Breadsticks

Preparation Time: 1 hour

Serves: 1 9x13 pan

Ingredients

1 T. yeast

2 T. sugar

1 1/2 c. warm water

1 t. salt

3 1/2 c. flour

Mix first three ingredients together and let the yeast go to work.  Add in salt and flour and let raise, covered, in a warm place. 

Roll dough out.  Cut into 1" strips. 

Melt 4 T. butter in a 9x13 pan.

Dip dough strips in butter and twist.

Sprinkle one or more of the following on top and bake at 400 degrees until golden brown.

garlic salt

parmesan cheese

sesame seed

parsley

Kandis's Hot Artichoke/Spinach Dip

5 oz. shredded parmesan cheese

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 c. mayonnaise

4 oz. diced green chiles

14 oz. canned quartered artichoke hearts (chopped)

1 bunch spinach (boil just leaves for 5 min.)

Mix, spread in 8x8 pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

Artichoke Dip

1 large jar marinated artichokes

1 can artichoke hearts

4 oz. can chopped green chiles

6 T. mayonnaise

1 cup shredded cheddar/jack cheese

Chop up the artichokes, reserve half of marinade. Add green chiles, mix with marinade and seal with mayonnaise. Top with cheese blend and heat until cheese melts.

Turkey, Avocado, & Bacon Wraps

1 lb. turkey (Thanksgiving leftovers work great!)
2 oz. mayonnaise
8 strips bacon, cooked crisp
1 avocado peeled, sliced in eighths
1 c. shredded jack cheese
4 12" spinach wraps or flour tortillas
1 T olive oil

Brush each tortilla or wrap with olive oil, heat on skillet for 1 minute.  Spread 1 T. mayo and 1/4 c. jack cheese on the wrap.  Top with 2 slices avocado, 4 oz. turkey, and 2 bacon strips.  Roll up, burrito style, then cut in half on the bias.  Happy Day-After-Thanksgiving!

Mom's Guacamole Dip

2 avocados - pitted and peeled

1 T. grated onion

1T. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. chili powder

1/3 c. mayonnaise

Mash avocados with fork.  Stir in mayonnaise, onion, lemon juice, salt, and chili powder.  Serve with tortilla chips.  Makes 1 1/2 cups.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Tenders

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• For the chicken:
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to ½ inch thickness and cut into strips
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups panko bread crumbs

• For the sauce:
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 3/8 cup ketchup
• 1 1/2 tablespoon white vinegar
• 3 teaspoons chipotle adobo sauce (or tabasco chipotle sauce)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

Instructions

1. For the chicken: Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large zip-top bag, add the flour, salt, and pepper. Seal bag and shake to combine ingredients. Place the eggs in a shallow bowl and the panko bread crumbs in a second shallow bowl. Drop a few pieces of chicken into the flour mixture and toss to coat. Then dip the chicken into the egg, turning to coat. Last dip the chicken into the bread crumbs, turning to coat and place on a baking sheet. Repeat until all chicken is coated. Bake for 16 minutes, or until chicken is crispy and cooked through. Remove from the oven and dip chicken into the honey chipotle sauce (see below).
2. For the sauce: While the chicken strips are baking, prepare the sauce. Add all the ingredients except the corn starch in a small saucepan and stir to combine. Bring to a gentle boil, whisking throughout. Once sauce comes to a boil, combine the cornstarch with ⅓ cup cold water in a small bowl and pour into the sauce (if you don't mix it first it'll clump). Reduce heat to low and stir occasionally until chicken is out of the oven and ready to be dipped in sauce.

Notes

- For the sauce ingredients, chipotle adobo is the sauce that chipotle peppers are packed in. You can find them canned in the international foods section at the grocery store. I just remove the chipotle peppers from the can and scoop out the sauce at the bottom. If you don't have adobo sauce you can use tabasco chipotle pepper sauce (smoked) and it still tastes fantastic!

