Melba toast makes a great low calorie snack
I think one of my problems is that I'm marginally bored.
I haven't been bored for years. Years and years and years. Life has been so busy, with raising family, being the breadwinner, renovating the home, trying to maintain contact with friends and relatives, that every time there was a pause, an hour's silence, or a time to just be, rather than do, it was wonderful.
But now, there are times when there is a whole weekend with little to do except read, cook, watch TV, play internet games, phone or email friends. No elderly relatives to care for any more, kids left home long ago and only need my occasional cash, not me. Work is going through a quiet spell, the kind that happens to all freelance journalists now and then especially in a recession.
For a while, this lack of being snowed under was wonderful. But now I'm looking for things to fill the gaps that aren't housework or gardening (even that bores me at the moment). I want to feel useful. And until I figure out what it is that I should be doing that will not only be of some use, but also that I will enjoy (I'm no martyr), the tendency is to fill the gaps in my life with food or, to a lesser extent, alcohol.
I'd love to get involved with Esther Rantzen's new project for lonely older people so I might try to find out her email address. Living in a rural community with hardly any humans around for miles makes it hard to do a lot locally other than sheep-shearing.
Meanwhile, I have busied myself today, writing a list of my favourite life-saver snacks that I can eat when the urge to 'have something' gets too much. Here are the top five. They're all no more than 100 calories and mostly have at least some nutritional benefits, as well as each being enjoyable in their own distinctive ways without making you want to eat more and more and more.
Top five healthy snacks
- Two dark rye Ryvitas with Marmite on top (fibre and vitamin B). So umami it's really satisfying!
- Activia fat-free vanilla yogurt, 125g (calcium and probiotics). Incredibly creamy and delicious. Eat with a teaspoon, lasts ages.
- Kallo rice cake with smear of peanut butter on top (good fats). Filling and yummy.
- Tablespoon of cake decoration chocolate drops (10g) and tablespoon pumpkin seeds (10g) (good fats and protein). Surprising how many drops and seeds you get and how long they take to eat!
- Medium hard-boiled egg, sliced, on two pieces melba toast (protein, vitamins). Add a tad of salt - heaven! Melba toast is only 12 or 13 cals a slice.
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