Snacktime and a Recipe for Lembas

A Rainy Sunday Equals Snacking

Today was a very cold and very rainy day in Montana, about 40 degrees most of the day with snow on the ground in the morning. One cold days I have a very hard time not eating constantly as an outlet for my boredom and a psychological response to store more calories because here come a cold spell!



Imagine this, except with the flowers weighted down unhappily by snow. That would be my yard in Montana today.

While fresh fruit is a fabulous snack, sometimes we need a little something extra, and today we needed something salty. Salty usually equally cheese for us which is perfect except my children will eat an entire block of cheese in moments if left to their own devises and then there is nothing left for anyone else. Therefor, I must bake.

Upon the advice of a fabulous friend, Emily Hankins, we decided to try her recipe for what her family calls Lembas. If anyone gets the reference to classical literature, please post a comment and I'll happily send you the kudos. Emily the other day offered me her recipe for a cheesy, filling and nutritious treat. There are a few things I may try differently next time. This treat basically contains two ingredients, with room to add more; shelled sunflower seeds and cheese. I added golden flax seeds to the mix from a local farm, Timeless Natural Foods. Flax seeds have great cancer fighting properties and are easy to add to darn near everything.

Golden flax seeds, yum.

Emily's recipe was to take one cup sunflower seeds and add one cup shredded cheese to the food processor together, pulse until combined, shape into cracker patties and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Next time, I will try it exactly right the first time.

Today, I got a bit too ambitious and tripled the recipe, putting 4 ounces of cheddar, 4 ounces of Monterrey jack, and three cups of sunflower seeds with 1/4 cup golden flax seed into the food processor. The mix was not quite stuck together enough and I poured it onto two cookie sheets, mashed down in one big ocean of goodness and then baked it.

Granted, it was delicious, crunchy, salty, cheesy, everything I hoped for; but my versions was less cracker like and more crumbly, snackable like popcorn, so still serving its purpose. I think next time I shall go smaller and add more cheese, using parchment paper to bake on so with less sticking.