Most people have a daily life that follows a routine; wake up, coffee and/or breakfast; lunch, then a snack, then dinner. Sometimes that's my routine, but more often than not, lunch is overlooked or forgotten, which means I need to figure out a protein-rich substitute as the day wears on.

And with the heat this month, and parching days, anytime "how much sugar is in that?" anytime I'm out and about and thinking of buying a cool drink. Recently, when it was still in the high 90s in the late afternoon, I bought a bottle of Welch's Mango Passion Fruit juice. It was delicious, and had 100% of the recommended amount of daily Vitamin C. However, a further look at the label revealed 53 grams of sugar had been added -- and that the "serves one" bottle had 106% of the recommended daily allowance of sugar!

Reason immediately prevailed. I drank about a third of it, then stuck it in the fridge, and had a couple of big glasses of cold well water. It took me four days to finish that bottle, each time thinking about others who don't closely read labels -- and wishing their poor pancreases good health.

I definitely can use some kind of pepping up mid- to late-afternoon, given the number of words I'm writing in the course of a day. Last week, I wrote about iced coffee, which is always a part of the magic formula, but I've also been "shopping" (read, "experimenting") with different food items that will provide carbs, protein, and natural sugar, such as you'd find in dried fruit and berries.

I consulted with readers of "Family Recipe Box," who were all forthcoming with their late-afternoon pep-me-up foods. Mike Amadeo, a musician, attests to the health-giving properties of a "grilled cheese sammie." Dawnn Prince, admin of "Inform Fitchburg" nominates the cheese, without the bread, but with grapes. Peanut butter and slices of apples will give you protein and carbs -- just be mindful of how much peanut butter you're using.

Currently, my social media algorithm constantly shows me hands of cooks slicing, dicing, mashing, scooping, displaying various snack-items, with the recipe and directions in white-on-black type throughout the image. (Note to Internet Style Gods: white-on-black is still God-awful difficult to read, particularly with quick edits).

Not long ago, I started making screenshots of these snack concoctions, if they used dates, sweet potato, chickpeas, or black beans in lieu of white flour and white sugar. And the other night, I turned the kitchen into a snack laboratory (a "snackatory?")

We made two different snacks -- varying the ingredients -- and I can vouch that these are easy to create. I recommend "Deglet Noor" pitted dates, which are 5 grams of sugar apiece (most dates can be up to 16 grams of sugar). But one sweet potato is as little as 9 grams of sugar.

Soak pitted dates in hot coffee for 2 hours in the fridge. Mix yogurt and vanilla and fill dates. Drizzle with melted chocolate and return to the fridge.

Mash sweet potatoes with almond flour and coconut, put in fridge for at least an hour. Mixture should be moldable into ball-shaped nuggets. You can roll in coconut, or dust with cocoa powder -- your choice.

Notes on both recipes: I didn't have high hopes for Date Bites -- but they turned out to be surprisingly tasty. The yogurt stays creamy, and the drizzled chocolate is eye-appealing. The Sweet Potato Snacks seemed -- on the face of it -- absurd, but the flavors come together. Start with a tablespoon of maple syrup, or less.

One year ago I visited Fitchburg Historical Society to peruse a fascinating collection of cookbooks -- some of them more than a century old. Since then, we've published 52 "Family Recipe Box" columns, and there are tons of topics to come! Stay tuned for: Asian Ice Cream, Perpetual Salad, and your tales of making happiness in the kitchen!

Sally Cragin would love to read your family recipes and stories. Write to: [email protected]