Crispy Parmesan Chickpeas

As a part of my 2018 goals, I've been trying to find healthy snacks to eat at times of hunger. Rather than keeping chips and cookies in the house, my go to snacks have been whole, unprocessed foods. Marathon training requires me to fuel my body with nutrients and vitamins, and snacks from the center aisle of the grocery store just don't cut it.

Recently I tried these crispy chickpeas and found them even more satisfying than any bag of potato chips! They are prepared quickly on the stove top and topped with parmesan, oregano and lemon rind. The combination of salt and citrus was surprisingly good and complemented the natural flavors of the chickpeas perfectly.

The next time you are feeling those late night hunger pains, don't reach for a crinkly bag of chips or a tube of cookies. Keep a can of chickpeas in your pantry and you'll always have a healthy and tasty treat at the ready!

jife

One Year Ago: Cookie Dough Egg Truffles
Two Years Ago: Salted Toffee with Toasted Almonds
Three Years Ago: Raspberry & Cheesecake Mousse Entremet
Four Years Ago: Portuguese Bread
Five Years Ago: Chicken Florentine Pasta
Six Years Ago: Peach Macarons
Seven Years Ago: Chocolate Buttercream Truffles

Tailgating Time! - Ice Cream Cookie Dip

The chilly days of tailgating are coming! Probably not this weekend, (it's going to be in the mid-80's this weekend in the tri-state area) but soon we'll be bundling up in layers and heading out to the game with thermoses of hot drinks.  If you are a football fan in the northern part of the country, this is your reality. There are approximately three weeks of comfortable football weather before the too chilly temperatures take over and make it impossible to enjoy a game without bringing a blanket. During these crisp Fall weeks, I think you should bring this to your outdoor tailgating party...

Yes! Ice Cream Cookie Dip! I'm sure you've seen the different types cookie dip floating around the internet. Most of these dips use cream cheese as a base and are all perfectly delicious. This cookie dip uses your favorite ice cream as a base! Basically, this is an excuse to eat a bunch of ice cream with an edible spoon.

The reason I suggest this recipe only to those in the northern states is because it will melt rather quickly at temperatures higher than 50 degrees! I used a bit of gelatin in this recipe to stabilize the dip, but it still is mostly ice cream and will turn into a pool of delicious melted ice cream if you sit it in the blistering sun. I suggest keeping this in a cooler until you are ready for dessert, then eat up! Unless you are in Buffalo, NY. You will have no problem setting this out on your tailgate in a few weeks! Winter is coming...

Continuing to celebrate my hometown and all things Buffalo Bills, I used the new Perry's Ice Cream - Sundae at the Ralph - to make my ice cream cookie dip. The ice cream has little peanut butter-filled footballs mixed in. These were a special bonus when scooping into the dip!

After working with this ice cream on several recipes, I find myself wanting to put on my old Zubaz pants. Unfortunately I haven't owned a pair of Zubaz since 1994. I think that either a. my mom has since donated them or b. I won't fit into my 13-year old self's pants. Disappointing.

Wait, I just checked... Zubaz still exists!  Time to go buy some and bring back the trend...

One Year Ago: Pumpkin Mallomars
Two Years Ago: Rigatoni with Pepperoni, Tomato & Mozzarella
Three Years Ago: Single Serve Stuffed French Toast

Four Years Ago: Ramen Vegetable Soup

Five Years Ago: French Croissants

Six Years Ago: Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Icing

J@H - Fauxritos

It's time to finish my 2015 challenge! First up, Fritos! Or as I've called them "Fauxritos".  I don't know why I didn't make these earlier, they were really easy.

The only issue you might have with these is if you don't like deep frying. The boyfriend got me an electric deep fryer for christmas last year and it really takes the worry out of frying. Set the temperature and it will take care of everything else!

It took me a few batches before I was able to decide on the idea thickness for the dough. To make things easy for myself I used these rolling pin guides.  An offset spatula made it really easy to transfer the dough from the counter to the fryer.

