Healthy snacking with Popchips!

I swear, I'm not turning this into a food blog. Yes, I've been writing a lot about food but I guess that's because I'm really getting into this whole making real food/eating better to do well in the marathon/hoping better food choices will improve my whole family's immunity.

And I'm doing it. I'm baking bread, making my own cheez-its, cooking up vitamin-packed soups. I've turned my kids into kale chip addicts and I've replaced many, many, many packaged and processed foods with homemade ones.

But, let's just get real for one minute.


I'm one person. I've got plenty going on. Yes, feeding my family well is one of my chief concerns. But, again, I'm one person. If I spend all my time making all our food from scratch, when the heck am I going to find time to anything else? 


It's just not realistic to make all of our food from scratch but I absolutely, 100% will strive to make a good portion of it.


Fortunately, I've found a new healthy option to add to the non-homemade rotation: Popchips!


I was invited to check out the new sweet potato Popchips -- a healthy snacking option. Right up my alley, you might say! 


First, the chips arrived packaged in the cutest box, all gussied-up for Valentine's Day. So cute! I decided not to wait to try them out, considering they arrived right around snack time. Which, in this house, is known as "afternoon." Oh, and, "late morning."


Yes, we snack.


Anyway . . . the boys and I ripped into the chips and they were great! My 1-year old loved them. My 4-year old wasn't totally convinced but he seemed to like them well enough. I wished I could have opened another bag just for myself by I knew I'd have to share.


Popchips earned a thumbs-up here at Chez Happy Runner! They are a relatively healthy snack -- one snack-size bag of the sweet potato chips is 100 calories, 3g of fat, 95mg sodium, 2g sugar, 1g protein. The chips are all natural and don't contain and preservatives, artificial flavors or colors. They are also gluten free and vegan.


My only complaint -- and when you read it you'll think I'm a total quibbler -- is that the bags were really difficult to open. I ended up having to cut them with scissors each time. That was a bit of a pain but just a minor complaint.


The Popchips folks also sent me some tips from Jillian Michaels to share with all of you. Jillian says . . . 

• avoid fried foods at all costs.
• eat three balanced meals a day every four hours with a snack in between lunch and dinner.  
• eat no more than 6-8 teaspoons of fats and vegetable oil per day.  choose oils that are mostly unsaturated such as olive oil.
• opt for cooking methods that use little or no fat such as steaming, grilling, baking, popping, broiling or roasting.
• purchase healthier alternatives when given a choice (popchips vs. fried chips, grilled chicken vs. fried  chicken).
• curb salty cravings with tasty snacks such as popchips, almonds or dried cranberries.

So, yay for Popchips, a great snack for when we need something salty and crunchy and I just don't have it in me to whip up something homemade.

You can read more about Popchips on their web site HERE. 

Have you tried Popchips? What do you think of them?

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Felice

Review disclosure: I was sent samples of Popchips to review. I was not otherwise compensated and the opinions expressed are entirely my own.