snacks

I am a snacker. I've always been a snacker; some of my earliest memories involve three-year-old me procuring and discussing snacks. My mother calls me a "grazer," because I tend to eat food throughout the day. On a normal day, I eat breakfast around 8, need snack #1 around 10:30, eat lunch at noon, need snack #2 at 3pm, have a smaller snack at 5:30 or 6ish, and then dinner around 8pm. Except for dinner, all of these snacks/meals are pretty light. If I were to eat a large breakfast or lunch, I might be able to delay the need for each snack by an hour or two, but my metabolism is such that snacking is essential.

My usual go-to snacks are fruit, soy yogurt, pretzels, roasted nuts, rice cakes, or chocolate. But sometimes I feel like something different. So here are some of my recent snacks!

This is not a great picture (because I took it with my phone at my desk at work), but it is my hands-down favorite snack ever. Mashed avocado on toast. With salt. I discovered this by accident once (I started to make a sandwich but realized I was out of my other components) and thought I was a genius, only to be informed by my South African roommate that that is a traditional breakfast in South Africa. Avocado on toast is my perfect trifecta for snacking: carbs, protein, some fat; all of these take a while to digest, allowing you to feel fuller longer. I use about 1/4 to 1/2 an avocado per piece of toast.

In keeping with the carbs-protein-fat trifecta, I present to you last week's emergency snack. I don't normally snack after dinner. Last Thursday, however, I was out all day, and my dinner--on-the-go-falafel from my favorite place--had an accidental tomato in the wrap that I discovered well after I'd left the place, so I had to abort dinner after only eating half a wrap. When I get hungry, I get first light headed, then really tired, and then REALLY CRANKY, so I was in a downward spiral by the time I finally got home at 10ish.

Toast with arugula pesto to the rescue! It's a clove of garlic, some walnuts, a large handful of arugula, olive oil, salt and lemon juice. Look how adorable our mini food chopper (on the right) is! I call it a mini food processor, but the boyfriend pointed out it's actually a "chopper." I've broken this thing so many times I've permenantly set off the safety shut-off and have to jam electrical tape into a slot in the base to override it and get the chopper to do anything.

I try not to have too much sugar in my snacks, because I like to pretend I'm healthy and because I tend to crash faster after sugary foods. But sometimes you just want sweet snacks.

Sweet Wine Biscuits with Sesame from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. A friend of mine recently visited Jewell Towne Vineyards in New Hampshire, and upon finding out that their fining agents are vegan (clay), she brought us back some port. Which meant I could finally make these cookies! First of all, they are very good. A little unusual--I don't think I'd've recognized that they were made with wine if I didn't know the recipe. Second, even though the picture in the book makes them look all pink and rosy, they came out purple!

Purple! I made these when we had some friends over. I like to feed my guests, mostly because I'm a good hostess, but also in part because I won't feel bad snacking if my guests are snacking. Plus if any of them are like me and need food like all the time, they don't have to worry about getting hungry when they come over!

Speaking of friends coming over, Melisser, the Urban Housewife is coming to promote, sign, and talk about her book The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life TONIGHT at 7pm at Peace o' Pie. She's staying with me, so in anticipation of her arrival, I have made:

Low(er) Fat Banana Nut Muffins! I used the recipe for Low(er) Fat Banana Bread from Veganomicon, but added a cup of walnuts, a splash of nondairy milk, and put them into muffin cups. (And halved the baking time, of course.) I haven't tasted them yet, but they smelled amazing cooking. I imagine they'll be denser than muffins normally are, but hopefully not drier--that's why I added the splash of milk. I will eat one as my 3pm snack and let you know!