We all have those moments, don’t we – that point in between meals when you get the munchies big time but don’t want to cook or prepare food. For some people its elevenses - a little something to tide you over to lunchtime. In our house, the problem area is three o’clock when the children first get home from school but it’s too soon for tea. And I know more than a few mums that curl up with a snack or two (and a glass of wine) later at night, in front of the television (yes, you, I’m watching…..)
The problem with these snacks is you are unlikely to think of healthy eating principles before you reach for them. Oh no, you want something now, sweet or savoury , whichever is your preference, but it has to be tasty, and healthy foods often don’t quite cut it, or else they are too fiddly and take too much preparing.
In our house we are very fond of a savoury snack or two – particularly crisps or salted nuts. So I was really pleased to receive a box of Special K new cracker crisps to review.
They come in a box which is very similar in size to a Special K cereal box. I think this is clever as it reinforces the notion of a trusted brand. There are also individual bags like crisps, if (like me) you need a bit more portion control.
The ‘crackers’ are round in shape, made of potato and wheat and come in three flavours: sea salt and balsamic vinegar, sweet chili, and sour cream and chive. We were given sweet chili to try, which would probably have been the least popular among my children, but we love to try new healthy snacks in any flavour.
The children dived in greedily, as did I. The crackers were full of flavour, and very moreish. I say ‘were’ because unfortunately the box only lasted about ten minutes in our house, and then all the crackers were gone.
I did have a quick look at the box before it went into recycling and was very pleased to note that the crackers had 95 calories and 3% fat for a small bagful – that compares very favourably on all counts with crisps, although I would say that the crackers are not quite as filling as a typical bag of crisps.
I also think that our family would need to buy bags in future, as the three of us had no difficulty finishing the boxful in one session, which kind of ruins the whole low calorie idea !
However, in the time since we finished them ( a few days ago) my children have been clamouring for me to track these snacks down and get hold of the other two flavours (or even some more chili if that is all they have got). They are apparently available in all major supermarkets now, so I’m off to check out the crisp aisle.
I’m really pleased to find something that nods in the direction of healthy eating, but still attracts my children. OK it’s not a portion of fresh fruit and vegetables, but it does leave them room to eat their teatime veggies, and not fill them to the brim so they don’t want the fresh food. We will certainly be having these again.
Disclosure: We received one free box of cracker crisps to review (and I’m sorry there are none left to share with you)
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