My Clean Sweet Snacks List

Food takes a big bite out of a family's budget and why it's one of the subjects I write about on THE SAVVY SHOPPER. We don't have the choice of not eating, and o'man, does food take up a lot of our time from shopping for it, preparing it, and cleaning up after cooking it. We could save so much time and rid ourselves of a repetitive task if only we could stop eating! But regardless of household income, we must eat to live!

Protein bars are great to keep in the pantry for snacks and quick meals when you have no appetite or don't have time to eat. Sometimes I'll put a protein bar in my bag if an appointment will cause me to miss breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It keeps our blood sugar from plummeting. The problem with protein bars is the ones high in protein and low in sugar and calories can taste chalky and bland. Also, they are not a substitute for real food, i.e. balanced meals, which we should eat 90% - 95% of the time. 

That said, my senior mother will no longer eat her oatmeal in the mornings and overall she's become a very finicky eater, so I supplement her real food with healthy protein bars to ensure she gets sufficient protein, whole grains, and calories. 

1) Clean Protein Bars are the best-tasting protein bars I've found thus far. In addition to their great taste, I like their 15 grains of protein, their 7 grams of fiber from 6.5 grams of whole grains, as well as, their reasonable price at Walmart (which I order online). They are fairly big bars at 190 calories too. While the Clean Protein Bars' simple ingredients are a big plus, at 10 grams of sugar per bar, they are slightly over the margin of what nutritionists recommend. Ideally, protein bars should contain between 5 grams - 8 grams of sugar each, but good luck finding lower-sugar protein bars that taste good enough to eat. 

2) Occasionally I also buy Pure Protein Bars, yet at 20 grams of protein with 1 gram - 2 grams of sugar, they are too dense and chalky tasting to be as satisfying to eat. They don't taste bad, but bars that go over 17 grams of protein nearly always sacrifice texture. We reach for them less often.

With the Clean Protein Bars, I'm ok with the 10 grams of sugar in exchange for relatively high protein, moderate calorie count, and delicious taste. One characteristic to note: The bars fall apart when you eat them, so on the run, take a napkin with you!

3) South Forty Nut Bars - I love everything about this snack except the $3 per bar cost and 260 calories. Both price and calories really add up! Not as high in protein as you'd think, yet they are a nut lover's dream snack made with only a few, simple and clean ingredients. A sometimes treat because we don't love flavorless, monotonous food regardless of how nutritious it is. Perhaps a competitor will figure out how to make nut bars more affordable. Nuts are expensive!

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4) My oatmeal cookies are healthier with less fat and sugar than most, but you do need some sugar to make cookies. They are delicious and a sometimes tasty treat especially if you're trying to get a picky eater to drink a glass of milk. Fast, easy, and cheap to bake from scratch, they contain mainly nutritious ingredients and are a complete protein with egg and nuts.

Makes 20 oatmeal cookies. Just the right amount.

My Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) brown sugar

2 tablespoons golden syrup (or substitute graduated sugar)

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup Oats (either quick or old-fashioned, uncooked work)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 capful of cider vinegar - Ensures a proper rise.

1/2 teaspoon each of nutmeg and pumpkin spice mix 

I add the extras below: 

1 tablespoon of raisins - Keeps the batch moist for extra days.

2 tablespoons of dark chocolate chips - You can also smash up a dark chocolate bar if you lack the chocolate chips.

2 tablespoons of white chocolate chips (Full disclosure: white chocolate isn't chocolate and has no nutritional value.:)

2 tablespoons of walnuts

Directions:

1) Using a fork, stir together the butter, brown sugar, and golden syrup.

2) Toss in the egg and mix in vanilla.

3) Add the oats, all-purpose flour, and baking soda.

4) Stir in the vinegar, nutmeg, and pumpkin spice.

5) Fold in the extras: raisins, nuts, dark chocolate chips, and white chocolate chips. At this step, I added 2 extra tablespoons of oatmeal to get a drier dough, so eyeball the consistency.

6) Refrigerate for 20 minutes or in the freezer for less time. Cold cookie dough is easier to handle.

7) I used a small cookie scooper to form and drop the dough on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. 

8) Bake at 375 degrees F for about 10 minutes. I like my oatmeal cookies crispy on the outside yet soft and done on the inside. (13 - 14 minutes makes crispy cookies, a 2nd preference.) Remove from the oven and let cool. Enjoy!

 

Moderation is the key to healthy snacks, which ideally should be no more than 200 calories. Try to make the calories in everything you eat, including sweet snacks, count!

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Food For A Senior Finicky Eater

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Oh my goodness, I've never dealt with such a fastidious, hard-to-please eater as my senior mother. In old age, it's her mind and not her inability to chew. Her doctors tell me this is common in patients like her as they lose the ability to taste food. I lower my expectations of her eating a varied diet and simply focus on pumping enough milk and Greek yogurt into her to make up for the meat and protein sources she'll no longer eat. Vegetables have gone by the wayside also. Sometimes she'll eat chicken nuggets or one bite of beef, but it's not enough protein in a steady diet.

Here's what I buy to counter her self-imposed limited diet:

1) low-fat milk - I drink skim, but bumped her up to 1%. She doesn't need to watch her weight.

2) vanilla Greek yogurt

3) multi-grain bread

4) crunchy peanut butter - Toast, pb, and a drizzle of honey every morning is her only daily meal of real food.

5) honey

6) 30-gram protein powder - that I add to milk if she refuses lunch. Sometimes I toss in fruit, or spinach, or walnuts. Sometimes I lose the battle and she refuses to drink it.

7) 20-gram protein bars - She is getting tired of these, so I cut them into 3 smaller pieces and give her one piece. It's better than nothing.

