The weather has turned much cooler this week, and my face is protesting. I know it will adjust, but do any of you have great moisturizing treatments or tips that help through the transition? Eeeps, the skin on my cheeks feels tight and dry.
In "other-things-people-do-that-I'm-curious-about", what do you take to work for snacks? Help! I need some ideas. I'm looking for healthy, delicious things that can sit in the car on hot or cold days, since that's my 'office' most of the time.
I've been listening to some great new music - Mumford & Sons have a new album out, (you can listen to an interview they did with my sweet Jian recently, here) and The Lumineers have been playing over and over in the car. In fact, they're playing in my head right now.
We're doing a little bit of work on the house, since it's still ours. (But it could be yours!) There are a few little things outside that are best looked after before winter, and to make the kitchen more enjoyable for us and possibly appealing to potential buyers, we're putting in a new counter, sink, and faucet. I've picked them out, and I super duper love them. And I can't wait to take pictures for you. (Teaser: the sink is white! Enameled cast iron! Eeeeek!)
I hope that you have a lovely weekend, and thanks in advance for any help on the snack front!
I've heard roasted chickpeas make for a great snack, low GI and all that. Your photos are beautiful BTW.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great suggestion! Glad you like the pictures, too. :)
DeleteVery basic, but my current favorite snack is rice cakes and peanut butter. YUM! And very filling.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great one that I needed reminding about! I LOVE peanut butter. :)
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHomemade fruit leather.
ReplyDeleteP.s. it's great to meet another local blogger and soap maker.
Thanks, Lisa! It's nice to 'meet' you, too. I've been making fruit leather this year, and love it. (http://twentytwopleasant.blogspot.ca/2012/08/fruit-leather-and-beef-jerky.html) I made some last weekend that's just about perfect! And you're right - it's just right for taking to work.
DeleteOh, and I've met your husband at the market before. I have one of your soaps that I've been saving, too. :)
DeleteWell I thought you looked familiar. lol! Go check out my blog www.springpeeperfarm-lisa.blogpost.ca
DeleteLisa
p.s. Use the SOAP! lol I make more ya know.
Almonds!
ReplyDeleteGood suggestion, Lisa - that's one that I've been having a lot lately. I try to be super careful about when I eat them and with washing my hands, since there are nut allergies in most of the schools that I visit, but I do love me some almonds!
DeleteAlmonds and apricots... if I've got 'thinkin time' and want to keep my hands busy, I sit there and open the apricots (where they were pitted) and poke a couple of almonds in. (That's probably told you more about me than you wanted to know :)but they are yummy). Cranberries and cashews. GORP in all its variations.(If you carry handy wipes, would you be able to eat that? re allergies) And what about that lovely granola? it's never the same twice!
DeleteNo ideas for snacks I'm afraid (I'm interested in what the other will come up with!), I just wanted to add that these photos are lovely. This time of year is gorgeous, love when the weather gets cooler and I so envy you that fire :) If we should ever own a place it would have to have a fireplace or at least a little wood stove in it.
ReplyDeleteOh, thanks, Kristina! I wish you could come over and we'd have tea by the fire and go out to take some pictures at the beach. :)
DeleteI second the rice crackers suggestion...but I bought them flavored already so I could just have a box in the car at all times. Flavored rice cakes are also good.
ReplyDeleteWe had those things for snacks when the boys were young. Now, we've reverted back to bad habits (potato chips and corn chips)...and I consider oatmeal cookies to be a healthful snack. Bad me. :}
Maybe I should get one of those crazy things you showed how to peel on your blog! Can you picture me, sitting in the car and wielding a knife over that thing? Heh heh.
DeleteWhat about dried veggies? Here at Whole Foods they have a mix or you can buy just the green beans, beets (yum!), etc. As well, dates are super healthy.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good one, too, Amanda. They have those at our health food store, and they're pretty good. And I love dates- I've made date and coconut balls a few times, and they're yummy. I think I might make some today!
ReplyDeleteWhen I think about snack type things, I always want some protein, which is why I keep returning to the nut idea (Agreeing with Linda re almonds: no refrigeration requ'd). But a snack doesn't *always* need protein. Muffins are nice... eat a couple for breakfast, then have a couple in the car. Have you tried paratha? it's an Indian flatbread, kind of like roti only with stuffing cooked in (usually potatoes. Sooo good). Wrapped in foil, they can take temperature changes both up and down. Leave a comment if you want a recipe. (they do have gluten). On the subject of Indian food, Pakoras (which are gluten free, high in protein... but deep-fried) are fabulous. No refrigeration required... I'm still thinking granola, though.
ReplyDeleteGranola is awesome. I love, love, love it! I like it with something wet though, like yogourt or milk, and neither of those keep well through the day. Granola bars (even homemade ones) are okay, but not my first choice. I love the texture of loose granola (I'm being fussy, I know!) This 'stuffing cooked in bread' business is intriguing! Do you mean stuffing like dressing? A la Thanksgiving? Or stuffing as in something that fills it? It sounds good!
ReplyDeleteIt's a flatbread: rolled out with the (pre-cooked) filling enclosed. A rough guideline for the two-step process, and please ask for clarification if needed...
DeleteFirst step: the filling. I boil a couple of (smallish) potatoes, then roughly mash them with: sauteed onion/ garlic/ ginger, plus a good teaspoon or two of garam masala or curry powder and a bit of salt. *use the flavourings you most like: just go kind of intense so they're not too bland*. When you're done you'll have ~ 1+ c. filling.
Second step: the dough part. Mix ~ 1 1/2 c. flour (and please use a blend of flours for nicest flavour: whole wheat and white, add chick pea flour if you *possibly* can), ~1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp. oil and enough water to make a stiff dough (~ 1/2 c. plus.). Put a plate over the bowl and let it rest for ~ 1/2 hour +.
Assemble!
First make a couple of plain flatbreads to eat while you're cooking. Heat the good cast-iron frying pan until a drop of water sizzles, and roll out an egg-sized lump of dough thin and as round as you can make it. Dry-fry both sides, brush with butter. That's roti or chapati, depending on whether you're from the south or the north! And same as flatbread the world over.
I wish I was standing with you at your kitchen counter for this... but here goes! Now you'll take a piece of (raw) dough about the size of a (small) egg. Set it in that little pile of flour on your counter. Make a depression in the centre, or just sort of flatten it out without the flour on top (I use kind of the backs of my fingertips bunched together, press lightly and spread out to do this). Put a small tbsp. filling, squashed together as cohesively as you can manage, in the centre. Bring the dough up around it and seal. Now you can flour it all over. You have a round lump of dough with soft filling enclosed. Flatten it with your hand first, then roll it out. When Devvi first taught me how to make these, I rolled them too thin and the potatoes came out. Now I roll them pretty darn thin, but I stop before I get to that point! Dry fry both sides (they puff up, so I poke them with a fork to make them deflate so they'll cook evenly), brush with butter.
Mmm.