Woman in Real Life

Happy Wednesday! Summer is here and that means time spent on beaches, in parks, on golf courses and just simply resting your butt in a lawn chair whenever you get the chance. All that time chilling means you need a bunch of easy, portable snacks to throw in your tote bag as you prepare to head out the door.

This What I Ate Wednesday, I have a few such snack suggestions for you.


Recently, I received another lovely box of gluten-free, healthy goodies from Snackbox by Food.ee. Located in Vancouver, BC, Snackbox delivers a new, carefully curated box of snacks across Canada each month.

I find it just so exciting opening a box of unknown snacks. Maybe that seems odd if you're not so food-crazy as me? The June Snackbox revealed a stash of wonderful snacks, including some old favourites and some new finds.


For special treats, I always love Surf Sweets natural candy and Santa Cruz Organic canned beverages. There was another Kind natural whole nut and fruit bar as well, made from ingredients you can see and pronounce. And I was happy to find a package of YumEarth Organics Vitamin C Pops. Sure, you would think I would give those to the kids - and yes I gave them some - but I like to suck on them when a sugar craving hits. It keeps me from going for bigger snacks with even more sugar!

New to me was Brothers All Natural Strawberry Banana Crisps. This tasty snack is simply freeze-dried fruits - there's one whole banana and about four strawberries in each package. All of the fruit's vitamins, minerals and fibre are retained during the freeze-drying process. It's a sweet and tasty little snack, free of allergens such as nuts, gluten, dairy and soy. I also enjoyed InkaChips plantain chips, Pirate's Booty Veggie Puffs and Kopali Organics dried mango. They are all tasty, healthy snacks that I would pop in my purse as I head to the beach or a soccer game.


The May Snackbox had included some SeaSnax. My son loved them. He ate most of the package himself. So, we were pleased to find SeaSnax in the June box too. They appeared the same, except for the small "Wasabi!" written at the top. Watch as he samples this new treat:



Yes, these SeaSnax are hot! And yet strangely addictive, as they say. I don't even like hot stuff, but these snacks have a nice flavour and the heat doesn't stick with you for long.


The June Snackbox also included Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts. I am sure many of you are now familiar with these. They are a highly concentrated balance of proteins, fats, vitamins and enzymes, and they are awesome for sprinkling on cereal and oatmeal.


At the risk of going on too long, I have to tell you about these Coconut Cream Bliss Balls. I really should have taken a picture of this treat out of the package, but once I bit into it, I just kept eating. Actually, I offered my husband half, because these delicious chocolate/coconut treats are pretty high in fat. But worth it!


And now for the other foods I have enjoyed this week. Sunday on my vegan menu plan was "Husband Cooking" day as usual. He made a pasta sauce, which we enjoyed on rigatoni pasta, along with roasted asparagus and rapini.


I didn't do any planning for Canada Day on Monday. So, I had to improvise. I made vegan chocolate chip cookies and added some red sprinkles on the top. Not sophisticated, but it did the trick for the kids.


As for Tuesday's day of eats, with the whole family home for the summer, we have been sleeping in a bit lately. So, breakfast tends to be toast and peanut butter. I had gnocchi and tomato sauce for lunch (with steamed broccoli on the side) and forgot to take a picture.

Dinner was this quick stir-fry of frozen veggies and edamame, cubed tofu and kamut udon noodles. I used a bottled sesame teriyaki sauce for flavour. I'm afraid I didn't make the Huli Huli Tofu that my menu plan called for. With the heat and the lazy days, I don't always (maybe ever?) feel like cooking.

I have to head out to the store today to stock up on fruits, greens and veggies. That way we can put together simple salads and fruit and veggie platters for snacking on.

Have you changed your cooking habits to suit the season? Do you have a favourite snack to grab on the go?

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*I was provided with products for review purposes. The opinions are my own.