Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet (40 page)

Part IV
And All The Extras

1.
Snacks, Appetizers, and Candies That Count

Snacks that count

   
Instant Cottage Cheese Pudding

   
Instant Buttermilk Pudding

   
Peanut Butter Protein Sandwich

   
Low-Calorie Cheese Spread

Appetizers that count

*
Cool Spinach Appetizer

   
Cold Gallentine

   
Sesame Crisp Crackers

   
Bean Dip, Arab Style

   
Bean Dip, Mexican Style

   
Cottage Cheese and Seafood Dip

   
Party Snacks

   
(For other appetizer ideas, see the Menus in
Part III
.)

Candies that count

   
Peanut Butter Log

   
Sesame Seed Delight

   
Tiger’s Candy

*
New recipe
.

The recipes in this section prove that a snack or a sweet doesn’t have to be considered just an energy food, a filler, or a mere self-indulgence. It can also contribute substantially to meeting your body’s need for protein.

Snacks That Count

Instant Cottage Cheese Pudding

To cottage cheese add:

chopped nuts

applesauce

toasted sunflower seeds

dried fruit

dash cinnamon

Choose your favorite ingredients and mix together to your taste for a great snack.

Instant Buttermilk Pudding

This has a great sweet-sour taste that is addicting. If you think you don’t like buttermilk, try it this way.

To leftover rice add:

buttermilk

brown sugar or honey

raisins

nuts or seeds

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Peanut Butter Protein Sandwich

Remember that when you eat peanut butter by itself your body can use only about 40 percent of the protein in it. The rest is wasted because the amino acids are unbalanced. This is why commercials that promote peanut butter as a good source of protein are misleading
unless
you know how to combine it with other protein sources to create an amino acid balance that the body can use more fully.

So, go get your jar of peanut butter. If it is partly eaten, there’ll be room to add some nonfat dry milk powder. The exact proportion is 2 parts peanut butter to slightly less than 1 part milk powder (or slightly less than ½ cup milk powder for every cup of peanut butter). However, this much powder will make the peanut butter too stiff, so either add less powder (any at all is helpful, protein-wise) or add honey to soften it up. Or, if the peanut butter-milk mix is stiff, I like to add a quarter of a mashed banana when I am making a sandwich for my little girl. She loves it that way.

Make your peanut protein count.

Complementary protein: peanut + milk

Low-Calorie Cheese Spread

Ricotta cheese or low-fat cottage cheese

Optional:
chopped dried fruit
chopped nuts

Try either cheese on toast, English muffins, or a bagel. Add just a touch of marmalade. Delicious!

If you want more protein and fewer calories, ricotta is a great substitute for cream cheese. It has one-third the calories and 75 percent more protein.

Appetizers That Count

Cool Spinach Appetizer

2 cups

Claire Greensfelder (see Betty the Peacenik Gingerbread) developed this recipe in an effort to re-create the great taste she had in an Afghanistan restaurant. I don’t know whether she succeeded, but my kids love it, even though spinach is not their favorite vegetable.

1 pound spinach

1 cup plain yogurt

1 tablespoon tahini (sesame butter) or more to taste

Juice of 1 lemon

1 clove garlic, minced

Cook spinach, drain, and let cool. Mix thoroughly with remaining ingredients. Great on pita bread, crackers, or pumpernickel.

Complementary protein: milk product + wheat (bread)

Cold Gallentine

6 servings

Makes a fine hors d’oeuvre or lunchtime dish.

2 tablespoons margarine

1 medium onion, chopped

¼ pound mushrooms, coarsely chopped

2 eggs, beaten

Salt and pepper to taste

Pinch nutmeg

1¼ cups cooked brown rice (½ cup uncooked)

2 tablespoons brewer’s yeast

¾ cup bread crumbs

¼ cup nuts or ground toasted seeds

Spread (optional):
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise

Preheat oven to 375°F. Heat margarine and saute onion and mushrooms until onion is translucent. Mix eggs with salt and pepper and nutmeg and add rice, yeast, bread crumbs, and nuts; then mix in sautéed vegetables. Put in an oiled casserole and bake for 30 minutes. Let cool. Cut in 2-inch squares. Combine spread ingredients and serve on or with cold gallentine.

