Food and Drink

Guest Post: Muffin Tin Snacks on the Go

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My friend, Brette Sember, has a new cookbook out! In The Muffin Tin Cookbook, she shares recipes for appetizers, side dishes, entrees, and dessert — all made in muffin tins. Today, though, she’s here to talk snacks. Here’s Brette.

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My kids are in their teens now, but I swear I still have crumbs at the bottom of my purse from all the snacks I’ve packed over the years. I’m still hitting the pantry for portable snacks before picking up youngest from school and shuttling him to lessons, practice, meetings, and medical appointments. Easy on the go snacks are like gold in my kitchen. But I don’t want anything packaged, processed, or that is not “real” food. My solution is to cook snacks in my muffin tins. Yes, muffin tins. Not only do they allow you to make individually portioned snacks, but silicone muffin tin liners are non-stick, colorful, and reusable—the perfect way to transport snacks.

Muffin tin cooking is a great way to get kids interested in cooking and eating healthy foods, too. They love choosing the liners, arranging food in the cups, and seeing the transformation when it comes out of the oven. There’s something about food that is round, small, and perfectly shaped that appeals to kids.

Bring these handy snacks to feed your hungry kids on the go!

Smoky Popcorn Cheese Snacks
Makes 6

  • 5 cups popped popcorn
  • 2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • ¼ cup shredded Cheddar cheese
  • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare 6 jumbo muffin cups with silicone liners (use regular size silicone liners if you can’t find jumbo: the recipe will just make more servings).
  2. Toss popcorn and other ingredients in a bowl, then divide among the muffin cups.
  3. Bake for 5 minutes, or until cheese has melted.

 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins
Makes 9

  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ½ cup crunchy peanut butter
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ cup buttermilk
  • 1 tablespoon light cream cheese
  • ¼ cup skim milk
  • 1½ cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup chopped peanuts, plus whole peanuts for topping
  • 3 tablespoons jelly or jam (any type you prefer)
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F and prepare 9 regular muffin cups by spraying with cooking spray.
  2. Beat sugar and peanut butter until combined, then add egg, buttermilk, cream cheese and milk.
  3. Beat in dry ingredients, then stir in peanuts.
  4. Divide into 9 balls.
  5. Use your thumb or finger to create a deep hole and place 1 teaspoon jelly in each hole.
  6. Seal up the hole and place seam side up in the cups.
  7. Lightly press 2−3 whole peanuts on top of each.
  8. Bake for 12 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

Brette Sember is the author of the newly released The Muffin Tin Cookbook, as well as The Parchment Paper Cookbook and The Organized Kitchen. Her web site is BretteSember.com and she blogs at MarthaAndMe.net and NoPotCooking.com.

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Homemade Gluten Free Cheese Crackers

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Fact: Cheez-Its are crap food.

Fact: Cheez-Its aren’t even a food really. More like a food product.

Fact: In spite of the fact that I haven’t eaten Cheez-Its in years, if I were stranded on a deserted island with only one kind of food, Cheez-Its would be right up there at the top of my wish list. So sue me.

Awhile back (inspired by a recipe sent by Amanda from High Prairie Homestead) my sixteen-year-old son took it upon himself to try his hand at making homemade cheese crackers. He deemed them “awesome,” not to mention really easy to make. Trouble is, I follow a gluten free diet. And let me tell you: just smelling those homemade Cheez-It-like crackers just wasn’t cutting it. So I decided to attempt a gluten free version.

The results? I would totally take these with me to a deserted island.

Homemade Gluten Free Cheese Crackers
makes roughly the equivalent of a small box of Cheez-Its (otherwise known as enough for me)

  • ½ cup sorghum flour (plus more for rolling out dough)
  • ¼ cup coconut flour
  • 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1 cup cheddar cheese (sharp or mild)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 5 tablespoons cold water

Combine flours and butter in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times, then add cheese, salt, and cayenne pepper. Pulse until crumbly. Add almost all of the water and process just until the ingredients come together, adding remaining water as necessary.

Preheat oven to 350º.

