Portable Snacks in Less Than 30 Minutes

As I stared into the rapidly-dwindling food supply in my pantry, two cans stood out: The can of pumpkin leftover from pie season, and the can of corn from Trader Joe’s that I keep meaning to use. What to do with these?  The thought of throwing them away inspired the sound of my grandmother’s voice, reminding me of all the starving people in the world.  My belly rumbled, and creative juices began to flow.

Here are two recipes I concocted for portable snacks that will take less than 30 minutes to see to fruition.

Pumpkin Raisin Chewies:

You’ll need:

1 cup of whole wheat flour
1/8 cup of shortening
1/2 cup of pumpkin
1/2 cup of raisins
1/4 cup of soy milk

Preheat the oven to 350F

In a medium sized bowl, mix the flour, shortening, soy milk and pumpkin together until it’s a moist paste.  Then mix in the raisins.  The batter should be slightly sticky. Roll them into balls and then smoosh them onto a lightly greased baking sheet.  Put them in the oven for about 18 minutes, or until they look toasted on the peaks and you will soon have about eight cookies. That’s it.  I’m not big on sugary snacks, but you can add sugar or honey to sweeten them up if you like.  Another alternative I wanted to try, except that I had none, was to blend in citrus juice instead of soy milk.  Next time.

Crunchy Corn Cakes:

You’ll need:
A can of corn
1/2 cup of flour
A dash of salt

A food processor

Turn the oven on to 375F

Pour the corn, and flour into a food processor.  Puree until it’s creamy.  Dallop the batter onto a lightly-greased baking sheet.  Each ball should be about the size of a tablespoon.  Bake for bout 20 minutes, or until you think they look crunchy enough. When you remove them from the oven, sprinkle salt on the top of them. It will bring out the natural sweetness of the corn. This recipe makes six cakes. This recipe is simple enough so that you could add rosemary or any other spice you like to the mix while it’s blending.  Ground cumin would make for a delightful addition that will invigorate your palate.

Storage:

You can put them in a tupperware container and they will stay tasting fresh for a few days.  I find that these effectively keep the hunger beast at bay, during particularly active days.  Ultimately, how you enjoy them is up to you.