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Thursday, July 22, 2010

TubaDad said “Hey those carrot crackers weren’t half bad!” Heh.

Whooeeee, Ro and Ree were extra rambunctious yesterday. We played outside for hours, there were mishaps with the sand table and the garden hose on the slide, then I found a recipe on Weelicious for carrot snack sticks (neat web site, by the way) and figured we’d give it a whirl. The girls are always up for anything that involves hearty stirring and shaping dough, and I’m always up for anything that uses those wonder-twin powers for good. And the cracker/stick/snack thingamabobs turned out really well. Here’s the Weelicious recipe:

Carrot Snack Sticks (Makes about 30)

1 Cup All Purpose Flour
2 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese, grated
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Carrot, finely shredded and thin
2 Tbsp Oil

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine the first four ingredients and stir to combine.
3. Using your hands, add the carrots to the flour mixture coating the carrot pieces with flour.
4. Add the oil and work with your hands to bring the dough together.
(You really have to be patient with working this dough together so that the flour absorbs the oil. If you are concerned that it is not coming together, just add 1 extra tsp of oil to the dough and work it with your hands forming a ball until it comes together.)
(M3 note: we ended up adding 2TB extra oil and 3TB extra water, a dribble at a time, before the dough would hold together for us. Our carrots weren’t finely shredded though, and we had 6 hands flailing around in the bowl.)
5. Form the carrot parmesan dough into a flat rectangular disk and allow to rest for 1-2 minutes then roll out 1/2 inch thick on parchment paper or a dry clean surface.
6. Using a knife, cut the dough into sticks, 2 inches long by 1/4 inch wide. Freeze dough.
(M3 note: we didn’t freeze it, no one has any patience in this house)
7. Bake on a Silpat or parchment lined cookie sheet for 15-17 minutes.
8. Cool and serve.

Alrighty, here’s how we did:

Gathered the ingredients. Check check checkety check. Ree left, Ro right:  DSC_7219LRa4

Grated some carrots in the mini-food-processor (I think this didn’t get the carrots finely shredded enough, but it was fun and there were ample opportunities for brawls and spats over button rights, which amused me):   DSC_7212LRa5 DSC_7213LRa5  DSC_7214LRa4
Added the carrots to the dry mix: DSC_7228LRa3

Added the oil, but it was still way too crumbly (I think because our carrots weren’t shredded finely enough), so we added a little bit more oil, then some water, then a bit more oil. Ended up using an extra 2 TB oil and 3 TB water. Still tasted fine:DSC_7233LRa

Ahhhh, now we finally got a nice ball of carroty/parmesany dough:DSC_7236LRa5

We let the dough rest for a few minutes (Ro thought we needed to blow on it a little, while Ree thought she needed a manicure):DSC_7243LRa

Then rolled it out, cut it into little strips, and popped it in the oven:DSC_7244LRaDSC_7247LRa3   DSC_7248LRa DSC_7252LRa

Hey they actually came out! We sprinkled a little salt on top after baking, too, because we’re nutty like that. Please ignore the misshapen lumpy pieces. I’m sure if you’re cooking them without the twin factor yours will be beautiful:DSC_7255LRa

Mmmmmmmm! DSC_7258LRa3 DSC_7263LRa3

Everyone agreed, these were yummy! I think I’ll go snitch a few right now. My congrats to the little chefs! DSC_7206LRa2

PS: Ree’s cheeks are still bright red but she’s feeling great and doesn’t have any fever. Ro’s eye (the one that got bruised in Tahoe) is all better and today is her last day for antibiotics. Whew. Ok, I think we had our fair share of odd illnesses for a while now. Oh, and the little black and white top and dress are on sale at Carter’s right now. Just sayin…

16 comments:

  1. Oh I just love to get my daily girl fix over here!! I'm so tempted to go buy girly clothes just to drool over!

    The snacky/cheesy things look delish, we have to try!

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  2. These look great. And great for little hands to make.

    Is it time for school? My girls have hit new levels of mischievous lately. A new phrase in this house, "I'm taking away this toy until you can stop using it for evil."

    Best, Indiana Lori

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  3. I LOVE these pictures of the girls making the snack sticks. Hope they liked them!

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  4. love the black and white outfits! i may have to pick one up for our upcoming celebrate adoption photo shoot!

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  5. Anonymous7/22/2010

    Do you think grating the carrots would work?

    Did they taste cheesy or carroty or both?

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  6. Hi Anon: I think grating would be better, but I'm not sure my kiddos could do it without leaving finger bits in the dough. I think our big food processor has a grating function and would still work for the girls, so I'll try that next. I know that Catherine (the author of the recipe on Weelicious) used something called a microplane (sp?) to do her carrots, but I don't really know what that is. We'll be making these again because we're all out already. Oh, and for taste -- I didn't taste the carrots, although you could see them, I only tasted cheese.

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  7. Anonymous7/22/2010

    Thanks for the recipe!

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  8. I think Ro and Ree need their own show on Foodnetwork! :)

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  9. Very cool recipe and even cooler pictures capturing all the fun.

    LOVE those outfits. Well....they are black and white. Just sayin'.
    =)

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  10. Wow, they actually do look pretty tasty. It's on my list of things to try. Thanks! Cute pics of them trying to get their hands on the button..lol

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  11. Ooh, thanks for sharing that one. I think F&B would love it and it's too hot to do anything here unless it's swimming, so we are stuck indoors.

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  12. Anonymous7/22/2010

    You can pick up a microplane at any hardware or cooking store. It is a grater but designed differently (like a plane used in woodworking) and it comes in different shapes and for different degrees of grating e.g., really fine, fine, etc. I think I might try for myself either the microplane or a grater and watch out for my fingers.

    Thanks!

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  13. Kristina7/22/2010

    Fun stuff and if Tuba dad gave them a thumbs's up we might have to try them out! Wonder if you could use shredded zucchini!

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  14. Yum, those look yummy! Maybe I'll give those a try next week when I'ff off work. I wonder if they would be ok with whole wheat flour?

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  15. Yup, you are right! Mystic PIzza with Julia Roberts. I just posted a couple of pics from the restaurant. Hehehe. You were the only one who mentioned it. I was surprised!

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  16. Mmmm...yummy! Sounds like a wonderful little treat we'll have to try to make soon. Your girls are going to be making you breakfast in bed before you know it with all the great cooking tips you're already teaching them.

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