The recipe doesn't make a huge batch of chips, just enough for one evening of TV watching. You can always increase the batch size if you have a big Super bowl party this weekend!
 
One Year Ago: Parmesan Fries
Two Years Ago: Magnolia's Banana Pudding
Three Years Ago: Homemade Granola
Four Years Ago: Thai Sweet Potato Stew
Five Years Ago: Cranberry-Walnut Celebration Bread

Fauxritos

From Classic Snacks - Made from Scratch

Vegetable oil for frying

1/2 cup masa harina
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Heat about 2-inches of vegetable oil in a deep pot or your electric deep fryer to 350 °F. Line a baking tray with paper towels and top with an upside down wire cooling rack.

Whisk together masa harina, yellow cornmeal, kosher salt and sugar. Whisk water and vegetable oil together, add to dry ingredients and stir until the dough comes together into a ball. Let the dough sit for 5 minutes.

Roll out dough to a little less than 1/8-inch thickness. Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into 1/2-inch x 1 1/2-inch rectangles. Fry rectangles until they are golden brown and most of the bubbling subsides. Remove chips from the oil with a wire spider strainer. Place on the prepared baking sheet and let the oil drain.

Eat within two days, otherwise they get soggy.

J@H - Cheesey Popcorn

Making cheesey popcorn is almost as easy as buying it! Well, once you locate the necessary ingredients, but that's what Amazon is for! Go there now and place your order for cheese powder, buttermilk powder and popcorn kernels. You'll be making your own cheesey popcorn in no time!

Also, I have to mention that I did all of this without a microwave. We are still renovating our new house and haven't gotten to the kitchen yet. There are grand plans to install an over-oven microwave, but that hasn't happened yet. I tried a few different methods until I came upon this popcorn popping procedure. It pops all the kernels and doesn't burn the finished popcorn.

You may be asking if this cheese popcorn is "better" for you than the store-bought variety. The popcorn itself is so easy, it's worth ditching the microwave stuff. Sadly, if you're for all-natural everything, the cheese powder may be outside of your comfort zone. The yellow cheese powder contains yellow #5, a food safe synthetic dye. Want something a little less yellow? Try this white cheddar powder.

Natural or not, I ate the entire bag of popcorn in one evening. So good.

One Year Ago: Peanut Butter Bar Ice Cream Sandwiches
Two Years Ago: Nutella Thumbprints
Three Years Ago: Strawberry-Lemon Preserves & Ginger-Pear Preserves
Four Years Ago: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Five Years Ago: Crunchy French Toast

Junk @ Home 2015 - Twinkies

Coming at you with the fourth Junk @ Home challenge of 2015. I'm a few days late, sorry!  I was out of two weeks ago and I got sick while I was away! Luckily it was just a 7-day cold and I'm nearly back to 100%. Just in time to make some knock-off Twinkies this weekend!

Lots of people have tried their own recipes for this classic snack cake. Two years ago, when Hostess was going out of business, everyone freaked out and developed their own recipe. Not being a Hostess snack cake fan, and knowing that someone would likely buy the patents and start making them again, I never jumped on the bandwagon.

This recipe was requested when I sent out the call for 2015 challenge foods. Rather than trying to replicate the flavor and texture of a classic Twinkie, I decided to create a homemade version with real world flavors. Of course I bought myself a box of snack cakes and did some taste testing. To tell the truth, I have no idea what the flavor is supposed to be. Mystery food. Franken-food.

This recipe is like an inside-out cupcake. Soft yellow cake, filled with fluffy vanilla frosting. It tastes natural, not mysterious, and delicious. This recipe won't save you any calories, but it's completely free of any preservatives. This snack cake won't last through an nuclear winter, better eat them right after they're done!

Save your money, make your own cake molds! Unless you want to make these cakes again and again. I didn't want one more piece of baking equipment to store in our little kitchen.

