Snack Foods: Crunchy and Salty or Sweet?
Who doesn't love those crunchy and salty or sweet tidbits we call snack foods? The supermarket aisles are full of them: boxes and boxes, cans and tins, and bags full of crunchy, satisfying snacks.
Expensive little crunchy bits are full of preservatives to keep those crunchy munchies flavorful and free of unwanted organisms.
The calorie counts are usually high, as are the carbohydrate, sugar and fat content.
They are so easy to keep around though, aren't' they? The food manufacturers have even taken our favorite low-calorie snack (air-popped popcorn) and loaded it up with all sorts of chemicals, fats and sugars.
Low-cal no more, pre-popped popcorn has become a sinful snack.
Even nuts, a good-for-you snack, have been contaminated with the stuff to make us fat.
Well, either that or we are all being extremely well-preserved, from the inside out (yeah right).
To be healthy we really have to avoid all the crap that is ready-made and tastes so good.
We need to create our own crunchy-munchies.
The simplest thing to switch to is raw nuts but if you have to have them salted, just pop them into the oven on a baking sheet and spray some coconut oil over them, then salt them with celtic sea salt.
You can also roast them in a pan on the stovetop but you really have to watch them; they burn easily.
Make sure they are baked dry before putting them in an air-tight container and realize that if you don't get that step right you will likely get some kind of mold.
Of course you can always save those little silica packets that come with pre-packaged stuff and plop those in to keep the nuts dry.
A good investment to make if you want to create your own snacks is a food dehydrator.
These things are fairly inexpensive and you can dry all sorts of interesting things, with or without salt or sugar.
All you have to do is slice everything really thin and follow the instructions.
Yes, it takes hours but it is very satisfying to create your own crispy dried banana chips, carrot slices and potato chips.
They don't come out quite as crunchy as the store-bought kind but they can be just as flavorful if you know how to season them and they last really long in a jar or tin.
The secret to creating the crunch is the proper amount of drying time and the right temperature.
The secret to the taste is the salt and/or sugar used, plus any spices.
For those of us who love garlic (which is anti-microbial, by the way), lots of garlic salt or powder is the perfect seasoning for vegetables.
Try blanching your potato, carrot, and zucchini slices in salt water, then drying them thoroughly while pressing them (weighted, like you do when making eggplant parmesan) and then seasoning them further with garlic, salt, and other spices before dehydrating them.
Don't be afraid to experiment with a food dehydrator; the results are worth it.
Making your own munchies that are healthy may take a little time but the health benefits are so great and the price is low.
Where else are you going to get organic, preservative-free, made-to-taste, low-calorie, good fat munchies? ©2010Dr.
Valerie Olmsted All Rights Reserved
Expensive little crunchy bits are full of preservatives to keep those crunchy munchies flavorful and free of unwanted organisms.
The calorie counts are usually high, as are the carbohydrate, sugar and fat content.
They are so easy to keep around though, aren't' they? The food manufacturers have even taken our favorite low-calorie snack (air-popped popcorn) and loaded it up with all sorts of chemicals, fats and sugars.
Low-cal no more, pre-popped popcorn has become a sinful snack.
Even nuts, a good-for-you snack, have been contaminated with the stuff to make us fat.
Well, either that or we are all being extremely well-preserved, from the inside out (yeah right).
To be healthy we really have to avoid all the crap that is ready-made and tastes so good.
We need to create our own crunchy-munchies.
The simplest thing to switch to is raw nuts but if you have to have them salted, just pop them into the oven on a baking sheet and spray some coconut oil over them, then salt them with celtic sea salt.
You can also roast them in a pan on the stovetop but you really have to watch them; they burn easily.
Make sure they are baked dry before putting them in an air-tight container and realize that if you don't get that step right you will likely get some kind of mold.
Of course you can always save those little silica packets that come with pre-packaged stuff and plop those in to keep the nuts dry.
A good investment to make if you want to create your own snacks is a food dehydrator.
These things are fairly inexpensive and you can dry all sorts of interesting things, with or without salt or sugar.
All you have to do is slice everything really thin and follow the instructions.
Yes, it takes hours but it is very satisfying to create your own crispy dried banana chips, carrot slices and potato chips.
They don't come out quite as crunchy as the store-bought kind but they can be just as flavorful if you know how to season them and they last really long in a jar or tin.
The secret to creating the crunch is the proper amount of drying time and the right temperature.
The secret to the taste is the salt and/or sugar used, plus any spices.
For those of us who love garlic (which is anti-microbial, by the way), lots of garlic salt or powder is the perfect seasoning for vegetables.
Try blanching your potato, carrot, and zucchini slices in salt water, then drying them thoroughly while pressing them (weighted, like you do when making eggplant parmesan) and then seasoning them further with garlic, salt, and other spices before dehydrating them.
Don't be afraid to experiment with a food dehydrator; the results are worth it.
Making your own munchies that are healthy may take a little time but the health benefits are so great and the price is low.
Where else are you going to get organic, preservative-free, made-to-taste, low-calorie, good fat munchies? ©2010Dr.
Valerie Olmsted All Rights Reserved
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