Snack on This

February is National Snack Month. Always loved snacks, however, they didn't always love me back especially as I grew older. Oh, how sweet were my college days of Moms chocolate chip cookie care packages and the Santarpios Pizza in Boston (saved up my work study money to periodically indulge).

My Dad loved peanuts and kept his favorite Planter's Peanuts stash in a special kitchen cabinet. This was his snack of choice. He enjoyed summer weekend afternoons sitting on the front porch glider, listening to the baseball game on his transistor and munching nuts. That porch became a neighborhood hangout. People would walk up and down the street and stop in, sit on the front stoop to chat or enjoy some of my Moms famous iced tea in "iced tea" glasses with a sprig of fresh mint plucked straight out of the garden.

It's really about the crunch for many people when they think of snacks--chips, pretzels, popcorn, nuts, etc. Nuts, chips, pretzels are usually what come to mind.

I like the idea of these food plates or boards (fancier term). A little of this and a little of that. My children seem to have preferred when items were cut in bitesize pieces and stored in containers in the refrigerator for easy eating.

They also ate  an enormous quantity of whole apples, pears, bananas and oranges (the clerk at the local grocery store asked me once if I had a farm). 

Snacks can be a good way to fill in nutritional gaps, satisfy your hunger. and give an extra energy boost.