Nutrition is of paramount importance when you are taking the first step to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It is essential to maintain a balance between what you eat and how much exercise you do on a regular basis. Also, ensure you follow a diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, lean proteins, and low-sodium foods. Cut back on solid fats and drink a lot of water to stay hydrated.
In addition to maintaining a healthy diet regime, you can also have protein bars and healthy bars that packed with essential nutrients. Many weight loss and high-protein diet regimes require you to snack on healthy bars every day.
Here are a few reasons why you should have health bars as part of your daily diet.
Good protein source
Health bars are an excellent protein source and are packed with essential amino acids for bodily functions. Even if you have a well-balanced diet, snacking on protein bars from time to time will help maintain muscle mass, repair damaged tissue, and maintain a hormonal balance.
High source of energy
Healthy bars are a power-packed energy source, loaded with carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. If you are feeling tired, have an energy bar to boost your metabolism to help you overcome fatigue, be it mild or severe.
Low-calorie snack
When you are trying to lose weight, healthy bars prove to be an excellent low-calorie alternative in comparison to other snacks. You can keep a track of calories consumed during the day and plan your exercise routine accordingly.
A range of healthy options
There are many options when it comes to healthy bars including high-carbohydrate bars, energy bars, protein bars, brain-boosting bars, meal replacement bars, breakfast bars, and diet bars. Peanut butter crunch bars is a crowd favorite.
Help during a workout
Healthy bars and protein bars are a great source of energy when you are working out to stay in shape. A lot of energy is lost during workout and fatigue is common post workout. Protein bars help repair the tissue damaged during a heavy muscle workout and also boost your overall immune system by synthesizing red blood cells.
Control overeating
When you are working for long hours at a desk, overeating without realizing the same is common. Low-sugar healthy bars prove to be an excellent substitute for mid-day snacks as they are low in calories. This will not only control your weight but also boost your metabolism and nutrition levels.
Snack on the go
Healthy bars don’t need refrigeration and are available in most supermarkets and gas stations on the highway. These mini bars are easy to have on the go and make an excellent snack while traveling long distance.
Oatmeal raisin cookies recipes are one of the most versatile cookies recipes. A variety of ingredients can be added to the classic oatmeal raisin cookies recipe; you can add chocolate chips, walnuts, dried fruits, peanut butter, cloves, ginger and so on to make different flavors of oatmeal raisin cookies.
Despite these variations in oatmeal raisin cookies recipes, they all contain one crucial ingredient: all-purpose flour. For anyone who likes to munch on a lot of cookies, consuming food based on all-purpose flour could be detrimental to their health. However, other healthy alternatives can be used instead of all-purpose flour in oatmeal raisin cookies recipes. Here are a few oatmeal raisin cookies recipes with a twist of good health:
Cookies are one of the most popular comfort foods; a cross between biscuits and cakes, cookies are the most versatile desserts. You can make cookies with many flavors: chocolate, oatmeal, raisins, coconut, peanut butter, nutty. Mostly flour-based, nowadays you will find cookies made with ingredients other flour for people who are health conscious.
Oatmeal raisin cookies are one of the healthier options of cookies you can find. With the crunchiness of oatmeal and the soft chewiness of raisins, these cookie pack in a nutritious punch with the high fiber content of oats. The classic oatmeal raisin cookies recipe can be tweaked around to suit your taste buds. Here are 3 different oatmeal raisin cookies recipes to satiate your sweet cravings:
When we are trying to lose weight, the key is to strike a balance with the weight loss diets that you indulge in. Low-fat cooking and healthy snacks for weight loss can ensure that you will lose weight in good time, without hampering the state of your nutritional intake. This is very important because you need to find the right weight loss recipes so that you do not compromise on your health in the long run. When you choose a weight loss diet, you will need to factor in all the major nutrients, vitamins and minerals so that your weight loss diet can start and sustain on the right note.
When it comes to eating right to lose weight, you should ideally choose to break up your meals into five or six short meals so that your metabolism can work that much faster. Another good eating habit includes bringing in healthy snacks for weight loss so that you do not get sudden hunger pangs where most people usually indulge in the wrong kind of food with empty calories. Our list of four 100-calorie snacks are healthy and perfect options for those who want to lose weight.
Berries: You can combine various berries like blue berries, strawberries, and many others with nuts, yogurt, cheese and a host of other such ingredients so that you have a wholesome snack that will be below 100 calories. Berries are one of the top healthiest foods in the world. This will also make it a filling and satisfying snack for you weight loss process. It will keep you from feeling hungry even as it fills you up and gives you energy for many hours of the day.