Sprinkle a baking sheet with sorghum flour. Use your hands to form dough into a ball, sprinkle liberally with flour, and then gently roll dough out into a thin sheet (Use more flour to prevent sticking if needed). Aim for no more than 1/8-inch thick; too thin is preferable to too thick. Use a pizza cutter to cut into one-inch squares. For a more authentic looking cracker, poke a hole in the center of each with a chopstick. Sprinkle with coarsely ground salt, if desired.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until crackers are lightly browned and crisp. Break the crackers apart and cool. Any that don’t feel crisp enough should be popped back in the oven for another five minutes or so. Crackers not eaten immediately (ha!) can be stored in an airtight container.

This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday.

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On the Bookshelf

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I’ve been reading books to inspire my lifestyle lately and these really impressed me.

Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter

The idea of creating a productive urban farm in the less desirable parts of Oakland, California is mind boggling to me. But while the location freaks me out a little – I’ve been lost in the seedier parts of Oakland. It is a scary place. – the story is an honest look at the author’s efforts to raise her own food. It’s not always pretty, but her determination and resourcefulness move her toward her goal and will certainly give those interested in adopting this sort of lifestyle an intimate look at what it’s like to raise poultry in a small space, scrounge for materials, and create something from nothing.

When I mentioned this title on Facebook, The Metropolitan Homestead said:

I’ve read it, and honestly, it was one of the things that pushed me into seriously starting our homesteading activities. I always wanted to get back to this lifestyle, but didn’t’ think we could in the city. Her book changed that mindset for me.

The author has just released a second book, The Essential Urban Farmer, co-written with Willow Rosenthal (who makes an appearance or two in Farm City). Adding that one to my wish list immediately.

 Solviva: How to grow $500,000 on one acre and Peace on Earth by Anna Edey

Years ago someone told me about this book, describing a Martha’s Vineyard woman who had dealt with plumbing issues by tossing urine out into her yard, only to discover that the plants that had been alternatively watered thrived. It sounded interesting to me, but life intervened and I forgot about it.

Last month, my neighbor asked, “Have you read Solviva?” I told her that I wasn’t familiar with it, and she went on to describe a woman from Martha’s Vineyard who accidentally discovered that urine was a great fertilizer. Oh, yes! I had heard of that book! I borrowed her copy and discovered an entirely alternative method of living. And I’m not just talking about pee.

Martha’s Vineyard gets cold in the wintertime, complete with snow and blizzards. But the author’s greenhouse maintains a balmy temperature all winter long without the use of a traditional heating system. Solar gain and the warmth of animals in the greenhouse allow her to grow vegetables year round without any energy from the grid.

Her “solar dynamic, bio-benign design” offers a better way to live more inexpensively and without leaving a big carbon footprint. The author no longer tosses her urine out into her yard, but she’s designed an amazing system to filter waste and utilize the valuable water without harmfully impacting the water table the way cess pools do.

I highly recommend this book for a look at someone who’s figured out some innovative alternatives both for city and country living. The author’s website has detailed information about her wastewater systems as well as a fun and telling comparison of two hypothetical cities.

Folks, This Ain’t Normal: A Farmer’s Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World by Joel Salatin

Joel Salatin is the visible face behind Polyface Farms. You might have seen him in Food, Inc. (If you’ve not yet seen Food, Inc, please do) or met him in Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma or perhaps you caught his TED presentation (Mid Atlantic). I am a huge fan of Salatin, so it’s no surprise that I loved his book in spite of his occasional crotchety outbursts. He’s a wise man who is willing to say some of the things that other people just won’t. First and foremost in this book is the fact that our food system, one that trucks and ships and flies our food thousands of miles just ain’t normal.

Salatin covers the politics of food, but he also spends a lot of time discussing what works on his farm and why community based food sources make so much sense. The book will likely anger you when you read about some of the difficulties that farmers face in bringing good, wholesome food to the table, but more often, I think it will inspire you to make changes in the way you source your food, whether that’s growing your own or seeking out a CSA or local farmer. You can see Mr. Salatin in action, talking about his pigerators and other topics on the book’s website.

What have you read lately to inspire a more sustainable lifestyle?

