Smiley Face + Vegan

Low Calorie Cereal Recipe

Low calorie cereal is easy to make. I know you want to buy it - but it tastes much better to make it........

Healthy Apple Crisp Recipe **VIDEO**

This healthy apple crisp recipe is THE dessert of fall. It only uses one apple!....

Make This Delicious Brownie And Eat It Every Day Guilt Free

Snack Girl's survey on Friday gave me some great information! One suggestion was a makeover for brownies.

Taking Cauliflower To A New Level

For me, the challenge with cauliflower is making it taste like something. Bland food is simply not enjoyable to eat and I want to enjoy my food!

Kale Chips: Believe The Hype

Kale is getting a lot of press and finding its way on all the top blogs. I had to ask this kale to stop on the red carpet to photograph it....

How To Make Dark Chocolate Last Forever

Drizzle: to pour in a fine stream. Drizzle is a super cool word because you can hear it....

Take On The Prickly Fruit: In Season and Super Sweet

Pineapples are in season right now and costing about $2 each in my neck of the woods. YUM!...

The Skinny on Bagel Thins

Thomas' has managed to put two words together that spend most of their time apart - "bagel" and "thin". Nobody is getting thin eating bagels, trust me.

Want To Have It All? Try This Trick For Healthy Ice Cream

This photo is not going to win any awards. It is hard to shoot anything resembling ice cream because it melts!...

Give The Healthiest Vegetable on The Planet Some Love

Yes! You know the vegetable that I am referring to - KALE. Kale is on every list for "healthiest vegetable".

Make Your Own Whole Wheat Tortillas - So Yummy!

See that tortilla up there? I made it! And, yes, I am proud of myself....

Eight Exciting Things To Do With Bananas

When people meet me for the first time, what do you think they ask me? Where did you get your nails done?....

The Healthiest and Easiest Breakfast (Bye-Bye Breakfast Cereal)

Cereal is the most amazingly simple breakfast to serve. All you do is pour from a box....

Looking For A Low Cal Burger? Give This Yummy, Simple, and Vegan Burger A Shot

I recently noticed that my favorite brew pub has a VEGGIE burger on its menu. Yes, we have shifted a bit when it comes to our burger consumption....

Sunshine in Your Fridge: Grapefruit Made Less Sour

Do you know when citrus fruits are in season? The one bright spot of the winter growing season is that NOW is the best time for fresh oranges and grapefruits....

Peanut Butter Lovers: A 45 Calorie Solution That Will Save Your Waistline

Snack Girl features peanut butter A LOT. I happen to love the stuff and I use it almost every day....

Broccoli With Peanut Sauce Is For Everyone (Even The Broccoli Haters)

Raise your hand if you like steamed broccoli with nothing on it! One, two.....TWO of you :)....

The Unthinkable: A Christmas Salad

Snack Girl will not apologize for her continued healthy holiday search. Today's entry: The Christmas Salad.

Vegan, Luxurious, Hot......Chocolate

Snack Girl finds that most hot chocolate mixes are missing something important. They lack the most important flavor of all....

Need Umami? Try Using Mushrooms Instead of Meat

When you think of foods that will help you replace red meat in your diet, what comes to your mind? Obviously, not celery....

A Nutty Solution To Holiday Snacking

Looking for a way to make it through the holidays without adding to your muffin top? I know I am....

The Healthiest and Tastiest Potato Chip In The World

What if you could make FAT-FREE crispy chips in your microwave? Wouldn't that solve all of your problems?...

Love Late Night Desserts? Try This Healthy Version of Creme Brulee

For Snack Girl, there are two food groups that derail her mostly healthy eating efforts: alcohol and desserts. Don't you DARE mix the two together....

Turn A Healthy Food That You Hate Into A New Love

How many of you out there hate Brussels Sprouts? I bet you are really looking forward to them on your Thanksgiving table....

Wow Your Friends With The World's Simplest Cookie Recipe

Do you love cookies but hate the work that goes into making them? My least favorite part is the clean up of the kitchen. argh....

A Fantastic Snack From A Scary Place

You guys been anywhere scary lately? How about Costco where all your money seems to get scared out of your wallet?....

Love Salted Chocolate Caramels? Try This Healthy Candy Alternative

No one is ever going to accuse Snack Girl of not loving a WEE bit of chocolate. But, my taste bud credentials have been called into question....

Embrace Fall With This Pumpkin Themed Skinny Drink

Some people think fall has arrived when the leaves start changing and apples become abundant. Others know it is here with the arrival of the pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks....

Looking For A Healthy Halloween Candy Option? Problem Solved!

Last year, Snack Girl jumped into the healthy "candy" arena with a post that angered my readers....

Dress Your Oatmeal Up For Halloween

Are you going to go out and buy a costume for Halloween? How about your oatmeal? Is it going to have a costume?....

