Healthy snacks in evening?

Need a suggestion -
Me and my husband return in evening from work/classes and are extremely hungry. We are late diners, hence we crave for snacks and as you might know with market full of processed food/snacks, we end up munching on unhealthy stuff.
I take fruits once in a while with chat masala and stuff, but that doesn't satisfy my cravings ..I am a total junkie then !! Anything that's available in American markets ?

One solution is to dine early.

What do you all eat right after coming from work in evenings ?

Hi Meenloch,
Even we had the same problem...DH & me used to be so hungry after coming from work that we used to end up eating too much for dinner...
These days, I get cookies,cake and some snacks from the Indian store...Whatever we eat we make sure that we eat in limited quanitities..So that we can have dinner early...I have also started to drink a cup of milk after I come from work...just trying to be healthy...DH sometimes has Ensure or drinks fruite juice too...but whatever we have we have our dinner between 7:30 and 8 PM.
Hope this helps!

I guess this seems to a common prob if both are working.

When we come home,my hubby takes a cup of tea(i don't like tea/coffee) and some snack which varies:

*masala corn: nothing but put frozen corn in Microwave for 2 mins and mix,some salt& pepper..It just takes 3-4 mins to prepare but seems to be healthy and good taste.

*Aur little fied chirwa with groundnut mungfali .
* roasted gram with little lemon juice,salt,pepper/chat masala/onion.
* cut cucumber,onion,carrot in small pieces.roast some groundnuts in an air tight container. roast a papad (takes .5 min) first mix salt,pepper with cucumber and other cut items..then put groundnut and papad pieces in the mixture..It tastes real good.


All these are not at all time consuming and there is no oil (healthy).


Hope all this helps.

Anshu

Dear Meenloch, my suggestion will be "having a small cup of dried fruits/nuts or protein bars or cereal bars along with a glass of milk/tea or even two slices of whole grain bread with peanut butter".

I hope this helps you.

Cheers , suba

The adage "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper" for a healthy lifestyle is something that very few people follow owing to our working lifesyle.

As Subashini mentioned I always go for mini snack of nuts and raisins while returning from office so that I don't munch heavily on dinner and doze off to sleep immdediately.Trust me nuts are quite filling even if taken in small quantities.

This was (and still is) a major problem for us - with both of us working. I drink a cup of milk and eat an apple or banana or something like that, but DH does not consider that "food" I usually have some "sundals" in the fridge (made of beans like garbanzos, kidney beans, etc). You can quickly microwave this and eat it as such for a snack or even put it on a pita bread or bun for something heavier. They are very healthy, and filling too.

If you like smoothies, they are pretty jiffy to make too (I put milk, yougurt, fruits and a little sugar in a blender with some vanilla flavor). You can even add some protein powder.

I also like the Trader Joes "Indian Masala Burger" - it tastes exactly like our cutlet with some ketchup!

Hi,

Healthy evening snacks for 2,make with one cup
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The following fills our hungry stomach so that we eat limited dinner.

1).Poha snack(atukula upma)

2).Semiyar upma

3).Aata ki dosa -mix 1cup of flour with 2cups or more or less.(consistency of the batter should be like thick buttermilk which we get from american stores).

4).Fruits salad.(i make custard/pudding with 2cups milk in the weekend and keep).and mix fruits just before serving whenever we want during the weekdays.

5).Vegetable omlette( cut the veggies during weekend and keep and make veggie omlette whenever needed).

6).Idli/dosa if batter is there.freeze idli and chutney whenever possible,so that we can rinse the frozen idli and microwave for 2min.(though frozen not healthy,once in a while when i make idlis,i freeze some of them and finish within 2weeks).

7).Steam fresh corn with little salt in pressure cooker for 1 whistle and have.

.soak and keep ready any beans(garbanzo,rajma,whole moong) or their sprouts,which can just be cooked in microwave and have with spice powders(chat masala etc) and cut onions,lemon juice like chats.

9).Egg paratha(beaten eggs, and aata flour).

10). Lemon rice,mint rice,cilantro rice,capsicum rice,pulihora(which helps as early dinner and snack) and have fruits during dinner time.

11).with left over rotis/bread,i dip in beaten egg mixture(masala spiced/sweetened) and pan fry with 1/2sp oil.

I do regularly,but time and patience is important for everything,
Hope these tips help,
vaishu

Meena,

I used to undergo such situations but over came with these tips

1. After coming home I will have bournvita with fat free milk.

2. Instead of going for fried and calorie loaded snacks, I opted for fresh fruits. I used to cut fruits and refrigerate(except apple)

3. Quaker oats has come with smart snacking choices and sometimes I go for 100 calorie popcorn.

4. I will directly make idli/Dosas. Chutney will be made a day ahead.

5. Have a handful of Pottukadai/Dalia

6. 8oz of orange juice or apple juice

7. Cold/Hot cereal made with fat free milk.

Hi meenaloch,

My healthy evening snack would be butter free popcorn, dried prunes, cantalope, grapes, and some almonds.