I finished writing several emails one mid-morning workday when I realized I also made 4 walkabout trips to the pantry in the span of an hour.
It’s so easy to wander off to the kitchen that’s only 10 steps away from your desk and mindlessly grab a bag of potato chips, then gummy bears, a slice of last night’s pizza, and then a popsicle.
This may be the downside to working from home. And since WFH seems to be the new normal, it’s time we pay closer attention to what’s in the ‘break room.’ These are the 3 healthy snack recipes I’d recommend for munching in between emails.
Contents:
- How to Make Watermelon Feta Skewers
- How to Make Coconut Energy Bites
- How to Make Popcorn with Herbs and Spices
Courtesy of Chef Susan Carter, these 3 healthy snack recipes involve watermelon cubes, desiccated (dried) shredded coconut, and the classic snack, popcorn, but this time with herbs and spices.
Notes: for Watermelon-Feta on Skewers –
This is a really good combination, a collision of sweet and salty. The basil leaf will provide the truce to the sensory battle that will take place in your taste buds.
Grab a few seedless watermelon and feta cheese next time you go to the grocery. Make plenty of these skewers and label the container “home office snack showdown”. 🙂
Fun fact: Watermelons were first harvested in Egypt 5000 years ago and had since been grown as a vegetable crop in many parts of the world.
Today, China produces most of this succulent fruit (it’s a fruit because of its seed-bearing structure if you ask a botanist), followed by Turkey, the US, Iran, and then Korea.
Whatever its real identity is, a fruit or a vegetable, watermelon, with its 92% water, 7.55% carbs content, out of which 6.2% is sugar and .4% is fiber, sure could fill us up with not much carb guilt!
#1. How to Make Healthy Snack Watermelon-Feta Skewers:
Ingredients:
You can just eyeball the amount you want to use for the feta cheese and the basil leaves based on how much or how little you want them in your skewer.
Add enough juice from either lemon or lime to satisfy your preferred tanginess on the watermelon cubes.
| 1 whole watermelon cut into large cubes |
| Feta cheese or cheddar cheese cut into 1/2″ cubes |
| Fresh basil leaves |
| Juice from freshly squeezed lemons or limes |
| Bamboo skewers (or Fresh Rosemary twigs) |
The 3-step method:
1. Assemble watermelon cubes, alternating with a fresh basil leaf and feta cheese in wooden skewers.
The salty feta cheese counterbalances the sweetness of the watermelon.
2. Neatly arrange the skewers using a half-cut watermelon as a “tray”.
This is a super nice presentation if you’re serving them to guests; otherwise, just arrange them on a plate for yourself.
Using half a watermelon as a platter may be a bit of a waste).
3. Squirt some lemon and lime all over.
You can also try to use a fresh rosemary twig instead of a basil leaf.
Get a fresh rosemary herb where the stem (twig) is long enough to skewer a watermelon cube with the feta cheese.
And one more of my favorites, replace the basil leaf with a piece of blackberry.
Watermelons are rich in:
- natural antioxidant lycopene (blood pressure-lowering effect)
- B1 and B6 vitamins (beneficial for cognition and brain structure)
- minerals such as potassium and magnesium (relaxes the walls of blood vessels and for bone development, respectively)
Combined with protein-packed feta cheese, fresh basil leaf, and a squirt of lemon and lime, you’ve got one good healthy “break time” snack when you’re working from home!
Notes: for Coconut Energy Bites –
If you like chocolate truffles but worry about the sugar and fat content, these homemade coconut energy bites are going to be a healthier snacking pleasure.
Fun fact: Coconuts are often called the “Tree of Life.” That’s because they can be a drink, a fiber-rich snack, processed into fuel, created as kitchen utensils, a musical instrument, and get this, during WWII, intravenous (IV) solution was in very short supply hence doctors in Vietnam used coconut water to substitute for IV solutions.
The humble coconut is a true “superhero.”
In this recipe, we’ll use dried or desiccated coconut because of its high dietary fiber, lesser calories, and lower sugar content.
The addition of cocoa powder, melted dark chocolate, and pistachio nuts make this snack the perfect ally during your power hour work from home.
