Healthy Snacking With SmartEats

Two days ago, when the doorbell rang, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a sample box of snacks from SmartEats, a company that promotes healthy snacking. This was a review pack kindly coordinated by the fabulous health blogger Sangeeta Khanna who cooks up some awesome posts on her blog. She is also the nutritionist at SmartEats.

One thing is for sure – I may not be a regular snacker (yeah, gotta watch that shapely butt) – but I do enjoy tasting stuff and then trying the recipe. Especially when it is labeled healthy.

I consider myself very lucky to have grown up in a family where everyone cooked – including the men. And they were amazingly creative. Snacks were a regular feature, and of course they were home made and healthy. My Grandmother was a great cook and my Mom inherited that touch. Buying ready to eat stuff was unheard of. If a biscuit packet came into the house, it was from a visitor. Can you imagine my biggest fantasy was to eat a full pack of glucose biscuits? Forbidden treats. They were not encouraged at home because they were considered empty calories, which was true.

But then, our homemade stuff was so tasty we didn’t miss outside stuff. Also, there was always a variety. We had healthy eating habits. We would finish dinner at 6 pm and be in bed by 9 pm. Those who had hunger pangs before bedtime were allowed a glass of milk. Day time snacks also included fresh fruits and dry fruits. No wonder we never put on weight.

So anyway, intrigued by the concept of healthy snacking, we checked out the contents of the SmartEats box. My son helpfully reminded me to take photos, lest I forget. (Thank you, Vidur). Here’s the box:

Nicely packed. Neatly arranged in strong individual labeled pouches. Some were zip-locked, some did not need to be.

SmartEats advertise themselves as “Smart Choice for Healthier You!”

Here’s what I received in the box:

Yummy Jaipuri Mixture
A roasted, not fried, mix of delicious and healthy lentils, seeds, grams and peanuts

Walnut Brownie Biscotti
A whole wheat brownie with flavors of dark chocolate and walnuts

Magic Masala Roasted Nuts
A lightly spiced power snack of almonds and cashews. Almonds skin helps prevent cancer. This snack is a great source of good fats and minerals.

Fruity Cashew Caribbean Cookies
A healthy whole wheat cookie with crinchie bites of cashews, a good source of healthy heart Oleic acid and real fruits.

Festival Fruits
A blend of specially dehydrated fruit with all the micro nutrients intact.

Fruity Granola Bar
A crunchy chewy bar enriched with goodness of oats, honey and fruits

Talk about a powerful six-pack eh?

My experience and review of SmartEats

If there’s one thing I really love about my folks, it is their enthusiasm in digging into something new. So we did.  Here’s what we enjoyed.

Vidur just loved this Walnut Brownie Biscotti. It is a good thing neither Sury nor I are crazy about these. I’ve never enjoyed hard biscuits. So he’s pretty happy about having to finish it.

Next, we tried the Fruity Cashew Caribbean Cookies. Individually packed, these were soft and chewy. Yum. I liked that they were not sweet.

We opened the Fruity Granola Bar next. These were also individually packed. I liked that. May as well taste it, we thought, on a roll. It tasted good. To me it was coconut-y, but maybe that’s just me. Would make a good snack on the go.

It was close to dinner time and we decided to pack it up and resume the tasting session the next day.

Fast forward to the next day and post-lunch saw us opening the next two packs. First, we opened the Festival Fruits pack. The assortment was yummy. I recognized pieces of grapes and apples. Personally I prefer plain dried fruits but my folks enjoyed the sweetened bits.

Sury loved the masala nuts. Again, I prefer plain almonds and stopped at tasting them. The rest of us loved them. Plain almonds are my regular healthy snacking go-to, on days when I have to stave off hunger.

Wait – there’s one more pack right? Jaipuri mixture. I haven’t opened it yet as we had enough today. The thing is, Vidur usually has no time to snack and Sury does not prefer to eat between meals. I am thankful to them for being such sports and helping me with the review.

I love the concept of healthy snacking. The ingredients in SmartEats are all nutritious. Seeing that Sangeeta was the nutritionist helped, as her recipes are fantastic.

All the snacks tasted good.

I liked that none of the sweet snacks were overly sweet.

This snack box is a great idea.

I confess though, that I prefer homemade snacks if I had to snack. I am gratified that I enjoy cooking and my folks consider me a good cook.

Would I buy the box? Yes. It is a nice occasional treat and would make a lovely gift.

SmartEats’ concept is novel.  Their goal is to promote healthy snacking and they conveniently home deliver these.

Here’s what they are offering:

Healthy snacks that taste great
All natural & wholesome food
Nutritionist approved
New recipes every month
Box full of snacks for Rs.399 per month
Free Shipping

Here is what they promise:

• All natural with zero artificial flavor, fragrance, color or preservative
• Healthy fats and ZERO Trans Fat which means food with balanced calories and good fats
• Low glycemic index  – eat safely without worrying about a surge in blood glucose or insulin to help maintain a good metabolism
• Natural Preservation – cooking, baking or dehydrating the snacks in such a way as to keep it fresh for a month.
• Natural antioxidant rich snacks using fruits to keep it healthy and flavorful.
• Nutritious mix of carbs, proteins, fats, vitamins with healthy calories

To learn more about SmartEats, please visit their website.

Do I recommend them? Yes.

Disclosure: I received one review pack from SmartEats, thanks to Sangeeta

I am linking up with the lovely Unknown Mami who hosts Sundays In My City. Let’s travel the world together.

My Sis Vanita Cyril who rocks WordPress blog design is hosting a wonderful giveaway at the gorgeous Rae Buchanan’s blog, Lola Trading Charms. Please head over to read “Handmade Jewelry Girls Will Love” and enter – and make a little girl feel precious! Giveaway is easy to enter and ends on November 16, 2013

Click pic to go to Giveaway

Question for you

Do you enjoy snacking?

What are your favorite go-to snacks?

Please share in the comments!

♥