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Parents Need to Eat Too

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One thing I hear – a lot – when I talk about living a more conscious lifestyle is that, yes, that’s all fine and good. Until you have kids. Babies have a way of interrupting things, don’t they? Less time for yourself, less time for tackling things like recycling or gardening or even cooking.

Well, take heart. Debbie Koenig may not be able to help with your recycling or gardening or any of the myriad other chores that often go by the wayside when you are raising kids. But cooking? She’s got you covered. Her book, Parents Need To Eat Too is filled with healthy, easy to make recipes that just might prevent you from falling into the fast food trap.

My kids are teens now and do much of their own cooking. I’m beyond the oh-my-gosh-when-will-I-ever-sleep stage. And yet, thumbing through the review copy that the publisher sent, I found a ton of recipes that I’d actually make. Zucchini and Spinach Risotto? Why, yes please! And the fact that the meals are so easy to pull together means I’ll have time to spend in the garden growing some of the ingredients.

I’ve got my eye on a few of the slow cooker recipes in the book, but the first thing I had to try? Curry Roasted Chickpeas. We are snackers around here, but we try to avoid pre-packaged snacks as much as possible. The idea of a salty snack that also packs a protein punch was really desirable to me. Instead of the canned* chickpeas that Debbie suggests, I used some chickpeas that I’d cooked up from dry beans (I try to always keep some in the freezer for making  hummus). Score! The only change I’d make to the recipe would be to double it. Or triple it.

Curious? Debbie has been kind enough to share a few recipes from Parents Need To Eat Too.

She also has an impressive collection of recipes on her site. If you’ve got chores to do but still want to feed your family a great tasting meal, check out her quick suppers.

Want to win a copy of the book? Simply comment here, telling us what you’ll do with the extra time away from the stove. Comments submitted by noon on February 21, 2012 (Hawaii standard time) will be entered to win. USA residents only.

*If you use canned chickpeas, look for the Eden Organic brand. Their cans are BPA free.

Psst! If you haven’t voted for your favorite weblogs yet, there’s still time! I’m nominated for the 2012 Bloggies in the Best New Blog category. Other finalists I love? The Writer’s Inner Journey, Music Road, The Vacation Gals, and Summer on Our Wee Farm (let’s hear it for simple living blogs going mainstream).

 

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Radish Leaf Pesto

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Radishes are one of the fastest ripening crops a gardener can plant. If you’re aching to have something – anything – that you grew yourself on the dinner table, radishes are a good bet. They’re one of the earliest crops you can plant, and are ready in just 3-4 weeks from planting date. But don’t stop at eating the rosy roots. I discovered a couple of years ago that the radish leaves are edible too. (I have no idea how I grew up without knowing this!)

My writing colleague, April Paffrath, shared a recipe for radish leaf pesto on Wicked Tasty Harvest a couple of years ago, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Spicier than pesto made with basil leaves, radish leaf pesto is a fabulous way to stretch the harvest from an early spring garden. I’ve served it over pasta, and my kids love to spread it on crackers or in mozzarella grilled cheese sandwiches. It has a tendency to maintain its bright green hue without discoloring like traditional pesto does, so it’s a nice bet for a pretty springtime appetizer, too.

pesto, garden, recipe, radish

If you know me at all, you know that I didn’t make this without modifying April’s recipe just a bit. Here’s my version:

Radish Leaf Pesto

  • Leaves from two bunches of radishes (about 3 cups)
  • 2 big cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/3 cup shredded pecorino romano cheese
  • small handful of fresh cilantro leaves (optional)
  • pinch of sea salt

Thoroughly wash and dry radish leaves. Remove woody stems and put in blender with remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth.

This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday.

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Is that Banana Irradiated? Here’s How to Tell.

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You know how you start out innocently on the internet and see something of interest so you click? And pretty soon you’ve disappeared down a rabbit hole and your dishes still need to be washed and laundry needs to be hung and you never planted those seeds? That’s how this started. I don’t recall how I came across this information, what prompted me to say, “Hey, wait a minute!” and dig a little deeper. I had no intention of writing about irradiated food but here I am. Will this make you more self-sufficient? Maybe in a roundabout way, if you decide that you’d just as soon avoid treated food. Maybe not. Maybe you don’t care if you’re eating irradiated food. Me? I want you to at least know what you’re putting in your mouth and have the opportunity to make a conscious decision.

