On the Road Again

Labor Day Weekend is just about on us...where are you driving and more importantly, what are you giving the kids to snack on until you get there?

We all know that road trips are full of the fast food pitfalls we do our best to avoid, but a little thinking ahead can get you a long way toward a healthier journey.
At Spatulatta, the postman regularly drops off fun stuff, like new products that are sent to us by health conscious companies looking for a little feedback.

We found a winner in some fruit jerky distributed by an Idaho company called "Golden Valley Natural." Liv and Belle tried their apple cinnamon flavored natural fruit stix and declared them most definitely road worthy.

The 'stix' come in a resealable pouch with 4 servings inside, a scant 80 calories each, and as the package declared, all natural ingredients. The 'stix' are brown and sausage shaped, kind of like a healthy Slim Jim, but not as long. Belle being Belle said, "Mom, if I saw those floating in a pool, I'd think twice about swimming in it." Followed up immediately by, "Wow--they're really good!" Which just proves our theory that beauty is only skin deep, right parents?

Several kinds of jerky came with the Fruit Stix, including turkey jerky, buffalo jerky and beef jerky, all made with no added hormones, no antibiotics, no preservatives, no added MSG and no artifical ingredients. Frankly, the beef jerky was so good it didn't even make it into the car.

Food for thought, when planning your next road trip. Have a safe Labor Day Weekend.

Roasted Chestnuts

Roasted chestnuts are such a traditional winter treat that there's a song about them - sing along as you roast your own chestnuts.

Yield	4-6 servings
Time	30-45 minutes
Tools	knife baking sheet or cast iron pan clean kitchen towel
Ingredients	24 uncracked chestnuts
Directions	Preheat oven to 400. Have an adult carve an X into the flat side of each chestnut (otherwise they will explode) and place on the baking sheet. Bake about 30 minutes, until pressing a chestnut cracks the shell open easily. Wrap chestnuts in a towel until ready to eat. Squeeze open the shell, peel off shell and nut coating, and enjoy.

Blue Corn Muffins

Blue corn muffins are a perfect addition to breakfast. Try this recipe from the Jalapeno Cafe.

(makes 1 dozen)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup blue corn meal for tortillas or for atole
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Generously grease a twelve cup muffin pan and place in oven to heat while preparing batter.

In a bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl beat eggs, milk and melted butter, until blended. Pour liquid into dry mixture, stir just to moisten.

Remove muffin pan from oven and spoon in batter.

*Make sure muffin pan is very hot when spooning in batter, this will keep the muffins from sticking to pan when you remove them.

Bake 18 to 20 minutes until tops browned.

Remove from oven and turn out muffins to plate. Serve with butter and honey.

Visit the Jalapeno Cafe for more recipes!