So while my last post was about the Grilled Pineapple Mojito cocktail I enjoyed sipping last weekend, I forgot to mention that these seeded rye crackers with avocado hummus were amongst the few munchies which I came along….
Caramelized Onion Jam & Oats Crackers…The way of eating smart with SmartEats
Late working hours and busy schedule at office has gripped me badly this time. I have been thinking only work more than anything else. And that leaves me all the more agitated and restless, of not being able to cook more at home. Cooking in my home kitchen is something I would trade off for even a nice vacation. Trust me I am that crazy. But with barely any time to cook I have to feed myself more on whatever food I get at work.
And not sure why this is, I get sudden craving for some real bad-ass junk food, when I am super busy at work. I would try to find excuses to munch onto unhealthy snacks and that could range anything from chips to chocolates. And when I am finished satisfying my cravings, I would start mulling and repenting that why I did that to myself, making myself all the more terrible. It’s kind of a vicious circle. You know, what I mean.
So, I promised myself that I wouldn’t do this to my body, however ugly that desire may be. And I started making some nice wholemeal stuff, with whatever time I am left with during weekends. I made these wonderful wholewheat brownies, almond and wholemeal chocolate cake and also baked wonderfully fruity pear granola. Took them to work, and made my colleagues happy and did some justice to my stomach as well.
And last to last weekend, I made this yummy caramelized onion jam and some oats crackers to munch with. Onion jam with accents of caramelized flavor and wonderful balsamic vinegar came out so yumm. And the oats crackers were from Heidi Swanson of 101Cookbooks.com, which I found pretty decent too. A definitely a healthy snack to take away for potlucks and picnics as well.
While I was busy bringing back the joy of cooking and eating smartly at work and fighting the monster of bad cravings, I got this box of SmartEats snacks for review…a box full of healthy and nutritious snacks, delivered to your door step, either at home or at work.
SmartEats is a convenient and tasty way of healthier snacking for you and your family. We deliver 100% Natural, Delicious, Unique and Healthy snacks along to your door month after month.Every “Smart Box” is full of new & exciting snacks.
Nicely packaged box had got 5 kind of snacks inside. Of all the goodies in there, I opened the dehydrated strawberries first. They were quite delicious and I found myself reaching for them thrice. But one thing I really doubted that they had some kind of added sugar and eventually found the liquid glucose on the ingredients list….that disappointed me a bit, feeling if liquid glucose was all fine to be termed as healthy? Being a dessert person, I next opened Oat & Raisin Cookies. Sadly, cookies failed to impress me at all. Found them really floury, almost raw sort of and couldn’t dare to finish the one piece only. Honey Chili Nuts were quite good though, with slight hint of chili powder and sour taste. It would have been more interesting, if added some cumin seeds too. But they were still good though. Lean Bean mixture was okay sort of, as I am not much of a savory mixture person. Parsely Pepper Crackers were crispy, thin and cheesy, but I found them way more peppery…could have been gentle on pepper as it left an aftertaste. The box comes for 499 with 5 or 6 snacks packaged separately and neatly with re-sealable packaging, which I found quite convenient, as you can take these snacks to work as well or even while you are travelling. It could have been better with slight improvement in flavors. But the concept is really authentic and adaptable to the current needs of a busy routine life. You could reach SmartEats here, and order your box conveniently with a click of a button.
Till then I am leaving you with this wonderful Caramelized onion jam and Oats Crackers.
Ingredients
4 large onions, peeled and finely sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt flakes
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1.5 tbsp soft brown sugar
Directions
- Place onions into a large, deep heavy-bottomed saucepan and drizzle with olive oil. Using a wooden spoon, stir the onions to coat thoroughly with the oil, then season with a good pinch of salt.
- Cook over medium-high heat for about 15 minutes or until softened. Turn the heat down to low and continue cooking for a further 30 minutes, stirring frequently to scrape any sticky bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add the vinegar and sugar and stir to coat well. Continue to cook over low heat for another 30 minutes, again scraping all the sticky bits from the bottom of the pan. The consistency should be that of a thick, luscious marmalade.
- Set aside to cool. Store in a sterilized jar. It can be kept in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Crackers & Crackers…for Daring Bakers
Reeling through the intense madness at office from past two weeks, I somehow managed to complete the part one of my first ever Daring Baker’s challenge, for which I chose to make Graham Crackers. I paired them with homemade marshmallow fluff and Nutella. Kids back at home loved them a lot and I was satisfied that I had won half of the battle.
As last day of completing the challenge was nearing, I started feeling the pressure to finish it, as if the pressure at work wasn’t enough to deal with. And as rolling of crackers was done, it was about freezing the dough in an icebox {read refrigerator here}, which was yet to be taken over. I was desperately looking for ideas through various cook books, news papers, and internet of course, and surprisingly I couldn’t find a single recipe which could bowled me over. And then I resorted to the suggestions, which Dana McFarlane has given as part of the challenge. Out of the icebox cracker recipes, posted in there, I picked up the one with Cheddar and walnuts, which I adapted as per my taste and the ingredients I had at hand.
Our July 2012 Daring Bakers’ Host was Dana McFarland and she challenged us to make homemade crackers! Dana showed us some techniques for making crackers and encouraged to use our creativity to make each cracker our own by using ingredients we love.
Time was running out and I couldn’t afford to wait for the weekend to come {my regular but favorite time to bake}. So after I came home from work on Monday, I finished the dough part and popped that into fridge to rest for one day and then bake them up next evening. I also made Tzatziki, mixing hung yogurt, dry dill and bits of cucumber, to go along with the cheese crackers. And it summed up as really a great make-ahead party appetizer. Third day morning was time to shoot them up. In the end I felt so relieved that I could live up to taking this challenge midst my busy work schedule. After all this is Daring Baker’s challenge, and it was indeed daring for me.
Graham Crackers {recipe adapted from Martha Stewart}
Ingredients
1 all-purpose flour, plus more for working
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup ground oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
100 gm butter
2 tbsp milk
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
Instructions
- Mix all the dry ingredients except sugar in a bowl and set aside.
- Beat butter with sugar until pale and fluffy.
- Add flour mixture and rest of ingredients to butter and sugar mixture and mix well to make two dough balls.
- Wrap them up into cling wrap and let rest in fridge for about 20-30 minutes.
- Taking one ball at a time, roll the dough into 1/8 inch thickness. Cut the crackers using cookie cutter of your choice.
- Line them onto baking sheets and bake in a 180 degree Celsius preheated oven for about 10 minutes.
- Let them cool on a wire rack completely.
Cheddar Hazelnut Rosemary Icebox Crackers {recipe adapted from The American Culinary Institute}
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp bengal gram or chickpea flour
1 1/4 tsp coarse salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried rosemary
2 tbsp chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup finely grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
Instructions
- Combine flours, salt, cayenne pepper, rosemary and butter in a food processor until it resembles coarse bread crumbs .
- Add cheese, milk and nuts and knead to make a dough ball.
- Roll the dough into a cylindrical log, cover with cling wrap and let rest in fridge for at least 24 hours.
- Cut the thin slices of around 5 mm thickness and bake them on a baking sheet in a 160 degree Celsius preheated oven for about 20 minutes until golden brown.
- Let cool on wire rack completely before serving.