Baked Chicken Taquitos

The Superbowl is coming! I made these taquitos for New Years Eve, and boy were they good. I'm pretty sure they'll show up on our table during the Superbowl as well.

Baked Chicken Taquitos 

Ingredients:
1/3 cup (3 oz) cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup green salsa
1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3 Tablespoons cilantro, chopped
2 Tablespoons green onions, sliced
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup grated pepper jack cheese
about 12 small flour tortillas
kosher salt
cooking spray

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 and line your baking sheet with foil. Spray the foil with cooking spray.
2. In a bowl, combine the first 7 ingredients. Stir until well incorporated. Add the following 4 ingredients.
3. Now, it's time to assemble them. You'll spoon about 3 Tbs. of the chicken mixture into the lower part of the tortilla. Do not spread to too close to either side. Now, roll it up as tight as you can. As you roll, the mixture will spread closer to either side.
4. Place seam side down onto your spayed, foil lined, baking sheet.
5. Spray the tops of the taquitos with cooking spray and sprinkle salt over the top.
6. Cook in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.

* You could easily make this with corn tortillas to make this gluten free!

Source: Our Best Bites

Maple, Cinnamon, and Orange Creme Brulee

I had leftover heavy cream so it was the perfect excuse to experiment and try my hand at creme brulee.  Making creme brulee was easier than I thought.  This recipe uses pure maple syrup instead of refined sugar as the sweetener. 

Ingredients:

2 Cups Heavy Cream

1 Egg plus

3 Egg Yolks

7 Tablespoons Pure Maple Syrup

1 Cinnamon Stick

Zest of 1 Orange

1-2 Tablespoons of Orange Juice

1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Sprinkle of Sugar for the Topping

4 (7 ounce) brulee ramekins

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

In a saucepan combine the heavy cream, 3 T maple syrup, cinnamon stick, orange zest, orange juice.  Whisk the ingredients together and bring to a boil in the saucepan.  After the cream has come to a boil, remove from the heat and let it cool.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg and egg yolks, remaining maple syrup, and vanilla extract.  Slowly whisk the cream into the egg mixture until the two are well-combined.

Set the ramekins in a glass baking dish.  Add hot water so it goes half way up the ramekins.  This will prevent the eggs from cooking too fast.  Fill the ramekins with mixture.  Cook for 40-50 minutes making sure the custard is set and slightly jiggly but not liquid.  Let the creme brulee cool for an hour before serving.

The last step is to sprinkle sugar on the top of each custard.  You can either burn the sugar with a blow torch or broil it in the oven.

Serve and Enjoy!

Source: Cinnamon & Orange Recipe and Maple Syrup Recipe

Sugary Peanut Butter Kisses

 

These are so yummy.  The kids enjoyed mixing the colors into the sugar, and then rolling the cookies in the different colored sugars.  So, this is a very kid friendly recipe and so good to eat!

 

Coloring sugar:

1-2 drops Wilton Gel Food Colors

1/2 c - 3/4 c Granulated sugar

 

Pour sugar into a ziploc bag and squeeze one drop of gel color into the sugar. Seal the bag and start squishing the color into the sugar unto all the sugar is colored.  You can darken the color  by adding more drops of the gel. You can lighten the color by adding more sugar.

 

 

Cookie Ingredients:

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 c. real butter, softened

1/2 c. peanut butter

2 TBSP. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

1- 3/4 c. self-rising flour

Hershey kisses, about 30 or more pieces, with the foil off

 

Preheat your oven to 375%. Cream together the white sugar, brown sugar and butter. Really give a few minutes to get nice and creamy. Scrape down the sides of your bowl and add the following peanut butter, milk, vanilla and egg. Mix well and scrape down the sides of your bowl. Whisk the flour and then scoop up the right amount needed.  Slowly add in the flour and continue to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.

 

Pour colored sugars onto paper plates. With a cookie scoop drop 1" balls of the dough into the different colors of sugar and roll around. Place the cookies about 2" apart on the cookie pan. Bake for 10 minutes for a soft chewy cookie, and 12 minutes for crunchy cookie.  (The cookie will flatten a bit as it bakes.)

