This is a short list of my favorite snacks:
1. Apples and peanut butter. This one is an all time favorite especially in the fall and winter seasons. My favorite apple is honeycrisp which tastes even better when thinly sliced and cold. I'm fairly lax about the type of peanut butter I eat but it's mostly been either Trader Joe's roasted peanut butter or Jif natural peanut butter. Although CU does not have a Trader Joe's, my mom always stocks up and buys 5 or 6 jars when we go to TJ. Out of all the peanut butter brands I've tried, the Trader Joe's one always tastes like real peanuts and is very smooth, perfectly dippable for apples.
2. Greek yogurt with fruit, granola, and honey. I'm aware this one is a staple in most households and isn't too surprising to appear on this list, but I've recently gotten very into it. I really enjoy greek yogurt by this brand that looks very Greek (I can't remember the name) mostly because it doesn't taste chalky like Chobani and is very smooth. For the fruit, either strawberries or raspberries are the best combination with greek yogurt. I'm not a fan of blueberries or bananas but those can certainly work well with yogurt. The granola is the most important part of the parfait. I get three kinds of granola from Trader Joe's: coconut crisp, chocolate almond, and berry chia. Those aren't the exact names but they are the most distinct tastes from each. Having three kinds of granola can also give you variety with your parfait if you don't like eating the same thing everyday. The last thing I put on my parfait is some honey. My neighbor used to keep three beehives in her backyard so, as compensation for having bees fly everywhere, she gave my family a free jar of honey every two weeks. This was great because not only was the honey amazing, I would never have to worry about running out of honey.
3. Tea and toast. This snack is certainly more odd than the rest but it's my favorite. I am a huge fan of tea and have quite a big collection so I tend to always go for this snack. My favorite tea is the "hot chocolate" tea inside this small collection of tea called Winter Wonderland that I got from Zona Hrnjak (a sophomore). It tastes exactly like hot chocolate but it's lactose free! While I always have some kind of tea available, the toast is never a staple in my house. For some reason, my mom and I don't really eat bread even though my mom is the queen of making bread. But when I do have bread, I like to slice the bread quite thinly and pop them into the toaster till they are scarcely toasted (burnt toast is terrible). I always switch up what I put on my toast but some common spreads include Nutella (surprise!!), salty butter and honey, or lingonberry jam (from Ikea). Since I usually eat this snack around 4 pm (perfect English tea time), I like to opt for the jam because it makes me feel more English.
That concludes my lengthy list of favorite snacks. I hope you try some of these snacks, even though they are quite simple and pretty staple/regular snacks!
1. Apples and peanut butter. This one is an all time favorite especially in the fall and winter seasons. My favorite apple is honeycrisp which tastes even better when thinly sliced and cold. I'm fairly lax about the type of peanut butter I eat but it's mostly been either Trader Joe's roasted peanut butter or Jif natural peanut butter. Although CU does not have a Trader Joe's, my mom always stocks up and buys 5 or 6 jars when we go to TJ. Out of all the peanut butter brands I've tried, the Trader Joe's one always tastes like real peanuts and is very smooth, perfectly dippable for apples.
2. Greek yogurt with fruit, granola, and honey. I'm aware this one is a staple in most households and isn't too surprising to appear on this list, but I've recently gotten very into it. I really enjoy greek yogurt by this brand that looks very Greek (I can't remember the name) mostly because it doesn't taste chalky like Chobani and is very smooth. For the fruit, either strawberries or raspberries are the best combination with greek yogurt. I'm not a fan of blueberries or bananas but those can certainly work well with yogurt. The granola is the most important part of the parfait. I get three kinds of granola from Trader Joe's: coconut crisp, chocolate almond, and berry chia. Those aren't the exact names but they are the most distinct tastes from each. Having three kinds of granola can also give you variety with your parfait if you don't like eating the same thing everyday. The last thing I put on my parfait is some honey. My neighbor used to keep three beehives in her backyard so, as compensation for having bees fly everywhere, she gave my family a free jar of honey every two weeks. This was great because not only was the honey amazing, I would never have to worry about running out of honey.
3. Tea and toast. This snack is certainly more odd than the rest but it's my favorite. I am a huge fan of tea and have quite a big collection so I tend to always go for this snack. My favorite tea is the "hot chocolate" tea inside this small collection of tea called Winter Wonderland that I got from Zona Hrnjak (a sophomore). It tastes exactly like hot chocolate but it's lactose free! While I always have some kind of tea available, the toast is never a staple in my house. For some reason, my mom and I don't really eat bread even though my mom is the queen of making bread. But when I do have bread, I like to slice the bread quite thinly and pop them into the toaster till they are scarcely toasted (burnt toast is terrible). I always switch up what I put on my toast but some common spreads include Nutella (surprise!!), salty butter and honey, or lingonberry jam (from Ikea). Since I usually eat this snack around 4 pm (perfect English tea time), I like to opt for the jam because it makes me feel more English.
That concludes my lengthy list of favorite snacks. I hope you try some of these snacks, even though they are quite simple and pretty staple/regular snacks!
All healthy but tasty snacks! Also Trader Joes is awesome; remember that one time they said they would open one in Champaign but never did that was so sad. Anyway nice list! I've never actually had tea and toast together but I will surely try it out now. My favorite tea is the chai my mom makes which is super yummy!
ReplyDeleteYummy...I really wish we had a Trader Joe's in town, since I also love their peanut butter. Thank you for sharing this list! I've never tried salty butter and honey on my toast - will probably try that this weekend, then, along with several other combinations listed. But we don't have any Trader Joe's food anymore... :(
ReplyDeleteI can completely relate to your post because after-school snacks are definitely a staple in my diet, I think its nice to have something to look forward to when you get home. Have you ever tried pita chips and hummus? Also, I'm pretty sure that trader Joe's was scoping out Champaign for a location but decided that there wasn't enough interest, which I completely disagree with.
ReplyDeleteNice post! I'm inspired to try some of these snacks now. Also, I agree with everyone's comments about the lack of Trader Joe's in CU. Maybe they'll change their mind and open one here in the future.
ReplyDeleteAll the snacks you listed are very healthy, which makes me feel bad because my snack list is pretty much Ruffles and artificial juice. I'm now inspired to try more healthy snacks to improve my health!
ReplyDeleteThis post made me really hungry, I really want some parfait and tea and toast right now. I like the topic you chose because everyone has a favorite snack, and even if it's not one of the snacks you listed, they can still relate to loving food. Also, now I want to try this Trader Joe's peanut butter because I don't like peanut butter, but you make it sound really good. Great post!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite snacks is fuji apples with Trader Joe's crunch salted almond butter sprinkled with cinnamon. I also stand by Trader Joe's as the finest almond butter available. I'll have to try their PB, too.
ReplyDeleteLove these snacks! But I'm sad to not see pirogies on the list!
ReplyDeleteI used to hate apples, but I've grown to love them due to everyone in my house eating everything in my house. I can't stand them when they're cold though, they chill my teeth. This was quite the blogpost, have a good one!
ReplyDelete