Moving!!

I've set up a new web site for all my snacking adventures at http://www.fixmeasnack.com/. Blogger is great and all. But it's time to do more in my own little spot.

If you are subscribed to Eat the Book through a feed reader or via email, you will need to go to http://www.fixmeasnack.com/ and sign up again in order to continue to receive updates. Sorry for the trouble. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Thanks so much,
Cindy
fixmeasnack@gmail.com

Web morsels

Is anyone finding any use and/or enjoyment in my list of links? Anybody out there? Please let me know if it's all boring and a waste of time (email @ fixmeasnack@gmail.com or leave a comment).

• Parmasen Rind Microwave Mutation from Food Geekery. Trying this out at home is on my to do list.
• Lego-style kitchen tools from the Food Section. Cute cake molds and such. I so want the salt & pepper shakers.
• Tips for engaging children in the kitchen from the Boston Globe.
• Molasses and maple syrup: more nutritious sweeteners? from Nutrition Data blog.
• Halloween survival guide from Nutrition Data blog. List of candies lower in sugar and calories. Gives me an excuse to feel a little bit better about Kit Kats.
• Happy-Meal Me from The New York Times. "A parent can pretend that McDonald’s doesn’t exist, but only for so long."
• Food Network stars take on a veggie-averse 5-year-old via Food News Journal. This needs to be made into a series!

Banana Splits

Yes, we have a jar of petro-chemical based "cherries" lurking in our pantry. No, I am not ashamed. Unsurprisingly, my "testers" consumed these with glee. Next time I might need to put a bit of whipped cream around the base of the ice cream.

1 banana, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup chocolate frozen yogurt

1/4 cup crispy brown rice cereal

2 teaspoons rainbow sprinkles

2 maraschino cherries (optional)

Cover the bottom of two shallow dishes with the banana slices. In the center of each bowl, place ¼ cup frozen yogurt. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons cereal and 1 teaspoon sprinkles. Top with a cherry (if desired).

Yield: 2 sundaes

Prep time: 5 minutes

Note: Cherries could be replaced with a dollop of strawberry jam.

Cheesy Sweet Potato Balls

½ cup mashed cooked sweet potato (with skin)
1 cup cooked brown rice
½ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/3 cup cottage cheese
1 tablespoon wheat germ (optional)
¼ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place sweet potato, rice, Monterey Jack cheese, cottage cheese, wheat germ and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Process for 45 – 60 seconds or until smooth and a ball starts to form.

Roll sweet potato mixture into tablespoon-sized balls with your hands. Place balls on baking sheet and bake on the center rack of the oven for 15-17 minutes or until the bottoms are golden.

Allow balls to cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes. Gently remove balls with thin metal spatula and serve. Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Yield: 20 balls
Prep time: 10 minutes
Bake time: 15 minutes

Pizza Muffins

2 cups white whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup lowfat milk
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 cottage cheese
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 F

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, Italian Seasoning, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together, egg, olive oil, sugar, buttermilk, milk, tomato paste, cottage cheese and parmesan cheese until almost uniform in color. Small bits of tomato and cheese are actually a good thing so do not over mix.

Transfer batter to a muffin pan sprayed with oil. Fill each muffin cup up to ¾ full with batter. Bake on a rack in the center of the oven for 15 – 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Allow muffins to cool for 5 minutes in pan and then transfer to a cooling rack. Serve or store in an airtight container.

Yield: 12 muffins
Prep time: 20 minutes
Bake time: 15 minutes

Note: If you don't have any buttermilk, you can make a substitute. If you don't have any white whole wheat flour, I'd suggest replacing it with 1 cup of all-purpose flour and 1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour.

Web morsels

• Three-star chef hits the school cafeteria from Edible Manhattan
• Feeding a "Picky" Toddler from Mayo Clinic
• Children's snacks: 10 tips for healthier snacking from Mayo Clinic
• Fight off the flu with delicious yogurt recipes from Epi-Log
• Baking Soda and Baking Powder mysteries revealed from Joy of Baking
• School Lunch Needs Safety Upgrade from Food Safety News

Crispy Clouds with Berries

These are otherwise known as Pavlovas. But I can barely say 'pavlova', much less my kids. Good tongue twister, bad name for a kid snack. I think I'm saving the excess egg yolks for a pound cake experiment. We'll see.