No-bake Energy Bars

For those of you who don't have any peanut allergies, I have a great, healthy recipe for you! One of the nutritionists at the hospital I work at came up with this recipe as a way to provide healthy energy! And it keeps the husband from snacking on candy and chips :)

Makes 10 bars

Ingredients:

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup rice krispies
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds (or whatever your preferred chopped nut)
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
• 1 tbsp metamucil
• 1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries or mini chocolate chips

Directions:

• Blend together peanut butter, honey, vanilla extract, and ground cinnamon until smooth.
• Pour in oats, rice cereal, seeds, flaxseed meal, metamucil, and cranberries/chocolate chips and mix until well coated. 
• Press mixture flat into a dish and refrigerate for an hour. 
• Cut into bars (or roll into balls) and eat within two weeks!

Nutritional Facts: 

Amount per serving (depending on the ingredients you choose):

• Kcals: 200
• Carb:24 g
• Fat: 9 g (unsaturated fat: 8 g)
• Protein: 6 g

Oven “Fried” Homemade Chicken Nuggets [and Boneless Buffalo Wings]

I have been craving boneless buffalo wings but the thought of anything fried makes me feel automatically queasy. So I searched and came across this recipe. IT IS AMAZING!!! We made them for dinner last night and I wanted more today so I made them for lunch. If something sounds good I stick with it because that doesn't happen very often these days.

Jacob doesn't like buffalo sauce so we left his plain and he said they were still awesome, a little spicy, so if you can't handle heat I would say leave the cayenne pepper out, or try some other spices. The combo of Greek yogurt and Panko [which I was nervous about] are amazing so I think if you experiment with different spices it should be a success. We want to experiment with some other flavors of sauces and dips so I'll let you know how that goes.

Also word to the buffalo sauce lovers who want to try this, YOU MUST USE FRANK'S RED HOT!!! I have bought a couple different brands of hot sauce, all in the name of trying to save a couple dollars, and they have all tasted wrong. So I bit the bullet and went for the one everyone raves about and I will never go back, never, no never. Trust me on this one.

Here is where I got the recipe > Foodie with Family

A couple things I did differently >>>

• I couldn't find whole wheat Panko so I used normal ones
• I used a bowl to mix the chicken with the Greek yogurt, the Ziploc seemed too messy
• I did not use 8 chicken breasts because I was only feeding 2 mouths, measure accordingly
• I did not combine the Frank's Hot Sauce with butter, I just tossed the wings straight in the Hot Sauce and they were amazing
• And I do not really like Bleu Cheese Dressing so we did Ranch
• Oh and we served them with rice and broccoli to make it a dinner that had some veggies!

Oven “Fried” Homemade Chicken Nuggets [and Boneless Buffalo Wings]

Ingredients

• 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt
• 2 teaspoons cumin, divided
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, divided
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder, divided
• 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder, divided
• 3 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4-6 cups panko bread crumbs (preferably whole wheat)
• Cooking oil spray (canola, vegetable, grapeseed or peanut.)
For Wing Sauce:
• Mild: 1/4 cup each Frank's Red Hot Sauce and melted butter
• Medium: 1/3 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce and 1/4 cup melted butter
• Hot: 1/2 cup (or more!) Frank's Red Hot Sauce and 1/4 cup melted butter
Optional for serving:
• Bleu Cheese Dressing for dipping

Instructions

Combine the yogurt, 1 teaspoon each of the cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder, 2 teaspoons of the kosher salt, and the black pepper in a one-gallon resealable plastic bag. Close it and use your hand to squish the contents around until it's mostly evenly combined. Set aside.

Trim the chicken breasts of any gristly bits and slice them into even pieces. I usually cut it in half cross-wise, then into pieces that are about 2-inches by 1 1/2-inches by 1/2-inch but you can cut them into any shape you'd like as long as they're mostly equal in size. This makes them cook more evenly. Transfer all of the chicken pieces into the bag with the yogurt, seal the bag, and squish everything around so the chicken is evenly coated in the spiced yogurt. Let this rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly spritz it with cooking oil (either a spray bottle of oil or non-stick cooking spray.)

