Human salt lick

Okay, intermission is over. Time to move on. I wanted to make a list of the salty snacks I eat that aren't too unhealthy.

1) Ryvita crispbreads and Laughing Cow lite cheese. Together, this little snack is two points and surprisingly satisfying. I get the Dark Rye or Oat & Rye crackers, and I prefer the plain swiss or garlic & herb cheese. One cheese wedge is 1pt, two is only 1.5...so choose according to hunger. I take this to work a lot for afternoon snacking.

2) Green peppers. I eat a lot (a lot) of bell peppers (green and red mostly because they're cheapest, but yellow and orange are good, too). I eat them alone, with some Laughing Cow, with hummus, in salads, with eggs. You name it. They are chockablock full of vitamins, sit with you awhile and a whole pepper is zero pts. You can also dip them in a little low-cal salad dressing (vinaigrette is my go-to for stuff). They're really versatile and flavorful. 

3) Similarly, carrots and hummus. Epic. Carrots have more sugar than most vegetables, so be aware of that. I stopped buying baby carrots because who needs to pay more to have carrots cut into bits and rounded off at the edges?? Not me. I just peel, cut, eat. I eat a few of them at a time with some creamy hummus and am ready to go.

4) Arnold's Sandwich Thins or Thompson's Bagel Thins/English Muffins and cheese or peanut butter. Here's that high-fiber goodness I said yesterday (well...same goes for the Ryvita, I guess). I find high-fiber stuff to be really good for keeping me full, so I keep a lot of it at home. All these bread things are one point because they have good fiber content. I read somewhere that you should look on ingredient labels for at least 3g of fiber per serving of a bread product. Anything below that is processed or just low on whole grains. A lot of bread on the shelf will fool you into thinking it's high fiber with "12-grain" or whatever in their names. Don't be fooled. Check the label.

I put Laughing Cow on these, but I also use peanut butter, a food that I discussed before. Yes, it's fatty, but it's also good for you, so use just enough to keep you going, and look for brands that don't add a bunch of sugar. Good to go.

5) Whole grain tortilla and salsa. Get a whole-grain tortilla (1pt) and put it in the microwave for two minutes, then let it sit for a minute to harden up and get crunchy. Seriously! Tortilla chips can suck up calories. Baked versions are good, but still not great for your health. A tortilla comes portion-controlled, has whole grains, and tastes awesome with homemade or fresh store-bought salsa. Salsa is "free" in a single serving that goes just right with the tortilla size. So you have a healthy, taste-filled snack for 1 pt. If you need more salsa, it's just 1.5 pts...so what? That's still pretty great.

6) Reduced-fat string cheese. WW has a brand, but it's more expensive than others, so I get whatever is less expensive. Here that's usually Swiss Valley, but that will vary by region. Each one is 1pt, has some calcium, and tastes nice and salty. Just be sure to take full advantage of the stringiness. If you eat it in full stick version, it doesn't last and then you want to eat more. :)

7) Special K multigrain crackers or flatbreads. I hate Special K for their two-week diet commercial, where you're supposed to eat cereal for two meals a day with a "sensible" dinner. That's so unhealthy and stupid, in my opinion. I feel guilty pimping their products because of that, but here we are (confession: I also like that cereal). If you eat 17 of these crackers, it's 1.5 pts. With some honey (1T=1pt), Laughing Cow lite (1pt), or peanut butter (pts vary), you've got a nice salty snack. Or eat them plain, actually. I had the flatbreads with my cousin and they are good, too.

That's a start. I will add more if I think of more. I think I'll shift into easy, healthy meals next. Be warned, I tend to eat lots of small things rather than one big thing, but I still have a list ready.