Fruits and nuts make a healthy, filling snack.
Snacking on fruits and nuts provides a healthy alternative to fried potato chips or chocolate bars. These snacks combine natural sugar from fruit with healthy fats and protein in nuts, to provide long-lasting satisfaction which will not leave you hungry an hour later. Whether on the trail or at your desk, fruit and nut snacks fulfill a hunger need.
Granola or Muesli
Muesli combines raw grains with dried fruit and nuts.
Granola and muesli combine dried fruits, nuts and grains for a compact, easy-to-carry snack option. While granola has been cooked to make it crisp, muesli consists of uncooked grains, traditionally soaked overnight in yogurt, to serve as a hearty breakfast. Look for packaged granola and muesli at grocery stores with the cold, ready-to-eat cereals, or make your own from a recipe available on the Internet.
Fruit and Nut Bars
Fruit and nut bars resemble granola in a hand-held portion. Rather than you needing a bowl and spoon, fruit and nut bars simply require unwrapping to eat. Look for these with breakfast bars, or use your favorite granola recipe to make your own fruit-and-nut bars.
Fruit and Nut Salad
Top a fruit salad with nuts for a crunchy topped snack.
Cut up a bowl of mixed fruits such as melon, banana and berries and top with a spoonful of toasted nuts such as almonds or peanuts. Serve with yogurt or a light sprinkling of brown sugar. Use frozen fruits heated in the microwave until warmed through, for a warming fruit-and-nut snack option for the cold winter months.
GORP
Select any dried fruit and nuts to use to make your own version of GORP.
Prepare a lightweight, no-cooking-required fruit snack known as GORP. This acronym comes from the first letter of the traditional ingredients in the snack: good old raisins and peanuts. Combine equal parts of peanuts and raisins with any snack item. Many variations of GORP exist, based on the cook's preference. Try adding bite-sized candy-covered chocolates or substitute other nuts or dried fruits for the peanuts and raisins. Keep snack-sized baggies filled with this energy-dense fruit- and-nut snack close at hand for a cheaper and healthier option to the potato chips and chocolate bars in the vending machine.
Fruit and Nut Butter
Turn peanut butter and crackers into a healthier snack wiht fruit slices.
Rather than slathering peanut butter over crackers, change up your routine by using tree nut butter spread over fruit slices. Experiment mixing and matching fruits with different tree butters. Try apple slices with peanut butter, peaches with almond butter or bananas with hazelnut butter spread. For softer fruits, such as peaches or bananas, mix the tree nut butter with a spoonful of water and warm it in the microwave until you can pour the almond butter over the fruit slices in a bowl. Warm the fruit slices before adding the tree nut butter sauce in the microwave for a warming winter treat.
Caramel Apples
Dip caramel apples in peanuts for a sticky twist on fruit and nut snacks.
For a sticky, sweet treat on a stick, have a caramel apple covered in chopped peanuts. Insert a stick into the stem end of an apple and dip into melted caramel to completely cover the exterior of the apple. Let the caramel harden slightly before rolling the outside of the apple in chopped peanuts. Keep the dipped apple in a cool, dry place until the caramel sets, and enjoy directly off the stick or cut into slices.
Tags: fruit slices, make your, peanut butter, tree butter, almond butter, butter over
