YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Scrumptious Seed Crackers (NF, GF, DF, vegan, grain-free)

A couple of months ago, my friend Michele shared with me a jar of the ingredients to make this recipe. This is just the most recent recipe she’s shared with me — there have been quite a few over the years, and all of them have been fantastic.

Since receiving this most recent gift, I’ve gathered together my own little permanent collection of seeds and I’ve made the recipe probably half a dozen times already. Now that I have everything I need, I can throw together the recipe and get it into the oven in a very short time. As Michele emphasized to me, it is an extremely forgiving recipe. Continue reading


About Manufactured Crackers, plus Recipe

My book group makes the most amazing meals. There are never any assignments; creativity runs wild. A while ago, I took the time to write down one particularly memorable meal: That night we ate roasted eggplant appetizer; spinach salad with roasted beets, pomegranates, red onions, and golden raisins; sweet corn pudding; grated Jarlsberg cheese and red onions on whole-grain crackers; squash soup; and chocolate-covered strawberries. I remember once Lynne made us affogato, black coffee poured over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Wow. Once in a while, we all bring salad. Or dessert. Or baba ganoush and crackers. We deal. I mentioned the last bit because today I would like to talk about crackers.  Continue reading


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Pomegranate-Pistachio Salsa

It probably won’t surprise you to discover that I never tire of reading cookbooks and food magazines. I’m always looking for something new and different. I was thumbing through a copy of Food & Wine recently, and came across a really interesting fresh pomegranate salsa that involved charring a red onion and serrano pepper, while simultaneously reducing sherry vinegar in a small saucepan. 

In theory it sounded amazing, but in truth it sounded like a lot, even for me. But I love pomegranates, and I love pistachios, and I loved the creative mixture of ingredients. So I decided to try it a different way. It looks like it’s time to up my salsa game. Continue reading


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Tofu Crackers

A couple weeks ago I was doing some cooking at my daughter and son in law’s house while they were learning to change diapers and care for our newborn granddaughter (!!) I pulled a container of tofu from the refrigerator and made something really yummy and totally new with it. Basically, I cut the tofu into approximately 20 squares and roasted them until most of the water had evaporated and they looked more like crackers than tofu. Continue reading


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Seeded Crackers

Last week I posted an essay to help make sure that you find the nourishing crackers (instead of other ones), and I included a recipe. Here’s a second great recipe if you’re up for making yourself a batch of homemade — These are full of tiny little seeds and absolutely delicious. They are easy to make, and then you can eat a handful without any worries about whether you’re eating a whole bunch of nonsense that isn’t really food. Continue reading


Book Groups and Crackers (with recipe)!

My book group makes the most amazing meals. There are never any assignments; creativity runs wild. One week Brigitte brought tomato-basil soup with homemade croutons, Lynne contributed a quinoa-feta-cranberry salad in a bowl lined with kale, Elaine made a rum cake, or maybe that was Diane. Beth brought rice balls filled with melting cheese, Nancy brought a claypot filled to the top with her macaroni & cheese, and these are just the dishes I remember! Continue reading