MINI HEALTHY SNACKS HAUL

Lately a few of my snack obsessions have been the Barebells Protein Bars, Quest Protein Chips and Drizzilicious Rice Cake Bites. I've been looking for ways to boost my protein intake while *trying* to maintain a calorie deficit which has led me here. Barebells have flipped the switch for me on protein bars. They aren't like any of the other brands I've tried- both the texture and flavor are great. A lot of brands are superrrrr dense and just taste nasty, if we're keeping it real lol. These are actually good- they taste a lot like a candy bar and 20 grams of protein for 200 calories is a win in my book. I'm not sure how much "processed" protein is really ideal so I've been trying to moderate but they've become one of my favorite snacks. I don't eat them every day but love to have as an end of the day treat here and there. It's definitely a better alternative for me than something super sugar and calorie loaded. I've also enjoyed testing out different flavors to see what's best- this week I restocked two of my favorites which are the Peanut Butter and Cookies & Caramel!

I'm pretty much in the same boat with the Quest chips except they're my lunch add-on, lol. My favorite so far has been the Sour Cream & Onion- I was a little surprised. Not all Sour Cream & Onion vibes are created equal, lol. These have a good flavor- not onion crazy but that perfect tanginess. Definitely had to restock those and also grabbed BBQ to try out. Next on my list is the Cheddar Sour Cream! I should have bought this combo pack to try- it has all three flavors! All in all, for protein chips these are pretty good. Sadly nothing is as good as a Dorito but the calories and protein make them worth the swap. 

My last snackie find are the Drizzilicious Rice Cake Bites. I shared these in my last snack haul and they've quickly become a new favorite. I repurchased the Birthday Cake flavor this week which is so so good and then French Toast to try. Spoiler alert- it pretty much tastes the same as the Cinnamon Swirl to me. Not a bad thing because they are also delicious! Just not too much difference or a big "French Toast" vibe other than the smell. I like these because they're small and around 5 calories a piece. It's the perfect bite for when I'm craving something sweet which is usually all the time... womp wimp. I can eat 5-10 of these and I'm satisfied. They also offer this combo pack with mini bags- perfect for portion control or lunches! 

What are your go-to healthy snacks?

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HEALTHY SNACKS HAUL

Friday night's allllllright for a little healthy snacks haul, ya'll. One of the hardest parts of being in a calorie deficit for me is often times snacking. Snacks are sneaky in that a little bit does not usually go a long way. When it comes to nutrition + macros, most of them time even healthier options like nuts and *some* fruits can be calorically dense which doesn't always work within my deficit parameters. In my experience, they're one of the easiest ways to "blow" your entire day. Despite all that, ya girl gets munchie so snacks are still a must!

It was time to refresh my drawer so here's a little snackie haul for ya. Starting off with some repeat offenders I love: Chomps Beef Sticks + the Purely Elizabeth Cookie Granola. Chomps are great- I love the beef and turkey flavors! I like the minis in particular because they're only 40-50 calories each with 4-5grams of protein. I didn't get them this time but I also love these Archer Provisions Beef Sticks too! 

When it comes to Ms. Elizabeth, I have to moderate. Granola is definitely a health halo but hers is just so d*mn good (and made with good ingredients!), I always have a bag on hand for yogurt + just to munch on. I usually buy the "regular" Purely Elizabeth granola for yogurt- all of the flavors are delicious but I bring home the original Ancient Grain and the Vanilla Chocolate Chip the most. The cookie granola is a whole other problem, ya'll. Definitely crack in a bag. The chocolate chip is out of this world good- hard to believe since it's made with healthier ingredients and has less sugar than most other regular granolas. 

