5 for Friday! Healthy Snacks for Busy Peeps

Here are the five snacks I took on my visit to Daphne Munroe's new show, Smart Families on ABC15. They are easy, inexpensive, healthy AND delicious!

As you might have guessed, the fruits and veggies in these snacks are organic though currently the nuts we buy are not. I'm looking for an affordable local provider for the nuts. And, cutting up your own fruits, veggies and cheese and making your own hummus or almond butter definitely saves money. It really doesn't take long and with the exception of "Ants on a log" - you can prep them the night before and they'll still be the right texture the next day. I save #4 and #5 for days I'm in a hurry. Of course, if you're really in a rush, fruit in its purest form - an uncut apple, orange, banana etc and a bag of nuts are always great!

1. Grapes, crispy walnuts and cheese sticks.

Let's talk about cheese for a minute. We don't buy much cheese and when we do, it's usually goat cheese from a local source. Because of that, we know it's fresh, preservative free and very digestible. But, if we do buy cow milk cheese, it's always organic and W-H-I-T-E. Yes, I'm a cheese snob. How many times have you seen bright orange milk? If you did see it, would you drink it? Exactly. That's what I thought. So, why are you eating that yellow stuff? It's not real cheese!!!

2. Veggies and hummus

This one is sooooo delicious and so easy to make. I just use whatever veggies I have on hand - like sweet red, yellow or green bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots, zucchini (though my daughters don't like this one raw!) etc and chop them up into kid sized sticks. Then, we usually make our own hummus because it's cheaper, tastier and definitely healthier than what you'll see in the store. But if you don't want to make it, read the ingredients to find one that only has the REAL ingredients - garbanzo beans, olive oil, garlic, salt & lemon juice.

3. Ants on a log.  Translated - celery with almond butter, topped with raisins. 'nuf said.

4. Apples and dipping almond butter. Here's my recipe for almond butter. SUPER easy!

5. "Nuts and Raisins". This is what we call this treat at our house. It's a favorite and actually comprised of a little dried fruit (whatever I have in the cupboard - apricots, raisins, cranberries or dates) and crispy almonds.

There you have it. A "five for Friday" - healthy easy homemade snacks. Enjoy!