Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Snack Time

Thank you, everyone who commented when I asked for suggestions for my blog. I will definitely get to all those at least once and maybe more often. (Although unfortunately, I can't promise that Dan will respond to the requests for him to write - he claims to be "too busy" while only taking 18 hours of MBA classes a week - hmmm....) I decided I would start by posting some new recipes I've made lately! I wasn't planning on blogging about any of these, so I don't have any pictures, but the next time I make something fun I'll be sure to capture the process.

Now that I'm working at the Counseling Center, I have to bring some sort of breakfast item to work once or twice a month. I've also gotten better about bringing a couple snacks from home, since when I get really busy, I tend to get really hungry as well and need something quick to snack on in between sessions. So, I've been doing more baking recently.

My requirements tend to be something that tastes good (i.e. has some sweetness to it), is fairly healthy, fairly cheap or easy ingredients, and will hopefully be enjoyed by people other than myself. The following recipes have all met those requirements!

She posted these yesterday. I made them today. I am trying to refrain from eating them all so that I can bring them to work tomorrow. This may or may not work. They are GOOD. Crumbly, but oh so GOOD.

I actually made this out of my Sweet Freedom Cookbook, but luckily for you, Ricki posted the recipe on her blog as well. This was a perfect afternoon snack (and morning, and evening, and...). It's not super sweet, like I thought it might be. In fact, I'm not sure the word "cake" is exactly appropriate in the title. It was more like a muffin-y sweetness and texture. One of those really good muffins that's healthy as well. But since it's made in a cake pan and then cut in to squares... Actually, you could probably just bake it in a muffin pan and then the whole dilemma would be gone. Okay - I'll move on.

These were in my How to Cook Everything cookbook, but I just found them on Mark Bittman's blog. Hm.m, I'm starting to wonder if there's even a point to buying cookbooks anymore. Regardless, these are light little egg white and coconut treats that taste sort of like angel food cake bites. The best part of these was that Dan couldn't keep his hands off of them! You know a baked good is a success if that happens. If you aren't a huge fan of coconut, though, I would skip these, or maybe try almond macaroons instead. (I think those are more common, but I haven't made them, so I'm not going to link to a specific recipe.)

I'd love to hear your suggestions for good breakfast/snack/potluck/etc dishes. I've been looking for a good fruit salad one, but I haven't found what I'm looking for yet. I'm also always looking for just anything a little different than what everyone else is bringing.

7 comments:

mmw said...

I have a good snack...you will have to tell me if it's healthy or not.. buffalo chicken dip? Have you ever had it?

Kristi said...

i've had buffalo chicken wings- they're really good - but never dip! for chicken or chips or what? sounds good - share! :)

Ricki said...

I'm so glad you enjoyed the date cake--er, muffin--er, cuffin? (and thanks so much for getting the book!). Well, I suppose if you consider it a muffin, you can then eat it for breakfast w/o guilt--sounds good to me! The granola bars and macaroons both sound great as well--love granola bars!

Kristi said...

Ricki Heller just commented on my blog! And dear Ricki called me out on my refusal to call anything truly dessert unless it is one big chocolatey fudgy mess...this way I can eat all the yummy "cuffins" and macaroons that I want throughout the day and it's culturally acceptable because they're not dessert, they're just snacks.

Julie said...

awesome on Ricki's comment!

can I still petition for a day in the life of Kristi? and a day in the life of Sammie?

mmw said...

Buffalo Chicken dip... we usually just dip tortilla chips in but I'm sure crackers would work as well. Some folks serve celery with it..

2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken, drained
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup Ranch dressing
3/4 cup pepper sauce (such as Frank's Red Hot®)
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS: I've made it 2 ways. 1 way is to combine the ingredients in a crock pot (very easy and worked fine) and the 2nd method below. My skillet wasn't quite large enough...

Heat chicken and hot sauce in a skillet over medium heat, until heated through. Stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing. Cook, stirring until well blended and warm. Mix in half of the shredded cheese, and transfer the mixture to a slow cooker. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, cover, and cook on Low setting until hot and bubbly. Serve with celery sticks and crackers.

Kristi said...

Julie - I'm working on it. The pictures of Sammie are a bit of a challenge but we will get there.

Molly - that looks so good. I'm definitely bringing it to a football party sometime soon. I'll let you know when I do!