One Year Ago: Portuguese Sweet Bread
Two Years Ago: Olive Garden Salad Dressing & Chicken alla Carbonara
Three Years Ago: Peach Macarons
Four Years Ago: Chocolate Buttercream Truffles

Football Party Foods!

Personally, I'm not heading to a Superbowl party this year. I think the last one I attended was in 2007, living in Wisconsin as a graduate student. I'm not really a fan of the football, but it might not surprise you that I enjoy the food!

Looking for something delicious to make or bring to a party on Sunday? Here are some of my favorites...

1. Biscofferoos 2. White Chicken Chili 3. Soft Pretzels

4. Salsa 5. Buffalo Wing Sauce 6. Cranberry-Pomegranate Soda

7. Cheese in a Can! 8. Personal Banana Pudding 9. Buffalo Chicken Pizza

What do you like to chow down on at a Super Bowl party? Do you need dessert? Is it all about the chips and dips? Are adult beverages a necessity? Tell me your plans!

J@H 2015 - Cheese Whiz

It's Superbowl Time! (Do I have to put the "TM" after the word "Superbowl"? Will the NFL sue me if I don't? Anyways...) It's time for the big game and my Junk food at Home challenge was perfectly timed! You might think that I put this recipe in the challenge line-up on purpose. Nope, I had no idea when the "Big Game" was when I scheduled the challenges.

This challenge took a bit of tinkering before I came out with this final recipe. The first batch I made was a cheese sauce, simply milk and cheese. The sauce separated promptly upon being taken off the fire.

Batch two was slightly more successful. I used the same recipe that I have written below, but I allowed it to cool to room temperature before pouring into the whipper. The sauce solidified upon cooling to room temperature. There was no pouring happening with that batch. It's currently in my fridge, I think I'll try it out as a cheese spread...

The third and final batch is the one you see in this post! The cheese sauce is poured into the whipper immediately after the cheese is melted. The cheese is charged with N2O and is ready to go. I don't think that I have the industrial capacity to exactly replicate the density of Cheese Whiz. My cheese is more of a cheese foam. These first few images are of the still-warm cheese foam.

Once the whipping siphon is cool to the touch, it pipes out cheese foam like the stuff below.

The cooled cheese foam holds its shape a lot better than the warm stuff. I would recommend making this stuff just before your friends arrive. You can't put this in the fridge, as the cheese sauce would solidify in the fridge. Enjoy the entire thing of cheese in one sitting, but be sure to share with your friends. It wouldn't be very good for you to eat it all yourself!

One Year Ago: Loganberry Mallomars
Two Years Ago: Fudgy Waffles
Three Years Ago: Raw Salad & Wagamama Dressing
Four Years Ago: Chocolate and Peanut Butter Mousse Entremet

2015 Challenge - Junk at Home!

It's a new year and that means it's time for a new Wilde Challenge! I failed miserably at my 2014 challenge. I only wound up cooking from 19/115 of my cookbooks. And... I bought a few more cookbooks this year. Maybe this will just be an ongoing personal challenge.  

I think my failure was for three reasons. 1. I was traveling for about 1/3 of the year and didn't cook very much during my heavy travel times. 2. We moved house and our kitchen was a huge mess for about a month and a half. 3. This challenge wasn't very exciting! I really enjoyed my Homemade 2012 challenge because I had specific goals and really fun food items to make.

I polled my all of you on Facebook and asked "What are your favorite junk foods?" I decided to go with a similar format as the 2012 challenge this year and have scheduled some pretty fun and tasty junk food challenges for 2015!

January 16 - Wheat Thins - Parmesan Crackers

January 30 - Cheez Whiz - Spray Cheese!

February 13 - Girl Scout Samoas (aka Caramel Delights) - Dark Chocolate - Salted Caramel Samoas

February 27 - Twinkies - Gourmet Snack Cakes

March 13 - Cadbury Creme Eggs - Half-Shell Creme Eggs

March 27 - Jelly Beans - Attempted 3 times! So many failures...

