Guilt Free Midnight Snacks

We’ve all been there. Laying in our beds Friday night watching Golden Girls reruns, when suddenly the clock strikes midnight! And as if we are under some type of curse, we began craving all types of junk food to go along with out tv binge. Most of the time when this happens, we are just eating because we’re bored or we see a food commercial that tricks us into thinking we are hungry. If you’re anything like me sometimes you can fight off the curse of the midnight snack and sometimes you ransack your kitchen for anything edible.

Since us college folk don’t have our parents in our apartment/dorm to tell us “you don’t need to eat this late!” It can be hard to indulge at midnight while staying discipline.

Here are a couple of snacks that you can enjoy while binge watching netflix at midnight without feeling guilt (in moderation of course).

• Frozen grapes (they taste just like candy!)
• Greek yogurt, fruit, and honey
• Whole wheat tortilla chips and salsa
• Baked sweet potato drizzled with honey
• Veggies and homemade ranch from greek yogurt
• Mini tuna or turkey and cheese whole wheat cracker sandwiches
• Butterless popcorn seasoned with garlic (or your favorite low sodium seasonings)
• Pretzel sticks
• Dark chocolate bar (75% cocoa or more)
• Sliced cucumbers and season salt
• Carrots and hummus (any vegetable goes great with hummus)
• Bowl of Kashi or any healthy brand of cereal and almond milk
• Almonds, salt-less peanuts, sunflower seeds, and or pumpkin seeds

-Lisa Lenora

Healthy Uses for Greek Yogurt

We have all been seeing and hearing about the wonders of Greek yogurt on tv and from friends. If you're anything like myself, you want to know what's all the commotion about.

Here are some of the health benefits of Greek yogurt according to usnews.com:

• Helps with the digestive system because of the probiotics it contains.
• Helps control high blood pressure because it is a source of many vitamins believed to help.
• Helps with weight management because it's high in protein and causes you to feel more full.
• Helps with bone health because it provides ton of calcium, protein, magnesium, and potassium.

Once I found out the glorious wonders of Greek yogurt I decided to look into all the ways I can use it. You can easily replace mayo with it as well as use it in these recipes:

Marinade for vegetables, seafood, and meat:

1 ½ cup of plain Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1 tablespoon of chili powder

2 tablespoon of garlic powder

2 teaspoons of Ms. Dash Seasoning

2 teaspoons of salt

Ranch dressing:

1 cup of plain Greek yogurt

1 pack of Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning

Alfredo sauce:

¾ cup of plain greek yogurt

1 ½ teaspoon of garlic powder

2 tablespoons of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter

½ cup of milk

½ cup of parmesan cheese

Honey fruit yogurt:

1 cup of plain Greek yogurt

½ cup of honey

½ cup of your favorite fruit