Snacks On The Go: Five Speedy And Healthy Treats To Get You Through A Busy Week

Brought to you by Centra Because a girl deserves a decent snack.  We've teamed up with Centra and dietician Sarah Keogh to bring you four five healthy (and tasty!) snacks to try out this week. Did you know that the average Irish daily consumption of fruit and veg is only  3.2 of the recommended 5 servings? Give that number a boost this week by treating yourself to these snacks. Check them out below. 1. Mango & Vanilla Smoothie Vegetarian, Gluten-free You'll need:

• 1 cup frozen mango chunks
• 1/4 cup vanilla soymilk
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yoghurt

2. Spicy Kale Crisps A surprisingly tasty, crispy alternative to fat-loaded snacks. The nut butter helps the flavour to stick and gives you the perfect crisp. You'll need:

• 2 tbsp almond butter
• 200g kale
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp chilli powder (optional)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. salt

How to:

• Preheat the oven to 180oC
• Check the kale for any hard stalks and wash it well.
• Dry it well too (you can use a salad spinner and then blot with kitchen paper). Put the kale in a large bowl.
• In a small bowl mix the almond butter with the olive oil, cumin, chilli (if using), garlic powder and salt.
• Drizzle the mixture over the kale and spend a few minutes using your hands to coat the kale with the spices.
• Spread the kale out on baking trays – you may need 3 or 4 or just cook them in batches.
• Pop them in the oven and cook for about 10 minutes until they are crispy but still green. Leave them to cool for about 5 minutes then lift off the crispy ones and pop any that are still damp back into the oven to crisp up.
• They are best eaten that day but you can store them for 1-2 days in an air-tight container.

3. Spinach And Banana Smoothie You'll need: 

• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup spinach
• 1 tbsp peanut
• 1 1/4 cup unsweetened soy milk

4. Easy Homemade Sweet Potato Crisps Serves 4, ready in 20 minutes You'll need:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 medium sweet potato - scrubbed
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp salt

How to: 

• Pre-heat the oven to 375°F and arrange a rack in the middle.
• Slice the sweet potato into very thin rounds, peel sweet potatoes and slice thinly, using either a mandolin or sharp knife. Know that chips that are too thick in parts won't crisp up all the way.
• In a large bowl, toss sweet potatoes with olive oil, paprika, and salt using your hands until thoroughly coated.
• Place sweet potato chips in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
• Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then flip the chips over and bake for another 10 minutes.
• For the last ten minutes, watch the chips closely and pull off any chips that start to brown, until all of the chips are cooked.

5. Strawberry and Oat Crumble For the strawberry mix you'll need:

• 1 cup of chopped strawberries
• 1/2 tbsp of honey
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla essence

For the crumble mix you'll need: 

• 2 tbsp. porridge
• 1 tbsp. wholemeal flour
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/8 tsp. baking powder
• Pinch of cinnamon

How to:

• Add the chopped strawberries to a cup and drizzle with honey and vanilla
• Mix porridge, flour, baking powder, honey and cinnamon until well combined
• Place the crumble mixture on top of the strawberries and place in the microwave for 1 - 1.5 minutes. Check every 10 seconds after the first minute
• Finish with a fresh strawberry and yoghurt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXXfh7O0820 This article is brought to you by Centra. For lots more healthy snack ideas visit Centra.ie