Thank you to everyone for your fabulous snack ideas for Matt’s PhD proposal exam, which he PASSED!!! He is now officially on his way to being Dr. Matt! He he he!

So after I wrote the last post, I got word that the snacks needed to be more lunch-oriented, but thanks to ES this was no problem! I decided to make Gansie’s Power Snacks, which includes Roasted Poblano Pepper Dip, Rosemary and Garlic Olives, and Mustard and Horseradish Egg Salad Toasts. I also made Gansie’s Chickpea and Artichoke, and Roasted Red Pepper Crostini. Then I cut up cucumbers and made pita chips by baking mini whole wheat pitas. Now remember, I’m the microwave expert here, so these were very challenging choices for me!

I’ve never roasted a pepper, let alone boiled eggs; I’ve never cooked without knowing exact measurements of things; and on top of this inexperience, I’m slooow in the kitchen! My first attempt at the poblano dip was so insanely spicy I started choking on it! So I had to make major adjustments (again, I have no common sense with measurements). Also, I found out that after you roast a pepper you can stick them in a ziplock for a couple of mins and it is much easier to peal off the skin. And making pita chips and crostinis really is easy (I did that the morning of)!

As I was taking this task very seriously, I also spent about 30 mins in Target trying to determine how to serve the snacks, and settled on plain white Chinet paper plates, bowls and cups, because although this isn’t very green (which I’m trying to be), there is something very satisfying about being done and throwing everything away.

The best part was Matt liking what I made and telling me that one committee member even said that the snacks were “above and beyond” what they usually see! I accomplished my goal!!! Oh yeah, and Matt accomplished his, which was a little bit more important than mine I reckon!