#2. How to Make Healthy Snack Coconut Energy Bites:
Ingredients:
| Unsweetened desiccated coconut | 1 cup |
| Pure maple syrup, honey, or agave | 3 tbsp |
| or you can mix 2 tbsp water with stevia, and portion it to your taste | |
| Virgin cold-pressed Coconut oil | 2 tbsp |
| Pure vanilla extract | 1/2 tsp |
| Dash of salt | |
| Optional ingredients – | cocoa powder, |
| dark melted chocolate, | |
| finely chopped (ground) pistachio nuts |
The 4-step method:
1. Using a blender or food processor, blend all the ingredients –
Don’t mix all these ingredients by hand, it won’t work; the mixture will fall apart.
2. When completely blended, scoop and round them –
You can use an ice cream scooper or tablespoon heaps.
3. Place on parchment paper –
or use a large plate lined with wax paper.
4. Freeze –
just for an hour or two.
Optional: dip each coconut round into melted dark chocolate, set them on parchment paper or a wax paper-lined plate, and freeze.
If you want to keep going, after you’ve dipped them in the melted chocolate, roll them in cocoa powder, then on finely chopped (ground) pistachio nuts. Roll them on more shredded coconut if you like! Proceed to Steps 3 and 4.
According to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, cocoa is rich in plant chemicals called flavonols that could potentially help protect your heart.
Flavonols support the production of nitric oxide (NO) in the inner lining of our blood vessels. This relaxes the blood vessels. It also improves blood flow which could lower your blood pressure.
And dark chocolate contains up to 2-3 times more flavonols.
Hopefully, this coconut bites recipe replaces the Kit Kat wafer bars in your snack drawer. They give quick, and healthy energizing kicks after that long boring zoom meeting.
Moving on to our last and my favorite out of these 3 recipes, popcorn mixed with herbs and spices, drizzled with olive oil instead of butter. Chef Susan”s tweak does make this snack healthier and more interesting –
Notes: for Popcorn with healthy herbs and spices –
I vote this as my favorite among the three snacks on here.
Fun fact: a kernel of popcorn has a small amount of water stored inside a circle of soft starch. When a kernel gets heated up, the soft starch inside slowly expands and eventually bursts, turning the kernel inside out, hence, the popcorn is popped, hot, and ready to eat.
Without the salt and melted butter, a bag of popcorn is a healthy snack to munch on as you wrap up your work from home.
Finish the bag in your living room while you NetFlix and chill. Another day is done.
In this recipe, we’ll have a bowl of savory popcorn for a change.
#3. How to Make Healthy Snack Popcorn with Healthy Herbs and Spices:
Ingredients:
| 1 bag of popcorn | freshly air-popped |
| a mix of herbs and spices | turmeric, curry, thyme, garlic, Chinese 5 spices, or use the spices you prefer; all combined, you should have a total of about 1 tbsp for a small bag of popcorn. |
| grated parmesan cheese (optional) | finely grated parmesan or pick your preferred cheese |
| extra virgin olive oil | a tablespoon, or two, just enough to drizzle onto your popcorn |
| a dash of salt | if you are sprinkling grated cheese, omit this or go easy. Otherwise, your popcorn will get too salty |
The 3-step method:
1. In a small bowl, create a mix of all the spices –
or mix them in an empty popcorn bag. You should have about 1/2 a teaspoon to 1 tablespoon total of combined spices to flavor a small-sized bag of popcorn.
Add in the grated cheese if you prefer to have it (remember to skip the salt if you already have the cheese).
2. Sprinkle the herb and spice mixture into your bowl or bag of popcorn –
close the top of the bag and shake well (if your popcorn is in a bowl, use a pair of large wooden spoons to mix it all up).
3. Using a teaspoon, drizzle the extra virgin olive oil –
give the bag a good shake.
You can replace some of the spices and use only the spices you prefer (I skipped the curry and the garlic. I loved the rosemary and a bit of cardamom).
What you’ll like about this healthy spiced popcorn is its interesting kick on the palate.
If you’re used to the usual popcorn with salt and butter, this one will really surprise you.
The olive oil drizzled all over it instead of melted butter makes this popcorn version healthier for your snack cravings.
The American Heart Association agrees that having control over how you prepare your snacks is the smart way to health. And a bag of plain popcorn (or this herbed version) has inherent benefits.
Popcorn is a smart way to snack if you’re trying to lose weight according to the AHA. The fiber content is high and comes from whole grains while the calorie count is low (skip the butter please).
Snacking on any or all of these recipes has got to make your work from home a productive workday.
And head over to my post on making Keto-friendly scones with Essential Oils in case you prefer to snack on a healthy baked goodie.
The taste of both the rosemary and lavender essential oils makes this scone a unique accompaniment to your coffee break time.
Happy, healthy snacking!
On to the next post,
