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Gaming is a serious business, and once you have settled down for a good old online battle or casino session, you need to have your wits about you to come out on top. You do not want to be distracted by hunger pangs or answering the door to a food delivery driver when you are in mid-flow. It is worth doing a bit of prep on the snack front so you can easily refuel with some healthier choices and get back to the action in no time.

Maybe you enjoy more of a virtual snack than an actual one. There are plenty of fun games to play that are food-themed, after all. If your gaming of choice is of the gambling variety, Time2Play.com has an excellent menu for tasty options at the online casino Ontario scene. As well as tasty titles like Fruity Megaways, Vending Machine, and Fruit versus Candy, there are reviews for every kind of game and online casino the province has to offer.

Has all this talk of food made you hungry? Get ready to grab snacks that won't leave you out of pocket or hungrier than when you started. When seriously immersed in an activity, it can be all too easy to forget to eat or eat fast food. While fast food might have a delicious taste, it is usually high in calories, sugar, and all kinds of additives that are fine for an occasional treat, but there are some tasty snacks you can prepare in advance that will be a whole lot healthier.

Savoury goodness

If you like something crunchy and find yourself reaching for packet after packet of salty snacks, how about a homemade alternative? Get yourself a pack of shop-bought wraps or other flatbreads, and cover with a fine layer of cooking oil or vegetable spread; sprinkle on a little paprika, salt, and pepper (and possibly some cayenne pepper if you like things a little fiery). You can prepare a stack of these and put them in a sealed box in the chiller.

When feeling peckish, heat up a skillet and cook the wrap on both sides for a couple of minutes. Take it out of the pan and, while still hot, cut into triangles. As they cool, they will go crispy. These are excellent served with kinds of dips you can make in advance. If you cook up a batch of these, you can keep them crisp in an air-tight container. They are also great done in the air fryer, and if you cut them into tortilla chip shapes before cooking, you will get an authentic curl on them.

The homemade tortilla chips are great with all kinds of dips and toppings. Smash up an avocado with lime juice, garlic powder, salt and pepper, cumin, and a dash of chilli sauce for a guacamole-style dip. Or chop some tomatoes and scallions and throw in some cilantro and seasoning for a cheeky, healthy salsa. Canned sweetcorn, a dollop of crème fraiche or natural yogurt, and a dust of paprika make a great dip, too. 

Hummus is another excellent high-energy dip that goes well with all kinds of things. You can buy it from the store or make it yourself from scratch. You just need to combine chickpeas, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, salt, olive oil, and garlic powder and wizz them all up in the blender. Alternatively, Sabra makes a herby one that goes so well with our eggplant salad recipe.

You can chop fresh veg like celery, cucumber, and carrots into batons and put them in a bag in the fridge. Are you feeling peckish? Hummus and veg sticks are a timeless classic that feels like it is doing you good. You can play to your heart’s content and know you are getting a good proportion of your recommended ‘five a day’.

Something for a sweet tooth

If you have a sweet tooth, you might be tempted to always reach for your favourite candy bar. However, there are some much healthier alternatives. While too much sugar is not good for anyone, some sweet snacks are certainly better than your average bar.

Chocoholics do not need to miss out on the snacks, and you can do worse than prepare some delicious chocolate protein bars packed with nutty goodness. Add one and a quarter cups of creamy peanut butter and five pitted dates to a food processor (the dates add natural sweetness) and pulse until combined. Throw in a cup of mixed smallish seeds (like hemp, chia, sesame, flax, or poppy) and half a cup of chocolate protein powder. Blend until you have a cookie-like dough.

If it is too dry, add more of the nut butter; too wet, more protein powder or seeds. Press the mixture into a loaf or brownie pan lined with parchment paper and flatten until you have an evenly packed layer. Chill in the fridge until it firms up.

When set, remove from fridge and cut into ‘bar-sized’ pieces.

Melt some dark chocolate and coconut oil in a bowl over a pan of water on the stovetop (it really does not need much heat), and when liquid, drizzle over the top of your bars.

Put them back into the fridge, where they will keep for up to two weeks (if you have not eaten them all in the first couple of days).