Back to School Snacking

So my two sons, 9 & 11, went back to school... I'm trying to be the good mom and follow the guidelines of what I can send in their lunches. Yes.. I said lunches as in plural... the new school system where I live has two "nutrition' breaks .. or two opportunities to eat instead of one. So in between packing healthy snacks that won't get sent back home or worse, traded away for a peak of little Eleanor's new booblets she developed over the summer, I'm left scratching my head as what to give them when they get home. I'm not always home when they bound in the door and if I'm not they quickly get their hands around the school lunch taboos.. namely anything that contains peanut butter, chocolate or resembles a bag of chips. Fruit.. veggies.. applesauce, basically anything I've rammed into their lunchbags so teachers can see what a fabulous mother they have, are overlooked for more junky and, lets face it, yummy gooey goodness.

SO ... I found this today. I'm not going to tell my boys what it is.. just make it (sight unseen) and toss it in a bowl for them to munch on. The recipe says its crunchy and the spices sound something my kids would gravitate to, so I'll give it a whirl. But yeah.. its healthy and my kids seem to have a built in radar for that. But we'll see.. I'll let you know tomorrow. If they like it? my boys will have more fibre, iron and folate.. if they don't? I'll have more fibre, iron and folate... and be searching for the next recipe.

Roasted Chickpeas in 3 Varieties

*makes 2 cups*

1 can (19 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tbs olive oil

Variety 1: Pizza Crunch Spices:
2 tsp parmesean cheese
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder

Variety 2: Sweet Cinnamon:
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp sugar

Variety 3: Southwestern Spice:
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp black pepper
dash cayenne pepper (or several dashes if you need to mute them for a bit)

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 350
2 Drain and rinse chickpeas and dry them REALLY well in paper towel. Place in large bowl, toss 'em up with olive oil. Set aside.
3. Mix the spices of your chosen variety together. .. toss that in with teh chickpeas. Place them on an ungreased baking sheet
4 Bake for 50 minutes until crunchy (seriously.. crunchy is the deal breaker for kids to like 'em).. Store in an airtight container for 3 days.

**recipe from the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario*.. I so did NOT make this crap up.

Happy Crunching.... thank god the bastards are back in classs, non?

Sharon