Snack Girl Archives

Snap along to a healthy place

Pre-washed stringless sugar snap peas can be found in your local supermarket in a plastic bag. Those of us...

Are baked snap peas as good as fresh snap peas?

Baked snap peas are mashed green peas shaped into a pea shape and baked with oil and salt. They have the same calories per ounce as potato chips....

Do snacks help or hinder weight loss?

Journalist Mary Schwager from the Examiner published a great article on a study by Consumer Reports on snacking....

Cheese Stick

Also known as string cheese, this cheese stick is an example of a packaged snack that is good for you...

Low calorie crunch to stop your chip craving

Isn't celery mostly water? Yes, but it is chocked full of other great nutrients. It has protein, Vitamin K, and lots of other vitamins to keep you going....

For serious athletes only!

PowerBar is for performance athletes. Picture Lance Armstrong eating one on his bicycle. Amateur athletes that ride miles on their bicycles every day will bring a Power Bar to consume....

Roasted bean juice is a nutritious drink

Coffee is roasted bean juice. Since we don't pick the beans, roast them, and grind them, we forget that coffee is derived from plants....

High fiber, whole grain but then they added cheese

Pre-packaged popcorn is healthier than potato chips but more expensive and less healthy than popping it yourself...

Fast food that is good for you

Hey, these look like fries!! Yes, they are "fry posers" created by Burger King to help you (and your children) avoid eating French Fries. Will it work?...

Crunchy puffs of rice, salt, and sugar

These lovely little crackers hail from Japan. Are they bad for you?....

Homemade Banana Bread

Is this really a healthy snack? Eating too much of any baked good is damaging to your waistline, but made with real bananas and eggs, this snack includes protein and vitamins your body needs...

Candy that is good for you

Can you have a treat that is also nutritious? Absolutely. There is no reason why you need to chose a food that lacks nutrients to get a great treat.

Fast food with a nutritional upside

If you are hungry, this is a perfectly fine snack. Everything is relative of course, and if you are watching your weight you would want to avoid something with so many calories....

Would you like an order of fat with your burger?

Onion rings are another delicious fast food. I love the soft oniony inside and the crunchy batter outside. Unfortunately, the deep frying part renders these puppies into a very fatty snack....

America's Favorite Vegetable

The average American eats 30 pounds of french fries a year. I found this statistic on a website devoted to the history of french fries. French fries are a much loved staple for us Americans. We probably out do the Belgians who consider them a national treasure.

Corn, oil, and salt combined to fill you up

Hey, wait a minute! Almost 600 calories in a bag of Fritos??!! That is ludicrous. Yeah, it is. Maybe YOU will be able to stop yourself from eating the entire bag.

Mechanically separated meat is not good for you

The stick of jerky photographed here is actually not beef. I was shocked to discover that I had purchased a stick of jerky made with pork and something called "mechanically separated chicken". Okayyy.

Would you like chemicals with your cupcakes?

The Hostess website claims that there is a person in Florida who eats 4 Hostess cupcakes a day. So, at 680 calories, I hope she is replacing a meal with them (cupcakes for breakfast anyone?)....

Fun to eat and good for you

"Eat. Spit. Be Happy." says DAVID, a manufacturer of sunflower seeds. I can't agree more. If not for the fact that I've been trying to teach my children not to spit, these would be a perfect snack.

The poster child for junk food

What can I say that hasn't been said? These little snack cakes are the definition of junk food. They are so hard not to love. And they sell 500 million of them a year.