As spring finally gets underway, people still have those same old cravings. Spring is a time where the weather starts to change and staying refreshed and hydrated is something that everyone tries to do. As someone who cares about trying to attain that “summer body” that everyone still wants, you have to remember to satisfy those cravings with healthy snacks and beverages. However, with the temperature rising I understand that those cravings can become more and more prevalent. There is not much more of an introduction that this topic really needs, so without further ado let’s get this underway.
So the first snack in the spring that I feel every single person enjoys is a simple smoothie. I mean come on who doesn’t like smoothies. It satisfies both hunger and thirst at the same time. It really is hard to beat that. The best part about smoothies is the simple versatility as well. You can mix any two fruits with so many different juice bases, milk, or water and it will most likely come out fantastic.The first smoothie recipe that I think is the absolute best for satisfying both the sweet tooth and hunger is the simple strawberry banana with a milk base. It is so simple yet so satisfying to the taste buds. The best part is that even separate both of these smoothies are good. What do I mean by that you may be asking? I mean that you can make just strawberry smoothies, and just banana smoothies! You can use juice, milk, or water as the base and it will be good every single time. Also, get this! If you don’t like strawberries or bananas, you can even use fruits like blueberries, cherries, raspberries and so much more! If you like all of them, then you can even make a smoothie with all of the fruits you want! As you can see I am extremely passionate about a good smoothie. You would be surprised how many different fruit combinations blended together in milk, water, or some type of juice would taste. Its also low calorie and refreshing! Also, you can even put protein powder in it if you’d really like! Come on now, how can you not read this and start salivating for a smoothie. Also if you would like you can add some low fat yogurt to the smoothie, which will make it more dense and keep it low calorie at the same time. I personally like to use almond milk, but if you are really worried about the calories you can just use water. I have only used orange juice so I cannot really say much on the other juices, but I have really never had a bad experience with a smoothie so I am going to assume it would be awesome in just about any combination, and so should you. And get this, you can even add spinach to the smoothies. This will also keep it low calorie but fill you up more. A mango and spinach smoothie is an awesome way to satisfy sweet cravings and keep you in a caloric defecit.
Alright, enough of this smoothie talk. Now it’s time to get into some refreshing snacks for the spring that will keep you hydrated and satisfied. The first snack on the menu is avocado hummus. This will keep you and any friends satisfied, while maintaining a good diet. A great part about this is that it can feed multiple people easily. The recipe for this is 1 (15 ounce) can no-salt-added chickpeas, 1 ripe avocado, halved and pitted, 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, ¼ cup tahini, ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, ¼ cup lemon juice, 1 clove garlic, 1 teaspoon ground cumin½ teaspoon salt. So it really is not that hard to make and if you keep it refrigerated it can stay good for quite a while. This is just one good healthy option that goes along with the season. This next one is kind of interesting. It is not something that you may see everywhere you go. I mean honestly I have only seen this done once, and it is a fruit kabob. Yes, you did read that right. I am talking about a stick that has fruit on it. In my opinion, the most refreshing and healthy snacks in the spring consist of some sort of fruit. And what is more fun than fruit on a stick? Like literally it is fruit on a stick. Realistically you can put any kind of fruit that you want to on the stick, but here is a recommended recipe for a combination that is known to go well together. You need 4 strawberries, 1 clementine, peeled, ½ mango, cut into 8 pieces, 1 kiwifruit, peeled and quartered, ⅓ cup blueberries, 4 red seedless grapes. And you guessed it, the last ingredient is quite literally a stick. It’s refreshing, it’s fun, there’s really not much more to be said about it to be honest. I am trying to keep you guys on your toes by giving you some recipes or snacks that you may have never heard of, but here is a simple one that is known to be extremely healthy. This is strawberries and cottage cheese. You will never guess the recipe to this one. It is literally strawberries and cottage cheese. It sounds boring but it is actually quite tasty, refreshing and extremely low calorie. It is also so easy to make it takes less than 2 minutes to put together. Another quick and easy one is carrots and ranch dressing. This one takes me all the way back to the sandbox, as a kid I used to love this snack. It’s so easy to make and so tasty, don’t forget that your mom will be happy with you because you’re eating your veggies. Another simple snack for warmer weather is frozen fruits. You can either buy the fruits and freeze them yourself or you can buy them pre frozen. There’s so much that you can do, and the fruits being frozen keep you refreshed and cool. As you can see there is a common trend with most of these, and that is most of the recipes contain none other than fruit. Lastly though I must mention the most refreshing snack of them all. Can you guess it? It is… watermelon. I feel like I built that up for no reason. But come on now, have you ever been sweating profusely and felt so dehydrated then proceeded to bite into a big juicy slice of watermelon? You can quite literally feel all the nutrients rushing through your body. I would compare it to being revived and coming back to life. That is how awesome a simple slice of watermelon is on a hot day. Simply fantastic.
Well guys I hope you enjoyed this week’s vlog on refreshing and hydrating treats for the summer. Always remember the best way to keep your body healthy is to stay hydrated. Drink lots of water, with lime, cucumber or lemon if you want to spice things up and enjoy the season!
