Cheri’s Connection Corner - Share Healthier Snack Alternatives🙌🙌🙌💕💕💕

@SunShineAlwaysGrateful

Crispy Air Fryer Chickpeas (4 Different Flavors)

INGREDIENTS

15.5 oz can Garbanzo beans drained

Oil for spraying

CINNAMON SUGAR

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

½ teaspoon Cinnamon

Ranch

1 Tablespoon ranch dressing packet

Chili Lime

1 teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon true lime

BBQ

1 ½ teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon brown sugar

½ teaspoon celery salt

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon dry mustard

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Place chickpeas in Air Fryer basket. Set temperature to 390 degrees Fahrenheit and timer to 17 minutes. After 5 minutes, open basket and spray chickpeas with oil and shake basket. Close and continue air frying, shaking about every 5 minutes.

With about 2 minutes left, open air fryer basket and sprinkle half of the seasoning on the chickpeas. Close and continue air frying for the remaining 2 minutes. Once chickpeas are done, remove and place in a bowl. Sprinkle remainder of the seasoning on the chickpeas and stir to combine. Serve and enjoy.

@SunShineAlwaysGrateful

Frozen Greek Yogurt Bark 

Use greek yogurt as the base 1 container add what you prefer such as peanut butter or vanilla sugar free pudding, or just simply honey 🍯 or even put hair pudding mix soo many options here.

Mix well and spread on parchment paper on a cookie sheet 

Toppings add fruit banana 🍌 or strawberry 🍓 or raspberry etc or cereal or sundae toppings chocolate or peanut 🥜 butter anything you can imagine … get creative …

Freeze overnight when ready break up into a bark and store in air tight container in freezer …

Here are some inspiration pics for you to get the creative juices going … 

@SunShineAlwaysGrateful

No fancy Ingredients, pics, or recipes here to share… as I like to stick to the “Basics” & make it quick when it comes to snacking.~ 

*Cottage cheese & pineapple 🍍 (is one of my favorites for a sweet treat)…

*Apples & Natural Peanut butter 🍎

*Bananas & Natural Peanut Butter 🍌

*Lowfat cheese-sticks 🧀

*Oranges 🍊

*Unsalted or low-salt (or sea-salt), Pistachios or Cashew nuts 🥜

*Hard-boiled eggs 🥚 

*Strawberries & Monk Fruit 🍓 (for added sweetness) 

All of these have been my typical “go-to” snacks depending on the day or how I feel, as I’m a creature of habit~ 

@SunShineAlwaysGrateful

Apple Nachos Recipe

1. Combine the peanut butter and honey in a glass bowl and warm it in the microwave. Stir to combine, until it is smooth and pourable.
2. Slice the apples into wedges and spread the wedges across a large plate or platter.
3. Drizzle the melted peanut butter and honey across the slices and sprinkle with granola. Serve immediately.

Just fruits!!! 🍓🍒🍎🍉🍑🍊🥭🍍🍌🍋🍈🍏🍐🥝🫒🫐🍇

I find if something is organically grown/ fairly traded/ made without destroying the rainforest or other natural habitats/ are women run organizations/at least non-gmo/not from a can/bought and eaten with humility, grace and gratitude it really makes a difference in how my body and mind operates.

How I am also while and while not eating makes a difference and direct influence in how food and snacking effects me as well...am I using the food to fuel a life I want or not? Am I playing victim in a certain scenario and using food to comfort myself and enable that behaviour? Am I playing the blame-shame game with myself?

I can be super hard on myself for eating something that society or ego would disapprove of, or for a mistake or comparisons made, so am practicing mindful self compassion and prayer, and studying, reaching out and researching almost daily for about a half decade now.

Allowing the time and patience to consider and check enough times throughout day on myself to ensure my ego isn't the one managing my food intake and behaviours and beliefs in any way can be as if not more important then what it is I'm consuming. 

Lately I've been enjoying a mix of:

Organic, volcanic ground jalapeno corn chips dipped in layered bean dip

Roasted seaweed

Locally made truffles

Organic bananas with Hornby organic energy bars

Organic almond or peanut butter

The guac cup from Starbucks spread on their tomato, spinach and feta wrap

Cookies made with organic, non-gmo ingredients, bonus if I can find sugar free, fairly traded and made by women-run businesses

I haven't really started taking all these things seriously until about eight years ago, even though health and wellbeing has been a part of my whole life and how the mind works part of more than half of it. For a while I was down to not eating any of the 2000+ indigestible sugars out there, not even fruit because of the fructose but it was only for maybe a month or something and took a major effort at basically the inclusion of all else. I had to try a 30 day vegan challenge twice to fix my digestion before I ended up on a colostomy bag or with cancer, and for a while needed to drink water on a timer for a month. One cup every hour.

I'm deeply, deeply surprised I'm alive at this point and that anyone would still be reading this at this point as well. I still don't eat as well as I could...yet. Perhaps I never will, considering human potential is limitless. Yet mindfully working on that at my own pace is the way. Way to what? Who knows. More peace of mind I guess. Major shoutout if you read this far... 🏅 💜 🦉 🐻 🐛 🦋 😁 😅

@SunShineAlwaysGrateful As a healthy-living coach at HealtheSteps, I always recommend the Mediterranean diet to the participants of the program because of the numerous benefits it has in our health according to extensive research. These are some of my favourite recipes.