Broccoli: You can carry boiled or sauteed broccoli for a healthy snack. Combine it with some low fat salad dressing or no salt ranch so that you get a healthy snack of less than 100 calories. The iron content of the broccoli will combine well with the protein and probiotic-rich yogurt to give you a rather nutritional dish.
Salsa: Tomatoes have been known to be a good food for healthy weight loss. You can have plenty of tomatoes throughout the day so as to get plenty of calories without piling on weight. You can make salsa with tomatoes and roasted vegetables like peppers, so that you can have a delicious and healthy snack to complement your weight loss diet. You can also get whole wheat crackers and tortillas so that you can make it a wholesome snack item.
Bananas: You can combine bananas with yogurt or have them on their own so that you have the perfect 100 calorie snack for your weight loss diet. You can have plenty of bananas every time you are hungry in between meals so that you get a good dose of potassium, which will keep you high on energy and give your bones a great dose of health as well. You can also have plenty of dry fruit with your bananas for even more protein in your snack.
If you want to lose weight, you need to eat the right kind of food in the right proportion. A packet of baked chips is not healthy for you, even though it says ‘baked’. But four slices from that same packet should be enough to satiate your junk craving. When it comes to eating right, there are a number of things that we need to take care of so that the right kind of nutrition and number of calories go into our system. But, how do you strike a balance here? Well, it’s all about figuring out how you can spread these calories over various nutritional dishes and meals.
Don’t skip meals
Accordingly, there are a number of meal habits and snack recipes that one can try in order to lose weight and remain fit. Weight loss diets and weight loss recipes have always been some of the most searched things. All the best weight loss diets will have plenty of fresh and raw ingredients as well as water and other healthy fluids. Find plenty of recipes that will easy on calories and easy to ingest in the form of at least five short meals throughout the day.
Snack options
Here is a list of some good eating habits that you can indulge in, as well as some 100 calorie snacks that one can easily create as healthy snacks to lose weight.
Pumpkin: This super nutritional food will keep you feeling full and satisfied for a long time even though it does not give you the kind of calories that carbohydrates usually would. You can combine this ingredient with yogurt so that you get a protein-filled kick to start your day and to last you throughout the day. What makes this a great snack is that it is a very healthy way to lose weight. You can make puree out of the pumpkin and combine it with yogurt so that you have a wonderful snack. You can also grate some almonds or add cinnamon powder to this snack. This will make it delicious and power packed as far as nutrition goes.
Cottage Cheese: This is another protein filled, probiotic-fueled ingredient that can help in effective weight loss. You can combine cottage cheese with many others to come up with a snack that will be delicious yet healthy. You can season it with fresh herbs and marinate it with some olive oil to have a yummy snack to complement your weight loss diet. Apart from healthy weight loss, you will also get clear skin and a glow that will be unparalleled. This will be less than 100 calories that make for a healthy snack for weight loss. This is the most healthier cheese variant, when compared to other varieties of cheese.
Chickpeas: You can make a yummy snack out of chickpeas that will be healthy as well. This will be a 100 calorie snack which will give you the right dose of energy even as you indulge in your weight loss diet. You can grind this into hummus for a dip that will complement your boiled vegetable fingers, or you can simply season boiled chickpeas with plenty of chopped tomatoes and onions as well as salt and pepper. Create a layered dish in a mason jar, and take it to work.
Bread is a daily necessity in most of our diets. But eating the same type of bread every day, can be boring. Hence experiment a little with your baked items, and treat yourselves with some pumpkin bread. Here is one recipe you can follow to make a really tasty pumpkin bread, perfect for the Halloween season.
Vanilla flavored pumpkin bread
Ingredients
1 can pumpkin
2/3 cups sugar
2/3 cups vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
3 cups flour
½ cup coarsely chopped nuts
½ cup raisins (optional)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cloves
Directions
Pre-heat the oven at 350F. Grease the bottom two loaf pans. A preferable size of 8 ½ x 4 ½ inches.
In a bowl, mix pumpkin, sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs.
Sieve the dry ingredients together in another bowl, and combine.
Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, and blend well.
Fold the mixture gently until smooth.
Pour all the batter into the pans that were kept ready.
Bake it for an hour, or until you’re sure of the center to have been cooked.
Once it is baked, set it aside to cool for two hours.
Slice the loaves and wrap it in a cling film to store.