3 large egg whites
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch salt

3/4 cup whipped cream (give or take)
1 cup fresh raspberries (give or take)

Preheat oven to 200 F.

Place the egg whites, agave, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. With the whisk attachment, whip the egg white mixture on medium high speed until peaks form. Turn off mixer and detach bowl. Transfer large spoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheet. Place the scoops at least an inch apart. Make a well in the center of each scoop with the back of the spoon. They should be approximately 4-inches wide once the wells are created.

Bake on the center rack of the oven for approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes or until the clouds are golden in color and somewhat easily removed from the parchment paper.

Allow the clouds to cool for 1-2 minutes on the baking sheet. Gently remove from parchment paper and transfer to serving plate. Garnish each cloud with approximately 1 tablespoon whipped cream and a heaping tablespoon of berries. Serve.

Makes 12 clouds
Prep time: 10 minutes
Bake time: 1 hour 50 minutes

Note: Raspberries can be replaced by fresh blueberries or fresh chopped strawberries.

Web morsels

I've been spending inordinate amounts of time on the www the past couple weeks trying to figure out what if any sort of community of food bloggers I might belong to. I haven't quite figured it out yet. But it turns out there is a ton of amazing food-related content out there. Twitter has actually proved to be amazing tool in this regard (http://twitter/eat_the_book). And I've finally subscribed to a million of my favorite blogs and news sources via Google Reader which makes it much easier to keep favorite spots on my radar screen.

In the tradition of some of the more professional bloggers, I will be collecting links I find intriguing and sharing them with once a week or so. Please feel free to send along anything that catches your eye during your travels around the web.

Sea Salt vs. Table Salt: Which is Healthier?
by Sarah Kagan on Epi-Log. 9-16-09
Answer: table salt is the winner because it is enriched with iodine.

Food Science: What Makes Apples Mealy?
from The Kitchn. 9-16-09

Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey
Cookbook for Kids to be released in October. 8-13-09

The Flavor Bible
Book review from goodLife {eats}. 9-13-09
I am a very very big fan of this book.

Microwave Potato Chips
from Jugalbandi. 8/17/08

Apple Crisp Cookies

4 apples, grated (approximately 1 1/2 cup lightly packed)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons wheat germ
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch salt

Preheat oven to 250 F.

In a medium bowl mix together the apple, brown sugar, wheat germ, butter, cinnamon, and salt. Place heaping tablespoon-sized scoops of the apple mixture onto parchment lined baking sheets. Make sure the scoops are 2- inches apart. With the back of a spoon, flatten the scoops until they are 1/4-inch thick. Pay careful attention to achieving a uniform thickness as the cookies will require more time in the oven if they are too thick.

Bake for 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until the cookies are dry yet pliable. Allow to cool before serving. Store in an airtight container.

Makes 20 cookies
Prep time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 1 1/2 hours

Nutter Butter Rolls

1/2 cup nut butter (such as almond or peanut)
1/4 cup finely chopped pitted dried dates (approximately 5 dates)
1/3 cup organic corn flake cereal
3 tablespoons cream cheese
1 tablespoon honey
4-5 slices soft whole grain bread, crusts removed

In a small bowl, mix together nut butter, dates, cereal, cream cheese, and honey with a metal spoon. Don't be shy about crushing the cereal as you stir. Continue to stir until the cereal is broken up into small bits. Set aside.

Spread the bread slices out a level surface and flatten them with a rolling pin as much as possible. Spread 2-3 tablespoons of the nut butter mixture onto each slice depending on the size of the bread. Smaller slices should have 2 tablespoons and medium or large slices should have 3 tablespoons. Roll up each slice as tightly as possible without ripping the bread. Cut each tube into 1/2-inch thick slices and serve.

Makes 4-5 servings
Prep time: 10 minutes

Note: If you don't have any dates in your pantry, try replacing them with raisins.