Healthy Snack Options on this Earth Day

Good morning y'all!

I feel bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning, completely refreshed. What a nice feeling! And today is Earth Day. What are you doing to help out the environment?

At our house, today is the first day we'll be purchasing our eggs from a local chicken farmer, rather than buying them at the grocery store. I'm rather egg-cited (sorry, I know that's lame)about it! Considering my husband eats three eggs every morning for breakfast, there is no way these eggs will go unused. I will also be planting my seeds starters for my outdoor deck garden.

So, last night on PBS they showed the award winning documentary Food, Inc. All I can say is WOW. It really made me re-think where we purchase our meats, diary, etc. If you haven't seen this, be sure to check it out. It's a thinker...In honor of Earth Day today, I thought I'd give you three healthy snack options.

I know there are many of you out there that go to work each day, or at least pack a child's lunch each day, and you are running out of options. Or you are getting bored. These three snacks are ones we eat at our house, with two of them being a great go-to snack and the other one a hair indulgent, but good nonetheless.

Baked Apple Chips

1 apple, sliced thinly

1 t. sugar

1 t. cinnamon

Coat apple slices with cinnamon/sugar mixture. Spray a baking rack with non-stick spray and place on top of a baking sheet. Place apple slices on the rack and bake at 250 degrees for one hour, or until crispy. Store in airtight container.

Ranch Chicken Dip

1 block neufchatel cream cheese, softened

1 can shredded chicken (or cooked shredded chicken)

1 t. parsley

1 t. seasoning salt

1/2 t. garlic powder

1/4 t. onion powder

1/8 t. dried thyme

1 t. dill

Mix all ingredients together and chill. Serve with crackers or sliced veggies.

Homemade Granola (we eat this as cereal!)

4 c. oatmeal
1 c. wheat germ
1/2 c. flax seed
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. unsweetened coconut

1/2 c. chopped pecans
1/2 c. sliced almonds
1 T. cinnamon
1 1/2 t. salt
1/3 c. canola oil
1/2 c. honey
1 T. vanilla
1/2 c. water

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In large bowl mix together oatmeal, wheat germ, flax seed, brown sugar, pecans, almonds, cinnamon and salt. In a separate bowl combine wet ingredients. Pour wet ingredients over the dry and mix until coated. Spread in large, greased baking pan or roasting pan. Bake for 45 min, stirring every 15 min. or until toasted. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Hopefully these three snack options give you some new ideas. Head on over to Foodie Giveaway for a very Earth Day related contest!