A Delicious Almost Zero Calorie Snack (Really!)

When you look at those mushrooms up there do you think they are covered in olive oil? Yes?...

Dress Up Your Apple Slices With Cookie Dough Dip

Bored with the same old apple and peanut butter? Love to eat cookie dough out of the bowl?....

Who Else Lost Their Virginity This Month?

See those lovely jars of apple butter? Snack Girl made them in a fit of unbridled domesticity....

This Muffin Can Save Your Life

I know what you are thinking. How can a muffin save a life? Don't we usually use things like electrified paddles?....

Better Than Real Eggs

Going vegan seems like a big trend right now as we look at our calorie intake and our environmental impact. I never thought eggs were such a big deal because nothing was slaughtered to get them....

Got Fruit On The Edge? Don't Toss It - Try This

Snack Girl is a sucker for "buy one get one free" and she finds herself stocking up on perishables. Not a smart move since these perishables tend to rot before my family eats them....

One More Thing To Do With Watermelon

Snack Girl has been obsessed with watermelon. My fridge seems always to have half a watermelon staring out at me....

A Lower Calorie Pistachio For Your Snack Consumption

Nuts are a great snack and Snack Girl advocates for them everyday. Light to carry, packed with nutrients, and satisfying, pistachios are a perfect snack....

Fall In Love With A New Whole Grain

The comfort zone of American cuisine is meat, potatoes, and a wee bit of vegetables. When it comes to whole grains, we are sadly lacking....

Chill Out With Some Watermelon Tomato Soup

You see that leaf of basil up there? I wish that was ME! Why? Because it is 100F, and that soup is COLD....

A Refreshingly Sweet Zero Calorie Beverage With No Artificial Sweetener

When did you all start to drink Diet Coke? For Snack Girl, it was high school and I thought the stuff was awesome!

Coconut Milk Ice Cream Sandwiches from So Delicious

Yes, folks, it is FRIDAY and time to give away some ice cream to a lucky reader. Where I am located it is HOT and STICKY. I usually advocate for homemade popsicles but today is different...

Think Like A Vegan And Make Jicama Slaw

Snack Girl listens to her readers and recently one (Danny) asked me to feature jicama. So, I decided to see if I could find it and figure out what to do with it....

Why Watermelon Makes Us Feel Good

Snack Girl is chomping on watermelon and loving it. A hot day, a slice of watermelon, and watermelon juice all over the place. This is summer!...

A Fruit You Just Gotta Try

Something green and yummy is sitting right now in your supermarket and it will make your taste buds sing. This fruit resembles a tomato and is a staple of Mexican cuisine...

Lighter, Fluffier Trail Mix

Trail mix is for taking on your hike. Anyone been on a hike lately? No? Me, neither....

Sweet Corn Is A Stellar Snack

Don't tell me you haven't noticed the piles of corn at the front of your local grocery store. The stacks of 10 ears for $2 are calling Snack Girl....

A Tasty Low Calorie Bar With 50% of Your Daily Fiber

Snack Girl wishes that she liked packaged bars. Most of them are reaching for a nutrition halo that they simply don't deserve....

Whole Grain, Homemade Chip: Goodbye Potato Chips!

Chips, why do we love you so? Is it the crunchiness? The saltiness? or the just plain deliciousness....

Skip The Ice Cream: Grill Your Dessert

Summertime is happenin' and I am SURROUNDED by ice cream stands. What is it about the middle of nowhere that leads to the proliferation of ice cream stands?....

How To Make A Healthy Cake Pop

Snack Girl is a mother of a first grader who is now reading. Yesterday, she decided to read the newspaper where there was a feature on something called "Cake Pops"....

Wow Your Friends This Memorial Day With Salad Sticks

If it would just STOP raining, Snack Girl would get excited about Memorial Day weekend. Click your heels together and repeat after me, "My children will not watch twenty hours of TV over Memorial Day weekend."....

Vegan Cupcakes Have Taken Over The World

Shhhh....don't tell ANYONE (except all of your friends). Chocolate cupcakes can be delicious without any.....

Suppress Your Appetite Without Drugs

Snack Girl receives desperate e-mails almost every day from people who are hungry and don't want to eat. Frankly, I never know what to say....

The Problem With Trail Mix Solved

Trail mix should be the perfect snack. It is portable and will stay fresh in your backpack for hours!....

Who Else Wants Restaurant Quality Indian Food Without The Calories?

Snack Girl LOVES Indian food and would eat it more except for a few things. Let me list them for you: cream, butter, and oil....

Lime, Salt, Ice, and Heidi Swanson (Giveaway)

Spring is here and Snack Girl is revving up her blender. My neighbors are a bit annoyed :)...

A Healthy Packaged Snack For Your Lunch Box

If your kids are like mine, they love packaged things above fresh things. Why?....

