Marie Cookpad

  When I worked at the Manor my boss (the Mrs) always had to have a huge bag of mixed nuts ready for her to snack on at all times.  I could not buy already mixed nuts.  I had to buy separate nuts and then mix them specifically according to her preferences.   When I first started working there, she liked filberts, but a few months down the road she decided she didn't want filberts in her nut mix and so I spent a couple hours or so one day picking out all of the filberts in a huge bag of nuts.  I did not really  mind.  If you want to pay me by the hour to pick the doodoo out of the pepper I will pick the doodoo out of the pepper!   My parents used to buy a large tin of mixed roasted nuts every Christmas. This was their Christmas treat. Often before any of us could even get a look in my mother would have taken out and eaten all of the cashew nuts. They were her favourite.   In a nut mix that was heavy on the peanuts, cashews were a prime commodi...

  My kids grew up on homemade granola and homemade granola bars.  When you have five children you learn how to do these things yourself! You can't afford the fancy stuff!   I credit my next door neighbour Mabel for teaching me how to make granola. It was a tasty way to get my children to eat oatmeal.  They wouldn't touch it cooked, but if I turned it into granola, they didn't mind eating it at all.   As mom's we all want our kids to eat things that are healthy for them, including their breakfast cereals, and especially their snacks.   I heard on the television yesterday that the government was going to be banning eating food on buses to try to combat childhood obesity.  I was like what the heck?    How is that going to combat childhood obesity?  I may not be a really smart woman but I don't think banning eating on buses is going to do a heck of a lot for childhood obesity!!   How about making healthy food more affordable?  Ther...

  I am a huge fan of hummus.  I often make it to enjoy with crisp crackers or raw vegetables.  It has been my snack of choice for many years.      It is one of the few ways I can tolerate chick peas due to my diverticulitis.  I used to love to make a vegetarian chili which used tinned chick peas when my children were growing up.  It was really delicious. Sadly those days  of enjoying those types of things in abundance are over for me!    So far I have been able to enjoy hummus however.  Probably because the chick peas are pureed, which makes them easier to digest.   I love all kinds of hummus. Perfect Hummus is the recipe I normally use.  But my Roasted Beetroot Hummus is also very good, and a very pretty pink colour.   This All Dressed Hummus is also a real favourite around here.  I call it all dressed because it is topped with lots of lovely bits to dress it up.    Its like the Cinderella of Hum...