Lately we’ve been talking about food’s meanings to us, and about inspiration. There’s inspiration, and there’s being uninspired. My friend Audrey recently asked the question “When you’re hungry and you’re lazy, what do you eat?”

This question was a post on her Facebook wall, but me being me, I somehow felt challenged by this question. So let’s answer this together. What do we eat when we’re hungry and also lazy?

There’s nothing more like sand in my socks than when I have a nice, sluggish day off and I start feeling like I want food. Am I meal hungry, snacky, or do I want food because I’m bored? Keep in mind that I’m also lazy, so we need to think about how far I’m willing to go. The answer is, I’m willing to do a little bit of work, but not a lot. If I spend more time standing up than sitting down during this project, I’m trying too hard.

A tasty, mostly healthy, super low effort snack that’s great for watching TV is trail mix. Trail mix is awesome because I can just pour a bunch of stuff into a bowl, shake it up a bit, and be on my way.

Dried fruit like banana chips, craisins, raisins, apricots, whatever, is a nice start. You can use any kind of nuts like cashews, peanuts, almonds, or any variation of nuts like chocolate covered or candied. Candied almond clusters are no joke, one of my favorite snacks even by themselves. Sweeten it up with chocolate chips, M&Ms, or keep it to the chocolate covered nuts or what have you. Another can’t miss item for me are those sweet, sweet sesame sticks.

Another super simple snack that borderlines on a light meal is a nice cheese and crackers tray. You can go anywhere from saltines to Townhouse brand, or Ritz crackers. There’s a world of cheeses to choose from. You can keep it simple there, or you can really make it pop with a summer sausage or some kind of nice lunch/deli meat. If you bring a cheese knife with you, you can build your dream cracker while watching TV.

I’m not usually a huge mac and cheese guy, but it is a nearly painless lazy time snack. You can do a box kit, or you can easily make your own with elbow mac, Velveeta, or any kind of good melting cheese, really. Use any combo of cheeses you want. Go ahead, no one will come to stop you. You can bulk it up and make that stuff artisan by adding ground beef, ground turkey, or some breakfast sausage and breadcrumbs. Mac and cheese can be as simple or as awesome as you want it to be.

Sometimes you might just want a nice meat snack. I’m taking lil’ smokies or Swedish meatballs. They’re a cook and forget kinda snack. You can do ’em in the oven or a slow cooker kinda thing. Barbecue sauce, gravy, a cheese sauce, or even a can of chili and shredded cheese, you can do a sweet and sour or teriyaki. The possibilities there are actually pretty numerous. When they’re done, scoop them into a bowl and dig in with a fork or a toothpick and enjoy.

There’s also nothing wrong with cracking open a simple can of soup. I won’t judge you. Or if you can add to it to cook it up a bit. Cream of mushroom soup? Drop in those Swedish meatballs we talked about. Got some minestrone soup or a veggie and noodle soup? Add more of your own veggies or noodles.

At the end of the day, sometimes you just want to sit down with some pudding, a bag of chips, a PB&J, or some popcorn. Do what makes you happy, and do what makes you enjoy your “me time” a little more. However you decide to feed your snackatite, I support you.

Come on back next week to see what we’re cooking up, don’t forget to tip, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and speakingwithmystomach.com.