Snacking

Being pregnant means I'm hungry...oh about every 20 minutes. Sometimes I'm not proud of the choices I make, but I've found that if I get in a habit of picking a certain food attribute (calcium rich, high in fiber, etc.) at the same time each day, I snack a little better

One decadant and seemingly sinful treat I've discovered is The Skinny Cow Fudge Bars. They were voted best overall in a fudge bar comparison I read about in a magazine. There are plenty of "No Sugar Added" fudge bars out there, but this one is pretty note-worthy. In addition to only being 100 calories and 1 gram of fat, it has 10% RDV of Calcium! Wow!

Another snack I enjoy regularly is stove top popcorn. I started buying the stove top kind many months ago when I was looking for ways to cut back on our expenses. Now, even when microwave popcorn is buy one get one free, I opt for the old fashioned kind. Popcorn is a whole grain and high in fiber. If you make it on the stove top, you have complete control over how much fat and salt you add. I've found I like the way it tastes if I cook it in about 1 tbsp of oil (**Canola oil is cheaper and healthier than olive oil**) and salt the unpopped kernels with popcorn (fine) salt. Somehow it tastes slightly buttery even though I don't add butter. It isn't difficult to clean up. Add enough oil to your pan to coat the bottom and don't use more kernels than can cover the bottom one layer thick. Cook over medium heat and you'll keep from burning it. It takes a little practice to get (almost) every kernel to pop ;)