Okay newer to me are protein bars. I've never been a big fan of them in the past- I feel like most of them just taste gross and aren't really healthy? Last year I bought a box of Barebells which I think are generally considered "the best" by most people? I never ended up trying them until a few weeks ago when I grabbed a few singles from Publix but they are goooooood, ya'll. The texture isn't too dense and they actually taste good unlike a lot I tried before. They also pack a big punch with 20g of protein for 200 calories. So far I've tried the Salty Peanut, Chocolate Dough and Cookies & Cream. The latter two are definitely my faves! I also saw some good reviews for the Pure Protein bars so I grabbed this box of Chocolate Peanut Butter to try. I'll report back on those later! 

Last but not least are these amazingly delicious Drizzilicious Rice Cakes! I don't know where I saw it (prob TikkyTok) but a few weeks ago, I read a comment somewhere that said "the drizzilicious cinnamon roll rice cakes have me in a chokehold" and I just happened to find them at Publix this week. I don't mind a rice cake if it's good, ya know? I grabbed a bag of the Cinnamon Swirl and the S'mores and I'm for sure a fan of the cinni. They have great flavor and are the perfect mini size. The S'mores is ok- could use more flavor and chocolate IMO. They're all only 5 calories each though which is a major win! I have a habit of wanting to grab a bite or two of something sweet here and there. Pre-deficit, it was Reese's Pieces eggs from Easter. Just something small that's like a hit of sugar, ya know?? The addiction thooooo, ya'll. I've had to steer clear of those so I wanted something to replace that and these are the perfect thing. They're the perfect size where just 3-4 is satisfying and they aren't crazy in calories. I need to try the other flavors now! 

What are your go-to healthy snacks? 

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HOLIDAY SNACK HAUL

Can we all agree that one of the best parts of the holidays is all of the festive food + snacks? I went on a bit of a snack spree yesterday and picked up some yummy treats to enjoy over the next month. We definitely have a peppermint theme going, lol. The funny thing is I'm not really a "regular mint" fan but I love peppermint, especially when it's paired with chocolate. I stocked up on a few of my holidays favorites + some new ones I'm excited to try.

Every year without fail I have to pick up a few bags of these Peppermint Pretzel Thins. The white chocolate is my favorite but I also really enjoy the dark chocolate. It's the perfect mix of salty, sweet + pepperminty crunch. Another favorite I discovered last year are these Chocolate Peppermint Almonds from Sam's. They are so decadent and delicious for charcuteries boards, party favors + gifts.  

New in the haul this year: Tate's Peppermint Cookie Bark, Favorite Day Candy Cane Crunch Cookies + Hershey's Peppermint Bark Bells. The Candy Cane Crunch cookies are a 10/10 if you love chocolate dipped Oreos. They are sweet with just a hint of minty crunch. I also love that they are mini sized but they also make the regular Oreos dipped in milk chocolate. Yum yum! I haven't tried the Tate's Peppermint Cookie Bark or the Hershey Bells yet but I have no doubts they'll both be delicious. I'm a big fan of the non-holiday Tate's Cookie Bark flavors and the Hershey Candy Cane Kisses so I think they'll both be home runs. 

HOLIDAY SNACKIES

+ Tate's Peppermint Cookie Bark

+ Member's Mark Chocolate Peppermint Almonds

+ Favorite Day Candy Cane Crunch Mini Sandwich Cookies

+ Pretzel Thins Dark Chocolate Peppermint Pretzels

+ Pretzel Thins White Chocolate Peppermint Pretzels

+ Hershey's Peppermint Bark Bells 

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HEALTHY SNACK HAUL

I love shopping at small, speciality grocery stores. In my town, we have a local shop that carries a great selection of natural food items and cleaner, less processed brands. It's always fun to browse around and find something new to try out. I'm also a big believer in shopping small + local when you can! I stopped in this week so I thought I'd share a little mini "healthy" snack haul of what I picked up. Ya'll know I love my snackies! 

Something new I grabbed that I can't wait to try are these Cinnamon Sugar Space Balls from Lesser Evil. How cute and fun, right? I'm obsessed with their popcorn (the Himalayan Gold is my fave and SO good) and I usually love anything cinnamon sugar. They remind me of those cheese puffs we all use to eat when we were kids, haha. For such simple, clean ingredients, all of the products that I've tried from them taste great. Another one my favorite snack brands is Quinn. I picked up a new bag of the Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels which I always love. The Sea Salt Pretzel Sticks are really good too if you can find them! 