Add 4 cups of the the panko bread crumbs and the remaining cumin, cayenne, garlic and onion powders, and salt to a pie plate or other shallow dish and stir them together. Using tongs to keep your hands neat, remove one chicken strip at a time and lay them in the dish of bread crumbs. Flip them over, pressing crumbs onto all yogurt covered surfaces, then transfer the coated piece of chicken to the lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining chicken and crumbs, leaving a little space between each piece to allow air to circulate around it as it bakes. If you find yourself running out of crumbs, add the remaining panko and spice it up with a little more cumin, garlic and onion powder, and salt. When you have coated all of the pieces, bake for about 25 minutes or more, depending on the size you've cut the chicken to, or until the coating is golden brown and crunchy and the internal temperature of the thickest piece is 170°F.

These can be served as is with a variety of dips ~OR~

To Make Boneless Buffalo Wings:

Stir together the proportions of hot sauce and butter to create the degree of heat in the sauce you prefer. You can either serve this as a dip (as my husband prefers) or toss the crispy wings in the sauce. If you toss them in the sauce, serve them immediately as they do soften after a short while. These are wonderful with the traditional bleu cheese dip!

Easy and quick Brazilian Cheese Rolls

I actually found this recipe here, but I wanted to repost it for the rest of you to try:

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/02/quick-brazilian-cheese-rolls-pao-de-queijo-2/



Quick Brazilian Cheese Rolls {Pao de Queijo} – Gluten Free!
Recipe by Our Best Bites

1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup tapioca flour (sometimes labeled tapioca starch) no substitutions
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 C grated cheddar cheese* (preferably medium or sharp)
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
*you can play around with the cheese.  I’ve used Monterey Jack, low-moisture mozarella, swiss, and even gruyere in place of the cheddar.  All great!

Optional:  extra cheese to sprinkle on top and any herbs/flavorings you’d like to add.  Try rosemary and or garlic powder, my favorites!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place egg, milk, oil, tapioca flour, and salt in blender and blend until smooth.  Add cheeses and pulse 2 times.  Immediately pour batter into a mini muffin tin (if your muffin tin isn’t non-stick, spray lightly with non-stick spray first), filling each well about 3/4 full, or just slightly less.  If desired (and I recommend), sprinkle a bit of parmesan cheese on top and/or a tiny sprinkle of kosher salt.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until puffed and golden.  Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes before removing rolls from pan.  Serve warm. These actually don’t re-heat well so I recommend making and eating fresh.

Yield: anywhere from 16-24 rolls, depending on how full you fill your muffin pan. I fill  mine pretty full (a good 3/4 full) and I generally get about 16-18.

Here's what I ended up doing: I had a hard time finding tapioca flour so I ended up just ordering it off of amazon and I'm so glad I did! didn't have a mini muffin tin so I used a normal sized one, filling each well up halfway. We filled six wells for the two of us and that seemed to be the perfect amount with no leftovers. In the mix I added some garlic powder, and on top I sprinkled parmesan cheese, salt, and rosemary. The rolls should sink in the middle but they'll be chewy and amazing!

Cornbread Muffins

I'm not a huge cornbread fan, but these are not to be missed. My kids always think they are treats because they taste so good. Great paired with soup or chili. 

Cornbread Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3/4 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed or canned 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease or line 12 muffin cups.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, honey, eggs and salt. Mix in flour, cornmeal and baking powder; blend thoroughly. Stir in milk and corn. Pour or spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Avocado Salsa

One of my favorite recipes - especially in the summer!!

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 lb frozen corn, roasted @ 450* for 20 min, stir every 5 min or so
1/2-3/4 c cilantro
1/2 red onion
1 orange pepper (or red or yellow)
1-3 jalapeno peppers, for more mild salsa - seed and use only 1
4 tomatoes
3 cloves minced garlic
1 T salt
2 t cumin
6 T lime juice (can use lemon)
2 T apple cider vinegar
2-3 avocados

Chop all veggies and stir.  Avocados are best when added just before serving.

