snacking on Biscoito de Polvilho

Ever since the kiddos started school here in Brasil, we've been packing them "lanches" or snacks with Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches made with Shelly Scott's oat bread (do you read this Shelly??) However, there has been a revolt amongst the children. They are tired of sandwiches! Enough is enough! I'm still trying to figure out what a "healthy snack" is in Brasil (definitions of healthy are different here than in the US), but I have learned that lollipops and chocolate are not healthy (oops, not my best mommy days when I packed those lunches). But most teachers/parents think that highly sugared juice boxes or chocolate milk plus a cookie/salgado/cracker/piece of bread are a nutritious mid-afternoon pick me up.

I'm sorry, I'm not down with that. Plus, I'm not willing to pay R$1,50 per "juice" box (x 3 children thank you very much) for each child to get a sugar high that comes crashing down when I pick them up from school. Nor do I think that processed and packaged snacks are the way to go.


But I have recently found the Biscoito de Polvilho to be a pretty good option. They are made from the "powder" of manioc (cassava). Polvilho azedo is most commonly used. It's kind of sour, fermented by solar drying (or so Wikipedia says), and the kind of flour that's used in pão de queijo. Gluten free, salty with a tad bit of cheese flavor (maybe just because I always buy the cheese flavored ones), and just downright yummy. Now, granted it's fried, and pão de quiejo is probably even better, but these are just more convenient. And there are tons of options, from the mass produced, to the freshly made at the bakery.


I found them so odd when I first moved here, but the taste has really grown on me, and the kids all like them. And I'd be putting them in the children's lunchboxes tomorrow, except that I just managed to polish off a bag....