Is the office biscuit tin your nemesis? I’ve got a superhero for that. The 99 cal healthy snack jar.

Some fads and fashions are pretty baffling. I’m thinking fidget spinners, trousers with the crotch round the knees and furry sandals. My kids come home with a new trend every term and each one is the bees knees – until the next.

Other trends swoop in out of nowhere and you think ‘Where have you been all my life?’. In this category I’d put snack jars.

On one level they’re a bit Pinterest, a bit Instagram. All that amateur food photography, with everyone posting images of their dinner, is a huge fad and it often rates fashion over flavour, which I just can’t get on board with.

But snack jars are genius. Packed-up, portion-controlled pots of flavour that could be the difference between a healthy day and reaching for the biscuit tin. I’ve swapped my kitchen table for an actual office lately and there are cookies and cakes being shared from every other desk. Dieting hell!

And there’s no denying it: food that looks great does appeal to us. Layering colourful fruit, chopped veg and nuts  – or whatever takes your fancy – in a pretty glass jar is much more appealing than tossing it into a grey old plastic tub.

If you want an idea to get you started on your own snack jar revolution, try this apricot, banana and cashew jar. Clocking in at just 99 calories, the mix of crunch, chew and nibble should keep you on the straight and narrow when the biscuit tin comes round.

Breakfast snack jars

These little snack jars are a great way to have a healthy 100 calorie breakfast on the run. Find yourself a small lidded jar, such as an empty jam jar, and fill it with the ingredients in advance.

Blackberry and almond snack jar

98 calories

6 whole almonds (73 cals)
20 blackberries (fresh or frozen) (25 cals)

 

Pecan nut and fresh blueberry snack jar

98 calories

2 pecan nuts (82 cals)
30g (1oz) fresh blueberries (18 cals)

 

Apricot, banana and cashew snack jar

99 calories

5 cashew nuts (57 cals)
2 dried apricots (16 cals)
1 tsp dried banana (26 cals)