That benign looking graphic up there indicates that a food product has been irradiated. This FDA website says:

FDA requires that irradiated foods bear the international symbol for irradiation. Look for the Radura symbol along with the statement “Treated with radiation” or “Treated by irradiation” on the food label. Bulk foods, such as fruits and vegetables, are required to be individually labeled or to have a label next to the sale container. FDA does not require that individual ingredients in multi-ingredient foods (e.g., spices) be labeled.

Well, isn’t that sweet. That pretty little flower doesn’t mean “grown in the sunshine” like you might guess. But that’s not all. As I was chasing internet butterflies, I ran across the term “cold pasteurized.” While there’s all kinds of inference on the internet, I wasn’t able to find a definitive answer as to what, exactly, that meant. So I contacted the FDA. Here’s what they had to say:

[C]old pasteurization is defined as the treatment of fresh or processed foods with ionizing radiation that inactivates biological contaminants (insects, molds, parasites, or bacteria), rendering foods safe to consume and extending their storage lifetime.

While I did not ask the FDA about the term “electronic pasteurization,” it’s also been linked to irradiation.

So there you have it. A couple of extra little clues to help you maneuver the grocery store. Or another solid nudge to encourage you to grow your own food or seek out a local farmer.

One question that remains is this: Are products that are repackaged by the grocery store – think meat that’s been packaged into different cuts – required to carry the Radura symbol for retail sale? Or is that FDA requirement fulfilled as long as the meat was marked when it arrived at the back door?

Want to know more about food irradiation? In the “It’s fine, don’t worry, trust us” category we have:

And in the “WTF are they thinking?” category:

What about you? Does the idea of irradiated food worry you?

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What’s in Your Vinegar?

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Truly, is nothing sacred? If you’ve been grabbing the same vinegar off the shelf for years, not giving it a second thought, it’s time to do a little label reading. Apple cider vinegar? Depending on your brand, it may now be ‘apple cider flavored‘ vinegar. Ditto for what you thought was white wine vinegar.

Heinz doesn’t address the ‘apple cider flavored’ vinegar on its site, but here’s what they have to say about the clear stuff that used to be white wine vinegar:

Heinz® Distilled White Vinegar is made from sun-ripened grain and crystal clear water.

Sun-ripened grain. That sounds nice, doesn’t it? But the picture that accompanies that statement shows an ear of corn. And you can bet that corn is GMO.

 

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Homemade Taco Seasoning

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Those little individual packets of taco seasoning mix? Expensive, plus you generate trash every time you use them. The big bulk bottles at Costco? Less expensive, but plastic. Happily, once you have the ingredients on hand, it takes just a few minutes to make your own. Buy your spices in bulk at the natural food store using your mini bags to tote them home – you’ve made some, right?? – and you’ll save on trips to the supermarket, avoid adding to the landfill, and save some cashola.

Taco Seasoning

1/2 cup dried minced onions
1/2 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons organic cornstarch
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Measure ingredients into a glass jar. Screw on a lid and shake to mix ingredients thoroughly. That’s it.

To use: Stir 2-3 tablespoons of taco seasoning into a pound or so of browned ground meat along with 2 cups of water. Simmer until liquid is absorbed.

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Tangerine Ginger Jam

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My neighbor has a tree that is dripping with ripe tangerines. He came out and hollered at me the other day to pick some – lots of them – so I filled my market basket with about 15 pounds. It barely put a dent in his crop. It’s tangerine central around here right now.

Let me be honest: I’m not a fan of marmalade. Those little bitter bits of peel? Very off-putting to me. Yeah, ick. I decided to modify the orange marmalade recipe from Pomona Pectin just a bit to see if I could come up with a less bitter citrus spread. I peeled the fruit before chopping it up, and of course used tangerines instead of oranges. Where the recipe called for water, I used tangerine juice for more flavor, and I added a bit of ginger and vanilla. It’s like marmalade, but without the peels. Let’s just call it jam.

