Warning: this article will only be relatable to SCUstudents with a meal plan (and those who like to treat themselves to $13 jars of peanut butter).
Let’s face it: Benson is not the picture of perfect health. For those of us who live on campus, we are all too familiar with the Sophie’s Choice that is dinnertime: do we order the all-carb special for dinner or compile the same salad that we’ve eaten for every meal in the last three days? Neither option is appealing, as we have limited choices for lunch and dinner. But listen up kids: as a junior I have discovered the beautiful land that is The Cellar. You may have few options for healthy eating during meal times, but luckily this grocery store in the basement of Benson allows us to have a different fate during snack times. This bougie “marketplace” has some severely overpriced, yet strangely delicious snacks that don’t contain 100% of your daily Carbohydrate values in a single serving. Here’s a list to aid in your grocery shopping and snack cravings. Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I am not a registered nutritionist or dietician or any of those people who know what they are talking about. I just went through the store and found some snacks with low calorie, carb, and fat contents. Consult a nutritionist if you have questions!
1. Hard-boiled eggs. High in protein and fun to eat, this snack has it all!
2. Rhythm Superfoods Beet Chips. A great alternative to potato chips when you want something crunchy! It even has 20% of your daily fiber.
3. gimMe Roasted Seaweed. This seaweed is a great snack for when you want virtually no calories. An entire package of these bad boys has only 50 calories and almost no fat or carbs.
4. Chia Squeeze. Low-fat, low carb, and fiber galore, what more could you want? Also, you get to feel like a kid with the fun-squeeze pouches. So there’s that.
5. SO Delicious coconut milk yogurt alternative. Check out those vitamins and calcium!
6. Pistachios and Almonds snack packs. Nuts are good for you because they have protein and natural fats. Also, pistachios could not be more fun to eat IMO.
7. Mary’s Superseed Chia and Kemp crackers. A fun alternative to chips, decent amount of fiber and pretty filling.
8. Bare Baked Crunchy Apple Chips. A delicious fat free snack with 19% of your daily fiber!
9. Pita Crackers and Hummus (shoutout to my best friend, Katie, for modeling). This snack has some sodium and carbohydrates, but is super filling and has fiber and protein!
10. Buddha Bowl Popcorn. This popcorn is super delicious and is made with coconut oil rather than butter, which means it has less fat than other popcorn brands. This snack is super yummy and filling and has 18% of your daily fiber per serving!
11. Crunchy Chickpeas (hey, that’s me in the pic!). Another crunchy snack with limited fat and sodium, and a ton of fiber!
12. Brad’s Crunchy Kale. This is literally the definition of 2017 healthy eating. Like seriously, how many more vitamins can you pack into one container?
13. Crunch a ma me. A nice and salty snack that you can take on the go. An entire bag is only 90 calories and has a nice amount of fiber and protein.
14. Core Power protein milk. I know you guys are thinking: “People actually drink those??” Yes, they do! I personally like them because they are a good dessert alternative with 50% of your daily value of protein and a low fat content.
So there you have it, a small list of things to get from The Cellar when you want to snack but don’t want to be too unhealthy. Above all though, it is super important to listen to your body and its natural cravings. If you are hungry and want fruit, go ahead and eat it. If you really want something salty like chips and will just keep snacking until you eat them, just eat the chips right away. It’s so much better for your body to listen to its natural cravings and treat it well. This list is simply a suggestion, so use your own judgment when shopping. Enjoy your munchies and have fun!