Staying Happy and Healthy in the Hot Weather

BY: Donicia Cook

Food is your body's fuel. The food you put into your body is so important, especially when working towards your fitness goals. As the heat of summer rolls in, it is beneficial to all to try and incorporate healthy snacking into their diets.

The word “snack” has such a negative connotation in our society. It is mostly thought of as a way to cheat on diets and treat ourselves, but snacking plays an essential role in our daily nutrition. Snacks can provide us with a quick energy boost, can prevent binge eating, they can help the body recover from exercise, and so much more.

Here are a list of healthy summer snacks you can incorporate into your lifestyle this summer!

Chocolate Peanut butter banana bites

This frozen banana, chocolate, and peanut butter treat is a perfect quick snack for warm weather and for on-the-go bites. All you need is fresh bananas, peanut butter, dark chocolate, and coconut oil!

Peel and slice bananas into rounds about 1/4 inch thick.

Line a platter or small baking sheet with parchment paper. Place about 1/2 teaspoon of peanut butter on a banana slice and top with another banana slice to make a little banana peanut butter sandwich. Keep doing this until all banana slices are used and you have about 30 bites. Place bites on two parchment lined platters or plates and place in the freezer to harden for about 1 hour.

Once banana bites have been in the freezer for over an hour, melt your chocolate by adding chocolate and coconut oil to a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, stir and microwave in additional 30 second increments until chocolate is completely melted. This shouldn’t take more than 2 minutes of microwave time

Once chocolate is melted, remove one platter of your frozen banana bites from the freezer. Dip each frozen banana bite into the melted chocolate so that half of each bite is coated. You can coat the full bite with chocolate, but you’ll need more chocolate chips if you want to do this.

Place chocolate covered bites back on the parchment lined platter. Place back in freezer to harden up, grab your second platter and continue until all the bites have been dipped. Let both platters of chocolate covered bites harden in the freezer for about 15 minutes.

At this point you’re ready to enjoy or you can transfer the bites into a freezer safe storage container for later. They should last a least 1-2 months in the freezer.

When you store the banana bites for a longer period of time, they can get pretty hard so you’ll want to take them out the freezer and let them thaw for about 5 minutes before eating

Smoothie bowls

Smoothie bowls are perfect for summer. They are vibrant in color, delicious and nutritious, and are more fun than a regular smoothie. Try this Blue Majick smoothie bowl. It gets its vibrant blue color from blue spirulina, which is great for the immune system!

Add 2 cups fresh or frozen coconut meat, 1-2 cups of coconut milk, 2 full scoops of E3live Blue Majik, 1-2 tablespoons of cacao powder (optional), pinch of vanilla bean powder, pinch of cinnamon, and 1-2 tablespoons of agave to a blender

Pour in bowl and top with your favorite veggies

Strawberry Fro-yo Bites

If you’re looking for a fun diy snack for the week, look no further! Strawberry Fro-Yo Bites are the perfect sweet treat that is good for you and so fun to make. Can’t go wrong with Strawberries, honey, and some Greek yogurt.

Add strawberries and honey into a food processor and mix until a puree forms. You will need about ¼ cup puree for this recipe. Save any leftover for later use.

Mix together puree and yogurt in a bowl and scoop mixture into a piping bag.

Pipe out tiny dollops of yogurt on the lined pan, about 1 inch in diameter. Freeze for about 1 hour and serve!

“Summer” Rolls

Vegetable spring rolls are a great summer snack that is also fulfilling. These are great for when in between meals, but you don’t want anything heavy. They also make a great side for lunch or dinner.

To make the peanut sauce, whisk together peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, chili garlic sauce and ginger in a small bowl. Whisk in 2-3 tablespoons water until desired consistency is reached; set aside.

Working one at a time, wet rice paper for 10-15 seconds and transfer to a work surface. Place lettuce, basil, mint and cilantro in the center of each wrapper; top with carrots, cabbage, bell pepper, cucumber and avocado; season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Bring the bottom edge of the wrap tightly over the filling and then folding in the sides, rolling from bottom to top until the top of the sheet is reached, being careful not to tear the rice paper; cover with damp paper towels. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.

