Healthy Egg Snacks: Healthy Snack Idea…Eggs!
Healthy Egg Snacks: Healthy Snack Idea…Eggs! Planning and preparing food for the week ahead is an important aspect to maintaining your goals for a healthy diet. Having healthy foods available makes it easier to avoid poor food choices.
Eggs are an affordable, nutrient-rich food. They contain the highest quality source of protein as well as nearly every essential vitamin and mineral. They also contain nonessential nutrients like choline, which is essential for normal brain development and memory, and lutein and zeaxanthin, two anti-oxidants from the carotenoid family, that contribute to eye health by protecting eyes from ultraviolet rays, reducing the risk of age-related macular degeneration, and decreasing risk of developing cataracts.
Since the 1960s it was assumed that cholesterol in the diet was the primary cause of high LDL cholesterol. Since the yolk in eggs has about 200 mg of cholesterol, eggs got a bad rap. However, the more we research and understand the problem of high cholesterol, we find it is more related to over consumption in general, and especially over consumption of trans and saturated fats.
Remember, too, that cholesterol is a vital substance that every cell in our body needs in adequate amounts. One large egg contains 190 mg of cholesterol. A smaller egg will provide even less. One large egg contains only 5.0 grams of fat of which 1.5 grams are saturated fat. This means that eggs can easily fit into a reduced-fat diet if recommended by your physician.
Another recent finding was how we cook our food is as important as what food we choose. Grilled, charbroiled, fried, or other high heat cooking methods oxidize fats and cholesterol, making them both much more dangerous to the body.
Healthy Egg Snacks Recipe
So, get ready for the week ahead. Boil a half dozen eggs today; they make a great “grab and go” meal or snack.
Two eggs on a large mixed green salad with a whole grain roll and a piece of fresh fruit makes a balanced and nutritious meal. One egg paired with a piece of fresh fruit or a few crackers makes a balanced and nutritious snack.
A quick and easy, energy efficient way to boil eggs:
- Put 4-6 fresh eggs in a sauce pan.
- Add water to just cover all the eggs.
- Cover the pan and place on the stove.
- Turn burner to high until water begins to boil.
- Once the water boils, turn the burner off immediately.
- Keeping the pan covered, take the pan off the burner.
- Set the timer for 12 minutes.
- After 12 minutes, rinse the eggs in cool water until eggs are cool.
- Refrigerate eggs until ready to use.
Conclusion:
Eating healthy and having snacks throughout the day can be difficult. Sometimes I feel like I’m forced to eat unhealthy food because of the cost, or I don’t feel like making a special effort to make something myself. But when you’re craving those sweet, gooey yolks or hard-boiled eggs, or you plain want something tasty but healthy, an excellent healthy snack idea is to whip up a healthy egg recipe yourself. It’s simple and only requires some work – if you do it right. If you do it wrong, it can even make your waistline growl!
Healthy egg recipes have long been a staple in the low-carb diet community, and for a good reason: they taste great, they are filling, and they help you lose weight. Low-carb diets are all about eating healthy foods in moderation, and often snacking isn’t included in the plan, so you have to come up with other ways to get nutrients while still losing weight. Many low-carb diet plans suggest that you get your daily allotment of vitamins and minerals from vegetables and fruit, but what about a snack? There are thousands of snack ideas for low-carb diets that taste great and help you lose weight, so make sure to keep your eyes open for them.
One easy and delicious snack idea is to make egg salad. This is super easy to make, and the whole family will love it. All you need is some fresh cut vegetables (sweet potato, squash, cauliflower, etc. ), some chopped hard-boiled eggs (make sure you don’t add any salt or sugar), a handful of chopped nuts or pecans, some red or green bell pepper (or another color if you’re trying to stay on the diet plan), and maybe a sprinkle or two of shredded cheese.
