Does Sugar Equal Love?

As Valentines day approaches I was racking my brain for kid friendly treats we could make. All that came to mind were sugary cookies, sticky treats and chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! My daughter came home with a big bag of candy from the school party, so I felt like making more sweets was overkill.

I considered, red bread, pink soup and even a strawberry buckle. We finally decided on crackers, I knew that all the kids wanted to do was use cookie cutters to make heart shapes so crackers seemed like a great idea.

The best part is that they could flavor the crackers how ever they want using that crazy childhood creativity! Remembering that this is a Valentines Day project I wanted to incorporate pink or red. I remembered I

had some beetroot powder and although it is somewhat rare, it is available. Look in the bulk spices section of your natural foods store. It does not have too much flavor, so we used it. It looks great and the girls loved it!

Our favorite combo was the beet powder and Japanese curry and a pinch of salt.

Let the kids try different flavors let them be adventurous.

So have a great Valentines Day, try not to eat to much junk and tell someone you love them!

Homemade Rice Crackers

We used regular cream of rice cereal the kind you get in the cereal isle. Bob's Red Mill makes great Organic Brown Rice Farina which we use all the time for savory dishes. (That is a whole other post) You can use what ever you like, but for kids I think the smaller the grain the better the cracker. You can always process rice in a food processor to a fine grain if you don't have the cereal.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. Cream of rice, regular or 
Quick cooking* 


1 C. All-purpose flour 


2 tbs flax meal or 1 tbs seeds

1/4 c Sugar 


1/2 teaspoon Salt 


4 tbs (1/2 stick) butter or 
Margarine, ice cold 


2/3 C. Milk

Rice flour or all purpose flour for rolling out dough

Kosher salt

Topping ideas:

Beet root powder

celery salt

curry powder

cumin seed

paprika

Preheat the oven to 325~ F. 
In the food processor, combine the cream of rice, flour, flax, sugar, and salt. Drop in the butter until the mixture resembles a sandy texture. Slowly pour in the milk until a dough ball forms. 
If the dough is sticky knead it on a board with some rice flour. 
Divide the dough into 3 equal portions for rolling.

On a floured surface or pastry cloth, roll out to 1/8 inch thick. With cookie cutters cut shapes and transfer them to a parchment lined cookie sheet using a spatula.

Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and flavorings of choice.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until light golden brown. 

Cool on a rack. 

Yield: about 25 
strangely shaped crackers.

Mix it up: For a more adventurous flavored cracker, substitute cream of wheat or cream of rye cereals for the cream of rice.

Other ideas for cracker seasonings:

Parmesan cheese

Soy sauce

Pizza Spices blend

Italian Spice blend

Granulated onion

Fresh rosemary (incorporate into dough)

Cinnamon

Pumpkin pie spice

Smoked salt

Truffle Salt

* We used quick cooking to make sure that the crackers were as soft as possible. For a great array of spices check out Whole Spice Company

They have some of the best spices around, super fresh and fantastic blends too.