peanut butter

Light Carb Snacks and Lunches

Posted by Lisa Eirene

The hard part of any diet is being creative. It’s so easy to get into a rut and eat the same thing for days and days…Before you know it, you’re completely burned out on eating salads every day and all you want is a big burrito or slice of pizza!

When I decided to try limiting my carb intake, I struggled to find quick and easy lunches I could take to work. When I’m home it’s easy to figure out something but I needed stuff that was easily packed ahead of time.

I bought some containers that have compartments to make it easier to transport several different things without a big mess. I love this and this! So far they work great! No leaks, no mess. The dual compartment ones I have are fabulous. In one side I put some roasted veggies, the other side hummus or tuna salad.

So here are a few of my lunches and snacks I’ve been enjoying lately:

Lunches

Lunch #1

I do these “rollup” things. I take some sliced deli meat (it varies, ham, roast beef, turkey or pastrami, and sometimes I mix and match them together) with a slice of cheese and a little mustard and roll it up. I usually pack 2 for lunch. Sometimes I have pickles and olives with it.

Then I had some roasted veggies on the side. I love roasted veggies! And they are surprisingly filling. I usually do broccoli, onion, Brussels Sprouts, and carrots. (Sometimes I’ll add some sweet potatoes or butternut squash but I’m trying not do that right now.)

 

Lunch #2

I made some tuna salad. I took a can of tuna, added some mayo and mustard, diced carrots, diced onion, diced pickles and some seasoning. Instead of crackers I took cucumber slices. One day I had some cheddar slices with it and another day I had string cheese.

Lunch #3

I got some chile lime chicken burgers from Trader Joe’s that are super low in carbs and calories. I have a patty with cheese and some roasted veggies.

I also got butternut squash to add to my roasted veggies.

Also, some riced cauliflower and turkey meatballs. Yum! (Although the above photo is more for dinner than lunch.)

Lunch #4

Big salad with lettuce, carrots, avocado, Chipotle dressing and the pre-cooked chicken fajita strips (bought on a whim because they were marked down and they were actually pretty good!).

 

Lunch #5

Kind of of a hodge-podge of things. A hardboiled egg, some chopped ham, and roasted veggies.

Snacks

Snack #1

Plain Greek Yogurt with sliced strawberries.

Snack #2

Sliced apple with string cheese.

Snack #3

Pickles, black olives, jalapeno stuffed olives and some pistachios.

Snack #4

Cheese, Salami, olives.

Snack #5

I got a package of the Sargento Balanced Breaks–cheese, nuts and dried fruit. I could have easily made my own, but they were on sale so I picked up a package. They are a little higher in carbs than I’m looking for (12grams) but they are good for workout days.

I also had some celery and peanut butter that day.

Thoughts

I’ve gotten some pretty good ideas for more lunches and snacks that I’m going to try in the coming weeks. I think it’s important to switch things up each week so it doesn’t get monotonous and boring. When I was trying to lose 100 pounds 10 years ago I ate the same damn lunch every single day. Every day. No deviation–a turkey and cheese sandwich on low calorie bread with a serving of wheat thins. Man was I sick of that!!!

So I will do another post in a few weeks with other ideas I’ve tried!

QUESTION: What are your favorite snacks and lunches right now?

Balls

Posted by Lisa Eirene

I tried a few recipes recently and I wanted to share them with you. Now onto the balls!

 

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These were so delicious! I loved the flavors. It was mild and had a nutty flavor, like peanut butter, and they were slightly sweet but not too sweet. A nice, well-balanced flavor for a snack.

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These balls are so delicious! And dangerous. It’s easy to pop them into your mouth!

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Yum yum yum! I’d make these again.

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Here is another recipe I made:

Peanut Butter Chia Energy Bites

Yields 45

Total Time: 15 min

Ingredients

1 cup oats
2 T chia seeds
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup honey
1 T vanilla

Instructions

  • In a medium bowl, combine the oats, chia seeds, shredded coconut, mini chocolate chips, and wheat germ.
  • Stir in the peanut butter, honey, and vanilla until well combined.
  • Roll into small balls and place on parchment paper.
  • Refrigerate for 1-2 hours and then store covered in the refrigerator.

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One thing I noticed immediately: they are impossible to roll into balls! They are too sticky. My suggestion is to put the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes or so first and then try to make them into balls. Otherwise it’s impossible and really, really messy.

While I was making this recipe I had to stop half way through and put the dough back in the fridge in order to finish making them into balls.

Other than that, they were really delicious! I loved the chocolate, peanut butter flavors.

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So these tasted really good and were around 50 calories each ball–which is not bad. When I was measuring out all that peanut butter I started to think…hmmmm maybe I should have done the calorie count before making this recipe! It’s going to be high in calories! But, it turned out to be not too bad!

So there ya go, two tasty recipes for when you’re craving something sweet.

Have you tried any “ball” recipes lately that were out of this word? Link it up in the comments!