Leaf, Life and Lens: Snack Time!

Snacks. They should be a way to get us through the day until the next big meal right? They should be somewhat healthy, portioned little noshes that act as fuel to keep the body running. But when you look at what is in most of the snacks sold in stores today, they look more like chemistry experiments gone wrong.

I am in no way a dietitian or professional chef, but I like to think I am a knowledgeable consumer. I've always read the labels/list of ingredients and over the years I have either cut certain foods out or purchased less processed goods. But with a little more researching of blogs and cookbooks, I've walked down the snack aisles and thought, why don't I try to make these myself?

So far, my favorite inspirations are The Homemade Pantry by Alana Chernila (http://www.eatingfromthegroundup.com/the-book/). I have checked this book out 3 times from the library and can't stop referring to it, so I think it's time to purchase it. The Yummy Life blog (http://www.theyummylife.com/), where I learned how to make "Kind" bars. That's where it all started. And another Wonder Woman who inspires me, Ree Drummond a.k.a The Pioneer Woman (http://thepioneerwoman.com/). When I received her cookbook at Christmas and opened the beautifully photographed pages, I was in awe. She lives on a cattleranch, cooks simple yet elegant meals and photographs everything herself. Hmmmm someone I definitely relate to.

With all these "weapons" at my disposal, I can try to create healthy, satisfying homemade goods with my own two hands. My goal is to eventually open up my cupboard to see pretty little canisters of my own snacks. Now that makes me feel empowered and happy. Today, I will share with you two of the easiest snacks to start with. Mixed Nuts and Crackers. You may never want store bought again.

In this house, we have to buy nuts in bulk. I use them in so many recipes, for baking and cooking. I almost always choose raw (unless I can't find them, like the peanuts shown here) and unsalted. That way I'm in control of the roasting process and the amount of salt. Use 2 cups each of whatever unsalted, raw nuts you like.

I like to buy quality ingredients if it's an item we are going to use a lot. It may seem like a waste of money, but trust me, when you taste what real maple syrup is like, you'll forget about the commercialized ones we see on grocery shelves. My husband is lucky enough to know someone who can get great syrup. Ha! It sounds like something out of a mobster movie, "he knows a guy.."

Did you know that not all cinnamon is created equal? I had no idea that those sticks you often see in the bakery aisle were not "really" cinnamon. Most of what we see is actually cassia or Saigon cinnamon. They are a member of the cinnamon family, but they are stronger in flavor and lends itself better for savory dishes. Ceylon is "true" cinnamon. It's more expensive and sometimes can be hard to find, but it's health benefits and subtle taste are excellent.

In a bowl, I mix together 1/4 cup of maple syrup, couple turns of fresh ground black pepper, couple of pinches of salt, couple of shakes of cinnamon, touch of lemon juice and a few shakes of cayenne pepper. This is all to taste. It can be customized to how you like it. I add more cayenne, because maple syrup can be overpowering, plus I like things a little spicy! Add in your 6 cups of nuts and mix together really well.

Spread them evenly on a lightly buttered rimmed cookie sheet. Making sure to not have many clumps. Roast at 300 degrees. Check them occasionally by shaking the pan slightly. Make sure they aren't burning. They are usually done when you can smell the nuttiness filling the air. About 15 minutes or so. Take them out to cool. While that's happening, I move on to my crackers.

The ingredients (my recipe is large because we are a crackers and cheese kind of family):

2 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour (plus a little more for dusting surface
2 1/2 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp of course sea salt
1/2 tsp of paprika
1 1/2 tbsp of ground flaxseed
1/2 tsp of vanilla
Pinch of black pepper (optional)
8 tbsp of cold unsalted butter cut into small pats
1/2 cup of water

Put all your dry ingredients into a food processor or bowl and whisk together. Then I have my frozen butter that I cut into chunks (carefully) and add into the flour mixture and mix until a little clumpy.

Next mix together the water and vanilla in a bowl and slowly add it to your flour mixture. Using the food processor, I use the dough blade and keep pulsing as I pour in the water/vanilla. It will eventually become a soft ball of dough.

On a well floured surface, I divide the dough into 4 sections since it's easier to work with. Work with one piece at a time. The other pieces should stay covered with a clean dishcloth so they don't dry out. I pat down the dough with a rolling pin and begin rolling out the dough into a large rectangle/circle shape.

I decided to do two shapes. Here is the round cracker, in which I use a small juice glass as a cookie (err..cracker) cutter. Get the circles as close as you can. You can try to take the remaining dough and reshape and roll it out again so you aren't wasting a ton.

I decided to get a little fancy and make pretty little edges. If you want to take the time to do this, you just use the tines of a fork. It is tedious though...just a warning.

Now I make my other shape, just plain old squares/rectangles. They aren't fancy and definitely not perfect, but they are homemade, so that's perfect enough for me! With a large knife slice the dough into strips and then into small squares/rectangles.

Since the nuts are removed from the oven, you can turn the oven onto bake and turn up the heat to 400 degrees. Place the crackers on a Silpat or parchment lined cookie sheets. Don't worry if they seem close together. They don't expand much. Lightly sprinkle fine salt onto all of your crackers. Bake them for about 8 minutes or until they have turned golden and crisp.