Alright, let's talk bars. I'm obsessed with these Simple Mills Almond Flour Bars. They are SO good, ya'll. I've tried a couple different flavors, I like the Banana Bread best. It's nutty, a little chewy and has a great flavor. I also thought I'd give Bobo a try today, too. I've actually been really curious about the Oat Bites for the longest time but they only had these Oat Bars. I chose the PB Dark Chocolate flavor which I'm excited to try. 

Okay now I don't really consider tea itself to be a snack but 'tis the season. Maybe with an oat bar though, that could be good. Lol. Regardless, something switched on in my brain this week and I'm back in my hot beverage girl era. I love making a hot bevvy right before bed. It's a nice way to relax and unwind at the end of the day. I've also been adding in my magnesium + dream dust which I think has been making me get sleepy a lot sooner. I've been using the Traditional Medicinals Nighty Night Tea so I picked up a new box of it, the Nighty Nighty Extra and the Dandelion Chai Probiotic. 

I hope ya'll enjoyed my little mini haul. Most of these items you can find in regular grocery stores too but I'll also link everything here in my Amazon storefront. 

What's your go-to snack? 

I love sharing my picks with you! Should you click on or make a purchase through the links in this post, I'll earn some money to keep on shopping. Pretty cool, huh? :)

HEALTHY SNACKS HAUL | 7.25.22

It's been a minute since I shared a grocery haul with you. I've been too lax lately with my eating so this week I'm jumping back into cleaner, healthier eating. I'm planning to do actual grocery shopping tomorrow but I have some new snack purchases that I thought you might want to see! I always say it can be tricky to find snacks with cleaner ingredients that actually taste good. Like everything else, it's trial and error, hit or miss. 

One brand I've come to really enjoy is Simple Mills. They use a lot of almond flour and healthier ingredients that are simple and legible on the box, lol. You have to try the Honey & Cinnamon Sweet Thins! They are so yummy and taste just like a graham cracker. I grabbed a new box and also figured I'd give the Chocolate Brownie a whirl too. I've also been wanting to try out their bars so I grabbed the Nutty Banana Bread. I don't normally eat a lot of bars but they look really good on the box so they got me! I was also tempted by the Carrot Cake flavor too but the banana was the last one left so I figured it might be better?? I also grabbed a few boxes of crackers-- Farmhouse Cheddar and Garlic & Herb. I've had the regular Sea Salt which I liked too. 

A few repurchases that I love are the Siete Mexican Shortbread Cookies (also love the wedding flavor too!) and the Quinn Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels. I've gone through so many bags of the pretzels-- they are so good. Because they're gluten free, the pretzel is a little bit harder than normal but they are the best sweet + salty snack. I'm also a big fan of these dark chocolate sea salt wafers from Little Secrets so I grabbed the almond butter flavor to try too as a little treat. 

Linking them all right here for you: 

+ Simple Mills Sweet Thins, Honey Cinnamon

+ Simple Mills Sweet Thins, Chocolate Brownie 
+ Simple Mills Soft Baked Nutty Banana Bread Bars
+ Simple Mills Garlic & Herb Crackers
+ Simple Mills Farmhouse Cheddar Crackers
+ Siete Mexican Shortbread Cookies
+ Quinn Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels
+ Little Secrets Almond Butter Crispy Wafers

Do you have any favorite clean snacks? Tell me!! 

