Homemade Cheez-its - A Pinterest Find

I had pinned this a while back on my food board, but never got a chance to make these until now. These are easy to make with just a few ingredients. The dough and preparation reminded me of pie crusts, so you know how easy this is going to be.

Homemade cheez-its

Cheez-its and gold fish crackers are a few of my daughter's favorite snacks. And, even her school teacher recommends gold fish as one of the "healthy snacks". But, I was never  convinced that the bright orange "cheese" that sticks to your fingers could be really cheese and hence healthy.
When I saw this pin, I was inspired to try some. It was an instant hit at my home. I should warn you that even though the serving suggestion is for 4, it will be over in half an hour. Do not blame me!
The original author even made her own goldfish cookie cutter for this recipe. I wish to do that someday...

We used a couple of icing tips and veggie cutters for the small shapes. I also used my pizza cutter to cut squares (our version of cheez-it). A fluted cutter like the spoons we get in India (with a fluted wheel on the back) would be very helpful, I guess. My daughter was assigned the task of cutting and arranging, and I should say she did a pretty good job. This could be a great rainy day activity.

Ready for the oven

We put numerous holes (with a fork, tooth pick or skewer, depending on the shape) on the crackers but they still puffed up a little, when it came out of the oven. but, these were super crispy, so no complaints!

Baked Cheez-its

For my subsequent batches, I realized that rolling out a small portion of dough helps in rolling it out really thin. So, I pinched out a little dough and left the rest wrapped up in plastic while I worked on the pinched-off dough.

I also used my pizza cutter to cut some sticks, as an experiment. We baked these for an additional 5 minutes to avoid chewy bits in the middle.

Cheese Sticks

 Go on, grab a fistful!

Cheez-it - Crispy and Gone in 60 seconds!

Source: Tasty Kitchen
Verdict: Liked it as is
Will I make it again: Yes, for sure.

Pori Upma - Murmur Kichidi

This is my take on Bhelpuri. This is a cooked version, with less spices and a great way to empty that 4 pound bag of puffed rice you bought last year!

Pori Upma / Murmur Kichidi

Ingredients:

• puffed rice / pori/ murmur - 4 cups
• onion - 1 big
• tomato - 1/2
• green chilies - 2
• carrot - 1
• green beans - 5
• turmeric powder - 2 tsp
• mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• curry leaves - 2 sprigs
• cilantro, enough for 1/4 cup
• peanuts - 2 tbsp
• high heat oil, for sauteing
• salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Peel and cut carrots into matchsticks.
2. Snap and de-string the beans. Chop the beans finely.
3. Chop onion and tomatoes finely. Also cut the green chillies into thick slices.
4. Finely chop cilantro. You will need about 1/4th of a cup.
5. Take the pori in a sufficiently big bowl and fill enough water to completely soak the pori. Add salt and 1 tsp turmeric powder. After 2 minutes, squeeze out the water from the pori and keep it aside.
6. Marvel at the gunk left behind, in the water. Try not to think of the possible nutrients lost in the process. This step is optional :)
7. In a wok or kadai, heat oil for sauteing. Add the green chilies and saute until the chiles have blistered. Remove and discard the chilies, with a slotted spoon.
8. To the chili-infused oil, add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splatter, add the peanuts.
9. After a minute, add the onion and curry leaves. Let it turn translucent.
10. Add carrots, beans, remaining turmeric powder and enough salt. Cook covered until carrots are cooked. This will take less than 10 minutes.
11. Now add the tomatoes. Before the tomatoes are completely cooked, add the pori.
12. Taste and adjust salt. If needed, add ground pepper.
13. Stir in the cilantro and mix to combine.
14. Serve immediately with a squeeze of lemon on top.

Pori Upma

This makes a great rainy day snack.