Tangerine Ginger Jam
Yield: 8 pints

  • 16 tangerines, peeled and seeds removed (this should net about 12 cups of segments)
  • 6 cups tangerine juice
  • 6 cups sugar
  • juice from a 2″ piece of fresh ginger
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 package Pomona pectin
  1. Prepare the calcium water from the Pomona package. Put 1/2 teaspoon calcium powder (the small packet) and 1/2 cup water in a small jar with a lid. Set aside. Shake well before using.
  2. Fill your water bath canner to a level that will cover your jars. This varies depending upon jar size. Heat water to boiling, while proceeding with next steps.
  3. Wash and rinse jars. Bring lids and rings to a boil; turn off heat and let stand in hot water.
  4. Finely chop the tangerines. I cheated and used a food processor. Much faster, if you have one. Put chopped tangerines, tangerine, juice, ginger juice, and 2 tablespoons of the calcium water into a large stock pot.
  5. Measure 6 cups sugar into a separate bowl. Thoroughly (and I mean thoroughly) mix in 3 tablespoons of pectin (the large packet from Pomona).
  6. Bring tangerines and juice to a boil, stirring frequently. Add sugar mixture and stir vigorously for a couple of minutes to dissolve the pectin. Return to a boil and then remove from heat.
  7. Stir in vanilla.
  8. Fill jars to within 1/4″ of top. Wipe rims clean with a damp cloth. Screw on 2-piece lids/rings and place in boiling water bath. Bring water back to a boil (it doesn’t need to be a hard boil) and set the timer for 10 minutes. Remove jars to a towel-covered counter top to cool.
  9. Check seals. Lids should be solid and pulled down tight. (if they flex and pop, the jar didn’t seal; put unsealed jars in the refrigerator and use those first).
  10. Remove rings and wash outsides of jars. (You don’t need to store the jars with rings.)

The final analysis: I like it. The vanilla really helps to cut the residual bitterness of the tangerines. It will be good with butter on toast, but also as a pantry staple for baking or to flavor chicken dishes.

 

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Plan Now to Share the Harvest Later

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locavore, eat local challenge, 100 mile diet

It’s that time of year when – for many of us – scouring seed catalogs for potential garden additions stands in for actually getting our hands dirty. While you’ve got time (and not dirt) on your hands, you might want to consider organizing a method to share your eventual harvest right in your own community. Just imagine back fence trades – your abundance of zucchini in exchange for some of your neighbor’s prized turnips – a little bit larger in scale. Call it vegetable commerce if you will.

Sonia Martinez and Kim Hoffman, both part of the leadership team for Slow Food Hawaii, envisioned a way for backyard gardeners to barter their abundance with others in the area. Share the Harvest is the result.

Modeled after the successful Freecycle program, interested parties sign up to become a member of Share the Harvest and swap, trade, or barter anything that is food related. Fresh produce, baked products, preserves, dairy products, or even plants and seeds are fair game. Members who have an abundance send in an ‘offer’ listing what they have available and what they’d be interested in trading for. The message goes out to the list and anyone can respond to the offer. The individual parties determine what would be considered a fair trade.

For instance, I had way more egg cartons than my girls could fill, so I posted them on Share the Harvest. A woman responded that she’d love to have them, and offered me a dozen eggs, some sweet potatoes, and sweet potato slips in exchange. Deal!

The Share the Harvest program is based on the Big Island, but there’s no reason you couldn’t start a similar program that reaches out to your surrounding community. What a great way to diversify your pantry. Instead of figuring out what to do with 300 pounds of pears, you can preserve half that and trade the other half for something that you just don’t seem to be able to grow in your garden, saving you from long winter months filled with complaints of “pears again?” Win, win.

 

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Welcome

It’s one thing to think, “Hey, I’d love to be more self-sufficient!” and quite another to implement a lifestyle change that might require learning some new skills.

Attainable Sustainable is about bridging the gap between wanting change and making it happen without becoming overwhelmed. Nobody’s saying you have to go get a tractor and a cow. Attainable Sustainable is about discovering – one step at a time – how to make changes in your life to support a sustainable lifestyle.

The Author

Kris Bordessa has been gardening for most of her life. She's been authoring books and writing features for the past ten years or so. It's about time she combined the two, don't you think? [More about the author]