I haven’t compiled a Friday FIVE in a while, so today I’m going to share five food-related tips and products that have helped me eat in a healthier way.

I keep these in a bin in my pantry and can easily grab one if I’m headed out the door or want to sit with a good book and read or scroll social media for 10 minutes. For me, NUT JARS are a great (healthier) snacking solution.

Here’s an affiliate link on Amazon for a set of 12 jars like the ones I use, but any small jar or container will work.

ONE. Nut Jars

I LOVE nuts. All kinds—and I eat them as snacks, but I have noticed that I can reach too often into my pantry and into the big glass jars with nuts and trail mix and consume compact nutrition (think calories) than I really want to. One day back in 2017 I wondered “what if” I could reach for smaller jars and the concept of NUT JARS was born. These particular jars are the perfect size to hold 250 to 300 calories of nuts (I’ve measured and counted!) so 60-ish Pistachio nuts, 18-20 Cashews, 10-ish Macadamia nuts or any other combination.

TWO. Brown Rice

I ADORE brown rice—especially the nutty, chewy kind and I looked for a long time to find just the right brand, flavor and texture. This is it. The brand is Lundberg and the variety is Jubilee. I discovered this at a local supermarket back in 2013, but I have a hard time finding it locally now, so I just order 6 bags at a time on Amazon. Then I cook up a whole bag in my Instant Pot —done in like 12 minutes. I let it cool and scoop it out into small glass containers that I keep in my outside fridge door. I LOVE to combine 4 to 6 oz. of this cooked rice for lunch with a little butter or MCT oil, some cooked protein—or even better homemade bacon bits—and a few chopped cashews. Then I eat it with a salad. It’s also a great snack if you mix in a tablespoon of almond butter and a teaspoon of pure maple syrup. I know. Sounds weird, but I’m telling you— So YUMMY.

THREE. Califia Almond Milk

This is by FAR my favorite almond milk. It tastes fabulous and does NOT contain any carrageenan, which is an additive/preservative in most non-dairy milks and some creams that can be inflammatory for many people. Here’s the thing to know. You probably won’t find this in the dairy section with the other almond milk brands. It will most likely be in a refrigerator case in the organic or health-food section of your market. The extra cool thing is you can purchase it cold and fresh, or you can purchase it on Amazon as a shelf-stable version, which I love to keep in my food storage!

The Califia brain is packed with calcium (430 mg) and has 1 to 4 grams of carbohydrate, depending on the variety you purchase. Dairy milk generally has 12 to 14 grams of carbohydrate per serving and around 300 mg of calcium. The vanilla is AWESOME. Sometimes I treat myself to a small glass—especially if I’m eating one of these cookies. Otherwise, I just use this in my smoothies and to bake with.

FOUR. Folio Cheese Wraps

I first saw these in a display box in the deli section of my local Costco. I don’t eat gluten/bread, so anytime I see something that I can use to hold my protein and veggies I’m intrigued. I have also been trying to eat fewer carbs in general, so I decided to give these a try—I was instantly sold and returned for more, but they were no where to be found. I checked back at least four more times and FINALLY, I found them restocked, but this time there were four boxes in the deli. Clearly I was not the only Costco shopper who was delighted with Folios Cheese Wraps.

Ok, so what is a cheese wrap? It is just as it sounds—a very thin (lightly baked) sheet of cheese—I like the parmesan best—that you can wrap around stuff, like chicken, spinach, liverwurst (liverwurst is a childhood thing for me and I actually really like it), and anything you can think of. If you’ve tried these and have a favorite way of eating them, leave me a comment and let me know!

FIVE. FAGE Plain Yogurt

For whatever reason, yogurt is one of those foods that we like to think is “healthy” but there are SO MANY yogurts today—marketed as breakfast foods or even as desserts—that have 30+ grams of carbohydrate for 4 oz of yogurt. It’s kinda CRAZY. But, yogurt can be a great way to get needed probiotics IF you’re careful about the rest of the ingredients.

I have learned that I don’t tolerate dairy milk or ice cream very well, but I do LOVE full fat yogurt, like this one from FAGE. At least once a week I make a yogurt parfait with this yogurt, fresh blueberries, homemade nutty granola and a squirt of liquid stevia. It’s delicious and has staying power in terms of seeing me through the morning.

There is more information like this in Episode 38 of my podcast.

Just promise me you won’t forget that YOU are worth nourishing. You don’t have to be perfect with your food choices, but you can make small changes. We NEED you around (and healthy) for a long time, so that you can tell more delicious stories!