Quick, Healthy Snacks

For me, the biggest thing getting in the way of me eating healthy regularly is...life. Doesn't life just get in the way of the things you've been meaning to do sometimes?! I mean, seriously. The only way I can eat healthily on a regular basis is if I plan for it. I love cooking and trying new recipes, but when it's 8pm, I've been running around all day, and I'm hungry enough to eat my own hand, I just want to reach for something easy.

With this in mind, I tracked down some healthy snacks that are either make-ahead or super quick so you can have a go-to for those I-would-eat-my-hand-if-it-had-butter-on-it moments. And get this, they're delicious. All of our mothers have told us to eat a piece of fruit if we're hungry before dinner, but what fun is that? Here's to elevating things a bit...

Clockwise from top left: Energy Oat Balls, Avocado Toast, Savory and Spicy Mixed Nuts

(All photos via their respective blog posts)

A few hints...

• For the energy balls (I'm doing my best not to make a middle school type joke...how am I doing?), use dark chocolate, if you use it at all (heart healthy!), and natural peanut butter (or whatever butter).
• For the avocado toast, I have to say I'm not a huge tomato fan, but I definitely eat this with Ezekiel bread, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper/chili powder. Yum!
• The spicy nuts (see the above reference to definitely not writing a joke here...) don't have any sugar. There are plenty of sugary recipes out there, and I'm guessing they all smell heavenly while cooking...but resist the temptation to add sugar to your snack! Save your sugar fix for something truly worth it! Like this! Or any of these! Also, I used two tablespoons of olive oil instead of butter and all almonds...it tastes like Chex mix! So good!