I am a coconut girl.
Coconut is one of the happiest smells to me. It's Hawaiian Tropic Sunscreen and days spent by the pool with my high school best friend, Mimi. It's Coconut French Toast with my husband at that little place on the beach in Maui. It's such a happy smell connected to good memories.
Last night when I was shopping in Trader Joe's I happily discovered their new snack food TJ's Roasted Coconut Chips. Sure, I expected these little white slivers to be sweet sure, but the combination of SALT and sugar roasted onto wispy slices of crunchy coconut was heavenly.
This isn't a low calorie or low fat food. It isn't. However, just a couple tablespoons of these crunchy bits are all you need to feel satisfied and since the generous bag is 2 servings, a couple tablespoons will only set you back 80 calories and 5 grams of fat. If you're in the mood for coconut and it's this versus a King Size coconut candy bar, do this.
I have a busy day of meetings today and I know that I'll be tempted to grab a blueberry muffin full of sugar and fat when I pick up a quick espresso, so this morning I mixed together 2 tablespoons of TJ's Roasted Coconut Chips + 2 tablespoons freeze-dried unsweetened strawberries + 1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa nibs to make my own delicious to-go snack mix that tops out at 150 calories. Not only is this snack unbelievably good, but each generous serving costs less than $.60 to make.
I wish you could taste this combination of crunchy + sweet + salty strawberry/coconut/chocolate combination. It's like eating Captain Crunch on the beach with a shot of chocolate.
What's your happy snack?
