Herbed Cream Cheese and Walnut Spread

Ok, so this one is yummy and a great alternative to your typical “ranch” dressing with your veggies. I’m a huge believer of eating a small snack in between meals so you don’t overeat at your meal because you were starving…but sometimes it's hard to find new and healthy snacks! This Herbed Cream Cheese and Walnut spread will go great with celery, but I have started to add additional raw veggies like carrots, cucumbers, fresh peppers and cauliflower to mix it up a bit! Or, eat it with crackers. This will last in your refrigerator for several days and it’s a quick "grab it and go" for your busy day!  If you don’t have a dairy allergy, you’ll love this one! My mom showed me this one years ago and I've been making it every since!

Ingredients:

• ½ cup walnuts
• 1 package of reduced fat cream cheese 
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives
• A dash of Salt and Pepper to taste
• 15 med celery stalks (each about 9 “long) – or other raw veggies you like

Directions:

Heat oven to 275F. Spread walnuts on a baking sheet and bake until fragrant and toasted, about 10 minutes. Then, roughly chop the walnuts. Combine the walnuts, cream cheese and chives in a mixing bowl. Mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Using a rubber spatula, fill each celery stalk with about 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture. Cut each stalk in half or cut several raw mixed veggies and dip into your spread.

Nutritional Value:

Makes 10 (3 piece) servings

Per Serving 90 cal, 4g protein, 4 g carbs, 7 g fat, 3 g sat fat, 1 g fiber, 115 mg sodium

Recipe source: inspired by South Beach Diet