I love Spring. Honestly, I think it may be my favourite season! I love that the weather gets warmer and the dreary winter skies turn a brilliant blue. I also love the abundance of fresh fruit and berries that come with this time of year. I don’t know why, but I tend to crave cheese and stodgy food in winter. But in the spring I crave strawberries, grapes, blueberries, apples, melon and yoghurt. I thought I would post some snack inspiration today. I have recently discovered apple and almond butter – I am obsessed with this snack and can’t believe I never had it before!
I have also started using a yoghurt maker – which is amazing. Now I will admit I am yet to make yoghurt completely from scratch – i.e. the culture, milk etc. This is definitely a future project! I have instead been getting to grips with the concept of yoghurt making with my pre-made packs from EasiYo. The maker is brill and so simple. I picked up my EasiYo yoghurt maker at Lakeland along with the packets of pre-made mix. You add water to the mix, shake up to combine and leave in the maker, submerged halfway in boiling water for about 8 hours or overnight and boom – you have yoghurt! It makes around 1kg of yoghurt which lasts for two weeks in the fridge. I have been using it to add to smoothies, or to top fruit. I even dolloped some on the side of my apple, pear and blackberry crumble! Deeeelicious. Anyway here are some of my favourite springtime snacks!
1. Apple slices with a generous dollop of almond butter
Now you can make your own almond butter, which I have done before in my NutriBullet, or you can buy some. I love Meridian Food’s Almond butter. It has a pinch of sea salt which makes all the difference. Other than that the only ingredients are almonds! It always keeps me full and is a great mid-morning snack.
2. Smoothies:
As I mentioned in an earlier blog I LOVE smoothies, I got a nutribullet last year and haven’t really stopped using it since. I prefer smoothies to juice as you get all the important dietary fibre. Smoothies can be a good snack and I sometimes have them for breakfast. They are often really filling – I can rarely finish one of my giant smoothies in one sitting. Smoothies are a great way to get loads of vegetables in your diet as the flavours are masked by fruit. Little tip – smoothies are best made fresh, i.e. don’t make it the night before and drink it the next day. Drink as soon as you make it for maximum freshness. If you can’t drink it all at once, then ensure it is in a flask which you can screw on tight when you aren’t drinking! The picture below is of my pear, cashew and spinach smoothie!
3. Fresh Berries, Natural Yoghurt and Honey
The title says it all really. It doesn’t get much better than this. I love blueberries, strawberries and red grapes – but you can switch it up and choose your favourite fruit!
4. Citrus fruit
LOVE love love citrus fruit in the sunshine. I prefer sweeter grapefruits or pomelos (which are fun to eat and slightly less bitter)!
5. Boiled Eggs
A great pick me up! I might have one of these before I go for a run. I also love sliced boiled egg on rye bread for a more substantial snack.
Simple snacks, but these really are what I am craving right now! Let me know what your absolute favourite springtime snack is in the comments below! ❤
The Brighton Kitchen 