This bread will last for a good 10 days.
You can also make the pumpkin puree.
Cut a small sized pumpkin horizontally. Scrape out the seeds and strings. Place the two portions on a baking sheet or a piece of foil, and bake.
Bake it at 350F, for 45 minutes, or until you check for it to be soft.
Cool it, and scoop out the flesh.
Roast and boil the pieces of pumpkin that are left, and discard the skin.
You can store the leftovers.
To tweak the recipe a little, you can stir in some chopped pecans, walnuts, or raisins. For precautions, remember not to over beat the mixture before you pour it into the pan. Once it bakes, do not immediately slice the loaves as they will crumble. Instead, run a butter knife round the edges, five minutes after it has baked. Allow it to cool for a good two hours. You can also glaze the bread, mix some zest, orange juice, vanilla and powdered sugar. Mix well and pour the syrup on the bread to sweeten it and give it the shine. Always use a serrated knife to slice the bread, you reduce the number of crumbs that way.
No one can resist a good, wholesome cookie. Cookies come in many varieties and flavours but nothing compares to the decadence of an oatmeal and raisin cookie. The store bought ones taste amazing but if the cookies are freshly baked at home, the feeling and the aroma adds a whole new dimension to the cookie eating experience. Be it at tea time or as a mid-meal snack, they can be enjoyed anytime.
Recipe for oatmeal and raisin cookies:
Ingredients
Butter ¾ cup
White Sugar ¾ cup
Brown Sugar ¾ cup
All-purpose flour 1 ¼ cup
Rolled Oats 2 ¾ cups
Raisins 1 cup
Eggs 2
Vanilla essence 1tsp.
Cinnamon Powder ¾ tsp.
Baking Soda 1tsp.
Salt 1/2 tsp.
Method
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Add cookie sheets onto a baking tray and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until it is smooth. Beat the eggs and the vanilla essence with the butter and sugar mix until fluffy. In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, cinnamon powder and baking soda. Slowly add this to the butter mix and stir well. Fold in the oatmeal and raisins gradually. Take spoonfuls of the cookie dough and drop it on the tray. Bake for about 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Cool before eating. Enjoy!
Chocolate chip, oatmeal and raisin cookies
Ingredients
¾ cup butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup uncooked quick-cooking oats
350g semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup raisins
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla essence
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a tray with parchment paper and set it aside. Use an electric mixer to beat the butter and sugar to a creamy consistency. Add in the vanilla essence and eggs till it is well combined. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking soda and salt thoroughly. Add in the raisins and chocolate chips and mix well. Add this mixture into the butter mix gradually until everything is folded in evenly. Use a tablespoon or an ice cream scoop to drop the dough onto the tray. Bake for about 10-14 minutes. Allow cookies to cool before removing them from the tray. If there is any cookie dough left over, it can be wrapped with cellophane and stored in the freezer for up to three months.
Cookies are one of the most irresistible snacks available. Be it plain old butter cookies or the fancier ones with a wide array of goodies, cookies call out to you in a way that you cannot ignore. One cookie that truly stands out is the Oatmeal and Raisin cookie with its soft, chewy center, crisp edges, rich cinnamon flavor and hearty oatmeal and plump raisin goodness.
The best ever soft, chewy and decadent Oatmeal and Raisin cookies:
Ingredients
1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
1 ½ cups (190g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
2 large eggs
3 cups (240g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
1 cup (140g) raisins
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon molasses (you can substitute this with honey or maple syrup)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (64g) chopped toasted walnuts (optional)
Method
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Line two baking trays with parchment paper and set aside. Mix the butter and the sugars for about two minutes, till they are creamy and soft. Add in the eggs and mix on high till it is well combined. Add the vanilla extract and the molasses and mix on high till everything dissolves and mixes thoroughly.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon powder, baking soda and salt. Add this to the wet mixture and mix on low speed. Once everything is combined, fold in the raisins and the oats. You can add the walnuts at this stage if you opt to.
The dough will feel very thick and sticky. This is how the consistency is meant to be. Refrigerate the dough for 30-60 minutes. Take about two tablespoons of the cookie dough at a time and set it on the baking tray approximately two inches apart. Bake for around 10-13 minutes, until the sides of the cookies start turning slightly golden. The center of the cookies is supposed to look uncooked and chewy. Wait for about five or 10 minutes before removing the cookies from the baking trays.
