snack – unfolding lovely eats

Now Selling…

It’s time, y’all! The granola is going on the Market. I’m still working on some last bits of business planning, but my Cottage Food Home Business – Unfolding Lovely Eats – is official!

The first thing I’ll be selling is the artisan granola I’ve worked hard to master over the last several years. A friend told me yesterday that this last batch was, “the best she’d ever eaten!” and I’m so happy! It’s the right time, and we’re just gonna go for it!

I have a few varieties I’ll be selling to start and I’ll also have the ability to custom make orders for people! I’ll be selling 10 oz packages, beginning at $10. The “Ultimate Granola” will be $14 for a 12 oz bag.

I feel incredibly lucky to make delicious things for people! I hope this is just the beginning!

Until I have a business bank account, I’ll be accepting payment through CashApp or Venmo to start. But once that business account is open and I can figure out how to set up a shop online, it’s gonna happen! 😉

Spicy Garbanzos

Y’all… chickpeas are easily one of my favorite things to eat. They’re good so many different ways; roasted, pan cooked, fried, raw, on salads, in soups, in anything! I love them!

Because I love them so much, I’m always finding new ways to enjoy them. For these ones I’m sharing today, I ate some of them with my breakfast and the rest sat on my counter and I literally ate them all day and finished them off at dinnertime. I was hooked!

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
1 can garbanzos, drained, rinsed, and patted dry
1/2 tsp crushed fennel seeds*
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Tahini sauce
Kalamata olives, to taste
2-4 T (yes, tablespoons) butter (I’ll let you be the judge of it!)
Sprig of rosemary
1 tsp, or so, fresh squeezed lemon (about 1/4 of the lemon)

Heat a good swirl of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garbanzo beans and cook for about 10 minutes, adjust heat if they’re cooking a bit too fast – but don’t turn it up if you think they’re cooking too slow… hear me here. 😉

Add the seasonings and stir to combine. I have a couple things to say here… if you’re using olives and salted butter, you might skip the salt and taste it when it’s nearly done to see if you need it. If you do, throw it in there, if not then just skip it. I wish I could tell you how much tahini to use – I dipped a butter knife into the jar and whatever was on it is what I swirled all over the beans; super scientific guess would be a teaspoon? Half? I dunno. At the same time, because the olives were next to the tahini in the fridge, I decided they should go in there, too, and so I lived boldly with my love for olives and tossed them in there.

By now, the beans should be fairly crisp and they’ve taken on all that good flavor from the spices – we add the butter, in pats all over the pan. I did 4 tablespoons, but I might’ve only done three had I gone a bit slower. Even then, some folks might find it too rich, but I love butter soooooo… I did not. And a sprig of rosemary if you have it – you won’t regret this decision. Continue to stir while the butter browns being careful not to burn it – about 2 minutes.

To serve, give it a squeeze of lemon juice fresh from a lemon. I didn’t have a lemon so I didn’t do it, but I wished I had a lemon because I would’ve done it. I put an egg on top of mine and enjoyed it that way and I also ate them plain. If you’re following a vegetarian or vegan diet (using a butter alternative), the fennel mixed with the meaty texture of the beans is almost like enjoying some breakfast sausage! Enjoy!

*get out that mortar and pestle to crush the fennel seeds! It releases all kinds of fresh oils and spicy notes from the seed. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you can put them in a resealable bag and beat the tar of of them with a meat tenderizer or a rolling pin. Also, if you have a grinder (a spice one or any other kind – I’m not here to judge you!), that will work just fine, too! Only crush or grind what you need because it loses its flavor pretty quickly.

Pizza Egg Rolls

So, I tried the time-lapsed video option with this recipe. Well, let’s just say I’ve not yet mastered that skill. In fact, I’ve not even noticed it. 😉 Feel free to check it out here. It’s okay if you laugh. I certainly did!

If you’re looking for a super easy weeknight dinner that the toddlers – adults in the house can help make, this is the one. And there are, literally, hundreds of combinations. I have a finicky six-year-old, at least when it comes to pizza, in the house: cheese, pepperoni. Please and thank you, that’ll be all. There’s also, quite possible, a string cheese obsession in full force here. Maybe you know something about it. Maybe not. Anyway, this quick pull together snack makes everyone happy.

Ingredients:
Egg roll wrappers
Mozzarella string cheese, unwrapped please. 😉
Pepperoni
Vegetable oil

For the sauce:
6 oz can of tomato paste
Italian seasoning
Red pepper flakes
Sugar
Salt

Set up a bit of an assembly line – apparently, that’s something I like around here, it must be my history with Ford Motor Co. I had the cheese and pepperoni on the same plate. Position your egg roll wrappers on a diagonal with one corner pointed toward you. A small bow of water to help wet the egg rolls can go wherever it makes sense for you.

Place 5 pepperoni in the middle-ish, a bit closer to you than directly in the center. Add a cheese stick, roll the corner closest to your body over the pepperoni and cheese. Fold in the sides toward the center, and roll away from you until there’s about an inch on the wrapper left. Dip your fingers in the water and wet the corner, finish wrapping, set aside on a plate, and finish wrapping the rest.

Heat about an inch of oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side. Similar to the first pancake, don’t expect great color on your first try. It’ll take some practice to know what heat is best for your pans and your stove. Drain on a paper towel covered plate.

While the egg rolls are cooking, mix up a quick and easy sauce to serve with them, though, eating them alone is totally okay, too! Add a can of tomato paste to a small saucepan. How you season it is also really customizable, this is just a quick and easy version. Add about a tablespoon Italian seasoning, 1/2 t red pepper flakes, and don’t be shy with the salt – tomato past really needs the salt! Add about 2 tsp to start. I also add about a teaspoon of sugar just to help balance the acidity. Mix in about 1/2 c water and heat through. If it’s still too thick, add more water, taste, adjust, taste, stir. You probably need more salt; go ahead and add it. (did you know that most home chefs get sent home from cooking competitions for undersalted/underseasoned foods?). Serve alongside the pizza egg rolls! Enjoy!