Are you like me and tend to snack and eat more in the winter?

I am less active and stay indoors more often than not in the fall and winter cause I hate being cold.  And when in doors, I tend to snack.

Fruit unfortunately is less abundant and I love my fruit!  Vegetable season is not my favourite, but I make sure that I set myself up for success when those boredom hunger pangs strike.

Something I always have is an abundance of food prepped and ready for grabbing and going at any time.  I have shared many snack recipes here that I keep in the freezer for such times.  But I didn’t share that I also have a ton of winter fruits and vegetables ready to go at all times.

I grocery shop weekly and spend a few hours prepping everything, washing, chopping, slicing and keeping food ready to grab in the fridge in sealed containers.

 

Here are some of my favourites…

 

One thing I love to snack on are cherry or grape tomatoes, I have them on my counter washed and ready to grab at anytime.

I also prep all my carrots and have them washed, peeled and cut, and in a container in the fridge, ready for me to eat.

 

 

Cucumbers are another one that I have prepped in coins often, but if not, they are so quick to cut!  This is one of my favourite snacks actually.  I go through fazes though with cucumbers, sometimes I eat so many that I get sick of them and don’t have them for a couple weeks then I am back to ’em again.  My son, when he was little used to love sliced cucumbers with a drop of mustard on top of each slice.  I never did share that flavour choice haha but hey, If he ate the cucumber, all the power to him for a little mustard on top.

 

 

Celery is another one I always have washed and cut , ready to go in a container in the fridge.  Celery takes so long to chew I find, and that right there makes me less hungry after having a few.  Did anyone else ever eat cheeze whiz on top of celery for a snack as a kid?  I used to LOVE it!  That was health back then!!  LOL And most of my raw vegetable intake too.  Couldn’t tell you the last time I ate cheese whiz, it’s been so many years, but I sure did eat lots of it growing up.  I heard it’s like 1 or 2 ingredients away form plastic?  Yikes!

 

 

And snap peas!  Another favourite of mine and my sons even at 18 years old, he loves his snap peas as a snack.  Sometimes throughout the winter they are a little hard to find and or go bad quicker, but I am always happy when I have them in the fridge ready to go.

 

 

Winter is citrus season and Christmas orange time!  I love me some oranges, oh I’ll share my orange Julius smoothie with you soon, I want to get a good picture of it for you.  Its so delicious.  Oranges and all citrus are of course high in Vitamin C and we need lots of that in the winter months.  But did you also know that 1 bell pepper is more than 200% of your daily recommended intake of Vitamin C?  Yup.  So don’t just rely on oranges for that.  But eat an abundance anyway of oranges while they are in season.

 

 

Tea!! Do NOT forget tea!  I heard in the UK they drink tea all the time and all day long, throughout the day.  Just a lovely cup of tea.  It wasn’t until only about a year or more ago I started reading so much about tea, and how it is a necessity of life as there is no tax on it.  I love that!  So make sure you have some tea randomly throughout the day too, it will not only provide you with health healing benefits, but also curb those boredom eats.  Lately since I had that bad migraine, I have been enjoying a cup of ginger root tea, almost daily.  At night I love my calming chamomile tea.  And sometimes peppermint at night too.  But I have been obsessed with chai tea.  I love to support real people doing awesome things, and I follow some YouTuber’s who have a chai tea company, I absolutely love their tea and drink a cup almost daily as well.  Check them out if you want to (I have no affiliation with them, just love their tea and what they are about)  Tea just brings out the coziness of fall and winter.

 

 

And of course dates!  I love dates and have them all the time, I buy in bulk as we eat so many.  They are so good for the pooper and a million other things.  They are just so good from the freezer.  I swear they they taste so much like a treat, like a caramel.  Have you tried my chocolate date snacks?  I have two different variants I make these all the time in a couple different ways, please try them if you haven’t, you will not be disappointed.

 

 

Ok I think that’s it.  If you set yourself up for success, you will be successful.  I tend to put on about 5 pounds throughout the winter months anyway and I am okay with that.  I do love having things prepped and ready to go, all healthy choices so there is no need to consume the lesser things.  And its not all about staying fit and not gaining with.  Its also about getting in these healthy foods, and just choosing them over the unhealthy options.

 

I hope you try some of these tips for the cold season and let me know if you love some other vegetables that you have prepped.

Have a beautiful weekend,

And let’s all dream of being on a sandy beach with the sun on our faces soon. 

 

 

With love and gratitude,

 

Jackie