Very low calorie snacking

I tried avoiding the in-between snacks. There are no snack foods in my house. Just ask my kids. I don't really do the snack thing. But, I have no issue with putting together an entire meal when I'm feeling noshy. I can really eat a lot if left unsupervised and emotionally compromised, which is practically all the time during menopause. (Really, who wants to be around a menopausal woman? Are there examples of sexy menopausal women? No! Do cougars on TV struggle between taking their evening primrose or taking their pool boy? NO!)

(Yes, I'm having abandonment issues at the moment...wait it out, it'll change to something else soon.)

So, a lot of times, I want something to snack on. It only recently occurred to me to find something really low calorie to keep nearby. Usually I have the Trader Joe's Just a Handful of Almonds in the individual packets. And I will eat a whole avocado. No, not part of one. The whole one. And I've always got hard-cooked eggs or Portuguese sardines packed in olive oil at the ready. But none of these snacks are conducive to the calorie cutting measures I'm supposed to be taking.

Saturday I got my shipment of vegetables from my local CSA, Fresh Edibles Farm. There were three big beautiful heads of butter leaf lettuce in the crate. I washed them up, separated the leaves, spun them in my OXO salad spinner and bagged them for the refrigerator. And forgot about them. On Monday, whilst checking the refrigerator to see if anything new and tasty had magically appeared, the bags of lettuces caught my eye. I reached in and grabbed a leaf and ate it. Cold, crisp and naked butter leaf lettuce. So freakin' tasty! And more interesting than celery.

I'm going to have to start experimenting with fillers, because these little things are perfect for dips or as a mini lettuce wrap. I'm making some roasted eggplant dip tomorrow to dip them into, about 30 calories per tablespoon for my recipe. I'll take pictures and post it on my Paleo Eats page over the weekend.

My son made some taco wraps yesterday, with just a little seasoned ground turkey, olives, cheese and salsa. Must be careful not to let the calories creep back up. Two cups of lettuces are worth just 15 calories. Munching on those is satisfying. But just like anything else, this can get out of control!

Other very low calorie snack ideas (these are not ground breaking, I just hadn't considered them before). I'm shooting for items under 40 calories, because if I just eat a little bit, then I'm still burning stored fat and can go for a longer time without eating a big meal.

Cucumber slices
Blanched greens (dandelion, amaranth, chard, collards, kale) with garlic and fish sauce
Miso soup (I just found some that's soy-free and I can't wait to try it!)
Chicken broth with lemon (good cold too)
Chopped fresh tomato with salt

I'll add to the list as I think of things, maybe post them to Paleo Eats. I always accept suggestions to post. But I have to stick to minimally processed and lower carb foods.

(By the way, after a roller coaster ride back over 300 lbs, I'm happy to share I'm back down to 297 lbs, as of today. For now. Stupid menopause!)