I love sharing my picks with you all! Should you click on or make a purchase through the links in this post, I'll earn some money to keep on shopping! Pretty cool, huh? :)

OCTOBER MINI HEALTHY SNACKS HAUL

I'm back with more snacks! And taco seasoning, lol. Snacks are a big thing for me-- I've always lived off of Cheez-its and oreos which makes it a little more difficult to transition to healthier alternatives. The sad truth is nothing hits quite like a toxic crunchy Cheeto but we can hope! 🤪 I'm always looking for yummy alternatives at the grocery store and to weed out the hits + misses. PS-- I still buy Cheetos too! It's all about balance + moderation but still striving for improvement. Rome wasn't built in a day! 

THE GOODS

+ Lesser Evil Popcorn - One of my newest finds is the Lesser Evil Popcorn. This brand uses clean, organic ingredients that are simple and the results are DELISH! I grabbed both the Himalayan Pink Salt and the Himalayan Gold. Both are made with coconut oil + Himalayan salt, the only difference is the Himalayan Gold has butter-flavored coconut oil. So far I've only tried the pink salt but I love! You definitely get the coconut flavor + smell but it still tastes savory and has a soft texture. 

+ Quinn Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels - These seem to end up in every food haul I do now, haha. I discovered the Quinn Peanut Butter Filled pretzels a few months ago and I've been buying them ever since. They have cleaner ingredients and are gluten-free which makes the texture slightly more crunchy compared to a normal pretzel, however they're delicious! If you love peanut butter and sweet + salty, buy them!! I always go through them fast so I stock up on several bags! 

+ Siete Sea Salt Tortilla Chips - I love trying new Siete items (some of my faves are the Churro Chips + the cookies) so I'm excited for these tortilla chips. I've tried the lime flavor which has a strong zing so I thought I'd try the sea salt out this time. 

+ Siete Taco Seasoning - Not a snack but another Siete product I've been on the hunt for! I love making tacos so I thought I'd give their seasoning a try. I went for the mild but it also comes in spicy too!

+ Simple Mills Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies - I found these Simple Mills Chocolate Chip cookies on sale so I thought I'd give them a whirl. Some things made with alternative flours (these are almond) I like and some I don't so we'll see how it goes. Has anyone tried any of their baking mixes or breakfast bars? Those also look good. 

+ Tate's Bake Shop Cookies - Healthier-ish cookies, lol! These are actually so delicious and while a cookie is a cookie, I consider better ingredients to be a healthier win. I've always liked the chocolate chip so I grabbed a few bags of those, the white chocolate macadamia and the butter crunch. They are a thin + crispy texture and the flavor is great. 

What's your go-to healthy snack? I want to try it out!

I love sharing snack hauls with you all! Should you click on or make a purchase through the links in this post, I'll earn some money to keep on shopping! Pretty cool, huh? :)

HEALTHY SNACKS HAUL

Do you get excited buying snacks and groceries?? I love it! I’m excited to *hopefully* begin turning a new leaf this week with cleaner eating. I don’t know if something changed after turning 27 this year, but I can feel an internal mindset shift. I want to actually start taking action towards being the best version of me (instead of always just saying I want to).

One of the ways I’m starting with is choosing better options and alternatives for my everyday essentials + food. I’m in the middle of what I hope will become a gradual transition to a better, healthier lifestyle. Rome wasn’t built in a day so I’m easing myself into things. That brings us to today’s post— a Healthy Snacks Haul. 

I should probably add a "Healthy (to me) Snacks Haul" edit to the title. The world “healthy” looks different to everyone— to me, it even takes on several interpretations. For example, I consider buying Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies as a healthier alternative to my beloved Cheez-Its. Does that give it the same healthy meaning that broccoli has? Of course not. Being a better alternative or having cleaner ingredients are factors I consider to be "healthier" but not everything is automatically a healthy choice just because it’s organic. The same thing goes with calories-- not everything "low calorie" is always healthy either. That’s okay with me. It's also okay to eat the Cheez-Its if you want them. I’m all about moderation- I want to do better but I'm also confident you'll still find me pulling up curbside at Chicky. These are just some healthier options (baby steps) I'm trying to incorporate. Always a work in progress!

