10 healthy snacks to keep you going on busy days

There’s nothing quite like being caught out hungry, when tou’re halfway through a road trip, running between appointments or have hit that familiar mid-afternoon slump when suddenly the service station chocolate aisle or nearest bakery starts looking very tempting.

A little planning can save the day — and it doesn’t mean spending Sunday afternoon making protein balls or buying a cupboard full of expensive health foods.

Some of the best snacks are the old-fashioned ones: fruit, nuts, eggs, cheese and a few other basics that are easy to throw in a bag or small cooler before you leave home.

Here are 10 worth keeping on rotation.

1. A handful of nuts

Almonds, cashews, walnuts, pistachios or a good old mixed handful are hard to beat for convenience.

Put a small portion into a container or reusable bag and you have something that travels well, requires no preparation and can live in your work or travel bag until hunger strikes.

The trick is portioning them before you leave home rather than taking the whole packet.

2. Apple and peanut butter

An apple is already one of the easiest snacks to take anywhere. Add a little peanut butter and it becomes something more substantial.

Slice the apple before leaving home and take a small container of peanut butter for dipping. A banana works just as well if that’s what’s sitting in the fruit bowl.

3. Greek yoghurt and berries

This one needs a fridge or insulated lunch bag, but takes about 30 seconds to prepare.

Spoon some Greek yoghurt into a container, add berries and perhaps a sprinkle of nuts or rolled oats.

Individual yoghurt tubs make it even easier when you’re heading out the door.

4. Hard-boiled eggs

Boil half a dozen eggs and you’ve got snacks sorted for at least a few days.

Take one or two with you, some (Celtic/Sea) salt, and you have an inexpensive snack that requires almost no thought once the eggs are cooked.

Just remember the cooler bag if you’re taking them on the road.

5. Cheese and wholegrain crackers

Cheese, crackers, done.

Add some grapes, sliced pear or cherry tomatoes if you want something a little more substantial.

It’s easy to portion, easy to pack and a handy alternative to reaching for biscuits when afternoon hunger arrives.

6. Hummus and crunchy vegetables

Carrot, cucumber, capsicum, celery and snow peas all work well here.

Cut them up beforehand, put a little hummus into a small container and you’ve got something crunchy and savoury ready to go.

Preparing enough vegetables for a couple of days at once makes this one much easier.

If not hummus, try beetroot dip, or capsicum dip.

7. Tuna and crackers

Keep a small tin or pouch of tuna (brine/water, not oil soaked tuna which is usually cheap vegetable oils) and some wholegrain crackers handy and you’ve got an instant snack that can also double as a light lunch when plans go awry.

No elaborate preparation, no recipe and, until the tuna is opened, no refrigeration required.

It’s particularly handy for road trips or keeping in a desk drawer.

8. Popcorn

Popcorn doesn’t have to involve a giant cinema bucket dripping in butter.

Plain air-popped popcorn can be made at home and divided into individual portions for the week.

It’s cheap, travels well and is particularly useful when you feel like something crunchy.

9. Fruit and a little dark chocolate

Sometimes you want chocolate. Fair enough.

Rather than demolishing a family-sized block, pack a few squares of dark chocolate with strawberries, grapes, a mandarin or whatever fruit you have handy.

You still get the chocolate hit without turning afternoon tea into an event.

10. Make your own snack box

Raid the fridge and use what you already have.

A boiled egg, a few nuts, cubes of cheese, vegetable sticks, hummus and some fruit can quickly become your own little grazing box.

Change the ingredients from day to day and it’s also a good way of using those odds and ends that otherwise tend to languish in the fridge. None of these ideas is revolutionary, and that’s probably the point.

Keep a few basics in the fridge or pantry, throw something in your bag before you leave home and you’re far less likely to find yourself hungry, kilometres from home and paying $6 for a chocolate bar at a servo.