As you know, this week is all about allowing myself to be a little lazy on the meal prep. But I’m always looking for a change in my daily snacks to keep me from getting bored. The problem is that my afternoon snack is eaten in the car, and there are a finite number of snacks that don’t require a fork, or in my case, a napkin/tablecloth. The other problem is that the post-workout snack needs to be filling (I get beast-mode hunger after the gym), but I go to the gym so late that I have to make sure I don’t give myself heartburn (momma’s getting old, guys).
First of My Snacks
This week, I switched out the grilled cheese sandwiches from last week to… wait for it…. tortellini. This wasn’t something I had ever thought about as a snack, but the protein & carbs are a perfect fit to my macros for this week, and if you make it right, you can easily eat it on the go, without any problem.
The trick is that after it’s done cooking, I let the pasta drain in the colander. Meanwhile, I brown some garlic and add the pasta back into the pot. I add a little balsamic vinegar, to add flavor, but not too much sauce. As much as I love a good marinara sauce, it will end up all over my lap approximately 30 seconds after the container is open in the car. I turn the burner off after I add the pasta back, but I don’t remove it from the heat. This way, the vinegar is absorbed a little by the pasta and there isn’t any liquid in the containers.
This really hits the spot for me. I crave pasta on a regular basis and working it into my diet helps me stay true to my macros. This worked for me because I can eat it while it’s cool (since it’s been in my lunch bag). But if you absolutely have to heat up your pasta, a thousand apologies.
Second of My Snacks
Once I’ve come home from the gym, my smaller snacks don’t cut it. With the increase in our calories, we took some protein and carbs from our lunch and dinner and VOILA, a fourth meal emerges. This has made all the difference in my sleep. I have this small meal about an hour before bed. So it keeps me from having problems falling asleep from still being hungry.
This week, we used pre-cooked pot roast from Kroger, with rice. The pot roast came with gravy, so we left that in when we put it into containers. We have a rice maker, so this was an incredibly quick snack to prep.
What are some of your favorite go-to snacks? Do you typically have to eat a snack in the car or on the go? Let me know in the comments below and I’d love to hear more about how you make your snacks work for you.