Complementary protein: rice + yeast + wheat + seeds + milk products

Sesame Crisp Crackers

3 to 4 dozen crackers

These crackers go well with soups as well as sweets. Serve them with your favorite dips, spreads, and cheeses.

1½ cups whole wheat flour

¼ cup soy flour

¼ cup ground sesame seeds

Salt to taste

1/3 cup oil

About ½ cup water

Preheat oven to 350°F. Stir together whole wheat and soy flour, sesame seeds, and salt. Add oil and blend in well, then add enough water to make the dough soft enough to roll out very easily into a thin sheet. Gather the dough into a ball, then roll out to ⅛ inch thick. Cut in cracker shapes or sticks and put on an unoiled baking sheet. Bake until crackers are crisp and golden.

Complementary protein: rice + sesame seeds + wheat + soy

Bean Dip, Arab Style

See filling for Middle Eastern Tacos. It combines garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and sesame butter with an incredible assortment of spices. Serve on wheat crackers.

Complementary protein: beans + sesame

Bean Dip, Mexican Style

Cook pinto beans until very soft. Purée, adding a little oil to improve the texture if you wish. For extra flavor, add chili powder, garlic, and cumin to taste. Fry as in the recipe for Tostadas. Stir in lots of grated cheddar or jack cheese. Use as a dip with corn chips or quartered and toasted tortillas.

Complementary protein: beans + milk product

Cottage Cheese and Seafood Dip

Blend cottage cheese with chopped onion and drained canned minced clams. Add herbs if you like. Great as a light dip with fresh vegetables.

Party Snacks

18 servings (4½ cups)

3/4 cup roasted peanuts

1 cup roasted sunflower seeds

1 cup roasted cashews

1 cup raisins

1 cup toasted shredded coconut

Salt (optional)

Combine and serve as a party snack. This also makes a simple dessert after a big meal. You can vary the recipe by leaving all of the ingredients raw. Try subsituting sliced dates for the raisins and walnuts for the cashews; this makes a richer snack.

Complementary protein: peanuts + sunflower seeds

Candies That Count

Peanut Butter Log

10-inch log

Many mothers have told me that when their children ask for sweets, they give them a piece of this log—with a clear conscience. I know of a nursery school that let the children make their own, and the kids loved it.

½ cup peanut butter

2 tablespoons honey

2½ tablespoons nonfat dry milk
(3½ tablespoons instant) or
more as needed

½ cup raisins

Shredded coconut (optional)

Blend peanut butter and honey, then work in as much powdered milk as you need to make the mixture easy to handle and fairly stiff. Pick up the mixture and knead in the raisins, distributing them evenly. Roll into a 1×10-inch log. Then roll in coconut for eye appeal. Chill, and slice or pull apart.

This mixture can be molded into balls or any shape, and even pressed into cookie molds to make an exciting snack for small children (and big ones, too).

Complementary protein: peanuts + milk

Sesame Seed Delight

18 pieces

You can vary this by adding ¾ teaspoon mace, cinnamon, or cardamom.

¼ cup margarine

¼ cup sesame butter

1 cup ground sesame seeds

1/3 cup instant dry milk

½ cup wheat germ

½ cup grated coconut (optional)

¼ cup ground nuts (optional)

¼ cup honey

¼ cup raisins

2 teaspoons vanilla or almond
extract

Cream together margarine and sesame butter. Blend with remaining ingredients and form into 1-inch balls. Chill several hours.

Complementary protein: sesame seeds + milk + wheat

Tiger’s Candy

2 dozen balls

½ cup peanut butter

2/3 cup ground sunflower seeds

1 tablespoon brewer’s yeast (optional)

¼ cup instant dry milk

1 to 2 tablespoons honey

¼ cup finely chopped raisins

¼ cup finely chopped dates or other dried fruit (or more raisins)

Shredded coconut or carob powder

Blend together peanut butter and ground sunflower seeds, then stir in yeast, milk, honey, raisins, and dates and mix well (probably the easiest way
is
with your hands). If the mixture is too dry to hold together, add liquid milk; if too wet, add more powdered milk. Form into balls and roll in coconut.

Complementary protein: peanuts + sunflower seeds + milk