Aunt Annie's Soft Pretzels

I've tried making pretzels in the past but they never worked out quite right.  We made these last night for family night and they were awesome! Packer did the lesson on how Satan twists the truth, I was impressed.  The kids had a lot of fun making the pretzels - we had them in the shape of figure eights, swirls, hearts and even a sword. 

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cup warm water
1 1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup bread flour
3 cups regular flour
2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
to taste coarse salt
4 tablespoons butter (melted)

DIRECTIONS:

Sprinkle yeast on lukewarm water in mixing bowl; stir to dissolve. Add sugar, salt and stir to dissolve; add flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic. Let rise at least 1/2 hour.

While dough is rising, prepare a baking soda water bath with 2 cups warm water and 2 Tbsp baking soda. Be certain to stir often. After dough has risen, pinch off bits of dough and roll into a long rope* (about 1/2 inch or less thick) and shape. Dip pretzel in soda solution and place on greased baking sheet. Allow pretzels to rise again. Bake in 450 degrees F oven for about 10 minutes or until golden. Brush with melted butter and enjoy!

Toppings: after you brush with butter try sprinkling with coarse salt. Or for Auntie Anne's famous Cinnamon Sugar, try melting a stick of butter in a shallow bowl (big enough to fit the entire pretzel) and in another shallow bowl make a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Dip the pretzel into the butter, coating both sides generously. Then dip again into the cinnamon mixture. Enjoy!

* The longer and thinner you can make the dough rope, the more like Auntie Anne's they will be. (Of course I don't have the counter space!)

*Sweet butter, not regular butter, is one of her secrets!

Black Bean Hummus

We love Hummus around here. Thank goodness for Costco or we would have to take out a small loan to feed our hummus habit (do they have small hummus loans?). Well Greg likes to tease me that anything I make ha a combination of black beans, corn and cumin in it. Black bean burgers, Black bean soup, Black bean enchiladas, Black beans chicken casserole; what can I say? If it isn't broke...

Well when I tried this recipe at an emergency preparedness function, I was excited, another variation on black beans! And in a form I know my family will love. We made it last night for some friends for the first time and it turned out really good (which was risky because I didn't have a chance to test in advance because of fast Sunday) The only tricky part was finding one ingredient: tahini. It was in the kosher/ethnic food aisle. It's a paste so it was in a can. Several stores I checked didn't carry it but I finally found it last weekend at our closest grocery store. Go figure.

Easy to make, (2 minutes in the blender) cheap, and can easily be doubled and frozen. Plus it uses all shelf stable ingredients so it's a great food storage recipe.

Black Bean Hummus
via allrecipes.com


1 clove garlic (or garlic powder equivalent)
1 (15 ounce) can black beans
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika


Mince garlic in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Add rinsed black beans, water and olive oil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, tahini, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper; process until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. Add additional seasoning and liquid to taste. Garnish with paprika. Serve with pretzels, pita chips, tortilla chips or crackers.

Chicken and Broccoli Cups

Description:
I made these tonight and they were fabulous! I took one bite and realized there was NO WAY I could stop myself from eating too much. They were so so good. You can use reduced fat cream cheese and reduced fat crescent rolls to make it a little healthier. You could also substitute the broccoli for any vegetable you or your family like. We eat it as a main dish, but you could easily serve them as appetizers.

Ingredients:
1 (3 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened (or neufatchel cheese)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted, divided
1 tablespoons minced chives
1 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 1/2 cups cooked broccoli
1 (8 ounce) can refrigerated crescent rolls

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, 1 tablespoon butter, chives, milk, garlic, salt and pepper until smooth. Stir in the chicken and broccoli.

Unroll crescent roll dough and separate into eight triangles; press triangles into greased muffin pan to make a cup shape. Spoon
about 1-2 Tablespoon chicken mixture into each cup.

Bake squares at 350 degrees F as directed on crescent roll package or until golden brown.

Number Of Servings:4

Preparation Time:20 minutes