April 10 - Cheese Popcorn

April 24 - Oreos - Classic Oreos

May 22 - Chipwich - Chocolate Cookies with Mint Ice Cream

June 19 - Sno-Balls - Classic Sno-Balls

July 17 - Girl Scout Thin Mints - Thin Mints (From 2013)

July 31 - Snickers with Homemade peanut butter nougat and from-scratch caramel!

September 25 - Donuts - Brownie Donuts with Peanut Butter Frosting

February 4, 2016 - Fritos - Fauxritos

February 18, 2016 - Moon Pies - Classic Vanilla Moon Pies

March 24, 2016 - Tootsie Roll Pops - Chocolate taffy coated in Grape Hard candy

April 14, 2016 - Coca Cola - Cherry Coke

To complete in 2017...

Cherry Poptarts

Nacho Cheese Doritos

Oatmeal Creme Pies

Orange Soda

Little Debbie Cakes

Hostess Apple fruit pie

Combos

Candy Canes

Restaurant Wars 2013 - Auntie Annies

Restaurant Wars 2013 continues with a mall snack, Pretzels! I don't know about you, but when I was younger, a trip to the mall wasn't complete without stopping at the pretzel place for a snack. My mom and I would shop shop shop and then get ourselves a snack pack of pretzel sticks with spicy cheese dipping sauce.

I've never thought to make pretzels and cheese dip at home because, well, I'd have to eat it all!  It's hard to make a single serving of cheese dip! This is more of a recipe that you want to make when you have a bunch of friends coming over.  You know, for game day or a baby shower.  I'm sure pregnant ladies like cheese dip.

In addition to the classic pretzel sticks and cheese dip, I thought I would make one of the sweeter treats too.  Using the same recipe as the sticks, I threw some raisins in the dough and topped the baked pretzels with butter and cinnamon sugar.  The versatility of the dough is perfect.  Next time I'm thinking of adding the cheese to the dough and making a spicy mustard!

One Year Ago: Apricot-garlic Pork Tenderloin and Potatoes and Fennel
Two Years Ago: Peanut Butter Brownies
Three Years Ago: Pork, Cranberry & Pear Salad

Pretzels

Adapted from several sources

For the Sponge
1/2 teaspoon dried instant yeast
2 cups bread flour
1 1/4 cup warm water

For the dough
1/4 teaspoon dried instant yeast
1 3/4 cup bread flour plus 2 tablespoons
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar

For the boiling pot & bake
4 quarts water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cream of tartar
1 egg, beaten
Kosher or pretzel salt

For cinnamon-raisin pretzels
1/4 cup raisins
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon cinnamon-sugar

In a large bowl, combine ingredients for the sponge.  Stir until smooth, like pancake batter.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place for 2 hours.

Add yeast, 1 3/4 cups flour, salt and brown sugar to the sponge and stir until combined and form a ball. (Add raisins if using) Work in remaining 2 tablespoons flour to form a stiff dough.  Knead dough by hand for 10 minutes (or 6 minutes in the stand mixer with a dough hook).  Divide into 6 pieces of equal weight (about 4.5 ounces) and let rest for 20 minutes.

Form each piece into a long rope, about 24 inches long.  For pretzel sticks, cut the rope into 2-inch pieces.  For pretzels, form into the classic knot shape (see great pictures here).  Cover pretzels with a damp kitchen towel and let rest for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 ºF.  Place a baking stone in the oven along with a broiler pan.

Bring pot of water to a boil and add baking soda and cream of tartar.  Be careful, it will bubble up!  Boil pretzel sticks in small batches for 2 minutes, flip and boil for another minute.  Boil large pretzels one at a time for 2 minutes, flip and boil for another minute.  Remove from the bath to a kitchen towel dusted with flour.  Let dry for 5 minutes before moving to a baking sheet. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with salt.

Bake on the baking sheet, or slide onto hot baking stone.  Pour 1 cup hot water into the broiler pan and close the oven door.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the pretzels are golden brown.  Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack.

For cinnamon-raisin pretzels, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.  Enjoy hot!

