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Snack Ideas: Healthy, Fast, Fun and Inexpensive!

When my kids get home from school or the hubs gets home from work they are HUNGRY– so I’ve come up with a few easy, yummy– and, most importantly, healthy, snacks that I can whip up on a moments’ notice.

Homemade Chips:

Ingredients:
-Tortillas (not chips, but the regular round tortilla– either flour or corn, your choice) OR Pita Bread (I prefer whole grain)
-Olive or Canola Oil (spray or regular oil, again, your choice)
-Seasonings– you can do sweet (cinnamon and sugar) or savory (salt, garlic, paprika, cumin, etc)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Brush the tortillas or opened pita bread (lightly) with oil or spray tortillas with oil spray– sprinkle on toppings.  Cut tortillas or pitas with a pizza cutter into triangles– you can make them as large or as small as you would like.

Transfer cut tortillas or pitas to a baking sheet and put in the heated oven for approximately 7 minutes– keep an eye on the chips as they can burn easily.  remove them from the oven as soon as the chips are lightly browned–  the chips will crisp up as they cool.  Chips will keep well in a sealed container for 7-10 days.  Eat plain or dip into hummus, salsa, guacamole, or any other dip!

You can get a package of tortillas for around $1– contrast that with $3.99 for a bag of Doritos or Tostitos– not to mention that by making them yourself you can flavor them to your liking and control the fat, the sodium, and only use real ingredients (ever read the ingredient list on a bag of Doritos? Most ingredients are virtually unpronounceable!)

Flavored Popcorn:

I love me some air popped popcorn– it’s fast, easy and CHEAP! You can buy a HUGE bag of unpopped popcorn kernels for less than one bag of chips. 

Once the popcorn is popped (if you don’t own an airpopper, it’s a great investment at only around $15) you can season it in a million ways, here are a few ideas:

Taco flavored: season with butter (or oil spray) and taco seasoning
Pizza flavored: grated parmesan, garlic powder, oregano, paprika, salt and pepper
ChexMix flavored: melted butter, worchestershire sauce and garlic salt

Roasted Chickpeas:

Drain two can of chickpeas (garbonzo beans)– rinse and then pat dry.  Toss chickpeas with olive oil, salt and your seasoning of choice– chili powder, garlic, whatever you like.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spread garbonzo beans on a baking sheet and roast for approximately 45 minutes until the beans are browned and rattle when you shake them.  Roast until they’re crispy all the way through.  Serve immediately as the chickpeas do not remain crispy and do not keep well, even in a tightly sealed container.

Happy healthy snacking!

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