I digress...back to the snacks! The first bit of advice you get when you're pregnant is to eat smaller, more frequent meals, which means more snacks rather than full meals. I have to admit this was a bit overwhelming at first since so many obvious snacks are so high in oxalate. Examples, baby carrots, potato chips, almonds. Celery with peanut butter, etc... I also had to scramble to find snack ideas on the go, for when I'm running errands or to take to work. Here a few of my favorite snacks that I've been depending on the past few months.
1) Cheese Snacks-
Yes I mentioned that I got bored with cheese above, but if you switch between cheese snacks and the other snacks I've listed below you won't get so sick of it. Recently I've come across multiple articles about how healthy cheese can be, especially string cheese (mozzarella cheese), low-fat cottage cheese, feta, parmesean, and swiss. The good news about this, three of these cheeses are IC friendly! Cheese also packs a punch of protien, which is better for energy than sugar, and will give you a longer boost. You can also easily throw string cheese in your lunchbox for a quick at-work snack. Here are some of my favorite cheese snack ideas...
-1 package string cheese (this is really mozzarella cheese which naturally has a "string-like" nature)
-1/3 cup low fat cottage cheese (make sure you buy 2% or less milkfat)
-4-6 club crackers with cheese slices (I prefer monterry jack slices or mild cheddar)
2) Crackers-
I mentioned club crackers above with the cheese slices. Crackers are a great on the go snack since they don't require refrigeration. Be careful though of preservatives or irritating ingredients in most supermarket crackers. I prefer to buy my crackers at Whole Foods, they have a great "club" cracker that has no artificial ingredients. Also be careful to avoid whole wheat flour and malted barley flour if you are sticking with the low oxalate diet. Wheat flour is ok, this is just basic white flour. Here are some ideas for cracker toppers:
-cheese slices (as mentioned above)
-tuna (from the can) plain or your favorite homemade tuna salad
-boursin (you can buy the real boursin in the store, or make your own faux-boursin spread, the recipe is at the bottom of this post)
-Sunbutter and Pear or Apple Jam (sunbutter is "peanut butter" using sunflower seeds. Peanuts are high in oxalate so sunflower seeds are a great alternative. The pear and apple pie jam available on the IC network are both wonderful)
-cream cheese with cucumber slices and a sprinkle of dill (this one is fancy!)
3) Bagels
A whole bagel is a bit too much for me for a snack, but I cut them in half and they make a great mid-morning snack. I prefer the plain, salt, or everything bagels. I usually top them with cream cheese, but you can also use butter, jam, sunbutter, or get creative and make your own cream cheese creation (like chive, or honey cream cheese). Make sure you use the cream cheese from the box, not from the tub. The "tub" cream cheese contains irritating ingredients.
4) Popcorn
This is actually high in oxalate, but you need 4 full cups to for this to be considered high. That's alot of popcorn, you really only need a handful or so for a snack, which only amounts to1-2 cups at most. Stick to a small amount, and you should still be able to get away with snacking on popcorn every so often. I buy the Whole Foods brand that only has salt added.
5) Veggies and Boursin
There are a ton of veggies that are low in oxalate (and a few that aren't) Stick with cucumber slices, red bell pepper slices, fresh broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas and snow peas. Avoid the carrot and celery sticks, these are high in oxalate. For a great dip, you can water down the faux boursin ball by adding milk 1 Tbsp at a time and mix to desired creamy consistency and you have yourself a faux ranch dip!
6) Fruit
-pear (either sliced or you can eat whole)
-Gala or Fuji apples (just make sure you remove the skin, this is high in oxalate)
-honeydew or watermelon slices (if you can tolerate-these are on the sometimes ok IC list)
-top 1/3 cup lowfat cottage cheese with any of the fruit listed above, dice the fruit so it mixes better
**Blueberries are listed as safe on the IC diet list. These are high in oxalates, so I would avoid if possible**
6) Granola Bars
I love Cascadian Farms White Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola Bars. They are organic and use all natural ingredients without preservatives. These are a great on-the-go snack since they are individually wrapped.
7) Cowboy Caviar and Pita Chips
This recipe comes from the low-oxalate cookbook and is really a lentil spread. Lentils a great for you, and are both IC safe and low-oxalate. You can buy pre-made pita chips (again I buy Whole Food brand since they use all natural ingredients) or you can make your own. I've included recipes for the cowboy caviar and homemade pita chips below.
Cowboy Caviar:
1/2 cup lentils (rinsed)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp olive or canola oil
Cover lentils with water and simmer until they are mushy, about 35-40 minutes. Add lentils to food processor along with remaining ingredients and process until smooth, this should only take a few seconds. Serve as a dip or spread.
4 pita breads, split horizontally in half
2 Tbls. olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut each pita half into 8 wedges. Arrange pita wedges evenly over a large baking sheet. Brush pitas with olive oil, then sprinkle with oregano, salt, pepper. Bake for 8 minutes, then turn over and bake until they are crisp and golden, about 8 minutes longer.
Faux Boursin Cheese Ball (Dip Variation):
1 8oz package cream cheese (use neufachel for a low-fat option) softened
1 tsp milk (and 4-8 Tbls more for dip variation)
1/4 garlic powder
3/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp onion salt
1/4 dried basil
1/4 tsp dried marjoram
1/4 black pepper (or white pepper for low-oxalate option)
1/8 tsp dried sage
Blend together the cream cheese, milk, and remaining ingredients. Mix until smooth. Add 1Tbls. milk at a time, and blend to desired dip consistency.
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