Wholesome Pantry Snacks

I've really tried to be good this summer, eating whole foods and skipping things like sugar and grains, eating way more fruit and veg, and laying off the meat. Many people who do this go on forever about how good they feel, how well they sleep, poop, etc., because they're living this new somehow more perfect lifestyle. I won't. I feel as good as I ever did (I never felt bad, physically), but I've lost some weight, which is a plus. (I've always carried way too much weight for my medium-sized frame.)

Even those of us who are seemingly virtuous in our eating habits need to snack once in a while, especially when we're out and about doing summertime activities. Generally, when I feel snacky, I reach for dried fruit, nuts, and granola. My number one favorite dried fruit is mango. It's fabulous, chewy and sweet, and comes in pieces big enough that two or three makes an adequate nibble. So when I was offered a selection of snacks from ShopRite's Wholesome Pantry Organic line, and they included dried mango, I jumped at it. Besides, we shop at ShopRite regularly; it is honestly one of my favorite grocery stores.

Raw cashews are also a great snack, but they can also be transformed into stuff like cashew milk and cheese substitutes. And if you prefer toasted cashews, just toss them in a heavy dry skillet over medium heat and cook for a couple of minutes until fragrant and lightly browned. Shake the skillet regularly and don't walk away from the pan--nuts are high in fat and can burn easily!

Wholesome Pantry Organic's sweet potato tortilla chips are so good! They're great with salsa, but perfect just on their own straight from the bag (my preferred method of snacking). And if you're feeling particularly naughty, they're also just lovely popped into the toaster oven with a sprinkling of grated cheese on top.

Those granola squares in the photo? Yeah, they're a smart snack for summer, but I ate one for lunch the other day (had a big breakfast) with a piece of fruit and it kept me satisfied until dinner.

The Wholesome Pantry Organic line consists of USDA-certified organic items, and "free-form" products made with simple, clean ingredients. Check them out next time you're in ShopRite--you'll find the products in every aisle, from fresh veg to meats to sauces.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

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Wholesome Snacking

During the holiday season, I've been known to have meals consisting entirely of cookies (the oatmeal cookies with dried cherries turned out especially well last year). There are also plenty of celebratory get-togethers with friends, family, and co-workers that are perfect excuses to indulge. Not that I need excuses--I have always been an indulgent person. I don't feel "guilty" when I've eaten something naughty because I'm not a little girl anymore and I refuse to fall into the trap of self-loathing just because I occasionally do something that I enjoy. Ladies, you know what I'm talking about.

However, I do know there's a time to indulge, and a time to cut back on the snacking. Notice I didn't say "eliminate" snacking. Some people are snackers. Some would rather nibble a little of this and a little of that all day long than sit down and eat a meal with fork and knife. But rather than snacking on a fistful of cookies, full of sugar and fat and white flour, post-holiday snacking should involve more whole foods, like nuts and popcorn. I got into the habit of eating dried fruit and nuts when I was doing Whole30 last year, so I decided to stock up on similar snacks to ease me away from cookies and back into eating more healthily.

We shop at ShopRite Supermarkets' fairly regularly, so I decided to try items from their line of Wholesome Pantry snacks. The Wholesome Pantry brand includes hundreds of products like pasta sauce and eggs, all of which are made from simple, clean ingredients and free of unpronounceable chemicals. We already buy the Wholesome Pantry Organic Salad Blends, so venturing into snack land was a no-brainer.

We tried the Energy Mix (sunflower seeds, organic raisins, dried cranberries, nuts, and dried apples) that are great to toss in a backpack or in the car for when the urge for something crunchy/sweet/chewy arises, pecan halves, and dried Fuji apple crisps (sooo addictive) plus the somewhat more fancy Crushed Pepper & Truffle Oil popcorn. It was pretty easy to kill the whole bag while binge-watching The Crown. We also got a jar of almond butter. We eat the stuff all the time, and I like to use it in hummus.

My hummus is pretty non-traditional. I am allergic to chickpeas, so I use any other canned bean, plus almond butter, lots of garlic, lemon, and olive oil. The last time I made it, I used the Wholesome Pantry almond butter and lemon-flavored olive oil instead of lemon juice, which gave it such a sunny flavor.

