Healthy Snack Plates & Marinated Mozzarella {Portion Fix/21 Day Fix}

I like to “graze” sometimes instead of having a full meal. If you like to do that too, then these ideas for healthy snack plates may be perfect for you! It is my favorite way to eat brunch at home. 

How do I plan a healthy snack plate?

Sometimes I just have a list of the containers I am going to use for my meal. For example, I will decide to have 1Y, 1B, 1R, 1G, 1O before I ever start to pull things out to put on the plate. 

This plate has 1Red container of nitrate/nitrite-free ham, 1Orange container of olives, 1/2Green container veggies, 1/2B of aged white cheddar, a teaspoon of horseradish sauce and 1Y of 6 Triscuits.

I have a post full of Yellow container information that includes how to count different foods on the Yellow food lists like crackers. 

What else can go on healthy snack plates?

I like to change up my veggies often. Cracking black pepper and sea salt over some damp mushrooms is all I need sometimes. Think “finger foods”, nothing too messy. Grapes of every color are perfect! I even like to pop my grapes in the freezer and eat them as a cold sweet treat! Almost like a bite-sized popsicle because the sugar in the grapes concentrates and they get extra sweet. 

Changing up my Yellow container is important because I hate to get bored! These pretzel sticks are counted at a Treat Swap Yellow container instead of a normal Yellow. I talk Treat Swaps in this post. My brand counts as 50+ for 1Y and 50 is a lot of crunching!! That is usually what my “grazing” is about…being able to crunchy munch. 

A little Aldi’s goat cheese sprinkled with some Everything But the Bagel seasoning goes great with all that crunchy stuff! Check out this recipe for a homemade version of that seasoning. 

Whole wheat toast points with chicken salad were the stars of this plate. 1Red container of cooked chicken mixed with my Big Mac Sauce is really good! The toast points keep it to one or two bites, so just perfect for grazing.

Sometimes I make a whole snack tray for Hubby and me to both nosh on while watching a movie on date night! He doesn’t even realize he is eating healthier.

Something new for my healthy snack plates!

Standing at the cheese counter at my grocery store one day I decided to buy some mozzarella “pearls”. 

I am a firm believer in using my containers to measure everything, so I did some research on how many pearls would fit into my Blue container and if that amount fit the criteria of our container. We have that information available in this post done by a fellow blogger and friend.

I was able to fit 23 of these pearls into my Blue container. The nutrition information for the says that 11 or 1 oz there are 70 calories and 5 grams of fat. So 22-23 of them fit perfectly in that charts numbers of 100-160 calories and 8-16 grams of fat. That is a TON of cheese! 

Then I had to decide how to use them. In the past, I have used them in a pasta salad or on a pizza. But this time I wanted them to star on a snack plate! 

 

I decided to marinate them. Olive oil, red pepper flakes, garlic, salt, and pepper added to a bag or jar and marinated at room temp for 30 minutes is all there is to it!

Check out the bonus recipe of my pesto marinated ones. They are perfect as a snack or even on a bowl of pasta! 

I even plan on using these as a holiday appetizer because of the green and red look they get! 

Eating healthy doesn’t have to mean cooking a full meal sometimes. Snacking can even help you stay on track. Just make sure to have healthy options on hand and make a plan! 

If you have some ideas for healthy snack foods leave me a note!