Movie Snacks

Calories aren't the enemy. They're necessary for you to function. However, eating food with a lot of calories, but void of nutrients that are required by your body, is not healthy. Excess calories are stored as body fat and your body's lack of nutrients doesn't allow it to operate at its optimum.

I see little point in reiterating information that is already easily accessible in abundance across the web. Instead, I will share recipes that I believe to be a healthier option, and leave it to the viewers who are not aware of the nutritional details to do some research on their own should they be so inclined to.

For instance, I can inform you that chips are high in both sodium and cholesterol. Major risks related to high sodium and cholesterol are high blood pressure and heart disease. The reasons that this soft pretzels recipe is healthier is because it's made with (more than half) whole wheat flour, which is a good source of iron, dietary fibre, and protein. The pretzels are also not cooked in oil (let alone fried), but rather, dipped in a much smaller amount of raw (and cleaner) oil. There is also significantly less salt. I can provide you with all of this information about packaged chips and the ingredients within this cleaner version of soft pretzels, but again, you can easily find it elsewhere.

If it happens that anyone disagrees with my healthy options, please share/discuss your opinions with me. I am still learning.

My inspiration for this series, “Movie Snacks,” is a combination of my first love (film), and my newest passion (real food).
What is “real food”? My description is fairly straightforward. “Real food” is food that is made up of ingredients that are actually meant to be eaten. For instance, in my humble opinion, foods such as mayonnaise, cool whip, many store-bought cheeses, oreos, etc. (food made up of chemicals/artificially generated ingredients and unhealthy extracts) are not real food. While this “healthy alternatives” series may not always provide recipes in lieu of food traditionally eaten at the movies, it may instead encompass replacements for highly processed foods, popular fast foods, or something of the like.

Featured Recipes

Soft Pretzels

Recipe: http://www.foodiefiasco.com/easy-homemade-soft-pretzels/
I made modifications to Kelly's recipe. Her process is written below in quotes, and I added in a few of my own instructions.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c warm water
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 tbsp sugar (This is necessary for the yeast. Put more if you want sweet bread)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• flour (2 c whole wheat & 1 1/2 c all purpose)
• virgin coconut oil
• desired topping (cinnamon & sugar, salt, garlic & herbs, etc.)

I do my best to avoid cooking with oil. But if you would like to brush your pretzels with it before baking, add oil with a high smoke point (not virgin coconut/olive oil).

"Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper"

or grease the pan.

“In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl, combine the warm water and yeast and let sit for 3 minutes.
Stir in sugar and salt. Slowly stir in the [flour] until the dough comes together and is not too sticky. Knead the dough (either by hand or with the mixer's dough hook) in the bowl until the dough is smooth but not overworked, about 3-5 minutes.
Turn the dough ball onto a lightly floured surface. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into four equal parts. Cut each part into four more equal parts, for a total of 16 balls of dough. To form the pretzels, roll one of the balls of dough into a long thin rope. Put the two ends of the rope next to each other to form a tight U shape. Twist the ends together once so the twist is about half way down the U. Bring the two loose ends down to the loop at the bottom below the twist. Tuck the two ends under the loop and press so the dough adheres to itself. Gently pull on the pretzel so the dough becomes thinner and the pretzel becomes larger to form a nicely sized pretzel.
As for other shapes, you can bake the ropes for pretzels sticks, knot the ropes for pretzel knots, cut the ropes into little equal sized pieces for pretzel bites, or roll the dough into balls and scour the top for pretzel rolls.”

Place the pretzels on the baking sheet.

“Bake in the oven at 425°F for 10 minutes, then broil for 30 seconds.”

If the pretzels are not cooked, leave them in the oven for longer. Do not overcook the pretzels. They will get hard.
Brush the baked pretzels melted coconut oil, and then dip them in your desired toppings. (Another idea that may taste good is to coat the pretzels with maple syrup.)
Leave them to cool on the parchment paper, or eat them hot (which is so much better).

Quinoa Bars

Inspiration Recipe: http://thelemonbowl.com/2015/04/quinoa-chocolate-chip-granola-bars.html

Ingredients:

• 1 c oats
• 1 c quinoa
• 1 c puffed brown rice
• 1/2 c walnuts
• 2/3 c natural peanut butter
• 1/2 c maple syrup
• 1/4 c cocoa powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt

On two baking sheets, lay out oats, quinoa, puffed rice, and walnuts. Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes. The mixture should be toasty, not burnt.
Grease a 9x16 dish well with oil (I use coconut).
When the quinoa mixture has finished baking, move it into a mixing bowl and begin the sauce. In a pot, stir together peanut butter, maple syrup, and cocoa powder. Gradually add cold water as needed in order to reach a caramel sauce consistency, while stirring the mixture over medium heat until it just begins to bubble. Immediately stir in vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.
Pour the sauce over the quinoa mixture. Stir until combined completely and then press into the greased dish. Cover the dish and refrigerate the bars overnight.

Note: I made just enough sauce to hold together the bars. For less crunch, multiply the sauce recipe by 1.5.

Brown Rice Bowls

This is what I refer to as an "easy assembly" recipe. All of the details are available in the video above.