{"id":6203,"date":"2026-08-03T11:32:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/?p=6203"},"modified":"2026-08-03T11:32:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:32:26","slug":"get-those-chips-off-your-shoulder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/get-those-chips-off-your-shoulder\/","title":{"rendered":"Get Those Chips Off Your Shoulder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Get those chips off your shoulder and<\/em> out of your pantry. Yes, I\u2019m talking to me. I love a salty, crunchy snack. And I know that chips are a lot of calories that don\u2019t add significant nutrition. In summer, I\u2019ve sometimes struggled to get enough salt without processed foods. This summer, I\u2019ve changed my tactics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be fair, I might have kept chips as a guilty pleasure but I had to reconsider because my system can\u2019t tolerate sunflower or palm oil and olive oil chips cost $10 a bag. But I still want crunch and some salt after I garden in the mornings.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Porcelain<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The garden brought me a solution \u2013 an abundance of cucumbers. I\u2019ve given away a few and considered pickles. But fermented pickles could bring a histamine issue. After some thought, I peeled, sliced, and salted a couple. This resulted in a delightfully crispy, refreshing cucumber snacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These will last a couple of days in the refrigerator. And they stay crisp enough to use as a holder for soft cheese eliminating the need for packaged crackers. Top the cheese with herbs and you\u2019ve got an easy appetizer. Or, add a crunchy layer to your caprese salad. They\u2019re also delicious with tzatziki and hummus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I mentioned cucumber crisps to my sister, she pointed me to watermelon fries. What, you may ask, are watermelon fries? Well, first, they\u2019re not fried. They\u2019re just watermelon slices shaped like fries, placed in the freezer for 30 minutes then dusted with sea salt flakes and chili powder if desired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are a great poolside snack. Some people serve them with a dip made from coconut cream, lime, honey, vanilla and salt or drizzle them with dark chocolate to create a unique summer dessert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you can do this with watermelon, it stands to reason you can do it with honeydew or cantaloupe. A platter with all three would be a great addition to your summer BBQ as an appetizer, side, or dessert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many pluses to using fruit to add crunch and salt to your diet instead of chips. You skip other chemicals that are added to chips and crackers. You don\u2019t get that old oil taste some chips have. In fact, you skip the seed oils altogether which makes my tummy happy. The kids don\u2019t cover your chair cushions in colored dust that stains everything in its path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You also eliminate a lot of calories. And add water. Unless you\u2019re allergic, intolerant, or really hate these fruits and vegetables, there\u2019s not a downside to using them to deliver a needed electrolyte (as long as you don\u2019t overdo, of course). And this summer when produce is suspect, it\u2019s great to incorporate things you can peel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, lose the frying, the oil, the man-made chemical compounds, the coloring, the flavoring, and the plastics used to package when you get those chips off your shoulder and out of the pantry! You\u2019ll still be able to enjoy a salty crunch!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Get those chips off your shoulder and out of your pantry. Yes, I\u2019m talking to me. I love a salty, crunchy snack. And I know that chips are a lot of calories that don\u2019t add significant nutrition. In summer, I\u2019ve sometimes struggled to get enough salt without processed foods. This summer, I\u2019ve changed my tactics. … Continue reading “Get Those Chips Off Your Shoulder”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[792,9],"tags":[4073,4072,4074,4076,4075],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6203"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6203"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6206,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6203\/revisions\/6206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}