Faux Fudge Rounds

This past weekend I was discussing the good old days of back to school with boyfriend and his parents (aka - the in laws).  We all came to the conclusion that I'm a big huge nerd and nobody likes me.  Why?  Because I loved, LOVED, going back to school in September.

Yogurt with Raspberry & Mint

You may have read yesterday that Boyfriend is trying to land an interview for a great job at Chobani.  As a part of his "research," we have dedicated the week to exploring the wide world of Greek yogurt.  Today we take a trip to the Chobani SoHo shop in New York City.

That's right!  In the summer of 2012, Chobani opened up its first shop in Manhattan.  Located right in the center of SoHo, their storefront offers up a healthy option for someone looking for a quick breakfast, afternoon snack, or late night treat.  It's also one of the only things I can usually afford in this fancy section of town.

With gourmet flavors like Fig & Walnut, Chocolate & Pistachio and their new Bagel & Lox, and some not-so-gourmet ones like PB&J, I had a hard time deciding which one to get.  You'll notice I went with my kid side and ordered PB&J.  You might also see that it came in this fancy Chobani container!  I want to head back time and time again so I can get a full set.

Since boyfriend and I don't live right next door to the CHO shop, I decided to make my own gourmet creation, in my CHO bowl!  Raspberries, fresh mint and a touch of sweet agave, I was in 3:00 snack heaven! 

And our tweet of the day - I'm loving @WildeKitchen 's "research" recipes!  Keep @PitCHObani in the job hunt so we can enjoy @Chobani 24/7/365 #InterviewOverYogurt.  Let's help boyfriend make friends with Chobani, so we can move to Brooklyn and I can have a commute that is only 1 hour instead of 2!  (Such an added bonus, because Brooklyn is pretty awesome all on it's own)

Why Bother 2012 - Crackers

Before I can get started on those 2013 goals, I have to finish my 2012 ones!  We've only got two challenges left in the Why Bother, make it at home challenge!  I'm almost 100% recovered from my bout with bronchitis (Did you know the cough from bronchitis can last for up to three months!???!  Boyfriend knows all too well) and I spent the weekend making crackers!

Crackers are a very prominent snack in the Wilde household.  About an hour after dinner, every night of the week, boyfriend heads to the cupboard and brings a box of Wheat Thins to the couch.  He proceeds to eat about half of the box.  I'm thinking I need to feed him larger portions for dinner.

For the Cracker Challenge, I thought that I should try to replace Boyfriends favorite snack with something a little healthier.  The first recipe I made was a simple wheat cracker, with a hint of salt.  They were beyond easy to make and came out just like the plain store bought brand!  The trick?  Sizing bands for the rolling pin.  I use a Wilton brand fondant rolling pin with the ring guides.  The 1/16-inch guide gave a nice even dough for cutting the crackers.  They came out crispy and delicious!

Did boyfriend have any of them?  No, he did not.  He is a fan of the highly flavored variety of the crackers and I am at a loss at how to make a powdered sun-dried tomato flavoring.  The whole wheat crackers are all mine!

I thought that I would try to ply BF with a flavored cracker, since it's his vice.  Rather than make him something that we could pick up in the cracker aisle, I decided on something fresh and flavorful.  We both love Indian food, so when I saw this recipe for ginger and curry crackers I knew it would be a winner. 

The dough for these crackers came together just as fast as the first batch and they came out such a beautiful yellow color!  The apartment smelled warm and inviting and it made me want to order in some curry.  Topped with a smidge of cream cheese and red pepper jelly, these crackers are the perfect snack.

So, will I stop buying crackers at the store?  I don't think boyfriend will let me, he loves his nightly Wheat Thins too much.  I am happy to know how easy it is to thrown a batch of crackers in the oven.

One more challenge to go before we head into the Restaurant War!  Stay tuned in two weeks for our final homemade challenge - soft cheeses!  It's going to be so exciting, maybe I'll make some bagels to pair up with my homemade cream cheese.

