I know it and you know it: that feeling of guilt that comes associated with the munchies every time we reach out for a Mars bar. The good news is that you can have the munchies and eat them too! It doesn’t have to be super greasy or super sweet for you to satisfy your munchie cravings. Throw away the Mars bar and have a look at these healthy snack ideas to smash the munchies.
We’re all guilty of it: reaching for the cookies or the chocolate bar when we have the munchies. But if you’re a frequent cannabis user NOT looking to gain weight, this can be dangerous! Imagine what would happen if you ate potato chips every time you smoked weed… Not to mention the health deterioration that could happen at the hands of a “bad munchies” diet – which totally conflicts with cannabis use!
But how! How can you stay away from chocolate cake when your taste buds are salivating after smoking an epic joint? It seems like the impossible task when put like that… but albeit challenging, it is entirely possible to enjoy healthy food when you’re stoned. By the way, this has nothing to do with calorie counting. You can crush the munchies without packing on the kilos and without causing future heart problems! But first you must read this article!
1. Smooth out the munchies with stoner smoothies!
I have to say that smoothies are my personal favourites when it comes to attacking the munchies. When it’s time to satisfy those sweet cravings, it’s best to do it quickly – and that’s why smoothies are ideal.
They are so easy to make and you can put basically anything you love inside them. When the munchies come hard, there’s not really any time to mix up a cake batter and wait a couple of hours for it to bake. But a smoothie only takes two minutes to prepare.
If you’re wondering if ice cream goes inside, the answer is no! Remember that this is a healthy smoothie. For a base, you can use bananas, avocados, coconut yogurt or almond milk. After that, you can add your favourite fruits or seeds. To sweeten, you can add honey.
My favourite stoner smoothie consists of coconut yogurt, bananas, turmeric, black pepper and honey. It all goes in the blender and voila. You have yourself what’s basically a meal – and it’s healthy! Plus, smoothies go down easily and smoothie-ly after a joint! If you want some inspiration for creating your own stoner smoothie, here’s a list of ingredients I love to put in smoothies:
- Almond Milk or coconut yogurt as a base
- Chia seeds, hemp seeds, goji berries or maca – because superfoods are super!
- Strawberries, blackberries or cherries – ah! Berries are nature’s sweetener!
- Mint, turmeric, cardamom or basil – herbs don’t just add interesting flavours, but are full of health benefits!
2. The fruit bowl
Oh, how refreshing it is to devour a bowl of fruit when you are high! It’s like something in your body is dancing when you eat a juicy pineapple while you’re stoned. In fact, eating fruit while your high is one of the perfect snacks because it is extremely hydrating! It’s like killing two birds with one stone – satisfying the munchies and getting rid of the dries. And perhaps even better, did you know that combining mangoes with cannabis use can actually increase the high?
If it’s a particularly strong case of the munchies, you can throw granola and/or yogurt on the top, giving it some extra weight. If you’re a sweet tooth, throw honey over the top.
Related post
3. Homemade nut bars
I remember discovering how to make a homemade nut bar when I had nothing lying around except for a few ingredients. They are incredibly easy to create, incredibly delicious and they last for a long time. Plus, you will love to eat them when you’re not high, too!
All you have to do is put some cacao nibs, peanuts/walnuts/almonds (depending on your preference), and brown sugar in a frying pan. If you like, you can put a small amount of butter in at the beginning, but it’s not really necessary.
When I first made them, I was using sugar cane crystals – but they aren’t available everywhere. If you can’t get access to sugar cane crystals, just use brown sugar. Add half a teaspoon of water to moisten everything and get it to stick together. You’ll notice that the cacao nibs kind of start to melt, and the sugar makes everything stick together. This forms the basis of your nut bar.
After that, it’s your creative freedom! You can add whatever you like in there for flavour. If you have some dried fruits or sesame seeds, they can go in there too! If you’re into herbs, you can use pink salt or turmeric, making super healthy nut bars. The sugar will bind your nuts and cacao nibs together, and everything else will add goodness and flavour.
