With the arrival of good weather, we all feel like taking a bit more care of ourselves, exercising, and maintaining a healthy diet. Sometimes it is also possible that we are looking for a diet to lose weight.
Although the arrival of heat should not set off alarms to take care of ourselves, since the advisable thing is to maintain a correct lifestyle all year round, if you want to follow a healthy diet I advise you to avoid the consumption of products and instead choose unprocessed foods, basing your diet on plant-based foods.
When we use the term “snack”, for many of you the vending machine we find at work, university, public transport stations or hospitals will come to mind. Many times these machines are full of bars, cakes, palmier pastries, juices, soft drinks, chocolates, cookies, potato chips… everything except real foods.
Faced with such a food offer, from my point of view, the best thing is to bring the snack from home to avoid surprises. Although if one day you forget, I recommend looking for a correct alternative. It is easy to stop by a fruit shop and get a piece of seasonal fruit or even a tray or little glass with cut fruit, go into the supermarket and buy a natural yogurt or a bag of raw or toasted nuts without salt to take a handful.
In this post I intend to offer you some easy-to-prepare ideas so that you can have a snack between meals that is healthy but also original.
What is Midnight Snack?
When we use the term “snack”, for many of you the vending machine we find at work, university, public transport stations or hospitals will come to mind. Many times these machines are full of bars, cakes, palmier pastries, juices, soft drinks, chocolates, cookies, potato chips… everything except real foods.
Faced with such a food offer, from my point of view, the best thing is to bring the snack from home to avoid surprises. Although if one day you forget, I recommend looking for a correct alternative.
It is easy to stop by a fruit shop and get a piece of seasonal fruit or even a tray or little glass with cut fruit, go into the supermarket and buy a natural yogurt or a bag of raw or toasted nuts without salt to take a handful.
Here’s The List of “25+ Midnight Snack Ideas.”
1. Oat cookies with only 2 ingredients
Yes, it is possible! Mash a very ripe banana with the help of a fork and mix with oat flakes (about 30 grams more or less). If you want, add a little ground cinnamon.
Divide the dough into small portions, more or less the amount that fits in a dessert spoon, on a baking tray covered with vegetable paper and bake for 15-20 minutes. You will be surprised how delicious they turn out! I advise you to keep them in a well-closed jar.
2. Apple with cottage cheese
You can have it at home or take it in a tupper because this snack you can easily have even if you are not at home. Fill your tupper with a little skimmed cottage cheese accompanied by slices of tart apple such as for example Granny Smith. The perfect pair!
3. Crispy chickpeas
A snack that leaves no one indifferent and is very simple to make, pay attention: mix the already boiled chickpeas with different spices, I have used cumin, sweet paprika, thyme, white pepper and cayenne pepper with half a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.
Place the chickpeas well spread out (without piling up on top of each other) on a silicone mold or on the baking tray covered with vegetable paper. Bake for 30 minutes at 200ºC.
You can take it in a small glass jar if you want to eat it outside the home or it is also a very valid option if you prepare a dinner with different dishes to nibble on at home, as an appetizer or to surprise your friends if you go on a picnic or barbecue.
4. Chia pudding and fruit
This option works for you as breakfast or to have in the mid-morning or mid-afternoon. If you take it with you, just put it in a glass jar.
Chia is a seed rich in fiber, specifically in mucilages, so in contact with the liquid it forms a gel that will give more consistency to the yogurt and will make you feel much more satiated, favoring that you do not feel hungry and snack between meals, in addition it is ideal to combat constipation.
Mix a soup spoon of chia seeds inside a natural skimmed yogurt. Reserve in the fridge for one or two hours and you will have the pudding ready.
Season it to your liking by adding fruit on top. In this case I have chosen kiwi but you could use other fruits such as mango, strawberries or peach, for example. A tip: mix the chia with the yogurt at night and so you will have the pudding ready in the morning.
5. Cherry tomatoes
Have you forgotten to bring your fruit? Don’t worry! Go down to the fruit shop or the supermarket and get a glass of cherry tomatoes of the variety you like the most (pear cherry, kumato cherry, etc.).
A sweet option at the same time as different with which you will be providing a boost of antioxidants to your body, since the tomato is rich in vitamin C and lycopene.
6. Oat and carrot pancakes
This snack needs a little more elaboration (blending and cooking), but you can prepare the mixture that only has 4 ingredients the night before and reserve in an airtight container, so in the morning you only have to open the jar and put the mixture in the pan to form your pancake.
Blend in the blender about 40g of ground oat flakes (oat flour), a carrot, an egg and skimmed milk or vegetable drink by eye until you get a fluid but a little thick texture, more or less the consistency of yogurt.
Grease a pan and when it is very hot pour the mixture, cover the pan so that the pancake cooks well, then turn it to give a toasted touch on the top and ready! You can have it alone, sprinkled with cinnamon, with a little jam without added sugars, with fresh fruit or make it savory with a little ham or turkey cold cuts, for example.
7. Pear with seeds and coconut
Simply a pear cut into cubes, sprinkled with grated coconut and a mix of seeds, in my case I have put sunflower, poppy, toasted sesame, flax and chia.
8. Carrot and zucchini chips
Peel the vegetables and cut into thin slices. Mix with the spices and aromatic herbs you like the most, for example oregano, white pepper, rosemary and freshly ground black pepper with a little extra virgin olive oil.