No-Bake Granola Bars

It would seem that we are into the thick of winter here in the Northeast.  I'm pretty sure it was a lot warmer out before I went to Buffalo for Christmas.  Maybe I brought the cold weather back with me?  All I know is, I find myself putting more and more layers on before I head out to the train in the morning.

I suppose that it had to happen eventually.  It's not like I live in Florida and this below freezing snap is a surprise.  It's just that you get used to those warm sunny days and it's sad to see them go.  This cold weather was further a slap in the face this week when I got to work on Thursday to find my office a balmy 40 degrees.  That's right, 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Apparently sometime Wednesday night, both boilers in the chemistry wing failed and the offices and labs proceeded to equalize their temperature with the outside world.  All the space heaters in the world could do nothing to warm up our chilly offices.  The reason?  Hood fans.

In a chemistry building, you have labs.  In each lab there are four to five chemistry hoods.  These hoods are just like your range hood over your stove, only bigger, and enclosed.  These hoods constantly pull air from within the labs and vent it through filters and out the roof.  This means that they are always bringing in new air from outside, air which wasn't being heated.  This meant that we couldn't do any lab work until the heater was fixed. 

Everyone in our wing made for the conference room to get some computer work done.  It felt like study hall.  We waited all day to hear something, anything, about the boilers.  Our facilities staff was running around the building with large wrenches, people were up on the roof banging on things, I was getting antsy just sitting in the conference room.  At least it was warm in there.

Our facilities team was able to get the boilers up and running Friday afternoon, just before we went home.  At least it will be warm in the office come next week.  Though it will be the first full week back to work, it's going to be a long one!

Cherry Granola Bars

It's Tuesday again and we're making our way through another summer week.  Where did you weekend go?  I know exactly where mine went.  I spent one half of it shopping for cars, which I have decided is way more fun if you are the one buying said car.  Or you actually bring said new car home when you finish buying.  Boyfriends new car is currently spending some quality time with the dealer, while he is away on a business trip in Florida.

The other half of my weekend was spent watching the new Batman movie.  Seriously, it's that long.

Okay, so the Dark Knight Rises isn't really 24 hours long.  It's three hours long.  It is long enough, that it can go from being sunny, to down pouring and back to sunny and dry, over the course of the movie.  I know this because boyfriend and I have discovered a new found love of biking around our area. 

We live in Montclair, NJ, which according to the signs posted in the town, is "Where the city meets the suburbs."  It's a cute little town with a main street full of shops and restaurants.  There's a Whole foods and a weekend farmers market.  If you're into antiquing, there are at least four antique stores right downtown.  There is an indie movie theater and a Red Mango, right next to a cupcake shop and just down the street from a gelato shop.

A coal oven pizza place just opened up that serves the most amazing thin crust pizza.  You can go to Tosca and have their amazing corn salad, full of roasted corn, goat cheese and walnuts.  You can head to Raymond's (lovingly referred to as Raymondo's around our house.  I have no idea why.) and fill up on a plate of eggs Benedict, if you can get a table.  Or you can just get an espresso and macaron from Le Petit Paris and people watch.

It's a great little place to live and conveniently located on the train line.  But since this is New Jersey, we are only a few miles away from several other fun towns.  This Sunday we rode three miles, all uphill, to Upper Montclair (hence why it was all uphill).  While Montclair boasts our little Indie movie theater, Upper Montclair has an equally small movie theater playing the newest releases.

The clouds started to clear around two o'clock this Sunday, so we hopped on our bikes and rode up the hill to Upper Montclair.  (Much faster than our first attempt a few weeks ago I might add!)  We stopped and got sandwiches and smuggled them into the movie theater where we enjoyed three hours of Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway.  We came outside and it smelled like rain, but it was also intensely sunny and warm.  The only trace of the rain was a few puddles here and there and a wet bike lock.

One final random question here.  How much does it cost for a movie ticket at your local theater?  I felt like I was getting a deal the other day only having to spend $11 per ticket on our movie.  This is after buying two IMAX 3D tickets a few weeks ago for $18 each!