It only needs to be in the frying pan for a couple of minutes to melt the sugar and get everything all sticky. Once that’s done, remove it from the heat. You can eat it straight away if you like, or you can store it in the fridge. It will harden into something like a nut bar that you can package and store!
4. For peanut butter lovers…
There are many peanut butter lovers (or addicts) out there, so let’s not leave peanut butter out of the healthy-snack-equation. There is nothing unhealthy about peanut butter if you make your own! Did you know that all you have to do to make your own homemade peanut butter is put the peanuts (without skins) in the blender? The oils inside will make the butter naturally oily, and if you really want it to be a little oilier you can add a little bit more. Then, you can just add a little bit of salt to taste!
Once you’ve got your own homemade peanut butter, you can use it on multigrain bread or you can even use it as dip. People swear by smearing peanut butter on celery or carrots, which makes it more palatable if you have cottonmouth from smoking weed! You can even smear it on your homemade nut bars… That would be completely nutty!
5. Brown sugar sesame popcorn
If you make your own popcorn at home, you don’t have to drown it in litres of butter like they do at the movies. You can even use oil, making it way less detrimental to your health. But popcorn doesn’t have so much nutritional value, which is why you can add some things to it to make it a healthier snack, at the very least.
Try throwing brown sugar, sesame seeds and paprika onto your popcorn. They will be some kind of sweet and sour popcorns! You can use maple syrup in place of brown sugar if you wish, but don’t use too much. Remember that the point is to be eating healthy snacks!
6. Guacamole!
Holy guacamole! I don’t think it’s possible there’s anyone on this planet that doesn’t like guacamole, right? Avocados are like god-fruit! They are extremely good for you, and just the kinds of fats that your body (and cannabis) love.
Did you know that cannabinoids bind to the fats in your body? For that reason, avocados and weed go hand in hand. It’s so easy to make holy guacamole – two smashed avocados, two diced tomatoes, half a diced onion, the juice of one lemon, and a pinch of salt and pepper. You can use it as dip with carrots or celery, or you can be a little bit naughty and use organic corn chips to dip with.
7. Roasted salt-and-vinegar chickpeas
So maybe it’s a little bit more than the munchies. Sometimes it’s like that. Maybe it’s that time of the month, or maybe it’s just a really severe case of the munchies. If this is the case, popcorn might just not cut it. But maybe you’re craving a bowl of creamy pasta that’s going to put you straight to bed with a churning stomach. Don’t do it! If you want to enjoy something a little bit heavier, you can try roasting some chickpeas.
To perfectly roast chickpeas, preheat the oven to 230°C (450 °F). Make sure the chickpeas aren’t still extremely wet. Toss them in a bowl with some olive oil, and then spread them out over a baking tray and put them in the oven for 30-40 minutes. They should be slightly browned and deliciously crunchy when they are ready!
After roasting, I suggest using salt and vinegar to season them because, well, it’s delicious! But you can use anything you like as seasoning. If you want them to be pizza flavoured, try sprinkling them with oregano, salt and paprika. If you want them to be milder, you can toast some sesame seeds with some salt and throw that over the top. Chickpeas love to be seasoned and make the base of a heavier, healthy snack.
8. Kale chips
You might just stop eating potato chips all together when you discover how easy it is to make kale chips! They are delicious – they are vegan and they are totally addictive! Oh, and they are super easy to make. Cut up some kale into bite size pieces and lay them out in a baking tray. Make sure you’ve preheated your oven to 200°C. All you have to do is bake them for 10-15 minutes until the edges go brown. But don’t burn them!
If you want to add some flavour, add salt, paprika, sesame and black pepper. You can use nutritional yeast or curry powder too. Ideally, you’d season your kale chips before you put them in the oven. Use your imagination! If you want to add some oiliness, use melted coconut oil or avocado oil while they are in the oven. Easy, delicious and extremely healthy!
Have fun creating with all of these suggestions for healthy snacks when you’ve got the munchies. The munchies doesn’t have to be a fight with the chocolate bar or the chocolate cake! It can be an opportunity to get completely creative with food and to build your repertoire in the kitchen.
