breakfast bite flapjack morsels

Another end of cereal packet recipe.

You may recall I pour the dregs and crumbs and powder of a pack of breakfast cereal, be it muesli, granola or branflakes, into a medium lock and lock and store until I can use it.

I often bake a little something on a Thursday evening for the Friday morning playgroup I host, but as Littl'Un had no school, we had a little extra time on Friday morning itself, so I threw these together and ate my brekkie while they baked. Mixing took no more than 5 minutes.

I poured about half the amount I had collected, I'd say about 4-6 ounces, into a bowl, added a large squirt of liquid marg, a glug of squeezy golden syrup, a tablespoon or 2 of sugar (depending on the cereal dregs in use) and about a 100ml boiling or warm water. 

I then stirred this all together until it was clumping and sticking together. 

Then I lightly oiled the cups of my lovely silicon mini muffin tray (which was a Christmas pressie from Papa) and gently pressed a teaspoonful of the mix into each.

I then baked this for 15 mins at 180 deg C.

I then left it to cool a little in the tray before popping the little bites out of the cups and leaving them to cool completely.  These are chewy, crumbly, crunchy and very economical to make! Yours will be unique, relying upon your own cereal library input.  Each batch will even differ.  Have fun experimenting!

Spicy nut snack

I have been trying to lose a little weight and so have been aiming to have fewer carb-heavy meals, and up my veggies to fill me, which isn't all that easy on a budget. I don't want to skimp on snacks and I want something flavourful so I feel satisfied easily.  Nuts are a really good and healthy snack, although commercially produced nuts can contain very high levels of salt.  Plain raw nuts are better, but can get boring, and some types taste quite sweet which is not satisfying if, like me, you tend towards savoury snacks.

I had recently discovered an American brand of pretzel pieces which come in varying flavours, and had become a little addicted to the Hot Buffalo Wings flavour, so I wondered if I could add a little of that zingy sour flavour to some raw nuts to make them a bit more interesting.  So this post is not really so much a recipe, as a snack idea.

Firstly, do not buy almonds or cashew nuts or similar from a supermarket, unless it is close to one of the Asian big religious festivals, and your supermarket has a big World Foods section.  Try and find an Asian shop and get a much better price.

Next, pour about a jar's worth of the chosen nuts into a bowl.  I used a mix of almonds and cashews.  Redskin peanuts would work, not sure what else.  Some people make things like this with canned chickpeas which have been rinsed and left to dry a litte.

Add 1-3 tablespoons of hot sauce.  I used Encona original, I'm planning on trying Frank's Hotsauce and maybe ordinary Tabasco at some point. 

Now sprinkle on maybe half a teaspoon of salt.  Mix really well.

Line a baking tray with foil and spread the nuts out over the tray.  Try to separate them well.

Bake at about 150 deg C for about 10 minutes.

Remove and leave to cool on tray.  Pour into jar or other airtight container, and remember to scrape up any dried hot sauce and pour it over.

Don't eat too many at once!!!!!