Calling all munchers: here’s a large bowl of maple flavoured, spiced roasted nuts, pistachios and almonds. Ready in half an hour, gone over two episodes of your favourite show.
Eat your meals at the table!
I don’t eat my meals in front of the telly. I never have sofa dinners and there’s no screen anywhere near my dinner table. I eat my food generally en famille, even though the famille is just the two of us. We always sit down to the table, except for breakfast when we sit down to the breakfast bar.
No TV dinners
I am so not used to having a tray on the sofa, I suffered terribly when half our house, kitchen and dining included, was out of action due to a building project. I tried various positions, including scissoring up over the coffee table which gave me indigestion, and I ended up with the ingenious use of an ironing board as a temporary table.
So as you see I’m the last person to chomp with my mouth open and with my eyes glued to the screen, with an odd tagliatelle strand resting on my cleavage. I don’t screen-eat my meals.
But I munch when watching.
... just TV nibbles
It isn’t the same thing before you yell in protest: the whole above section is about meals eaten with an accompaniment of the movie or show. Quite the different situation when washing up is done, you both sit down to continue season 3 episode 7, and you look for nibbles.
It truly is an awful addiction: I promise I’m capable of going through a half-pound bag of almonds, several handfuls of dried cranberries and a bowl of banana chips on one evening. And that’s before I remember there’s cheese in the house.
Nuts, almonds, raisins
I know what you’re thinking: it’s not exactly like I’m going through packets of crisps and bags of Maltesers; my nibbles are HEALTHY! Yes, okay: I don’t like crisps and Maltesers are too sickly in quantities.
And yes, a small handful of almonds is healthy but a 300g bag is a bit too much of a good thing. Ditto cranberries, raisins or dried mango. A few good box sets, and I’m suddenly ballooning by half a stone.
Can't help munching
I have tried getting so engaged in the programme that I’d forget the munchies but even during Game of Thrones I was reaching for salty cashews. I have tried sugar free gobstoppers, but I don’t believe all those weird sweeteners are completely harmless.
The most effective are teeth whitening strips but – vain as I am – can’t do them two hours every night.
To those who can
So I dedicate this recipe to those noble folks who know discipline and restraint. The nut selection in the recipe is my favourite – obviously – but any other nuts or seeds can be swapped or added. Maple syrup gives better result than honey in my view but again, feel free to change. The amount makes one large bowl.
It lasts me about two and a half average episode.