Ten Healthy Convenience Store Snacks

I don't think I would pick up hard boiled eggs from a convenient store! :) Everything else seems ok!!! Love your posts!

Jennifer @ Peanut Butter and Peppers

I also wouldn't touch the hard boiled eggs. Years ago I worked at Roy Rogers which had a salad bar. One of my jobs was to keep the salad bar stocked and one of the items was chopped eggs. These eggs came whole, in a very large bucket, soaking in a solution of sodium and formaldehyde. I'm sure to solution has changed but regardless who knows how old those eggs are and how safe they are? Probably a personal thing, but if I eat hard boiled eggs it will be at home after what I learned.

Tracy

I hadn't even thought of individual cheeses -- that's a great tip. Also, some convenience stores have pre-packed veggies and fruit.

http://collegecookingandironchefamerica.blogspot.com/

Stephanie G

A few convenience stores near me have recently started carrying individual serve packages of hummus and those thin pretzel crackers - I think the whole pack is around 200 calories. Also wanted to mention that a lot of them carry yogurt cups now too. Although it's guaranteed to be the sweetened yogurt. Still better than a hot dog!

Stacie

What is Smart Food? Guess I'll have to look it up! I like to get cheese sticks at the convenience store. My husband likes to go for jerky and beef sticks.

Stephanie, thanks for the hummus and pretzel cracker tip. Haven't seen those yet, but I'll be on the lookout!

Cheers~

Carrie @ Season It Already!

Fig newtons? I thought so too. A myth. Until I read the label. High fructose sugar is #1 and processed white flour. Nothing healthy about this and very little fruit. Oatmeal cookies are a much better choice, right? So I hear.

Melissa

Actually beef jerky (or any kind of turkey jerky, salmon jerky etc.) can be a good snack choice. Just read the ingredients. It's not an everyday thing but when traveling or hiking it comes in handy for some protein. You can even get Bison jerky. When flying to MN and back last week I got Hint water (0 calories, 0 fake sugar), mini turkey wraps (it was cut like sushi) and a roasted root veggie salad. All easy to take on a plane. From a little market...also got some small batch chocolate made in NY (dark chocolate). You can really do well at some of the little markets on the go. Hint water is expensive but kept my hydrated during my 11 hour journey home last Friday.

Leah

Check out this beef jerky as an example:

http://www.bestbeefjerky.org/2008/07/trader-joes-beef-jerky…

Leah

Individually packaged large pickles :) High on sodium, but otherwise great!

Karen

I,too, have enjoyed the Z Bars, but now am creeped out about the fact that one of the main ingredients is organic brown rice syrup which seems to be laden with arsenic. Your thoughts on this please.

Lois Green

Great post. I always think of Michael Pollan's food rule that you shouldn't eat where you buy gas and try to stick with it for the most part. But there are exceptions to every rule and times when it's unavoidable, so love your positive spin on this. I would probably go for the banana, nuts and bubbly water.

Martha@Simple-Nourished-Living.com

They usually have apples, too! Pumpkin seeds are also a pretty good choice.

Megan (Braise The Roof)

Lisa, (a.k.a. Snack Girl),I love your comments and the comments of others. Now, I have a question. I noticed a comment by"Leah 2 hours ago". Does this mean you have another "Leah"? I'm not surprised. There were 8 of us in my college english class.

leah matheson

I tried the boiled eggs in a situation just such as this. I regretted them. They were rubbery and smelled odd. Not eorth stretching to put these on the list. :)

Robin

Lisa I think you are amazing. I love your blog. Thank you.

Lisa Daughtry

I end up in a convenience store once a year or so. I can usually find better choices or I pack food. Recently, I went and was surprised to see small packs of each of the following: baby carrots, grapes, apple slices (with lemon juice to preserve them), hummus with pita, and some assorted packages of raw veggies with dip. There were also several fresh salads with dressing on the side. Each item had a sticker with the date packaged and sell by date. There was also a larger but still single serving fresh fruit bowl that looked really fresh. There were hard boiled eggs still in the shells in a two egg package. There were cartons of multiple brands of yogurt, including plain and Greek options, as well as small containers of not-fat milk. I was impressed and bought the carrots and fruit. The cashier said a lot of people are buying healthier food. This is a regional chain in our area, but I hope this is a trend all over. I was so happy that I might go back a little more often. The prices are what you would expect at a convenience store, but I was happy to be able to find healthier choices.

A

Our QT might be on the cutting edge but they have wholewheat bread sandwiches, chicken wraps and yogurt. I can usually get out of there before taking a second glance at the twix (double).

Fezeka Saige

This is such a helpful list. Sometimes I'll be at the convenience store just staring at the snack items because I have no idea what to get. The giant packaged sweets and overly large "snack sized" bags of chips are just everywhere!

Cassandra