The Importance of Healthy Snacking Options

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Disclosure: This is a compensated post on behalf of Glam Media and Target Simply Balanced, but all the awesome banter and wit are my own!

The Crunchy family is a self-confessed former junk food family, but we have really been trying over the last few years to realize the importance of healthy snacking options. Before I dive into that, you have to understand I am a foodie. I mean a F-O-O-D-I-E, which translates to if it tastes like cardboard I am NOT going to eat it.

About 10 years ago, I was living in California and taking shots of wheat grass and eating “organic” was all the rage. One of the things that I remember vividly was that this meant everything was BLAND and/or tasted like dirt. Let’s just say that my “organic” eating phase was really short lived.

Fast forward about five years later, and I had fallen back into my junk food habits. I was chronically tired and grumpy. Because I have struggled so long with my junk food addiction, I have always fostered healthy eating habits in my kids. Junk food isn’t off limits, we just don’t keep it in the house. It’s a special treat for them to have every so often. Since my kids are foodies like me, when I was going to get them snacks for the house it had to TASTE good. They weren’t going to eat things that tasted like cardboard boxes anymore than I enjoyed it ten years ago.

My family and I are really enjoying the new food trends that focus on whole foods and/or brands with ingredients you can pronounce. With having food allergies in the house, this also helps us see what is in the food and whether it’s safe or not for the kids to eat.

Since moving to the headquarters of Target, aka Minneapolis, we have learned A LOT about the great house brands that Target has to offer. Recently, we learned about the Simply Balanced brand available at Target, and both Mommy and kids rejoiced. They have a great line of wholesome snacks that are great, and don’t taste like dirt, while still having a fun aspect to them.

My youngest daughter could LIVE on the raspberry lemonade fruit ropes and the cherry fruit peels. She has so many food allergies, it’s hard to find FUN snacks she can eat that aren’t filled with high fructose corn syrup or  filled with things she can’t eat.

My older two really like the whole grain multgrain crisps that are tuscan herb flavored. They eat them in lieu of chips and some times even throw a little schmeer of soft cheese on them for a quick bite.

I have to say that my favorite is the sunflower and flax seed crisps. It would be a total lie if I didn’t tell you that I tried these totally thinking they would taste like sandpaper, but they are really, really good. Throw some of my favorite cheese spread on them, and they make a great snack! They are especially good when you are just dying for something crunchy!

Our family has found that to beat the junk food junkies it helps to have really tasty snacks that you truly love to eat, not snacks that you think you “should” eat. That makes ALL the difference. The Simply Balanced brand offers some great snacks at a great price, most are around $2.99, and you can actually pronounce ALL of the ingredients!

Alright Crunchy peeps, what is one of your favorite healthy snacking options? Share some tips and tricks below so we can all enjoy the yummy goodness!

Take the guesswork out of eating well. Introducing Simply Balanced,a new brand from Target that’s thoughtfully crafted for taste and goodness.