Crunchy Chickpeas

A healthy crunchy snack!

Crunchy Chickpeas

Ingredients:

2 (15.5 oz) cans organic chickpeas (garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
2 T canola oil
1 t. ground cumin
3/4 t. kosher salt
1/4 t. ground red pepper
1/8 t. onion powder
1 garlic clove, minced

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Wrap chickpeas in a towel, lightly roll to loosen skins. Discard skins. Combine chickpeas and remaining ingredients. Arrange on a baking sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour and 40 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes.

Servings: 8 (1/4 C each) Calories per serving: 95
Recipe Given By: Cooking Light
Hint: I think I only used 1 can of chickpeas - flavor was not too intense.

Parmesan Crisps

If you're desperate for a bread with soup/salad or need an appetizer cracker, these crisps are a fun choice. Just watch them closely; they cook quickly!

Parmesan Crisps

Ingredients:

4 egg roll wrappers
2 T. parmesan cheese, grated
cooking spray, olive oil type

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Using a pizza cutter or a knife, cut each egg roll skin/dough into 3 strips (try to keep them even sizes.) Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and spread the strips out on the baking sheet. Spray the tops with cooking spray and sprinkle with parmesan. Bake for 6-7 minutes until golden and crisp.

Servings: 4
Recipe Given by: Unknown
Hint: About 110 calories each

Tricky summer treat

Here's a tricky treat that can be used, not only on April 1st, but any day of the year!

Sweet Hamburger Bites

Ingredients: (per serving)

2 vanilla wafers

Yellow frosting
Red frosting
Mini peppermint patty (York used here)

Layer in order:

1 vanilla wafer, flat side up
yellow frosting
peppermint patty
red frosting
Top with vanilla wafer, flat side down

You could mix coconut with green food coloring to add a "lettuce" layer, if you like.

Enjoy!

P - Pretzel Sparklers

My pretzels below aren't quite as cute as the ones in the link, however, I had a little help which makes them all the more beautiful. This is an easy way to use leftover candy melts for a fun snack.

Pretzel Sparklers

Ingredients:
8 squares (1 oz each) white baking chocolate
1 pkg. (10 oz) pretzel rods
Colored candy stars or sprinkles

Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl; heat until melted. Dip each pretzel rod about halfway into chocolate; sprinkle with stars. Place on waxed paper to dry.

Serving: @ 2 dozen
Recipe Given By: Quick Cooking J/A 1999 p. 62
Hint: if chocolate gets too thick, use vegetable oil to thin out again, while heating.

Banana Snack Cake

I recently purchased the tasteofhome simple & delicious cookbook at Target ($16, cheaper on Amazon) and I tried my first recipe: Banana Snack Cake.

I always have bananas that need used up so I thought I'd give this cake a try. I doubled the ingredients and placed it into a 9x13 pan. I only increased the baking time by 5 extra minutes (40 min total) and it wasn't enough to get it cooked through in the middle. It will need longer next time, or I will need to bake it per the recipe in the 8x8 pan.

You can find the recipe here: Banana Snack Cake. If this recipe doesn't appeal to you there are many other banana cakes to try. They made my mouth water and made me wish I had more ripe bananas on hand.

Happy Snacking!

Pizza Roll-ups!

For a quick & easy lunch or snack, try:

Pizza Roll-Ups

Ingredients:

½ lb ground beef
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
½ C shredded mozzarella cheese
½ t dried oregano
2 tubes (8 oz each) refrigerated crescent rolls

In a skillet, cook beef over med. heat until no longer pink; drain. Remove from the heat. Add tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and oregano; mix well. Separate crescent dough into eight rectangles, pinching seams together. Place about 3 tablespoons of meat mixture along one long side of each rectangle. Roll up, jelly-roll style, starting with a long side. Cut each roll into three pieces. Place, seam side down, 2” apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 min or until golden brown.

Serving: 2 dozen
Recipe Given By: Quick Cooking J/A 2000 p. 41

**Sorry, my picture is blurry. There is a better picture on the Quick Cooking link above.

Fabulous Caramel Clusters

I used to make this delicious crispy snack only at Christmas time to share with friends and family, but I recently added it to the care packages shared with Ashley and her friends at college. It's great any time of year!

Fabulous Caramel Clusters

Ingredients:

1 pkg (14 oz or 48) caramels
¼ C water
6 C bite-size rice cereal squares (Chex)
2 C pecan halves (or favorite nut)

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Melt caramels with water in a stock pot over low heat, stirring frequently until smooth. Add cereal and pecans; mix lightly until well coated. Spread into greased cookie sheet (large.) Bake 25 min., stirring after 15 min. Turn out onto greased waxed paper. Cool thoroughly; break apart.

Serving: about 10 cups
Recipe Given By: I don't know where I got it, but you can see a web copy here.

Cinnamon Pancake Cubes

Here's a yummy treat for breakfast or anytime of the day! My kids & hubby gobble these tasty bites up! When you make pancakes, save some aside to give this recipe a try. You're kids will love it!

Cinnamon Pancake Cubes

Ingredients:

1 T. butter or margarine
2-3 pancakes (about 6 inches), cut into 1-in pieces
1 T. sugar
1/8 t. ground cinnamon

In a skillet, melt butter. Add the pancakes, sugar and cinnamon. Cook over low heat until heated through, about 3 minutes.

Servings: 2
Recipe Given By: Quick Cooking, J/F ’02

melt-in-your-mouth good!

Is someone trying to sneak a bite?