Go to town for parts, whip up lunch, go to the school meeting. There is never enough time in the day. Oh yes, the washing machine is broken, the computer is on the blink and someone threw the cell phone in the
toilet. Good thing they didn’t flush.
How do we get through days like this? I believe the answer is simple: good snack food. When the going gets rough, take some time to regroup and sneak some food. We try to promote healthy eating, but ocasionally we need some treats. These autumn snack recipes will be great for your drop-in coffee guests, in kids’ lunches or at fall potlucks.
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Zucchini chip cake
1/2 cup butter, softened 125 mL
13/4 cups sugar 425 mL
1/2 cup oil 125 mL
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 5 mL
21/2 cups flour 625 mL
2 tablespoons cocoa 30 mL
1 teaspoon baking soda 5 mL
1/2 teaspoon baking powder 2 mL
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 2 mL
1/2 teaspoon cloves 2 mL
1/2 cup buttermilk 125 mL
2 cups shredded, peeled 500 mL
and drained zucchini
2 cups chocolate chips 500 mL
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in oil, eggs and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Stir in zucchini.
Pour into a greased nine x 13 inch (22 x 33 cm) pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and bake at 350 F (180 C) for 45-50 minutes.
Pumpkin cupcakes
13/4 cups flour 425 mL
1 teaspoon baking powder 5 mL
1 teaspoon baking soda 5 mL
1/2 teaspoon salt 2 mL
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 2 mL
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1 mL
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin 250 mL
1/2 cup vegetable oil 125 mL
1/2 cup honey 125 mL
1/3 cup water 75 mL
1/2 cup chopped pecans 125 mL
1 cup chocolate chips 250 mL
Topping:
1 package (8 oz.) cream 250 g
cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened 60 mL
1 teaspoon vanilla 5 mL
2 cups icing sugar 500 mL
Combine the first seven ingredients in a large bowl. Combine the eggs, pumpkin, oil, honey and water and mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until mixed. Fold in pecans and chocolate chips. Place in muffin tins and bake at 350 F
(180 C) for 20-25 minutes. Cool and mix frosting ingredients until smooth. Yield: 25 cupcakes.
Plum pie
4 cups fresh sliced plums 1 L
1/2 cup sugar 125 mL
1/4 cup flour 60 mL
1/4 teaspoon salt 1 mL
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 mL
1 tablespoon lemon juice 15 mL
1 unbaked pastry shell 9 inch (23 cm)
Topping:
1/2 cup sugar 125 mL
1/2 cup flour 125 mL
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 mL
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 mL
3 tablespoons cold butter 45 mL
In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients and pour into the pastry shell. For topping, combine sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over filling. Bake at 375 F (190 C) for 50-60 minutes or until bubbly and golden. Cover edges of crust with foil during the last 20 minutes to prevent overbrowning. Cool on a wire rack. Serves eight.
Source: Taste of Home Annual Recipes 1998.
Easy recipe
Here is a healthy meal to go with the snack food. It is a great way to use garden crops.
All-in-one supper
4 potatoes
2 onions
6 carrots
1/2 cup converted rice 125 mL
1 cup frozen peas 250 mL
2 pounds small sausage 1 kg
1 can (10 oz.) tomato soup 284 mL
1 cup water 250 mL
Slice potatoes over the bottom of a two quart (two L) casserole, then in layers, slice one onion, then three carrots, then rice, the second onion, then remaining carrots. Spread peas over the top and cover with sausages. Mix the soup and water together, and pour over the top. Cover and bake in a 350 F (180 C) oven for one hour. Remove cover, turn sausages and bake uncovered for another hour or until vegetables are soft. Serves four.
Grapefruit is in the news
Eating half of a grapefruit three times a day before meals appears to help people shed unwanted pounds, according to findings from the Scripps Clinic in San Diego, Calif.
Regular grapefruit eaters also experienced a decrease in insulin, which in excess can increase the risk of weight gain and cardiovascular problems. People have been advocating the grapefruit diet since the 1930s, and the concept has resurfaced over the years.
To investigate grapefruit’s effect on weight loss, the team asked 100 obese people who were not trying to lose weight to eat grapefruit and record their weight over 12 weeks.
By the end of the study period, people who ate fresh grapefruit had lost almost two kilograms without making any other changes to their diet.
Both fresh grapefruit and the juice appeared to encourage weight loss in people with metabolic syndrome, which includes several disorders such as abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar and unhealthy cholesterol levels, and which sets the stage for diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
Previous research has shown that grapefruit does not ramp up metabolism, so these new results suggests that the fruit may encourage weight loss by lowering insulin levels.
But note that grapefruit does interact with some medications.
Chemicals in grapefruit interfere with certain enzymes that break down some drugs in your intestinal tract and liver. This can result in higher-than-desired blood levels of the drug and an increased risk of serious side effects.
The exact chemical or chemicals in grapefruit juice that cause this interaction aren’t known. But these chemicals are present in the pulp and peel of grapefruit as well as in the juice. For this reason, any grapefruit product including dietary supplements that contain grapefruit bioflavonoids can interact with these medications.
Drugs known to have potentially serious interactions with grapefruit products include:
- Antiseizure drugs such as carbamazepine (Carbatrol, Tegretol).
- Antidepressants such as buspirone (BuSpar), clomipramine (Anafranil) and sertraline (Zoloft).
- Benzodiazepines such as diazepam (Valium) and triazolam (Halcion).
- Calcium channel blockers such as felodipine (Plendil), nifedipine (Adalat, Procardia, nimodipine (Nimotop), nisoldipine (Sular) and possibly verapamil (Isoptin, Verelan).
- Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease inhibitors such as saquinavir (Fortovase, Invirase) and indinavir (Crixivan).
- HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors such as simvastatin (Zocor), lovastatin (Mevacor) and atorvastatin (Lipitor).
- Immunosuppressant drugs such as cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune), tacrolimus (Prograf) and sirolimus (Rapamune).
- Antiarrhythmic drugs such as amiodarone (Cordarone).
The best advice is to avoid grapefruit products if you take any of these drugs, unless your doctor or pharmacist approves.
Reader request
Do any readers know of therapeutic gardens in Western Canada, preferably Saskatchewan?
Jodie Mirosovsky is a home economist from Rosetown, Sask., and one of four columnists comprising Team Resources. Send correspondence in care of this newspaper, Box 2500, Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 2C4 or contact them at team@ producer.com.
