Who doesn't love a bowl of fresh homemade salsa with chips on a cool fall day?! My 8 year old daughter eats salsa like it's dessert, lol. I made this recipe with only two changes, I'll post them at the end. I didn't have enough paste (I really didn't want to run to the store, again!) and none of the stores had fresh chili peppers. But this recipe is definitely a keeper, it's not sweet but not too vinegary either.



Wonton Tacos

This recipe is very similar to the wonton tacos you can get at Applebees. Theirs is under the appetizer section but we make lots at home and have these as our meal, delicious!

I had trouble frying them the first time, I hadn't left them open enough to get the fillings in and once they cool down, they're crispy so they fell apart on me. The second time, I fried them flat just until the wrapper dough bubbled and then I folded them and help them open with a spoon and fried until it was golden, flipped it over and fried until the other side was golden. It's really just trial and error.

Pizza Rolls

When you have three kids in school lunches can become somewhat of a challenge. Two of them love ham sandwiches, one takes a mouse size bite out of them. They can't have PB&J, so the one sometimes has just a jam sandwich, which the other two hate. See where I'm going with this?! By the end of the school year I'm ready for a break!

So in my search for options, I stumbled upon this idea and the kids loved the idea. So last night I let the dough rise while we ate dinner and quickly finished them afterwards. They were super easy to make, the cutting/shredding was the most work. My kids like their pizza fairly plain so I didn't add more than the cheese and ham but the sky's the limit!

The dough recipe is actually one that claims to be Pizza Hut's recipe and I thought it came pretty close. I used the same recipe for bread sticks and they were good, I over baked them or I'd post a picture. Another day. I used my kitchen aid to make the dough which made it even easier, I hate getting my hands covered in dough.

Korean Style Chicken Wings

I saw this recipe for wings some time ago in blog land and finally got around to making them. They are some of the best wings I have ever made! The coating is so perfectly crunchy and the sauce is scrumptious! I was a little worried that they would be really spicy but they had just the right amount of zing to them. Yum! My husband couldn't stop eating them! If I served these to guests I would serve them with homemade ranch dressing and fresh vegetables.

Don't let the prep work scare you away, it really is very simple once you get started. And if I were serving this to guests I would season and coat the wings in the cornstarch and let them rest in the fridge until it was time to fry them. I would also make the sauce ahead of time.


Korean Style Wings
Wash and pat dry about 3 dozen wings. Season them with:
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
salt n pepper to taste

Now lightly coat each wing in dry cornstarch and tap off the excess, let these sit on a wire rack. You'll need about 1/2 cup of dry cornstarch. In a separate bowl combine 1 cup of cornstarch with 1 cup of water, whisk this together.

Heat your oil to 350F (or just guess like I did, lol) You should have about 1 1/2" of oil in your pan. When your oil is hot enough, dip each wing in the wet cornstarch and drop in the hot oil. Fry for about 10-12 minutes until cooked.


Once fully cooked, transfer all the chicken to a large bowl, drizzle with the sauce and gently toss until evenly coated.

Sweet Soy-Garlic Sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
3 garlic cloves, minced (I just used the powdered)
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sriracha sauce

Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, boil until thickened (about 5 minutes). The recipe that I used said to let the sauce cool, but I found it got a little thick and sticky which made it harder to evenly give the wings a light coating, so I warmed it up again and it worked very nicely!

*Notes: I used regular soy sauce and next time I think I'll use the light instead, the wings in the original recipe had a little bit of a lighter (in colour) look to them.

If you're in Canada you'll find the Sriracha hot sauce in Superstore by the asian aisle. I'm sure you can find it at hundreds of different locations, it's just nice to find it somewhere you're at every week anyway. If you're not sure what it looks like, just google it and you'll see an image of it. It definitely doesn't smell like your typical hot sauce so I would not substitute.

The recipe said to mix 1 cup cornstatch and 1 cup water, I found that I had a lot leftover, maybe try 1/2 cup of each instead.

Enjoy!
Tina

Mars Bar Squares

Yikes, it's been a while since I posted a recipe! Summer is always such a fun time for us with camping and outdoorsy stuff that I don't take a lot of time to try new recipes. These squares were something I had a long time ago and it has turned into one of our camping staples. I brought them along once and now it has become a great snack and really quick to make too!

The original recipe that I had was much sweeter and it also had a layer of melted chocolate on top. But that was just waaaaaaaaaaaaay too sweet for me so I never put the topping on and I searched online until I found this one. It uses marshmallows, something that my first recipe didn't use and it seems a little chewier then the other one.


Mars Bar Squares

4 Mars bars
1/2 cup margarine or butter
2-3 cups mini marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies

Melt the margarine over low heat. Break up the bars and add to the margarine along with the marshmallows. Keep stirring over low heat until the bars and marshmallows are melted. Stir in the cereal and pat into a 10x13 cake pan. Once cool cut into squares. Super quick and really good, but not so great for the hips... lol.

Enjoy!
Tina

Cheese Crackers

A while ago while I was browsing through some recipes I came across this recipe and I thought why not?! My kids love crackers for a snack and if I can make them far cheaper and preservative free I'm all over it. I used a small flower cookie cutter but if you had a fish cookie cutter you could make them to resemble those fish crackers that kids love so much.

The big test came after they had cooled and I asked my kids to taste one, well one quickly turned into as many as I would give me, lol.

