Picture this: It’s Sunday night and you’ve recently realized just how much work you ignored this weekend while you were getting your heart broken by our feline football team in Michigan. You’re slaving away in your living room or the library – and by “slaving,” I mean procrastinating – and hunger strikes. Rather than pick up that bag of potato chips or package of Oreos, try one of these easy snacks I love to make at home. You can prepare ahead of time and then take them to go, or enjoy right away!

Spiced chickpeas

Truth be told, for the longest time I thought chickpeas were only good for falafel and hummus. I don’t think I had ever even seen them served whole. So you can imagine my surprise when I happened upon a great recipe for this crispy snack! A handful of these chickpeas will not only satisfy your craving for salt but also tickle your taste buds with those exciting flavors you may be missing in your everyday snacking. Although it takes about an hour of baking time, the preparation is super quick and you can use the cook time for productive studying. You’ll end up with a delicious reward quicker than you think!

Ingredients:

• 1 15-ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon lemon zest
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Toss chickpeas with paprika and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium-sized bowl, and spread out on a cooking sheet.

3.  In a second, smaller bowl, mix garlic, thyme and lemon zest with the remaining olive oil and set aside.

4.  Bake the chickpeas for 40 minutes or until crispy.

5.  Drizzle garlic, thyme and lemon dressing over the chickpeas, and bake for 10 more minutes.

6.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Banana chips

If you’re like me and you carry around a ton of stuff in your backpack everyday, a raw banana usually ends up pretty squished by the time you’re ready to eat it. Solution? Banana chips! A little more durable than their original form, these crunchy chips aren’t overly sweet but still provide that classic banana taste we all love.

Ingredients:

• As few or as many bananas as you want (I usually use 2 or 3)
• 1 lemon

1.  Preheat over to 200 degrees.

2.  Slice bananas into 1/4 inch rounds.

3.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper and spread banana slices on sheet.

4.  Brush lemon juice over banana slices and place baking sheet in the oven.

5.  Bake bananas for 1 hour to 1 hour and 45 minutes (depending on how crunchy you want your chips).

6.  Remove from the oven to let chips cool and harden over night.

Herbal popcorn

This is hands down my favorite homemade snack. I’ve always been a huge popcorn fan – no movie viewing is complete without it – but I’ve never been able to justify the massive amount of butter the friendly cinema employees slather on when popping my own. That said, plain popcorn definitely leaves something to be desired. So where’s the happy medium? Well, I won’t rehash my post from last week about the wonders of spicing, but herbs and seasonings are a great way to jazz up your popcorn without the added calories and fats.

In my opinion, skillet-popped popcorn always tastes better than the microwaveable stuff, and it’s much easier to control what your eating rather than taking a chance on preservatives or fake flavoring. So here’s what I do:

1.  Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 3 kernels of unpopped popcorn in a medium skillet, cover and place over a medium-high heat.

2.  Once the kernels pop, pour another 1/3 cup of kernels into the pan and re-cover.

3.  As the kernels begin to pop, shake the skillet back and forth for a more even heating.

4.  When kernels are no longer popping, remove from heat and allow to cool.

Once the popcorn has been popped, there’s no specific recipe for seasoning it. With this in mind, I’d say that any spice you’re a fan of is fair game. Personally, though, I do like to stick to certain flavor profiles. When I’ve in the mood for savory, I like to use garlic powder, the famous Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute and a dash of salt. If I’m looking for sweet, I’ll toss the popcorn with a little bit of cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar.

Although none of these snacks will write your paper or finish your problem set for you, they’ll at least provide a little pick-me-up to your all-nighter. Everyone knows you can’t function without food, so do yourself a favor and give in to that hunger strike. That paper will get done eventually.