snack time

Oh my.  It has been so very long since I have visited with you.

The last few months have been very busy.  When we left SF for the mountains of Tahoe, I took at job at a major ski resort to open and run two new food trucks.  Even with our lack of snow so far this year, I have been busy with repairs, training my team, and operating the trucks. 

But when I am busy, I don't tend to eat right.  I go too long without food, turn snacks into meals, or just plain eat the wrong things for my body.  Carrying snacks with me always helps; I almost always have snacks with me!  It prevents that melt-down from low blood sugar and it also ensures I am eating better-for-me food.  Jars of nuts, fresh fruit, even some packaged bars are often in my bag.   I find snacks to be imperative!

I recently found myself eating many packaged bars.  While I am not opposed to them, I find they tend to be higher in sugar and less friendly for my tummy than I would like.   On a whim, I whipped up some carrot "bread."  Actually, I was craving carrot cake, but really didn't want the flour, sugar, and fat that comes with it.  So I threw some ingredients in a bowl and became addicted to the outcome.  I now find I am making it weekly (along with my weekly granola!) to wrap up and carry as my snack.

Carrot Bread

(makes 1 loaf)

1 1/2 cups shredded carrots (about 4-5 medium sized carrots)

2 eggs

1 egg white

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup almond milk (or other milk)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup honey

1 cup oat flour

1/2 cup almond flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ginger (optional)

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Grease a loaf pan (I prefer glass, for I find it bakes more evenly). 

Combine carrots, eggs, vanilla, milk, honey, and olive oil. 

Combine dry ingredients and stir into carrot mixture. 

Pour into loaf pan

Bake until set in the middle (a toothpick will still be slightly dirty), about 40 minutes. 

apple snacks

I love to cook.  But sometimes, among working with food all day, waning inspiration (gasp!), and participating in calorie consuming adventures, I don't want to cook and simply need fuel.  But it still has to be tasty!

While working in kitchens, I would often reach for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (on wheat!) to help fuel me through the grueling work hours.  Simple, sustaining, and far enough removed from the fancy meals I was preparing, I probably ate a PB&J nearly every day.

When I learned my daily sandwich needed to fall by the wayside for the health of my body, I found other things to fill that need.  Nothing ever really lived up to that peanut butter sandwich, though.  I was missing that sweet and salty snack that helped to keep me full.  

I don't know what took me so long, but I slowly found my way to apples with peanut butter.    It is the perfect combination of sweet and salty, crisp and creamy, protein and carbohydrate.  Dare I say, it is even better than a PB&J?!

Now, I find an apple without peanut butter to be slightly boring - sweet, one dimensional, lacking.  Peanut butter without an apple, well, that is still delicious.