Snaaaaaaaa?

I am an eater by nature. I think about the next thing I want to cook while I am currently cooking. A 'Snacker' to be exact. So is Olive, all day long she says, "Snaaaaaa??" if she sees anyone eating she says, "mmmm, snaaa". We take our snaaa's seriously around here. It is easy to get junky with your snack food and while it tastes good (sometimes) for a minute or two, don't you always regret it right after?? Ugh I hate that! The more food aware I became as an adult those junk decisions became fewer and fewer. You have to come up with alternatives that give you the illusion of that super salty crunchy whatever and the crazy sweet something that you love. Here are a few of my alternatives.

Chips, mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Salty, crunchy, dippable, endless flavors, they are quite possibly the perfect snack. Except for the amount of BHA the major brands add to prevent fat from spoiling. (BHA is known to cause cancer, not that you were popping those cheddar and sour cream ruffles for your health in the first place right!) Making your own can be tricky and intimidating. The oil has to be at the perfect constant temperature, it is messy and not exactly kid friendly! Your second choice: the Oven. I prefer it, they come out crunchier and you can pretty much ‘set it and forget it’ (remember that infomercial? K, never mind). Don’t limit yourself to potatoes, get some veggies in there too. I like yellow crookneck squash, zucchini, potato and sun chokes (we will get into sun chokes in the next blog).

I suggest using a mandolin for this because the thickness really does need to be uniform for even cooking. Slice your veg to your liking; grab a basting brush, some EVOO and your favorite seasoning. You can line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment but I like to oil up a cooling rack and use that instead. Faster cooking and your chip is not just sitting in oil.  Lay out your raw chips, brush with a lite amount of oil, one or both sides it’s your choice. Sprinkle your seasoning on and pop into a 225-degree oven. Baking time depends on the density of your vegetable; just keep an eye on them the first time. For example potato chips usually cook for an hour –an hour and a half depending on thickness.

 

Sweet snacks are usually favored in kids. This is like eating spoonful’s of strawberry jelly minus the refined sugar. Core a basket of strawberries put on a lined cookie sheet and bake at 225 for about 4 hours. As an added bonus your house will smell so amazing for those 4 hours! 

You know I had to sneak Justin's peanut butter in here! Warm up about 1/2-3/4 cups of Peanut butter in a sandwich bag (microwave, warm water however you chose). Snip a corner of the bag like your about to pipe frosting and pipe chips onto a lined cookie sheet. Put them in the fridge for about 30-45 min and now you have a much healthier version of -enter any sugary crap food here-. Add a couple carob/chocolate chips too!  

Who doesn’t like garbanzo beans? If your answer was ‘me’, than you can skip this recipe. This is the easiest, super crunchy, wonderful toddler snack of all time. Open a can of garbanzos, rinse and dry them. Dry them really well it is important. Toss in EVOO and your favorite seasoning (we switch between curry and salt & rosemary). Spread the beans out on a cookie sheet lined with foil and pop into a 400-degree oven for about 30-40min. I suggest making two cans at once because making only one is just silly. For kids with less teeth try using butter beans, they yield a much softer crunch!

 

Polenta part II

Last nights ..relics..  can often be repurposed into tonight’s dinner and you would never realize. It is all in the application. Tonight we are going to use the rest of the polenta in two ways, a ‘baby chopped’ salad and ‘polenta dippers’.

The salad is super easy, just be sure to make enough for yourself as well as baby. You can pick and choose what you want in this salad. This is just what I know Olive likes and I happened to have on hand.

Take your polenta out and cut half of it into ½ inch cubes. To do this you can use a knife but a pizza cutter is easiest. Pop the little cubes on a parchment covered cookie sheet and into a 400 oven until they are golden brown on the outsides, you want a crust to form (about 30 min depending how many your baking).  When the cubes are done remove them from the oven and let cool at least ¾ of the way.

Halve some grape tomatoes and rinse a can of garbanzo beans. If you have some broccoli stalks at hand cube them the same size as the polenta, steam them until tender and let cool.

When everything is cut and cooled, toss them all together in a bowl with some vinaigrette and enjoy!

With the second half of your polenta cut them into about 2-3 inch bars. Bake or pan-fry them until they have a crust on the outside and set aside.

You can make just about any sauce to dip these polenta nuggets in. I chose romesco and sorry to say I can’t give that recipe out.. LAME I know, you will get over it. In the meantime there are plenty of recipes for romesco online I am sure but you can also consider a red pasta sauce or a flavored hummus etc. 

If you choose a marinara you can add a little cheese to the polenta to make a healthier version of mozzarella sticks, because seriously, who needs that much cheese…

This is the base for my romesco to give you some ideas. Such a tease!

 The reason I chose this sauce over others is because I also made fish for some company consisting of grownups. You can put romesco on virtually any meat. I even use it as a dip for veggies. 

These nuggets can also be supped up for older kids, add flavors to the polenta while it is cooking. There is a vegan 'chicken' stock sold in some stores in powder form, if you add a small amount of that to the polenta you just made your own fake chicken nuggets. it is really salty so use sparingly. Add curry powder or pesto, the list goes on. The most important thing is you get creative, surprise yourself!