Rae goes into the kitchen and emerges with something other than an empty oreo box

Warning: this post is about food and not at all about sewing (I know, right? where did THAT come from?)On Monday, in a not entirely unprecedented flurry of domesticity I decided to make whole wheat crackers.  I know, strange.  I'm not a huge cook, although baking is a little more up my alley. But you're still thinking, crackers?  Let's just say my kids (yes, both of them) eat about a metric ton of crackers each week and as most store-bought crackers have next to no nutritional merit I've been looking for a heathier replacement. Also: I always keep a box of flaxseed meal in the house and this seemed like a decent way to get it into our bodies where it could do some good.  I was pleasantly surprised a) at how easy they were and b) that they actually resembled crackers when I was finished. The key to a really good cracker is rolling it really super duper double dog thin and then baking the heck out of it so it's nice and crispy.  Listen to me, I sound like a pro already.

Sorry if this grosses you out, I'm not exactly a food photographer.  Oh, did I mention I also made spinach and artichoke dip?  I mean, you can't eat wheat crackers alone!?!The crackers are a combination of this recipe from All-Recipes.com (yes, yes, the poor man's Epicurious, but I am way too amateur for all that foodiness) and the comments that people left on the recipe, which you might want to peruse for tips and variations and such.  And would you also like my spinach dip recipe?  OK, OK. I made this one up myself after failing to find a single spinach dip recipe that does NOT call for frozen spinach.  We eat fresh spinach all the time over here and it seems like we always have the end of a bag sitting in our crisper.  Frozen spinach, on the other hand is something I would have to make a concerted effort to find at the store (or rather Mr Rae would, as it is he who buys all of our groceries) and is therefore, in my opinion, more annoying.WHOLE WHEAT CRACKERS1 1/2 c whole wheat flour1 1/2 c all purpose flour1/4 c flaxseed meal3/4 tsp salt1 c water1/3 c olive oilsalt and garlic salt for sprinklingPreheat oven to 350 F/180 C.  Combine ingredients until just blended (I ended up with some extra flour at the bottom and pretty dry dough.  Just toss the extra flour, you'll still get plenty of crackers).  Divide dough into quarters and roll between two pieces of wax paper or parchment paper until it is super duper double dog thin, like a wheat thin.  If dough is a little sticky lightly flour it before rolling.  Place each rolled quarter of dough on an ungreased cookie sheet (you can bake it right on the parchment paper if you want but I reused mine for rolling).  Score with knife but don't cut all the way through.  Poke holes with fork to give professional-cracker look.  Sprinkle with salt and/or garlic salt.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until brown and crispy (tap them with a fork to check).  Cool a bit and then crack them apart by hand.  If they are bendy at all and don't crack apart easily, put them in for another 5 minutes.SPINACH AND ARTICHOKE DIP2 c chopped fresh spinach (doesn't have to be exact, I think I used roughly a 1/4 of a small bag)1/2 jar artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (12 or 14 oz jar)2 garlic cloves, minced (this is really garlicky, maybe just use one if you're not a huge garlic fan)1/2 c plain yogurt*1/2 c cream cheese*1/2 c mayonnaise*1 c mozzarella cheese*1/4 c parmesan cheese*1/2 tsp worchestershire sauce ("wooster")dash cayenneThrow ingredients in a saucepan on low to medium-low heat until spinach wilts and cheese melts and it bubbles a bit. You can also bake this in the oven in a baking dish but I find that too fussy.  Let it cool and serve.  It's good warm or cold.  With wheat crackers.*I've found you can adjust the amounts of the creamy stuff and the cheeses quite alot without changing this dip.  For instance you can put more mayo in if you don't have cream cheese, and one time I used sour cream instead of the yogurt and cream cheese and it was still great.  The mozzerella and parmesan are the same way; there's a lot of play here which makes this recipe pretty fail-proof.  I mean honestly it's just a bunch of deliciously bad things thrown in with spinach and artichokes.  Easy, peasy.