On Snacks  

People are snacking more than ever these days but it is being fueled by the fast-food and restaurant industry. Today, you can’t walk into a fast food restaurant without seeing enticing, small sized menu items made to be snacks in between meals.

These places are serving snack wraps (small, wraps with lettuce, cheese, meat, etc), small salads and other items. In fact, a study shows that menu items with the word snack in it have increased by 170%  since 2007.

The restaurants are really benefiting from this menu changes because people keep buying them. McDonald’s has their Mac Snack Wrap, Sonic has an entire menu section of snacks and Wendy’s has different varieties of snack wraps and small salads.

According to LiveStrong.com, there are approximately 260 calories in a McDonald’s Grilled Chicken Snack Wrap.

Ever wonder what the most popular snacks were for children and teenagers? What about the most popular snack in general? Well here are your answers. The NPD reported recently about the top snacks.Read them and see if they surprise you.

The top snacks for kids ages 2-17 are yogurt, fresh fruit and potato chips. The number one snack for this age group is fresh fruit but yogurt consumption increased in 2009 from 2008. This is interesting because (with the exception of chips) these are healthy snacks and all we hear about in the media these days is how obese our children are. Maybe they eat too many apples before dinner?

NPD, which is a market research group, also tallied the top growing snack foods from 2008 to 2009. They include yogurt, potato chips, fruit, string cheese, hard candy, ice/fudge/cream pops, and chewy candy in that order.

As you can see, as the list goes down, the snacks get more unhealthy but it’s good to know that the top few snacks are all relatively good for our children. Share your thoughts on this list with a comment!

Its becoming common these days to go to restaurants (especially Italian) that give you a plate of unique dipping oils when they give you bread. Each restaurant has their own way of making it and there are plenty of ways to make it.

If you are having a dinner party and want to impress your guests with restaurant style oils for bread dipping, here is a recipe that I found online and tried. I enjoyed it and so did my guests. The recipe is supposed to mimick the dipping mix that they give you at Carrabba’s Italian Grill. Try it out if you want.

1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt

Grind together

To use, put 1 tablespoon of mixture in a small bowl. Pour extra virgin olive oil over and mix together. Dip slices of whatever style bread you wish to serve into the mix.

I found this recipe from: http://www.all-restaurantrecipes.com/

I love trying new recipes and new foods. One of my favorite places to find new things to eat is on the internet. A snack i recently started eating in between meals is a small salad. They are great, healthy and there are so many varieties, you can make a different one every day.

I was browsing YouTube and found this salad recipe that I tried and loved. It’s described online as a Tomato salad with basil and feta. That’s just what it is. I added a few small twists to mine but if you love salad, follow this recipe. It’s simple, easy and tastes good. If you have any other good salad recipes you want to share, feel free to post some links or a recipe in the comments section.

I embedded the video from YouTube so watch and enjoy your salad!

It’s spring time again and the picnics and Easter parties are only a short time away. It’s never too early to start planning what snack you will be bringing to the parties you go to. It’s always fun to bring something new and there’s nothing like those moments when everyone is asking you for the recipe. It’s proof that your snack was a hit. Here is one healthy original idea I found online for an interesting spring snack. It’s a recipe from FamilyFun Magazine.

Vegetable Flowers with Homemade Ranch Dip:

Ingredients:

• RANCH DIP:
• 1 16-ounce container sour cream
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons minced, fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons minced, fresh dill
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (or 1 clove garlic, crushed)
• 2 tablespoons grated onion (optional)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

Ranch Dip: In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream and vinegar until smooth. Add the parsley, dill, garlic powder, onion, if desired, and salt and pepper and stir. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour

Vegetable Flowers: Pick out vegetables you or the family love (take ideas from the image above) and let your kids make them into their favorite flowers. If you would rather do it yourself, copy the image here or use your imagination to create something unique. All vegetables will go perfect with the dip.

If you get a chance to try out this recipe this Spring, comment here and tell me what you thought of it!

We are in a recession that has been hurting tons and tons of businesses but new reports show that Pepsi and other snack companies are seeing huge increases in profits. The snack industry is picking up.

PepsiCo reported that their 4th quarter profit doubled. They are one of the biggest snack makers in the world and its good to see the snack industry picking up.

Most snack companies are improving. Frito Lay kept up as the fastest growing consumer packaged goods company in the US this quarter. I know this doesn’t really affect most people but if you are an investor, the snack industry is a good place to look.

Americans love snacks and that is something that clearly won’t change. We eat a lot of them and we are drawn to interesting new products. If you want to read more about the growth of the snack industry, you can check out this link:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/021210dnbuspepsiearns.a5d4e9.html

Whether you are hosting a party or attending one you usually have to make a snack for the event. Many people bring deserts or take the easy way out with fruit trays. But a better idea is to bring healthy snacks for everyone to enjoy and feel good about eating.

There are tons of healthy snacks out there to try. You can go to a bookstore and get recipes or look online at various sites. One place to look that I have used for many snacks is youtube. This lady named Darlene Nicholson has A TON of free recipes online. She is a weight management consultant and provides a number of free recipes of how to make different foods.

I have included a video of her teaching how to make healthy snacks. These snacks are good for just yourself or to bring for a whole group of people. Check it out and try some if you want.