’s Crackers and Bars. I wrote about Van’s crackers earlier in the summer, and we recently had some new flavors and just adored them, as well. They also have cranberry almond bars that will REALLY help curb some hunger pains when you need to power through until dinner. Love this brand!!! Everything is gluten-free, as well!

Those are some of my suggestions that maybe weren’t already on your shopping list! I’d love to hear what you snack on while you get through your work day. Anything you just can’t live without? Any new finds? Let’s hear it!

How My Snack Stash Saved the Day

June 29, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 7 Comments

Last week I told you all about my toddler snacks that I took for our road trip up to Asheville. They were a great help in the car, to be sure. But they also totally saved the day in the most unlikely of all places:

AT A RESTAURANT.

That may surprise you to hear me say. But then again, if you have a toddler, then you understand that when they want to eat, they want to eat NOW. Tim and I took a while to figure out what we wanted to order, and then the food took a little while to come out. That span of 20 minutes was 8 eternities to little Layah, and she quickly started to lose her composure.

At first I thought one of us would just have to leave with herand we’d have to take turns eating our food. Then I remembered that I stuck an Earth’s Best Sunny Days Snack Bars in my purse.

I handed it over to Layah, and then turned around to grab my camera so I could snap a picture of our lunchtime hero. Here’s what was left of the bar once I turned back around:

This snack bar earns full credit for keeping Layah from losing her cool, and for keeping our family all at the same table, eating our food at the same time. It saved the day!

What snacks do you keep in your purse, either for your little ones or for yourself?

I am an Earth’s Best Preferred blogger, and as such, have received complimentary products to facilitate my review. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. This post contains affiliate links. I only recommend what I already buy and love.

Toddler Snacks for the Road: DON’T Leave Home Without Them!

June 23, 2013 · by Tiffany Merritt · 5 Comments

Before we left for our recent weekend trip to Asheville (a 4 hour drive away from us, factoring in a few stops with kids), I made sure that we had a fully stocked snack bag. Specifically, I packed all of this:

And while we stopped 4 times on that 4 hour trip, we never did stop because of hunger. So I’m confident that my heft supply of Earth’s Best provisions kept us from stopping 6 or even 7 times each way. In that sense, they were a major sanity saver!

I carefully selected each item you see here for different reasons, but the common theme for all of them is that they are highly portable and relatively mess-free. Even Layah is getting tot he point where she can feed herself a yogurt smoothie, and she can definitely tear up a Sunny Days Snack Bar! It is so nice to finally reach that point where we don’t have to pull over in order to give her any food! And I absolutely love that you can purchase the Earth’s Best Yogurt Smoothies in the 6 pack. I have a hard time finding that option in my local stores, but it is available on Amazon in sets of two 6 packs at a time.

One tip I have for you if your kids love the smoothies: If you aren’t taking them on the road, try sticking them in the freezer for a few hours before you give them to the kids. They are DELICIOUS as a cool slushy treat this time of year!

Are you taking any road trips? What kind of snacks do you pack for your kiddos? I’d love to hear what makes your “must have” list!

I am an Earth’s Best preferred blogger, and I such, I have received complimentary products for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions listed here are strictly my own. This post contains affiliate links.

Somersaults Snacks

March 13, 2011 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

Somersaults Snacks

Does anyone out there have a similar struggle with food because you are at home all day? It is SUPER hard for me to stay out of the kitchen, just grazing and snacking all day long! I’ve realized something over time: I am a grazer, plain and simple. I like to eat little bits of food all throughout the day. I don’t think this is really going to change about me anytime soon. It’s just who I am.

But here’s what I have complete control over: the foods that are available for me to eat. I can tell you now that if there are grapes in the fridge I will happily munch on them. If there are double-stuff oreos in the pantry I will happily munch on them. I’m gonna be munchin’, so it is my job to make sure I have the right stuff on hand for all my snack sessions!

And glory be, I have found SUCH an awesome snack. Tim and I are both totally in love and may or may not watch each other like hawks to make sure that the other person doesn’t eat more than their share (not really kidding)! Somersaults are these fantastic little nuggets of awesome! They are packed with sunflower seeds and toasted grains, as well as with flavors that will please most any craving! Here are their current flavor offerings:

S.S. Sea Salt
Santa Fe Salsa
Salty Pepper
Chez Cocoa (also known as the snack of my dreams)

Each serving of somersaults has 1/2 the fat and even more protein than a serving of almonds, which I have always considered to be a powerhouse of a snack. Move over, nuts!

I love Somersaults for so many reasons, but here are just a few:

They are perfect for on-the-go snacking
They require no prep work (good for those extra lazy moments in life)
They actually fill me up with just a few bites
They are packed with ingredients that my body really needs, and can easily convert to fuel

My only real complaint is that these aren’t sold anywhere even remotely close to where I live, and I live in a respectably-sized city! Please find your way into Whole Foods, or EarthFare or Food Lion! The silver lining in this cloud is that you can buy direct from their website, though.

Buy it!: Maybe you will have better luck than me. Check their store locator to see if you can find a place near you that stocks them. I promise you, it is a purchase you won’t regret!

Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is about to be doing all kinds of somersaults, because you will be getting an awesome prize pack of Somersaults with every flavor and every size. Woo hoo!!! Hopefully the winner won’t live within driving distance of me, or else there might be a risk of some mail theft. 😉 The contest will run until March 23rd at 11:59pm EST when a winner will be selected using Random.org. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning notification before the prize if forfeited and a new winner is selected. Open to residents of the United States. Limit one entrant per household, please.

Mandatory entry: Tell me about a snack you currently turn to when you get the munchies, whether it is good or bad for you!

My answer: if I’m seriously hungry, chips and salsa will fill me up pretty quickly. Having chocolate in the house is very rare, not because I don’t buy it, but because I eat it so quickly.

Additional entries:
1. Sponsor love: “Like” Somersault Snack Co. on Facebook
2. Blogger love: “Like” Stuff Parents Need on Facebook

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the sidebar of my homepage.

Disclosure: I received complimentary products for review purposes. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.