Veggie Burgers Can Be Better Than Meat Burgers (Seriously)

Snack Girl has been looking for a packaged veggie burger to endorse as a great snack. And, she hasn't found one :(...

Get Your Spring On With This Vegetable

Last year, Snack Girl featured one of her FAVORITE Spring vegetables and no one read my post. No, I won't give up....

The BEST Post Workout Snack

Whether you do yoga, walk, spin, bike, run, or swim, you usually get hungry after activity. Many people reach for energy bars such as PowerBar, but with a little creativity, you can do a WHOLE lot better....

A Grab 'N Go Breakfast With ZERO Added Sugar (and you will love it)

Anybody else sick of packaged cereal bars? But, they are just SO easy and fast....

A Cookie Without Dairy or Egg (It is STILL Delicious!)

If you read Snack Girl enough, you know that I like a challenge. I had seen vegan cookies at cafes and thought, "no butter, no eggs, equals a disgusting cookie"....

Give Me Three Ingredients and I'll Give You Amazing Salsa

If you are like me (and, hopefully, you are not), you can't create recipes on the fly. Snack Girl is mired in lists when she goes to the grocery store....

Sugar Free Gum Without Artificial Sweeteners or Colors? It Exists!

Sugar free gum is a great tool for helping you lose weight. AND, chewing a piece of gum (instead of a cookie) can help you relieve stress....

Try This: Vegan Toast

Guess what I didn't use on my toast this morning?....

See How Easily You Can Turn Cauliflower Into An Awesome Snack

Wouldn't it be cool if the snack aisle of your supermarket had bags of delicious cauliflower? Alas, you are going to have to break out your kitchen knife and make your own.

This Green Smoothie Does NOT Taste Like Grass

Snack Girl has had MANY readers tell her to try "green" smoothies. Well, before last Tuesday, I had one word for them - YUCK!...

This Is Not Your Mother's Rice Krispie Treat

Snack Girl has been working on a "new" Rice Krispie treat for a while now. First, I had to change the name....

Never Eat Fast Food French Fries Again

Yes, you can do it! You can give up your beloved french fries and celebrate their exit from your life.....

Green Thing...You Make My Heart Sing

Green thing, I think I love you. Your arrival in my neighborhood Stop-&-Shop means SPRING is coming soon....

Try This Healthy Pie.....Naked

Here at Snack Girl headquarters clothing is optional (for the 4 and under set). This is also true of our pies....

Save Money, Your Waistline, And The World By Making Your Own Cereal

Okay, maybe I have gotten a bit dramatic with this title. But, you HAVE to try making your own cereal....

My Friends Use To Laugh At Me...And THEN I Made This Broccoli Recipe

Do you think Snack Girl is done trying to convince you to eat broccoli? I will NEVER give up (really)....

Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas - So Ridiculously Easy

Back in November, I wrote a post about healthy tortillas (A Healthy Tortilla). A reader who commented on that post changed my world....

Healthy Homemade Bread in Five Minutes A Day

Let's face it - homemade bread rocks.....

A Magical and Healthy Packaged Snack

Snack Girl has a confession to make. She has begun to receive MANY snack samples in the mail....

Need Some Intense Dark Twilight Delight?

Since this is a family blog, you KNOW I am talking about dark chocolate. Snack Girl was cruising through the candy aisle when she found these....

Transform Broccoli Into a Food the ENTIRE Family Will Eat

Snack Girl KNOWS about the broccoli haters of the world. And she wants to change their minds....

What To Do With Lots of Celery?

After the success of last week's pickled carrots post, I thought it would be fun to talk about celery....

Makeover Kettle Corn Into "Can Do" Corn

Kettle corn has that perfect combination of crunchy, salty, and sweet that keeps you eating it long after you should stop....

How To Avoid Wasting Carrots

Do you hate limp carrots? Do you buy a bag of carrots only to find that half of them are rotten by the time you get to eat them?...

Make Winter Warmer With Apple and Peanut Butter Oatmeal

Are you bored with your oatmeal? Let's give it a makeover!....

Don't Forget This Classic

Out of fresh fruit? Can't make it to the store?...

Lessons From a Coconut

I was driving my minivan packed with soccer kids, drinking a pina colada.....when I woke up....

Give the Gift of A Healthy Snack (Your Friends Won't Even Know Its Healthy!)

Looking for that perfect gift for that special someone? Put down your credit card and rev up your food processor.

Last Minute T-Day Side or Healthy Snack

Kill it on Turkey day with a fresh side that goes with everything, takes 10 minutes to make, and will WOW your guests....

Saving The Brussels Sprouts

Any of you Snack Girl readers hate Brussels Sprouts? I bet you are really looking forward to them on your Thanksgiving table....

