Raisins are high-fiber, so they’re a no-no.
I have Crohn’s, and I’m exactly where you are, Dirk.
What I snack on: (None of these are particularly “low calorie”, but really the only low-calorie snacks that are out there are raw fruits and veggies. And popcorn. None of which I eat, either.)
Fat-free pretzels, with or without fat-free cream cheese, or fat-free salad dressing–Catalina, French, Thousand Island, Ranch are all tasty for dipping.
Fat-free croutons, also dipped in fat-free salad dressing.
Those little Oriental rice crackers. Kroger has them next to the raisins.
There are fat-free bagel chips available around town here and there, sometimes at Walgreen’s, sometimes at the local health food store.
You can also make your own: slice up a bunch of bagels, spray them lightly with Pam, sprinkle them with onion salt or garlic salt, spread them on a cookie sheet, bake them at 450 for a little while. Don’t leave the vicinity of the kitchen while they’re baking or they’ll burn.
Baked Lays[sup]R[/sup] potato chips.
Oyster crackers, and saltines, if you’re a “cracker” person and if the fat content’s not too high for you. It’s still less than regular potato chips.
And my long-time snack standby, the Ersatz Cheesy Corn Snack. Take Corn Chex cereal, put it in a big tupperware bowl, spray it lightly and repeatedly with Pam, mixing it as you go, then repeat the process with Cheesy Popcorn Sprinkle, which is something that Kroger also carries, in the Spices aisle down at the bottom by the popcorn salt and the Lawry’s seasoned salt. Or you can use garlic salt or onion salt. But using the Cheesy Popcorn Sprinkle hits that “Doritos” corn ‘n’ cheese button.
Campbell’s Tomato soup made with a can of skim milk instead of water. It’s surprisingly filling, and nutritious, too, calcium, Vitamin A.
Also, Cup-A-Soup gets me over the 3 p.m. hump quite often. Or a coffee mug of canned fat-free chicken broth (not bouillon cube stuff, it’s nasty, it’s just all salt)–nuke it in the microwave and drink it hot, like tea.
And in the “sweet” department (I know you didn’t ask, but as long as I’m here):
Any brownie recipe that’s made with cocoa powder instead of with baker’s chocolate squares, then you use egg whites instead of whole eggs, and if the batter isn’t thin enough you thin it with a little milk or yogurt, plus you leave out all the butter or margarine. The egg whites make it a little chewy, but hey, it’s chocolate.
Good N’ Plentys. Actually, any chewy fat-free candy: jelly beans, orange slices, gum drops. But the calories will add up, so ration yourself. Same thing with Low-fat Poptarts. But I find that a small handful of these hit my “fat craving” button (“intensely sweet” hits the same taste button as “fat”, which is why all the low-fat cookies are loaded with corn syrup), which keeps me from pigging out on the kids’ Doritos.
The Fannie Farmer banana bread recipe, which for some reason calls for no oil at all, but is quite satisfying. If you make two loaves, it uses up six black bananas, too (the blacker the bananas are, the better the banana bread is.) Put some kind of cinnamon or nutmeg in it, it smells good.