I also tossed some of the Wholesome Pantry pecan halves on a warm farro and broccoli salad that I served with lamb meatballs. They added just the right crunch to the dish.

So far the healthy snacking has been working for me. The natural fats and sugars from nuts and dried fruit fill me up better than a handful of cookies, so I'm actually shoving food into my pie-hole less-often. Maybe now I'll drop those couple pounds I always seem to pick up in December.

Warm Farro and Broccoli Salad with Pecans

1 lb broccoli
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
1/2 cup farro, cooked according to package directions
Lemon juice
Wholesome Pantry pecan halves

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Separate the broccoli into medium sized florets. Peel stems and slice them lengthwise into strips. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Toss with olive oil and salt and roast in a preheated oven until florets start to get some good browning on them and the stems are tender, 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the farro.

Remove the broccoli from the oven and chop it roughly. Toss the warm broccoli and farro together in a bowl. Squeeze over lemon juice to taste and season with additional salt, if needed. You may also add other seasonings like chile flakes, garlic, black pepper--whatever sounds good to you.

Crush up a small handful of pecans and stir into the salad. Serve immediately.

Serves 2 as a meal, 4 as a side dish.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



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Cherry Almond Biscotti

It's become a holiday tradition to get together with my brother to bake cookies. We tend to stick to the basics: chocolate chips and snickerdoodles. And while those are both delicious, I like a bit more variety. Sometimes I insist on making oatmeal cookies, and every once in a while I like to bake biscotti.

Because biscotti need a double baking to attain that special crispness that is so perfect when dunked in a cup of hot coffee or tea, they seem like they are extra work. But they're really not. The dough first bakes in large loaves; that's where they do their rising. Once those loaves are sliced up, you can crowd baking sheets with as many cookies as will fit, as they won't get any bigger. The second baking is merely to dry them out and make them crisp. But while they only require two trips in the oven, each baking takes a bit of time and there are two oven temperatures, so don't bake these at the same time you are attempting to make chocolate chippers.

This recipe makes 40 or so cookies, depending on how anal-retentive you are with cutting them to exactly 1/3" inch wide.

Cherry Almond Biscotti (adapted from Epicurious.com)

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine flour, sugar, oats, baking powder and soda, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle. Blend for a few seconds to combine. Add the eggs, oil, vanilla, and two tablespoons of heavy cream and mix on medium speed until dough comes together. If the dough still seems dry, add the other tablespoon of cream. Fold in the cherries and almonds.

Using floured hands, shape the dough into two logs, about 16" long. Place them on the parchment-lined baking sheet about 5" apart. Flatten each log to about 2" wide. Bake for 15 minutes, rotate the sheet, and bake an additional 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool about 10 minutes.

Reduce oven to 250°F. Line a second baking sheet with parchment. Slice the logs into 1/3" thick slices. Arrange them, cut side down, on the two baking sheets. Bake for 20 minutes. Rotate the sheets and bake an additional 20 minutes, until cookies are crisp. Allow to cool completely on wire racks. Store in airtight containers at room temperature.
 

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Pumpkin Fruitcake

I know a lot of folks don't like fruitcake. I don't either, actually, especially not the typical dyed cherry-filled abomination. But my Dad loves the stuff - plastic fruits and all - so I gave him rather fabulous home-made fruitcakes for the past two Christmasses in a row. He got one for his birthday this year, too, but it was a fruitcake in name only. A pumpkin bread studded with dried fruits and nuts, this moist creation was also a big hit.

Pumpkin Fruitcake, adapted from this recipe

1/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup water
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 2/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
3/4 cup roasted unsalted nuts of your choice, chopped into rough chunks
3/4 cup dried fruits including figs, apricots, sour cherries, cranberries, raisins, chopped into rough chunks

Preheat oven to 350°.

In one bowl, cream butter and sugar. In another bowl combine eggs, water and pumpkin. Add butter mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Stir together dry ingredients in a third bowl. Add about one-third of the dry ingredients at a time to pumpkin mixture, stirring well after each addition. Mix in nuts and dried fruits. Bake bread in greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pan for 60 to 75 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center comes out with only a few dry crumbs attached.

Photo: © Poisson d'Avril/SoFood/Corbis 
Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.