8) cheddar cheese - She'll only eat one bite of cheese but sometimes will eat a grilled cheese sandwich.

9) fruit - apples, oranges, pears, bananas, and berries

10) eggs - She'll only consume one egg for dinner about twice a week. I scramble 2 eggs and scrunch them up on a plate to look like one egg. She is suspicious but eats them.

11) coffee - My mother says coffee is number one. Lord save the caregiver if she is denied her morning coffee! She drinks coffee and about one cup of milk with her breakfast. Great!

12) ice cream and dark chocolate - as treats and for calories.  She only wants a serving. I toss dark chocolate chips on her ice cream for its anti-oxidants. I hear dark chocolate is good for the brain.

I am closer to having an understanding of what it must be like to care for an anorexic child. It's a daily struggle to keep them healthy. I dislike having to put so much thought into the daily necessity of eating. I, myself, have always been a healthy eater and never a problem eater. 

As long as mom looks healthy and is of normal weight I shake off over worrying and just do the best I can by making food available. I always offer her a bite of my meals but don't push her if she refuses a taste. However I'm strict on 2 points -- I do nudge her to have a small taste, and once in her mouth, I tell her she can't spit out such a small morsel of food, as it's not poison, but to please swallow it. I'm nipping a bad habit before it begins!

I'm sure the best nursing homes can't cater to seniors the way families inevitably do at home because it's time-consuming so when seniors become bad eaters they just go downhill.

Life's challenges! If you feed an undereater and have ideas that work feel free to share them.

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American Potato Salad

Photo: iStock

In an earlier blog, I shared my recipe for German Potato Salad which my mother made often in our house. But she also learned how to make American Potato Salad. With the addition of eggs, it can serve as a quick yet satisfying one-dish meal for one person, or as a side dish for many people at a barbecue. In other words, you can make a little or a lot!

Over time I learned why I like homemade American potato salad better than almost any prepared by a deli. I like my American potato salad creamy yet dry and dense, as opposed to runny; and I don't like any trace of sweetness, usually the result of pickle radish as an ingredient in deli potato salad. Here's my simple and relatively healthy recipe for one serving, which I ate as dinner yesterday:

My American Potato Salad

Ingredients:

2 medium-sized potatoes, microwaved tender (use the starchy variety: Idaho, Russet, Golden, etc)

2 large eggs

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

1-2  stalks of celery, finely chopped (eyeball the amount)

2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise 

1 tablespoon Dion mustard

A good sprinkle of Zatarain's Creole Seasoning

1 teaspoon of dried garlic powder

A few turns of the peppermill

Optional: Plain Greek yogurt

Directions:

1) Microwave the potatoes unpeeled until tender, about 8 minutes.

2) Boil your eggs on a stovetop until hard, about 5 minutes. When done, drop the potatoes and eggs into a bowl and chop. I don't peel the potatoes, but you can.

3) Add the finely chopped onion and celery to the bowl and mix.

4) Follow with the mayonnaise and Dion mustard. At this stage don't worry if it's too dry just work to incorporate all the ingredients.

5) Toss in the spices. I eyeball it, then adjust the spice to taste as the final step.

6) If my potato salad needs more creamy ingredients, I use a dub of Greek yogurt before adding additional mayonnaise. If it still tastes like mayonnaise, I leave it alone. If the Greek yogurt makes the potato salad too bland I add another spoonful of mayonnaise to the bowl.  Also now taste to adjust your spices.

That's it! I ate my one-dish dinner warm. When I make a bigger batch, into the refrigerator it goes until serving.

If you have bell peppers, green onions, scallions, or olives, feel free to toss them into your potato salad. I prefer keeping the ingredients simple but will toss in leftover vegetables to get rid of them. (Did you know olives although savory are technically a fruit?) Nonetheless, making potato salad more complicated isn't necessarily tastier. Fewer ingredients are just as delicious! An easy, peasy, breezy preparation. Enjoy!

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How Many Grams Of Protein Should You Eat?

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Since childhood, we've been told proteins are the main building blocks of the body. Every body part you can think of from muscles and organs to skin, nails, enzymes, and hormones is made of protein. And, what makes up protein? Smaller molecules called amino acids that link up to form chains. These chains of proteins link into longer chains to fold into complex shapes forming organs, muscles, hair, etc. (Source: Healthline.)

According to Healthlne, the best sources of protein are meats, fish, eggs, dairy products, quinoa, legumes, and nuts.

Aminal sources of protein are complete proteins as they contain all 20 amino acids. Many plant sources like legumes have some, but not all 20 amino acids and need to be combined with whole grains (or a glass of milk) thereby also becoming excellent sources of complete proteins. Bean soup with cornbread, peanut butter on slices of whole grain bread, and hummus on pita bread are tasty combinations forming complete proteins. 

So how many grams of protein do people need to eat each day to stay healthy? Well sources differ on the amounts, but a general consensus seems to be to get at least .36 grams of protein per pound of body weight; therefore a 130 pound woman would need about 46 grams of protein, while a 160 pound man would need about 57 grams of protein per day. Another recommendation is to eat 3 meals a day with each meal consisting of 30% - 35% of your daily protein requirements.

Doctors also note: A high protein diet can help dieters by decreasing their hunger and thus food intake and calories per day. Older people may benefit by eating as much as 50% more than the recommended daily grams for an average man or woman. Pregnant women and people recovering from injuries also seem to need more protein than the average person.

Although it was once speculated that too much protein could damage one's kidneys, this notion was never supported by science, and the benefits of consuming more protein far outweigh any feared harm.

When it comes to selecting foods to eat to meet your daily protein needs, follow your tastes and preferences and mix it up. Variety is the spice of life, and by rotating food you'll likely consume all the nutrients your body needs.

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