10 Purse-Friendly Snacks
Looking for some new snack ideas that you can throw in your purse and go? Today’s post by Jessica Cording, a dietitian based in NYC and blogger at Keeping It Real Food, shares her top purse-friendly snacks for our first Guest Bloggers’ Week!
As a registered dietitian, I encourage my patients and clients to make room for healthy snacks in their diet if they need something between meals to keep going.
When I was a dietetic intern at a sprawling NYC hospital, I learned that lab coat pockets are actually for snacks, even though they’re also a convenient place to keep pens, calculators and the like. Interns did get a lunch break, but most of us still found ourselves hungry in the mid-morning or afternoon. Even if you’re not up on your feet for long stretches, it’s totally normal to need to refuel at some point!
Without a designated workspace at which I could sit down for a break during the busy day, I learned from my classmates that stairwells and tucked-away benches make great spots to take a breather. Even now that I have a desk at the hospital where I work and a flexible schedule on the days I see private clients, I still rely on a lot of the same portable snacks I used to stash in my lab coat pockets when I’m on the go!
Here a few of my tried-and-true favorites — whether you’re grabbing a snack from your lab coat or your purse or bag.
10 Purse-Friendly Snacks
- Dry-roasted edamame, nuts and/or seeds. Add a tablespoon of dried fruit and call it trail mix. I like to pre-portion a batch out into little Ziploc bags, so I can just grab and go.
- Packets of nut or seed butter or hummus.
- Packets of instant oatmeal — grab a cup when you’re ready to eat and just add hot water.
- Fruit: bananas and oranges (anything with a peel) travel especially well.
- Grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber, baby carrots or sliced bell pepper.
- Turkey jerky (or vegetarian versions like Primal Strips).
- Bars. Look for low-sugar varieties with a short ingredients list that have at least 4 grams of fiber and protein. Larabars were a dietetic intern favorite. You can even make your own at home in a food processor using nuts and dried fruit (try this recipe!).
- A packet of ground flax/chia/hemp seeds and spices (I like cinnamon) to stir into yogurt.
- High-fiber crackers.
- Single-serving packs of olives.
Some of us even managed to make room for a bottle of water. There were almost no water fountains — what is up with that? You don’t have to get that hardcore, but again, whatever you need to do to make it work!
What healthy snacks do you throw in your bag or lab coat? —Jessica Cording