A month ago I was typing on my laptop and had QVC on in the background as Harley Pasternak was on, a well-known celebrity Personal Trainer. After many years of focusing on those in Hollywood, Harley has finally put together a meal plan book and a workout program for the rest of the world. How exciting! He is a wealth of knowledge and I was really happy to see a quick snack that he was preparing on the show.
I often eat apples, or peanut butter with celery but I'm always looking for quick and easy snack ideas that won't pack on the calories. So, I can take two of my go-to ingredients and bring them together. Here's the recipe:
Yogurt Apple Dip
1 tbsp peanut butter (preferably natural non-hydrogenated)
2 tbsp low-fat plain Greek yogurt
1 apple
Mix the first two ingredients in a bowl. You could use a food processor, however you can just as easily whip it up in the bowl with a fork or spoon. Slice up the apple into several slices and dip away!
Peanut butter offers a bit of protein on its own, however plain Greek yogurt is strained ( there is less water ) so it has a thicker consistency and offers much more protein than regular plain yogurt alone. The protein and fat help slow the breakdown of the sugar in the apple which slows the insulin response. Besides all of that it just tastes good and keeps you full too!
In our home we like to use granny smith apples because they are more tart in flavor and Smucker's all natural creamy peanut butter with honey. It provides a little sweetness but I'm trying to migrate us over to their natural peanut butter without honey, since we don't need the extra sugar. It has now become one of my favorite regular snacks.
In keeping with the theme of health and nutrition, if you are looking to up your water intake, read this post.
What are your favorite low-fat snack ideas? Do you have one that you like to make every day or do you get bored and need to mix it up with a new one each day? Leave a comment and share your favorite healthy snack suggestions so we can all try something different!
