24 Nutritious (and Tasty) Snacks | Real Simple

Americans love to snack. In fact, Americans' number one source of calories is grain-based desserts. This includes cookies, cake, pie, donuts, pastries and sweet rolls, etc. Let me put this into perspective. It's recommended that women consume less than 40 grams of sugar each day. One slice of Starbucks' banana nut loaf has 46g of sugar. These types of snacks can be deceiving. If they have a few healthy ingredients then they must be healthy, right? Wrong. The banana bread also has almost 500 calories and 20 grams of fat! You would be better off choosing their chocolate chunk cookie for breakfast. It has less calories, fat and sugar. The best way to avoid that nagging snack craving is to plan ahead. Always have healthy snacks with you – in your purse, your pantry and at your office. Here are some great ideas from Real Simple.

24 Nutritious (and Tasty) Snacks | Real Simple

Food is the environmental movement | VailDaily.com

I was out of town for Earth Day, but it's never to late to celebrate. And what a better way to celebrate than to educate? Here's a great read from freelance writer Cassie Pence on how making conscious food choices (the food movement) has both health and environmental benefits (making it the environmental movement). What really sets this article apart from other Earth Day-inspired rants is that it doesn't dwell on the problem; it celebrates solutions. So give it a go – make a commitment to check out at least one of the resources in this article. I'm starting with localharvest.org to learn where I can buy local produce in my neighborhood. Where will you start?

Food is the environmental movement | VailDaily.com

A Finer Find

I love to make my own hummus. It's a great snack or salad replacement that's full of protein, fiber, calcium and even iron (from the sesame tahini). If you always keep garbanzo beans and tahini in the pantry, you can throw in any left-over ingredients to add flavor. But as many times as I've made hummus, it's never turned out this delicious. You have to check out this simple recipe for Green Herb Hummus that I found at www.foodnetwork.com. I liked it best with carrots and cucumber. What are your favorite healthy dips?

Rotisserie Chicken = Weeknight Bliss

I knew this week would be a particularly busy one – with evening meetings and take-home work. So, when I was grocery shopping on Sunday, I picked up a fresh rotisserie chicken for $5.99 at Sunflower Market, where the chickens are cooked daily on site. I was able to make three complete meals for my husband and I:

Monday: Shredded chicken atop a spinach & veggie salad w/sundried tomato dressing

Tuesday: Fillo dough pastries w/shredded chicken, peas, smoked gouda & tomato jam

Wednesday: Ate out early before a meeting

Thursday: Curried chicken salad w/golden raisins, toasted almonds & basil atop an open-faced toasted sesame bagel

I already had veggies in the refrigerator, fillo dough and peas in the freezer and raisins and nuts in the pantry. The cost of the additional ingredients was negligible, making the cost of these three meals minimal and the ease astonishing.

I'm not leaving you with a recipe tonight because a Google search for "rotisserie chicken recipes" yielded more than 300,000 results. So pick up a fresh chicken and feed your family in one of the most affordable and fast manners possible. And then share your recipes and results with me!