Healthy, Nut Free, Protein Packed Snack Ideas

As an athlete and on-the go mom of two, snacks are always a big deal for our family! When can I have a snack? Did we make sure to pack the snacks? What did you pack for my snack?

Since so much time is spent snacking, I try to make snacks work for my family and I, not against us. This means planning and preparing snacks that are healthy, filling, and high in protein. High protein snacks that will fuel our bodies, satisfy our hunger in between meals, and boost our energy.

Usually if you think high protein snacks, you think of nuts, but don't we eat nuts in our household because my little girl is severely allergic, which can make finding simple healthy high protein snacks a little more challenging, but I. Here's a list if snacks we all love in our house, hopefully this gives you some new healthy snack ideas!

String Cheese - These are perfectly portioned and so tasty on their own, but often times I like to give them an extra dose of protein and wrap them in a slice or two of turkey deli meat -yum!

Hard Boiled Eggs - Our family loves these - I often buy a dozen and just boil them at the beginning of the week, perfect with just a little salt and pepper.

High Protein Low Sugar Yogurt - I love the Icelandic Skyr varieties. When berries are in season, I love to top there with some fresh raspberries too! Plain yogurt makes a tasty sour cream substitute with a hefty dose of protein too.

Sunflower Butter with Apple Slices - Sunflower butter is a must have for anyone that needs to avoid Peanut Butter. Beware, some varieties have added sugar, so just be sure to check the label before purchasing. It tastes amazing on anything that you'd normally eat PB with - spread on crackers or dipped into mini carrots are more of our favorite ways to enjoy it.

Jerky - No doubt my son and hubby's favorite snack! Make sure to look for high quality jerky meat that's grass fed, nitrate free and/or organic.

Pumpkin and/or Sunflower Seeds - Roasted and Salted these taste amazing. You can also make your own nut-free trail mix by combining seeds, and dried fruit like raisins and dried cranberries.

Edamame- My kiddos love these little green legumes! Trader Joe's sells big bags of frozen shelled edamame that you just need to defrost and enjoy!

Hummus - My favorite dip packs a huge protein punch and with so many flavor varieties on the market today it's such a yummy treat. Some of my favorite dippers are cucumbers, baby carrots, sliced yellow peppers, and pretzel slims.

fizzique Sparkling Protein Water - I'm a huge sparkling water fan and when I heard that fizzique makes a sparkling water that has 20 grams of protein per can, I couldn't wait to take my first sip. It's super yummy, almost creamy, and super refreshing. It truly helps satisfy my hunger, and sweet tooth, in between meals, and gives me a fizzy energy boost too! These cans are available on Amazon or at drinkfizzique.com. You can use discount code AMYJAYFIZZIQUE to save 10% off your order!

What are some of your favorite high protein, nut free snacks?

Healthy Dinner Solutions For Busy Families

If your home is anything like ours (and I'm guessing it is!) weekday afternoons and evenings can be downright hectic. With juggling homework, babies needs, housework, after school activities, we have every intention of getting a nutritious home cooked meal on the table nightly - but in all reality, who honestly has the time?

Enter Prep Dish into my life - what a great idea this is! Prep Dish makes eating healthy hassle free and enjoyable. It saves you time and helps you get delicious and nutritious meals on the table for your family and helps eliminate some of that weekday madness.

When you sigh up for Prep Dish they send you a weekly menu, designed to easily fit either gluten free or paleo lifestyles effortlessly. They plan a week's worth of healthy meals for you, placing great thought into maximizing your budget, saving you time, an making sure your taste buds are satisfied. They also rely on seasonal ingredients so that your food will always taste fresh and flavorful.

In addition to the weekly menu, they'll also give you a grocery list and instructions. Their plan is designed with one two hour meal prep day, where you'll do the majority of the meal preparation, leaving you 5-20 minutes worth of cooking and plating tasks at dinner time.

I downloaded the Gluten Free Menu for the Second Week of April and couldn't wait to mix it up for my family this week. We seem to always be in the same dinner rut so this part of the menu was very exciting for me. Mustard Dill Salmon? Chicken and Bell Pepper Tacos? Shrimp Stir Fry? My taste buds were for sure salivating just reading that weeks menu!

I opened it up and got a printable shopping list that I could use to check my pantry and then purchase the remaining items I needed from the grocery store. There was a also step by step instructions for my prep day. I see friends all over Instagram using Sundays as meal prep days and I was super excited to get on board with this too. I love how I could get most of my week's dinners prepped and prepared in just a couple of hours, freeing up valuable time on hectic weekday nights.

Last Sunday I shopped for my groceries in the morning, and then while my baby napped I spend just over two hours chopping, dicing, measuring and mixing everything out, so that on dish-day there is minimal time and effort that I need to give to feed my family.

You guys, these dishes turned out incredible! I was a little nervous that my 8 year old wouldn't love the seafood dishes but he tried them and was all smiles (and even asked for seconds!) On especially busy nights when we had after school sports, I was so so thankful for the extra weekend prep work that I did, and because of that I was able to give my family a wholesome nutritious and home cooked meal - when before hand we would have probably opted for greasy takeout. 

With subscription options starting at just $14 monthly or $99 for a whole year - Prep Dish saves me so much time and money, that I would have spent in drive-thru and food delivery fees, it really is no-brainier for any busy family.

The amazing folks at Prep Dish have a greed to give all of YOU two weeks free of their healthy meal plans. Click HERE and enter code GOFAST at checkout! I can't wait to see how amazing your meals turn out!