Clean, Nutritious but Delicious Packaged Snacks

Here at Native Batch we believe in good nutrition. We’re also advocates for getting in the kitchen and cooking our own meals. It’s the only way to really control what’s in your food. I strive to eat in a low refined sugar, organic, non-GMO way so cooking my own food is necessary. Eating this way is also necessary due to my autoimmune issues and shingle flare ups. As we all know by now food can be healing or detrimental to our health, so learning how our body reacts to foods can be very helpful.

If anyone has chronic inflammation, autoimmune issues or anything else chronic it’s best to start off using a journal to see how certain foods react to the body. By documenting what you eat in a journal you can see what foods might cause inflammation or stomach problems. Once that’s done you can eliminate these foods. In the beginning this was challenging for me because some of the foods that I loved was giving me the most problems. I was a big snack person. So having to give up certain snacks (like chili cheese corn chips :)) took some time. I felt fine while I was eating them but it was always after where I felt inflammation in my joints and gassiness in my stomach. It soon got to be where the ten minute joy of stuffing my face with the chips wasn’t even worth it.

Packaged Snacks

Even though I prefer to cook all my meals, there are times when I just want an easy snack to eat. However there are considerations I have to be mindful of when choosing a snack. There’s the sugar, fat and gluten contents to look at, then there’s the list of ingredients with names very hard to pronounce, then ingredients disguised as being supposedly good for you but not…ahem, natural flavors. But that’s not all! There’s also things like modified corn, pea protein, coconut, yeast and peanuts I have to look out for because all these items causes digestive issues for me.

If you’re like me with a sensitive digestive system or any chronic illness, I’m pretty sure you can relate. It took me a while of research and trying different products but I finally have snack list I can go to whenever I’m in a snacking mood. And it’s listed below!

Native Batch’s List Of Clean Packaged Snacks

With school starting back up and people looking for easy packaged items to send off with the children; I figure it’s a great time to put together my list of nutritious, clean snacks that are great for even the most sensitive tummy.

Savory Snacks

Plantain Chips: I can eat a whole bag of these chips! I like the fact that they’re sliced lengthwise instead of in coins. They’re also thin and crispy.
Plantain Chips (2): Now if you prefer the coin cut version of plantain chips, these are delicious! They are a little bit thicker than the lengthwise cut version but still has a great flavor. These are perfect to dip into pesto or guacamole.
Potato Chips: I know potato chips are not the most healthy but these chips are as healthy as it gets. They are slow cooked in organic coconut oil. Coconut oil is know to be the healthiest frying oil. It’s also known to eliminate damaging bacteria and viruses. Coconut oil may also help lose belly fat.
Jovial Einkorn Crackers: These crackers come in 3 different flavors, Rosemary, Tomato & Basil and Plain. If you are not super sensitive to gluten, give these a try. Einkorn is known to be very low in gluten and has never been hybridized. These crackers are also made with sourdough starter so there’s no yeast.
Oloves Natural Pitted Olives: Olives are a great snack and these ones are amazing. There are 4 types of seasonings. I’ve tried them all! 🙂
Seasnax: I’m so crazy about these seaweed snacks! They come in different flavors such as onion, lime (my fav!), chipotle and wasabi. There’s a lot of seaweed snacks out there but I’ve found that the brand Seasnax has the cleanest ingredient list. And they’re good! I guarantee your children will like them too.

Sweet Snacks

Andean Dream Cookies: Okay…these cookies are so good! The ingredients are clean, they’re not super sweet and they come individually wrapped. I’m glad they’re wrapped that way because if they weren’t I would probably eat the whole box! The fact that they’re packaged is a little bit of a deterrent.
Nairn’s Ginger Cookies: My favorite packaged cookie is this right here. It’s the perfect amount of sweetness and the ginger gives a nice spice. This is an excellent cookie to go along with some herbal tea.
Jovial Crispy Cocoa Cookies: If you have children going back to school, they might enjoy these cookies in their lunch bag as a special treat. These cookies have a rich cocoa flavor and just the right amount of sweetness. They are made with einkorn flour, which is very low in gluten however if there is a strong gluten intolerance you might want to stay away from these.
Purely Elizabeth Original Granola: The original granola by Purely Elizabeth has a nice clean ingredient list. A little bit of this granola is great as a snack by itself or paired with yogurt. It’s also sweet enough for children to like it. A little bit can be put in a small container to go with their lunch.
Fruit Bliss Organic Plums: You would swear you’re eating a fresh plum when you bite into one of these little delights. Okay maybe I’m exaggerating but these little plums are sooo good. If you have to pack lunches these should definitely make it on your list for healthy, delicious snacks. Of course fresh fruit should always be first but this is a list about packaged snacks. 🙂 (The figs by Fruit Bliss are good as well!)

Final Thoughts

All the snacks on this list I have eaten and enjoyed with no side effects! They are all, besides the cocoa cookies (I’m staying away from cocoa for a while) in a permanent snack rotation, the savory more so than the sweet. Remember moderation is always key. Yes there are times I will finish off a whole bag of plantain chips while watching a movie but it’s not good thing to do on a regular basis. I feel this list is as healthy as it gets when it comes to packaged snacks but nothing can take the place of preparing your own snacks. In posts to come I will be putting together recipes for some very quick and easy snacks you can make yourself. They can be stored and ready to go whenever the munchies hit you.