What's in a Healthy Snack? (Dedicated)
Well, America is a lover of snacks. We have decided to come up with some snacks for America to try different things, and hopefully like them.
We are beginning to think differently outside of the world of potato chips as a snack. We want to stay away from the traditional snack foods of the potato chips and pretzels, anything puffed, and anything fried. The new, millennial, generation has opened their minds outside of that world. Many more options have appeared where customers are looking at fruits as snacks, and dairy products as snacks, and vegetables as snacks.
In the branding of Sarah's Snacks, we are reaching people that are looking to eliminate things from their diet and get to "a cleaner approach" to their food. Meaning, less chemical additives, less artificial flavors, and little or no preservatives. We use ingredients that an average person can understand and not require a translator for a chemical name. Many people are looking for that in their food and many food manufacturers are now going to that approach for their new products that are developed.
Sarah’s Snacks began as a granola company called Nuts About Granola 10 years ago. That was helped, back then, when people were beginning to look for things that were "natural," the natural food snacks, with the word ‘natural’ on the label. That is where we started. As time went on, we realized that Americans are branching out and they want new ideas and new concepts with a healthier makeup of their food. So, we took our previous granola recipe and we reformulated it to be better products in flavor, in their nutrition profiles, in taste, and in appearance. So, we changed a number of our basic flavors. We have now created some newer items as well based on trends. Customers are looking for more spice on their fruits and nuts.
A History Of Selling Healthy Snack Food
Sarah is my partner and co-founder in the business. Also, she is my daughter. Together, our message is that we are inspiring mindful snacking. We want people to think about what they're eating and enjoy what they put in their mouths. So, we aim to make our snacks are healthy and flavorful. You should not feel guilty at all about eating them. You should enjoy eating them and think about ways to use them in new recipes.
The world we live in today, which is a very fast paced, has many people that only eat one meal a day. Otherwise, meals are comprised of multiple small snacks throughout the day. So, what is going to fit into my lifestyle? Snacks are convenient to eat. Can I eat it in my car? Can I pack it in my lunchbox? Second, is it balanced like a meal is in that it has carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Therefore, you are not going to be hungry an hour later. Sarah’s Snacks has digestibility. It has a complex carbohydrate.
A slower digestion of the fats and the proteins translates to slower absorption in the stomach. In our bags including banana maple or the nut and seed blends, it's that slower digestion that makes food healthy. If you're an active person then eating slow absorption food is good all day and night. In the evening, for example, if you go to work until, 5, 6, 7 o'clock and then you go to the gym. Then you come home and it's after 8:00, unwind for a little while your body is actively chewing up calories then natural foods are what you need to eat. You can't really set a time to eat balanced meal. If you're actually going to have a snack and then literally brush your teeth and go to bed, you don't want something heavy. You just want something that is going to take away that hunger throughout the night.
Eating is always fine if the food is natural and unprocessed. A good workout at any time of the day will line up perfectly with eating natural foods. This applies perfectly to a very low-intensity workout with something like yoga. Timing counts more when doing a strength-conditioning regimen. You should always eat after your workout because that's when your body is going to be hungry and you have to replenish all the protein. I wouldn't say calories, but, your body has to refuel and after the workout is the optimum time. It can be difficult to eat a balanced meal before going on a 5K run on the streets or on a treadmill for 40 minutes.
What I can tell you about myself is I like to exercise in the morning. One thing I like to do is swim. So, my routine would be to wake up, have some fluids, coffee, or water. Not juice because I need something to hydrate. You are always dehydrated when you wake up. Then I usually have some kind of snack, less than 200 calories, just enough to get metabolism primed and then I'll go do my workout. It makes a world of difference when I do that versus when I don't do that. I can tell. I feel like I'm dead in the water if I don't eat something small before getting in the pool. So, it does make a difference.
We are going to talk about some of the specific products from Sarah’s Snacks. The Original Nut and Seed have no grains at all. It is basically seeds, nuts, and dried fruit, and instead of sugar we use honey, vanilla, and cinnamon. The raisins that we use are fruits and contain carbohydrates. The Banana Maple and the Chocolate Chia has some honey. Not a lot, but it has honey. The Banana Maple has bananas. It has dried bananas. it has a drum dried banana that is also in that product and it has maple syrup. So, you have the carbohydrates from that and it also has flax.
Honey is a very subtle sweetener. It's not overpowering of the natural taste and you can get it in many snack mixes. There's no candy in it. There's no M&M'S. No chocolate chips. You see a lot of snack mixes that contain that element. There is no nuts that are coated in sugar. There's none of that. It's just the sweetness from it is from the dried fruits. In the Original Nut and Seed, it's really the raisins and the honey that gives it a sweet flavor. So, it's not overpowering. As a matter of fact, when customers ask about it, I tell them that this is not a sweet product. So, if you want sweet snacks, you are not going to like this.
Our peanut butter products have a stronger taste of so that you can taste the peanuts. In the ginger, I feel you have that vanilla and you get that ginger flavor versus the sugar. So, you will taste the sweetness but it's not overpowering. A lot of times products are designed to deliver that first flavor of sweetness when you put it in your mouth. You are either going to sense the salt or you're going to sense the sweet. We are trying to go with more spices and herbs. The Jamaican Jerk uses a vegetable blend and cayenne pepper. The curry's is curry with a dash of honey. As you continue to chew the product, the flavors start to emerge in your mouth.
When I go for breakfast, I apply my nutrition science training. For breakfast, my goal is to keep it simple with some of the Original Nut and Seed in a bowl mixed in with a banana and a scoop of almond butter. That is a delicious breakfast. Non-traditional, but It's very filling. Sometimes, I will eat a salad for breakfast. I might have half an avocado and a hard-boiled egg. Each option is very filling.
Words By Gayle L of Ask The Dietitian
Written By Matthew Baron of Gourmet Nuts And Dried Fruit