The cookies will stay fresh up to a week if stored at room temperature in an air tight container. The cookie dough can also be stored in the freezer for up to two or three months. You can freeze the baked cookies as well and use for up to three months. Enjoy!
Losing weight or maintaining a fit body does not need to be a journey ridden with starvation and too many trips to the gym. While your exercise and diet are two necessary sides of the same coin when it comes to fitness, these can be planned in a way that you do not miss out on taste and fun, even as you pound away on the treadmill or create many healthy meals. The words ‘low-fat cooking’ do not need to invoke fear because you can easily make delicious meals with less than half the calories so that you get fit in no time at all.
Salads and snacks are some of the most important elements of a diet that are churned out with the help of low-fat cooking. This is due to the fact that one should have short and frequent meals in order to lose weight. In keeping with this principle, it is important to have light meals because anything heavy will eliminate the frequency of the meals. This will once again make your metabolism sluggish. Here are a few salad and snack recipes to keep you going even as you find your culinary fit with low-fat cooking.
Strawberries and poppy seeds with baby spinach: This is one yummy salad that is perfect for summer evenings. You can lightly roast the poppy seeds and sprinkle some salt and pepper over the greens. Then, add the freshly chopped strawberries for that succulent taste. You can also bring in arugula and watercress for a crunchy taste.
Chickpeas salad: One of the best parts about low-fat cooking is that you get to identify a number of ingredients that you would have ignored in the past. With a metabolism-boosting ingredient like chickpeas, you will realize that you have a perfect partner in crime when you have those snack cravings. This ingredient is a rather filling one, which has a great dose of nutrition without adding needless calories to your system. You can boil and store a batch in your refrigerator for use throughout the week. Just stir fry some with peppers and lemon juice, or create a quick salad with some greens and plenty of vinegar for a yummy meal at any time of the day.
Avocado salad: You can get some fresh avocados for this recipe. Combine with turkey slices and a dash of freshly squeezed lemon juice along with salt and pepper for a yummy salad. You can also put in some croutons if you want a small dose of carbs. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil so that your metabolism does not have much to deal with, thanks to this low-fat cooking recipe.
Lime and shrimp salad: The ready-to-cook shrimps can be used for this salad along with some lime juice. Drizzle salt and pepper or even use some soy sauce if you are hungry for some Oriental fare! You can also add some cilantro or dill for a lighter salad.
If you are organizing a birthday bash, playdate or a pajama party for your kids, snacks for children should be the first thing on your list. Instead of ordering a pizza from an outlet or taking them to a nearby burger joint, you should prepare some healthy snacks for the kids.
Homemade healthy party snacks are not just nutritious but also super tasty, unique and fun to make. You can get your kids involved in the process so that you can bond and whip up some wonderful recipes together.
Here are some delightful and healthy snack ideas for kids that you can use for the kid’s parties.
Fresh fruit pops
Homemade fruit pops are fun, light, healthy and refreshing. They are a perfect addition the party menu, especially on a nice summer afternoon. Fruits pops are easy to make, they require a minimum of ingredients and almost three to four hours to freeze properly. All you need is freshly pureed fruits, yogurt or cream or heavy milk. You can easily combine two or more flavors, and can also incorporate honey as a natural sweetener.
Grilled cheese sandwiches
If you’re having a party, you can make different types of grilled cheese sandwiches. You can incorporate the vegan angle or integrate the vibrant veggies with homemade meatballs. A simple cheesy grilled sandwich can also work wonders. You can also make a grilled sandwich having fresh fruits, jam or cream for kids who have a sweet tooth.
Tortilla pizzas
Instead of the regular greasy, fat filled pizza, you can make some tortilla pizzas for your kids and their friends. This is because tortilla pizzas are lighter and easier for kids to have. They wouldn’t end up feeling heavy or sluggish after having it. You can make your own tortillas, and coat the base with marinara, barbecue, or pasta sauce. You can use mozzarella or cheddar cheese, goat or feta if you want to try something new. Go crazy with the toppings, use meat or veggies, just prepare them in a healthy manner.
Chicken sliders
Mini burgers are always a joy to serve and cook, especially the ones with chicken. Chicken as a meat is extremely adaptable in terms of flavors and combinations. Whether it’s spicy, savory or sweet, it works well with almost all kinds of ingredients. And this can give you some room to experiment. In the most basic kind of slider recipe, you can incorporate vegetables, eggs, herbs, oil and breadcrumbs to the chicken patty. Then you can shallow fry it and serve it with buns. Add lettuce or homemade sauces like barbecue or mayonnaise.