I’ve been on a pretty big snack kick lately so I thought I would start by trying some better options to see what I like. I found these items at a local natural foods store & my Target but they are also all online so I’ll link them for you. My strategy is starting with the types of things that I eat now. Like I mentioned above, I love Cheez-It’s so I decided to try the Annie’s White Cheddar Bunnies. On paper, being organic with no artificial flavors or synthetic colors makes them a "healthier" alternative. We'll see how they taste!

For other savory snacks, I also grabbed a box of Simple Mills Fine Ground Sea Salt Almond Flour Crackers, Skinny Pop Microwave Popcorn and a bag of Pistachios (one of my favorite nuts). I also snagged a bag of my beloved Goldfish Pretzels-- they might not be considered healthy but I think pretzels are a better option to regular chips and I love the salty taste.

For sweet treats, I snagged another bag of the Good & Gather Dark Chocolate Almonds, Siete Churro Strips, Siete Grain Free Mexican Shortbread Cookies and a box of Cascadian Farms Cinnamon Crunch Cereal. The dark chocolate almonds are a current fave I've been repurchasing-- they are so good. It's a yummy snack/dessert that I feel a little better about eating. They're addicting though!

That's the line up for today! I'm excited to try these out-- hopefully they are yummy. Sometimes more natural/healthy items don't stand up to the unhealthy snacks in taste so you know I'll keep you posted.  I'd also love to know if you've tried any of these and/or if you have any recommendations for healthyish/healthier snacks. Comment below or message me on IG (@TheKristenDiary)! 

I love sharing my hauls with you all! Should you click on or make a purchase through the links in this post, I'll earn some money to keep on shopping! Pretty cool, huh? :)

 

SWEET + SALTY GOLDFISH PRETZEL TOFFEE

 In my recent snackscapades, I've discovered pretzel goldfish! I've always loved pretzels so the fishy form is next level. When I was placing a Target pickup for these, I noticed a recipe video for "Goldfish Pretzel Toffee." If you've ever made or had cracker candy before, this is very similar! Instead of brown sugar and butter, the recipe calls for caramel. It's quick + relatively easy to assemble. It looked so yummy so I immediately bought the other ingredients to make it. The only problem I ran into is that an actual recipe seems nowhere to be found! 🤣

Being the resourceful gal that I am, I made it myself through lots of Google search + similar recipe comparisons. Here's what I came up with! PS-- this is so so yummy! The perfect mix of sweet + salty. I chose to use the Sander's Caramel Sauce (they make my favorite caramel candies) and it's the perfect flavor! To balance, I like using semi-sweet chocolate chips. The perfect blend between milk + dark. I used Ghiradelli for this recipe!

INGREDIENTS YOU'LL NEED

• 1-1/4 cup of Goldfish pretzels (or pretzels of your choice)
• 10 ounces of caramel sauce 
• 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips 

HOW TO ASSEMBLE

1. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. I put aluminum down first + parchment on top. If you only use one, I'd go for parchment. 

2. Cover the entire area with your pretzels. You could use Goldfish or regular pretzels! 

3. Spread caramel sauce over the pretzels + cover completely. 

4. Bake in a 375°f oven for around 5-10 minutes. I eyeballed this step! I waited for the caramel to bubble up before removing. 

5. Remove + cover with chocolate chips. Spread the chocolate as it melts to create a smooth layer. This one was a little tricky with the Goldfish-- they like to stick + move around. Make sure you heat the caramel + pretzels enough to melt the chips, then work quickly! I think melting the chocolate and pouring over also might be a great alternative! 

6. Garnish with more pretzels or any toppings you'd like.

7. Refrigerate/freeze to cool for 1-2 hours. 

8. Break apart into small pieces + dig in! 

Done and done! Such a tasty, easy snack! Let me know if you try it out, I'd love to see pictures :) 

I love sharing recipes + snack ideas with you all. Should you click on or make a purchase through the links in this post, I'll earn some money to keep on shopping! Pretty cool, huh? :)