Pretzels Can Make You Dance (Giveaway)

It is Friday and Snack Girl is READY for the weekend. Here at the homestead we have a Friday night dance party consisting of tunes by the Village People....

Replace Mayo With This Healthy Spread

Seems like it is time to take on mayonnaise. I love the stuff, but when you start adding it to sandwiches, the calories sky rocket...

Can A New Drink Change Your Life?

Recently, a reader sent me a strange message about Almond Breeze. She wrote that it had CHANGED HER LIFE!...

Healthy Banana Pudding from Jack LaLanne

Before Jillian Michaels, Jane Fonda, and Zumba there was Jack LaLanne. He presented fitness and exercise advice on TV for 34 years!...

Don't Toss These Out!

Who likes to feel like their hands are in worm guts? You? The slimy inside of a pumpkin is a SCARY place....

How To Make Healthy Nachos

I know what you are thinking. The words "healthy" and "nachos" do not belong together in a sentence. But, Snack Girl has been sent a new product that has changed her mind....

Got Apples? Try This Awesome Healthy Snack

If you read this website, you BETTER have apples in your fridge (or I'm gonna buy you some :) This is it people - apple season!...

Chocolate Pumpkin Protein Bars - YUM!

You would expect that a food blog called Lilveggiepatch.com would be set in a rural spot like Athens, GA....

Healthy Halloween Candy

Snack Girl visited her neighborhood Target this weekend and found Halloween candy stacked to the rafters. So, I decided I would beat out all the other healthy eating blogs on October's favorite topic - candy....

Skinny Italian Tomato Snack Recipe

Skinny Italian seems like an oxymoron. Can you eat pasta by the tons and still be skinny?...

A Cherry Tomato Salad For Summer

My farm share just gave us the go ahead to pick AS MANY cherry tomatoes as we want! Is that crazy?....

Sugar Free Jam In Seconds (No Artificial Sweetener!)

This was my breakfast this morning! Snack Girl had to show off her recent innovation inspired by Freezer Jam For Dummies....

Freezer Jam For Dummies

Freezer jam was absolute mystery to Snack Girl until a few weeks ago. I had never even heard of it until readers commented on How To Pick A Healthy Jam or Jelly....

A Beet Recipe For Beet Haters

Why do people hate beets? Maybe grandmothers forced beets on to poor defenseless grand children. Or they haven't had tried fresh beets!...

A Breakfast Cereal You Can Feel Good About

Back in March, I wrote Candy or Breakfast? Evaluate Your Cereal and since then I have been on a search for cereals that pass my, "Healthy or Crappy Cereal Test" (patent pending :)...

Kale Chips

There are bunches of kale ready to eat in someone's garden right now. What are you going to do with it all?...

A Nutritious, Nutty, and Chocolately 100 Calorie Snack

It is not easy to combine the words "chocolate" and "100 calories" in the same sentence. While Dark Chocolate is nutritious, you have to be careful with the quantities....

How To Prevent Cancer

Cancer is a tough disease to prevent. It exists in many forms and there is no vaccine....

Turn Your Dull Toast into a Terrific Snack

What can you spread on your toast that will help guard against high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke? Butter, right?...

63 Calories of Salty, Sweet, Sour, Spicy and Veggie Goodness for a Dime

After writing about Parmesan Corn Recipe, I felt bad about adulterating corn into a high calorie food. Parmesan Corn Recipe is a GREAT snack, but not the best choice for us who are watching our weight....

Potato Chip CRUNCH For One Calorie

Fresh produce is rolling into supermarkets and farmer's markets all around the country. June is a fantastic month for healthy eating and these little jewels jumped into my car....

DIY Popsicles: A Happy, Healthy Snack

Summer is here, baby! My town hit 87 degrees and I was hot. Fortunately, I had just made some of these delicious treats for the website....

What The World Eats (Cheap and Healthy)

Many poor people in the United States don't buy fresh fruits and vegetables because they are expensive relative to processed foods. I agree that a $1 hamburger will fill you up much more than a $1 apple (and, yes, they can cost that much)....

A Little Ranch Dressing Isn't Gonna Kill Ya

Raw vegetables are probably the healthiest food that you can eat. Low in calories, high in vitamins and fiber, it is hard to go wrong. Why don't we eat more of them?...

When It Heats Up Try This Simple Zero Calorie Drink

There is usually just one small step from ordinary to elegant. I know that sounds optimistic, but sometimes just a little change makes ALL the difference.

A Chocolate Shake With Only 116 Cals

As the weather gets warm, we want to reach for something cold. How about a chocolate shake? Most of us need to drop the ice cream from this indulgence and it isn't hard if you own a blender....

DIY Microwave Popcorn: Healthy, Yummy, and CHEAP

Popcorn is a whole grain snack that is really low in calories and has that great crunch we crave. But, the packaged stuff in the supermarket is expensive and can be high in sodium....