Why Bother??? 2012 - Soft Pretzels

Shopping malls.  Sporting arenas.  A street corner in New York City.  An odd collection of places, but they are some of the only places that you can find a soft pretzel.  Sweet and salty, yeasty and warm, soft pretzels are one of the food items that you would rarely think to make on your own.  These huge pretzels are among the only reasons that I like going to sporting events.  Especially baseball games.  I have many memories of sharing a box of soft preztel bites with my mom and these memories also have to do with sporting events too.

Back in the days of the early nineties, the Buffalo Bills were a football team to be reckoned with.  In those years, we had Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, Steve Tasker, Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed, all under the direction of Marv Levy.  You'll remember that I am indifferent to football these days, which means that these guys were a big deal, because I remember their names to this day.  The dream team went to the super bowl four times in four years.  They also had one devoted fan, my dad.

He would hunker down every Sunday in front of the big screen (or the radio) and watch his team fight their way to victory.  In the years of the dream team, wins outnumbered losses and it was a happy time.  Unfortunately, the dream eventually faded and we were left with a team that was recovering from the retirement of many of its stars.  The win-loss record suffered and so did their fans.

In the years of awakening, those sad years after 1995, the Buffalo fans held out hope that their team could rebuild and return to their old glory.  Those of you who follow football know this, Buffalo has yet to return to those dream win-loss records.  Sundays of those post-1995 years were spent escaping the house, running from the game and hiding from the darkness it brought over the house.  Football meant sadness and depression (and yelling and the TV). 

To escape the football fog, my mom and I would head out Sunday afternoons.  We would hit the mall and shop to our hearts content.  Trying on clothes, looking at sparkly jewelry, but mostly just enjoying some time together.  At the end of each shopping trip, we would head to the pretzel stand and get a pack of pretzel bites.  I'd get the nacho cheese and mom would get the cheddar.  These buttery little bites of bread would be the prefect end to our escape day. 

The decision to make soft pretzels at this time of the year was motivated by the upcoming Super Bowl.  Of the two recipes I tried out, I preferred the buttery mall pretzels.  The boiled pretzels just didn't turn out like I wanted them.  My verdict on this challenge?  It was totally worth it to make these guys.  They didn't take nearly as long as I thought they would and were completely delicious.  I think that I can skip the mall pretzels now, because these were just as good. 

I was unable to replicate the stadium pretzel.  This just means that 1. I'll have to keep trying and 2. I'll have to keep going to sporting events until I get it right!  Let's go BUFFALO!

Snack Week! - On the Go

There are times that I find myself in need of something to eat, but with no time to cook.  Happens to you too, right?  So, I thought that I would share with you a few of my favorite pre-packaged snack options!  These are the things that a stocked in my fridge and pantry, just in case.  (Disclaimer! - I have received nothing from these companies to say nice things about them!)

My favorite yogurt!  140 calories and so many delicious flavors.  Since it's Greek yogurt, it's a lot thicker than traditional yogurt and it's packed with 14 grams of protein!  Yum!

Nothing special here, it's a banana.  Fruit is the perfect on the go snack, especially ones that come in their own wrapper!  Things like peaches are a little harder to eat on the go, I go for fruit cups then.

We have a hot pot in our office, perfect for heating up some water for hot cocoa.  You could go for the calorie-free version, but in the afternoon I need a little sugar.  Hello mini marshmallows!

Such a neat little product.  I originally got hooked on their hummus, then I discovered these single serve items!  Amazing!  They even come in my favorite flavor, red pepper!

Okay, I'm not suggesting you just eat a wedge of cheese, grab some crackers or celery and enjoy!  The garlic flavor is amazing too and at just 40 calories, so nice.

So that's it!  Snack week is coming to an end, sad.  I hope that you've come away with a few ideas for noshing.  I'll try to include more snacks in my blogging cycle.  Now excuse me, I'm going to go eat some hummus.