Place the slices well spread out on the baking tray lined with vegetable paper and bake for about 20 minutes at 110-150ºC watching from time to time to avoid burning.
9. Homemade lemonade
Remember that many times we confuse thirst with hunger so do not forget to hydrate yourself. To prepare this drink dilute the juice of a lemon with cold water and if you wish some ice cubes.
If you need a touch of sweetness, use a calorie-free sweetener such as stevia. You can make variations so as not to get bored by adding finely sliced cucumber or fresh mint leaves.
10. Pea hummus with carrot sticks
Did you think we could only make chickpea hummus? Well I encourage you to try this recipe! Blend a small can of peas with half a clove of garlic, ground cumin and a little vegetable broth, vegetable drink or skimmed milk until you get a homogeneous texture that is to your liking.
Place in a jar with some carrot sticks and you have a snack ready to take a break at work and regain strength.
11. Celery sticks with skimmed cottage cheese
A fresh snack and very low in calories. Simply cut the celery into sticks and accompany it with a little skimmed cottage cheese. If you want you can sprinkle with a little black pepper or paprika.
12. Apple chips
Slice the apple with a mandoline so that it is very thin. Spread the apple on the baking tray covered with vegetable paper and sprinkle with cinnamon, bake at 110ºC for about 3 hours turning halfway through cooking. They turn out spectacularly sweet!
13. Frozen blueberry and yogurt bites
Add blueberries to a natural skimmed yogurt or to beaten skimmed fresh cheese and mix well so that the fruits are well impregnated with the yogurt. With a dessert spoon take the blueberries one by one and put in a tupper, distributed without touching each other.
Freeze for at least 2 hours. Separate the blueberries, already covered with yogurt, from the tupper and now you can consume them as if they were candies. If you do not want to eat them all you can keep them in the freezer inside an airtight plastic bag.
14. Grilled pineapple
Cut the pineapple into wedges or slices, pass through the well-heated greased pan. Eat hot or if you prefer it cold you can drizzle it with lemon juice with stevia and reserve it in the fridge for when you feel like it.
14. Sweet popcorn
If on Sunday afternoon the plan of sofa, blanket and movie is going around in your head you are entitled to it, but when you associate it with nibbling it can be a problem. I recommend looking for healthy options instead of eating automatically
For example you can change your snack for this option I propose to you, I’m sure it will not disappoint you! Sauté the corn in the covered pan, when it puffs up and you already have your popcorn ready drizzle them with spray oil and sprinkle them with cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves and stevia.
Do you dare with the salty option? Well prepare some spicy popcorn, following the same methodology but changing the spices for garlic powder, lemon peel zest and cayenne. And to go one step further I propose some Indian-style popcorn seasoned with curry, black pepper and chili powder.
16. Super quick pancake
And it only contains two ingredients: banana and eggs. Blend 1 banana together with two eggs. Pour the dough into a previously greased non-stick pan, cover it and in a few minutes turn the pancake and toast on the other side. You can have your pancake with a little pure cocoa or sifted carob powder on top.
17. Chia and cocoa pudding
Take a delicious jar to have at work or university break. Prepare it the night before: fill the jar with a quarter glass of skimmed milk, add a teaspoon of pure cocoa and a soup spoon of chia seeds (they can also be flax).
The next morning, the milk will have gelled, add fruit cut into little cubes on top. With the cocoa a mix of red fruits, strawberries or mango will go great.
18. Melon with ham
I think this snack does not need many explanations but I am sure that you had not considered using it as a healthy option for mid-morning or mid-afternoon. You can change the melon for pineapple or for peach to vary.
19. Raspberry muffins
Put two or three raspberries in each muffin mold, pour on top the dough of blending 1 banana and 2 eggs, filling a little more than half the mold. Bake at 180ºC for 15 minutes and you have your snack ready.
20. Spinach waffles
Blend 40g of oat flakes with an egg, half a glass of milk or unsweetened vegetable drink, a handful of spinach and a pinch of baking powder.
Pour into the silicone waffle mold and bake until your muffins are ready. If you want to make the sweet version just season with a little cinnamon and stevia to taste.
21. Strawberries with lemon
Wash and cut the strawberries, drizzle abundantly with lemon juice and macerate in the fridge all night in a well-closed jar. You can take it as mid-morning snack, with the acidic touch you will surely wake up!
22. Sweet potato toast
Are you not yet up to date with this trend? You just have to cut the sweet potato into slices of about half a centimeter and put them in the toaster two or three times until they are cooked, a little toasted.
Now you have your base, now you just need a little imagination: for example have your “sweet potato toast” with serrano ham, with tuna and tomato, with avocado and paprika or with arugula and fresh cheese.
Conclusion
Remember that in addition to all these ideas I have left you there are also much simpler options, such as for example any fresh fruit, a skimmed yogurt with strawberry pieces, a glass of skimmed kefir, a glass of milk or unsweetened vegetable drink with cinnamon, a toast with avocado and sweet paprika, a beef sandwich without fat, a fresh cheese and sliced tomato sandwich, a slice of bread with roasted pepper and sardines, a handful of walnuts with an infusion, etc.
There is no excuse not to follow a healthy diet!
And, for you what is the best snack to have between meals?