Easy healthy snack or meal..

I do this as a snack pretty often... Anyone else make and eat the snack "ants on a log" as a kid? Well, I sure did in pre-school! (celery sticks filled with peanut butter and raisins as "ants" on top)

But here’s an ‘adult’ version that I think tastes better, and is definitely healthier:

Fresh celery sticks

Fresh-ground almond butter (peanutbutter made with almonds– you’ll need a good food processor to grind it to a paste)

dried figs, cut into small pieces

Almonds have a much healthier assortment of fatty acids than peanuts do, and if you have a good food processor, take the non-roasted almonds (non-heated products keep the good types of fatty acids intact), Just add 400g and a teaspoon of salt and blend for a long time until peanut-butter consistency.

Secondly, using figs rather than raisens is better, because they are much higher in fiber (so having enough fiber, and water, swells in the stomach and makes you feel much more full than just the nearly pure-sugar raisens on top). The good fats from the almonds also send signals to the brain telling you that you're satiated and don't want to eat more, so it makes it easier not to snack extra when you have a reasonable amount of good fatty acids in the food, too.

This this batch size above, and with a plentiful spread of almond butter (60g) onto 4 huge celery sticks (235g), and 70g of figs, comes out to a large-feeling meal, which provides 20 g protein, 45 g carb, and 30 g of good quality lipids, 225g water, and 15 g fiber. Delicious and keeps me feeling full for longer than any other meal or snack (when in smaller portions)