The recipe said to cool the dough for an hour but I didn't have that sort of time so I baked them right away and they turned out really well. I also used only half the recipe because I was low on cheese but really wanted to try them, I was impressed with how many crackers I got with such little ingredients. In fact I might continue to halve the recipe, that way the crackers are always fresh. I also found the dough to be incredible easy to work with, rolled like a charm and cutting them with the cookie cutter went really quick.

Cheese Crackers

1 stick butter
1/2 lb cheddar cheese
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt

Drop all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until everything is blended. I just let it run for maybe 30 seconds, it actually started to form a dough on it's own. Remove and press into a ball of dough, you might find it a little crumbly but it should still form into a ball. On a lightly floured surface roll the dough to about 1/8" thick, you don't want these too thick. Use what ever cutter you want to cut your crackers. Bake at 325F for about 11 minutes.

*Note: I didn't have any cheddar cheese in the house so I used marble and they tasted great, they still definitely had a cheesy taste to them.

Enjoy!
Tina

Baked Tortilla Chips & Fresh Salsa

I saw these chips online the other day and just had to make them today, and it only took the evening for all of us to gobble them up! The chips are lightly brushed with oil and than baked, so you're saving a lot on calories vs the fried ones. But the best part is that they are actually crispy, taste like they were fried! I love it when that happens, lol.

The salsa is one of our favourites to go with tortilla chips and it's so easy to make. My sister in law is a native to Belize and she makes the best ceviche, which is basically what this is but ceviche is made with shrimp or cooked chicken added. I don't always have the chicken on hand and I don't care for shrimp so it just seems easier to make it without.

Tortilla Chips

12 corn tortillas, preferably white
salt
oil

Brush both sides sparingly with the oil with a pastry brush, sprinkle with the salt. Stack all the tortillas in one pile and cut into six triangles. Spread on a baking sheet and bake at 350F for about 10-15 minutes, flipping chips once. Remove once they are golden brown.

Salsa

3 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 large jalapeno, chopped
1/2 English cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 lime
2-3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 tbsp water

Mix all the ingredients except the lime and the water, squeeze the lime juice over the salsa. Add just a little bit of water to dilute the lime juice a little. You can adjust the salt and garlic powder to your personal preference. This is best if allowed to sit in the fridge for at least an hour.

Enjoy!
Tina

Potato Skins

I was invited to a ladies get together last night with relatives and wanted to bring some munchies along, food and friends go hand in hand, right?! One of my favourite appetizers is potato skins, they're relatively fast and easy to make at least once you have the potatoes baked. And they taste great too!

Potato Skins

7 or 8 large potatoes
3 Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp black pepper

Wrap potatoes in tin foil and bake at 375F until tender, about 45 minutes. Slice potatoes in half, for the larger potatoes you might want to cut your potatoes into quarters. Using a knife or spoon scoop out the middles. Mix the oil and spices in a small bowl and brush onto the potato skins. Top with your toppings in the order listed and bake at 400F until the cheese has melted and the potatoes get a little crispy.

Toppings:
Tomato, chopped
Bacon bits
Green onions, chopped
Shredded cheese of your choice (I use marble)

Enjoy, bet you can't eat just one!

Tina

Vegetable Pizza

Hi everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas full of friends and family. We spent over a week in Alberta with family, it was good but also so very nice to be back home.

With the New Year always comes resolutions, most fail before we even hit February, lol. But I have the best of intentions and want to eat healthier, at least until I've shed a few pounds.

But now that I've said that, today's recipe is going to be a contradiction to what I just said, lol! But in my defense I needed a snack to take along to one final family gathering this last weekend and this one is always one of my favourites. I got the recipe from the Pastor's wife that we had before we moved. Most recipes you find for this use crescent dough from a can but I abhor any dough that comes in a can so this is more to my liking.

Vegetable Pizza

Dough:
1/2 cup butter
3 Tbsp Baking Powder
2 tsp salt
4 cups flour
1 cup cream
1 cup milk

Mix the same way that you would for biscuits and roll out into a large cookie sheet. Bake at 400 F until done. Cool

Filling:
1 Pkg Cream Cheese
3/4 cup mayo
1 tsp dried dill

Mix together and spread onto cooled crust. Now you're ready to top with your favourite vegetables. I like to use the following:

Broccoli
Cauliflower
Carrots
Red Pepper
Green onion

I did once have this with sliced tomatoes and shredded cheese on top, it was really good but I didn't have any one hand when I made this but don't hesitate to try it.

Tip: You want to cut the crust into pieces before you add the filling and toppings. It's really hard to cut it once you have all the veggies on top.

Cucumber Chip Dip

This is by far, one of my favorite chip dips. A good friend of mine served this one day at a party and I just had to have the recipe. The best part? It is so easy to make! Well that might actually be a bad thing because that means it's not a lot of work to eat all those calories...lol.


Cucumber Chip Dip

1 long english cucumber, peeled
1 block cream cheese(8oz)
2 jalepeno peppers, seeded
1/4 cup coleslaw dressing
1/4 cup creamy cucumber dressing
2-3 tbsp cream
salt & pepper to taste
1 bunch green onions, chopped

Drop all the ingredients except the green onion in a food processor and blend until everything is finely chopped and blended. Stir in the chopped green onion and chill. This recipe is best if allowed to sit in the refigerator for at least an hour.

Thanks for stopping by!
Tina