Veggie seed crackers

Nika, the little baker

Happy New Year from the now mostly Canines in the Kitchen with an occasional cat.

Can you believe my little baker, Nika, pictured above? In case you were wondering, my kitchen has gone to the dogs.  The situation is only going to get worse as the twosome, Misha (8 months) and Nika (4 months), get bigger and stronger.

 Actually, the muffin tin that Nika is removing from the counter is her new dog-food dish. I'm not exaggerating but Nika is a shop-vac when it comes to eating her food. We tried spreading her food all over the floor and she still manages to vaccuum it up without chewing in less than 45 seconds. Taking her food and distributing it in the sections of the muffin tin forces her to slow down just a bit. Now, it takes her two minutes to eat.

Hey, Mom, I love my canine buddies.

Bailey really does love all his canine pals. This picture was taken at night when they all had been sleeping together on the floor with Bailey in the midst of his rather large dog buddies.

Nika with her latest heist

Along with shop-vacuuming her food, Nika enjoys "stealing" Ridalin Boy's cup now and then. In this case, it was filled with water when she pilfered it from where he was sitting watching a football game. Instant, game intermission to mop up the mess.

Misha models his new backpack from Santa

Misha, modeling his new backpack from Santa, looks huge compared to Nika in this Christmas Day photo. Actually, Nika is rapidly closing the weight gap. Misha weighs in at 55 pounds at eight months and Nika is 35 at four months. Do you think she is going to be a bit large?

As 2012 approaches, I am still sticking with my low-glycemic diet in an effort to keep sinus problems and candida from returning. Recently, I made these Veggie Seed Crackers and saved some in the freezer for New Year's snacking.

Veggie Seed Crackers

Ingredients:

1. 2 T. hemp seeds
2. 1 cup toasted sunflower seeds
3. 1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
4. 1 T. chia seed
5. sea salt to taste
6. 1 T. olive oil
7. 1/4 cup water
8. 1 T. coconut flour
9. 1 cup chopped veggies such as carrot and zucchini
10. 1 tsp. cumin
11. 1 tsp. dried cilantro

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Spray a large cookie sheet with pan spray.
3. Grind all the seeds to a coarse grind in a coffee grinder.
4. Grind veggies in the food processor.
5. Add the ground seeds and other ingredients to the food processor, containing the veggies.
6. Pulse to mix to somewhat wet dough.
7. Spread the dough with wet hands to keep dough from sticking on the cookie sheet.
8. The dough should be about 1/4-inch thick and in the shape of a large rectangle about 10 X 15 inches.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and use a pizza cutter to cut cracker shapes.
11. Spread the crackers and return to oven.
12. Continue baking the crackers until they are hard and crisp. Turn the crackers over and turn the pan from time to time to facilitate crisping.

This recipe is included in Weekend Wellness: http://www.dietdessertndogs.com/2011/12/29/wellness-weekend-december-29-2011-january-2-2012/