I have been working on single serving recipes of recommended foods that I can use either for meals or for snacks. Because I am watching my calorie intake, these will probably be mostly for meals even though they seem like snack food.
Why am I working on single serving recipes? These are snack-type foods. It is dangerous for me to have more than one serving available at a time. I think you will see why when you see the recipes I have tried. If you want more, you can always multiply. I think it is easier to multiply recipes than divide.
I am trying to base these recipes on nuts, beans, and whole grains and using olive oil when fat is required. Of course, fruits and vegetables make good snacks, but they are obvious and they don’t usually need recipes.
Here are a couple of recipes I have tried:
Sugar and Cinnamon Tortilla Crisps – Yum. Makes a nice breakfast.
- 2 whole wheat but lower calorie tortillas. (I use Mi Mama’s Low Carb Tortillas because they have 70 calories per tortilla.)
- 2 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp olive oil
Brush the olive oil on the tortillas or spray with olive oil spray. Sprinkle with sugar/cinnamon mix.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes until crisp-watch closely; cut in 8 wedges. Enjoy.
With all that sugar, I count this as one of my Sweets/Pastries for the week. I could try cutting down on sugar or even using part sweetener.
It might work to use a little water instead of oil to make the sugar and cinnamon stick. Maybe I will try one that way and one with oil next time and compare them.
Single –serving Party Mix for the MIND diet – based on the original Chex Party Mix
- 1 cup Corn Chex
- ¼ cup Lightly salted Peanuts
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp Olive Oil
- ½ tsp Worcestershire Sauce
Heat oven to 250 degrees.
Mix the Chex and the peanuts in a 9 x 9 pan.
Sprinkle with garlic powder (and some salt, if desired)
Mix the olive oil and Worc.
Sauce, sprinkle over the Chex and Peanut, and stir well.
Bake for an hour stirring every 15 minutes (or microwave as stated on the original recipe but I like it a bit crispy).
I ate this for lunch today and it felt pretty decadent. It is a good thing I just had the one serving available! It could have use a little salt or maybe a little more Worc. Sauce. Or, regular peanuts instead of the lightly salted ones.
Kind of pricey, calorie-wise. I suppose I could use less peanuts.
I am assuming the peanuts are included in the nuts category for the MIND diet and the Corn Chex as whole grain (they have the whole grain council symbol, but only 12 grams of whole grain). Maybe I should look for another cereal with more whole grain per serving.
That is all I have tried so far. I have lots of ideas but I haven’t tried them out yet. Here are a few I plan to work on:
- Flour tortilla crisps with taco-like seasoning
- Corn tortilla crisps with taco-like seasoning
- Tortilla roll-ups with Greek yogurt, grated veggies, and spices
- Black bean dip with baked corn chips
- Roasted chick peas – lots of recipes for that online
- With veggies. Or whole grain pita crisps, corn tortilla crisps
- Popcorn, maybe with spices or cinnamon and sugar? Have to work on popping a single serving in a lunch bag in the microwave.
Nutrition Info calculated at MyFitnessPal.com