Late night easy snack ideas at home

[hyperbowler]

Frozen tamales.

[bbqboy]

You mean those chubby single ones?

[hyperbowler]

I was thinking Trader Joe’s tamales, the ones in the frozen foods aisle-- they’re 200-300 calories a tamale (2 per package) and can be nuked in 4 minutes (for dinner, I steam them on the stove for better results). They have a different brand in the fridge section that I haven’t tried.

Another snack I’ve been eating recently are rolled basil leaves— spread with a dab of butter, and filled with a slice of radish, and a sprinkle of maldon salt, Aleppo pepper (or gochucharu) or sumac. It’s pretty much the breadless version of the complimentary herb/feta/butter/pita plate at Persian restaurants.

[Ttrockwood]

That basil leaf thing sounds really delicious!!
The tamales from TJs refrigerated section are WAY better than the frozen ones, i only tried the vegetarian ones once - too much dairy to be a repeat purchase ;( but they were delicious. And you could definitely wrap and freeze. The masa had a better distinct corn flavor and there was a good amount of filling. One makes a sturdy snack, two with salad for an easy dinner

[Babette (Andrea)]

Pita chips, especially the reduced guilt multigrain from TJ’s. Or baby-cut carrots.

[sck]

@Babette

Pita chips, especially the reduced guilt multigrain from TJ’s. Or baby-cut carrots.

In fact, we already have some of those pita chips at home!

[sck]

@Ttrockwood

The tamales from TJs refrigerated section are WAY better than the frozen ones, i only tried the vegetarian ones once - too much dairy to be a repeat purchase ;( but they were delicious. And you could definitely wrap and freeze. The masa had a better distinct corn flavor and there was a good amount of filling. One makes a sturdy snack, two with salad for an easy dinner

The refrigerated ones are made in Mexico, whereas the frozen ones I recall are from USA. I agree the Mexican ones are pretty tasty. They aren’t cheap, I think almost two bucks each, similar in price to freshly made local ones. So one should expect them to be pretty good. Good to know they can be frozen. I think that’ll make a filling, savory and simple snack.

[Ttrockwood]

Aha, that explains how they are so different. The bag of fresh comes with several servings worth, so might be close in price if you bought an equivalent number of the frozen ones…? Definitely worth a try if you haven’t purchased before.

Also at TJs i’m thinking the various frozen gyoza would make a good sturdy snack. Again i have only tried the veggie ones but with a splash of soy and dribble of sesame oil they’re excellent. Just have a smaller portion as a snack. I boil them, doesn’t take long at all

[corneygirl]

Carrots, bell pepper strips or seedy crackers are all great with hummus.

[jammie (Memory)]

Minimalist approach, if you consume dairy: a mug of warm milk w/shot of your preferred condiment (I like almond syrup or a littl honey & nutmeg). The volume helps you feel full and the milk helps w/sleep & the caloric load is not bad. Drinking an hour before you expect to go to sleep also helps w/the bladder capacity issue.

[Chemicalkinetics (For the Horde!)]

Well, sometime quick cooking noodle (including, but not exclusive to instant noodle).
If there are chocolates, I will eat chocolates.
Bread and cheese if I have them around

[Ttrockwood]

Ooooh, my favorite thing to make in the winter is tea with almond milk (i can’t have dairy, but i’m sure this works with it too). I pour just 1/4c or so boiling water over my tea bag and let it steep a few min while i heat the almond milk, then add about a cup of that to the tea with a little sweeter. It’s very fragrant and comforting and takes less than five minutes to make.