Serve immediately with peanut sauce.

Watermelon Ice

Watermelon is a summer classic, but here’s how to turn it into a fun drink. Just freeze some watermelon slices and pop it in the blender for a fun and healthy shushie!

Place the watermelon, lime juice and zest into a food processor /blender and blend until smooth.

Transfer the mixture to a shallow, freezable container and place in freezer.

After two hours, gently scrape the top layer with a spoon. Once you get to the unfrozen mixture pop it back in the freezer. Repeat after another 2 hours.

Freeze until solid (around 6 hours depending on surface area of container)

Scrape with a spoon and serve

Blueberry Fro-Yo popsicle

Every hot summer day needs a good popsicle to help cool down. This Blueberry Yogurt Popsicle is only four ingredients, but packed with flavor for a hot day.

Heat the blueberries and honey together in a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer several minutes until the blueberries start to burst and release their juices. Mash them a little with a fork leaving some berries whole. Remove from heat and cool.

Whisk the yogurt and milk together in a bowl. Use just enough milk to thin the yogurt out to a pourable consistency.

Gently fold the cooled blueberry mixture into the yogurt. To retain a swirly pattern, do not mix it too much (otherwise it will turn purple).

Pour the mixture into popsicle molds. Place popsicle sticks into the molds, cover, and freeze for a few hours or overnight until solid. Alternatively, if you don’t have popsicle molds, you can use small paper cups.

To unmold, dip the popsicle molds in warm water and then pull the popsicles out.

Air fried banana chips

Your air fryer isn’t just for chicken nuggets and pizza rolls! Banana Chips are healthy and are a great alternative to greasy tortilla chips. Salsa, guac, and hummus are a great pairing with these air fryer delights!

Preheat your air fryer to 350F for 5 minutes.

Slice the bananas into thin slices, about ¼ inch thick.

Place the banana slices in a bowl and cover with olive oil. Mix until combined.

Place the banana slices in a single layer in the air fryer. Work in batches if need be.

Sprinkle the banana slices with kosher salt.

Air fry for 8-10 minutes at 350F, flipping halfway through, until bananas are lightly browned and crispy.

Remove from the air fryer and let cool on a baking sheet or cooling rack

Repeat with remaining bananas.

Zucchini Fries

Fries are a delicacy, but can be greasy and bad for you. These Zucchini fries are a perfect alternative for snacking with friends this summer. Just sprinkle a little parm on top and pop them in the oven and you’ve got yourself a great “fry.”

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a cooling rack with nonstick spray and place on a baking sheet; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine Parmesan, thyme, oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper, to taste.

Place zucchini onto prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan mixture. Place into oven and bake until tender, about 15 minutes. Then broil for 2-3 minutes, or until crisp and golden brown.

Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.

Chia Seed Pudding

Chia seeds are loaded with antioxidants and nutrients and are anti-inflammatory. Ditch regular old pudding this summer and opt for this delicious and healthy treat.

Pour the chia seeds, vanilla almond milk and honey into a large bowl. You’ll notice the chia seed will float to the top

Stir the chia seeds with the liquid and sweetener and then let settle for a couple minutes.

Stir again until you see no clumping at the top or bottom and it look like all the seeds are floating evenly.

Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight. It will form a pudding like texture when it’s set.

Credit: Instagram @alyssa_therecipecritic

Frosted Lemonade

Lemonade is one of the most refreshing drinks for the summer, but is often packed with refined sugars. This healthy frosted lemonade is healthy and has everything we love about lemonade and then some.

Chill water with ice cubes for several minutes.

Pour lemon juice, sugar, and 1/3 cup COLD water (no ice) into a blender. Blend until sugar dissolves.

Add ice cream to the blender. Blend until combined. Divide into 3 cups. Serve immediately. Enjoy with a spoon or straw.