Nicole Moran - Crackers, Dips, and Other Snacks: Make Your Own Homemade Snacks and Other Savory Bites

Crackers, Dips, and Other Snacks

Make Your Own Homemade Snacks and Other Savory Bites

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W hether you realize it or not and whether you like to admit it or not, snacks are an important part of your daily diet. Even during the most restrictive diets, we are advised to find an appropriate snack and an acceptable hour to consume it in order to keep resisting. And even if the diet plan does not mention any snacking time, no one can deny that most of our thoughts keep taking us to the land of the mouth-watering sweet/ sour (or both) snacks.

And since this is the ugly truth of any diet (or, more precisely, of any constantly hungry person like I am) I came up with the idea of this book: Why wouldnt I make a collection of some of the most popular snacks? But not just that; the idea was not to simply add all the recipes that I like and prepare them as they are. The whole point of this book was to present traditional or simply famous snacks, but a bit modernized and with the necessary modifications.

What do I mean by that? Well, how many times havent you caught yourself craving certain sweet or crunchy snack, but you immediately thought about its high sugar/ high carb/ high-fat content that would come against your health condition or medical needs? Snacks are essential in many diets that are now popular and, even more than that, every professional nutritionist and dietician recommend a regular diet with five meals per day and two of them should consist of easy snacks. And because a fruit, a plain yogurt, or some vegetables will not always satisfy our cravings (personally, I know this feeling very well), I included various recipes that have less than 200 calories.

I think that everyone has a favorite snack, either for its taste or for the memories that it can bring to us. Simply by feeling the taste and the unique aroma, our mind immediately recreates certain meaningful scenarios of the past. Of course, today we have the advantage that we can find a great part of the old, traditional recipes on the market, commercialized under different forms.

But, when you know how many chemicals (for color, texture and flavor) are used by the hungry (pun intended) manufacturers, do you really want to have them in your body? Obviously, I am not saying that you should exclude them completely (though many doctors would say that); enjoying some of the famous sweets and snacks every once in a while is no catastrophe. But, if, for a healthy adult, those harmful chemical compounds are not necessarily dangerous, you definitely want to keep them away from your children. In the first years of life, such substances could be very well described as toxic. Or, at least, this is how they will feel after several years when more and more problems will start to be observed.

So what should you do? Stop your kids from eating them? Not only that this would be almost cruel, but, in most cases, this is basically impossible. Once they have discovered the tricky world of snacks, kids will most probably crave them. So it is your job as a parent or adult (as we like to think we are) to find the middle way. And the solution that I have found is to learn to prepare them for yourself, in your own kitchen, and, most importantly, with your own ingredients and methods.

This way, you will know for sure what your kids (and your family in general) is eating and you will make sure that they will not be only healthy and safe, but extremely delicious as well. In a very short time, your kids will ask you to make them more of their new favorite snacks.

I hope that my quite long introduction was enough to give you an idea about the goal and structure of this book. Anyway, snacks (and food recipes in general) do not need any form of presentation or further explanation. Just move to the following chapters, learn the recipes, and start cooking. You will see how, in no time and with even less effort, incredibly tempting snacks will appear in your kitchen, waiting to be tasted.

Cook your own snacks, stay healthy, and just have fun! Yes, its this simple!

I n this chapter, you will learn:

• How to prepare 10 delicious snack recipes to satisfy your sweet tooth

Recipe #1 Crispy Apple & Granola Pie

Ingredients: 2 cups granola, 7 medium apples, cup butter, 3 tbsp. flour, cup brown sugar, 1 tbsp. lemon juice

Instructions: 1. Start by chopping the apples. 2. In a normal skillet, melt the butter and add the granola, 1 tbsp. sugar, and flour, stir carefully until the granola is ready. 3. Remove the mixture from the skillet and place the apples, sugar, and lemon juice. 4. Cook on low for about 7 min. 5. Add the flour after removing from the heat. 6. Mix in the granola mixture until all the ingredients are incorporated. 7. Put the skillet in a preheated oven and cook for about 45 min - 1 hour.

Recipe #2 Avocado Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients: 2 eggs, 2 cups oats, cup cocoa powder, 1 large avocado, cup brown sugar, cup flour, 1 tbsp. vanilla extract, 1 tbsp. vegetable oil, tbsp. baking soda, cup chocolate chips

Instructions: 1. Start by peeling, slicing and mashing (with a potato masher, fork or blender) the avocado. 2. Mix the mashed avocado with oil, sugar, cocoa and whisked eggs until a smooth texture is obtained. 3. Gradually, add the rest of the ingredients while constantly stirring. A doughy texture should be obtained by now. 4. Place a parchment paper on a baking sheet and preheat the oven. 5. Place small quantities of dough on the paper (keeping enough distance between cookies). 6. Cook for about 7 minutes.

Recipe #3 Pineapple Pie

Ingredients: 1 pineapple, 8 oz. flour, 8 oz. almond meal, cup flax seed meal, 6 egg whites, 1 cup buttermilk, cup date paste (dates and water), 1 cup apple sauce, tbsp. baking soda, cup coconut (shredded), 1 tbsp. tartar cream, 1 tbsp. vanilla extract, 1 tbsp. white wine, coconut flakes to sprinkle on top

Instructions: 1. Cut the pineapple into large chunks or slices. Place them at the bottom of a pan that was previously coated with oil or cooking spray. 2. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients until all of them are well incorporated. 3. In a different bowl, mix all the liquid ingredients. 4. Blend both mixtures until everything is well incorporated into a smooth batter. 5. Place the batter on top of the pineapple and cook in the oven for about one hour. 6. When ready, sprinkle the coconut flakes. Let it cool for one or two hours before serving.

Recipe #4 Pumpkin and Apricot Balls

Ingredients: 1 cup apricots, 1 cup pumpkin (pureed), 1 cup dates, 1 handful almonds or walnuts, 1 tbsp. vanilla extract, half teaspoon nutmeg, half teaspoon ground cloves, tbsp. cinnamon (optional), cup coconut flakes