 

Take cookies out of the oven and immediately press the hershey kiss into the cookie slightly! Move cookies to a rack to cool.  It takes a while for them to cool down because the hershey kiss melts a bit and then solidifies again.  So, give them time.  Then enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cloud Bread

Though I found this recipe intriguing while browsing Pinterest, I never really felt a need to give it a try.  I mean, why should I try to make a nearly carb-less bread?  I'm perfectly happy with the carb-laden kind!  Well, it wasn't long before I found out that I'm prediabetic and need to drop some weight and get my carb intake under control.  At present time, I'm still working on it.

I won't say this recipe fulfilled any deep bread cravings, but it was nice to have SOMETHING to make a breakfast sandwich out of.  I've also toasted it and used it as a sort of tostada.  If you decide to give it a try, make sure to follow the directions very closely.

Ingredients:
3 eggs (separated)
3 Tbsp. cream cheese
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
2 tsp. stevia

1.  Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Separate the whites of the eggs into a mixer bowl and the yolks into a small mixing bowl.
2.  Into the YOLKS, whisk in the stevia until smooth and well-combined.  Into the WHITES, add the cream of tartar and mix until you get stiff peaks.
3.  Add a little of the whites mixture (maybe 1/4 c.) into the yolks mixture and stir together until combined.  This will lighten up the yolks mixture a bit before folding it into the whites.  Carefully fold in the yolks mixture into the egg whites.  Fold only!  Do not stir or whisk as this will make the whites "deflate".  Fold gently until the whites and yolks are combined.
4.  Place a sheet of parchment or waxed paper onto each of two cookie sheets.  With a large spoon or large cookie scoop, dollop the mixture in four or five piles on the paper/cookie sheet.  Use the back of the spoon to make these dollops into nice even circles.  You want these to be at least 1/2-3/4" thick.
5.  Bake on the middle rack of the oven for about 30 minutes (you really have to watch these, only bake until they are golden).  Since I had two large cookie sheets I switched their positions halfway through and just baked each sheet until the "bread" was a nice golden color.
6.  Allow to cool COMPLETELY on a wire rack (I just transferred the papers straight onto a wire rack).  Once cool, they will become soft but just out of the oven they are a bit crispy.  Store in a ziploc bag.

Makes 8 to 10 pieces

Notes:

• Another recipe that I saw said you could use the same amount of cottage cheese in place of the cream cheese.  Haven't tried that yet.
• The recipe I used called for 1 packet of stevia, but I only had it in a large bag.  A web search informed me that 1 packet = 2 tsp.
• The recipe I used did not suggest lightening up the yolks mixture with the whites, but I've watched enough cooking shows to know that this is a great tip and helps with the folding process (plus, it's always worked better for me personally).
• These are fairly fragile.  They stood up okay to an egg/sausage load for breakfast, but just barely and only because I sort of cradled the sandwich carefully.  Toasting them makes them crispy but may also make them taste more egg-y.
• One piece is about 38 calories and about .25g of carbs, by my calculations.
• I've learned that this recipe is also known as Oopsies.

Source:  all over the internet, but I used the recipe from Mom, What's for Dinner?

Belgian Waffles

These are my FAVORITE waffles!  The whipped egg yolks make them light and fluffy and the cornstarch keeps them wonderfully soft.  

Belgian Waffles
http://www.yammiesnoshery.com


Makes about 8 big waffles

3 egg yolks
2 cups milk
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/3 cups flour
1/4 cup corn starch
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

4 egg whites
A pinch of cream of tartar  
2 tablespoons sugar

Mix together flour, corn starch, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  In separate bowl mix together egg yolks, milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat the egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add the two tablespoons of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.   Mix together the dry ingredient and wet ingredients then fold egg whites in to the batter. Do not over mix  Bake in a greased waffle iron.

Source: http://www.yammiesnoshery.com

School Food Trays

Today I thought I would share one of my favorite tips for eating in front of the TV.  Yes, I know this is totally discouraged in this day of finding ways to keep you from overeating--and meals in front of the "boob tube"are taboo in the diet culture.  But, really, we all do it because, if there are just two of you and the kitchen island is covered with the stuff of life and the dining room table is just too big, and you want to watch "The Five," then in front of the TV it is!

 Years upon years ago I read a wonderful book entitled "Simplify Your Life,"  The subtitle is "100 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Things That Really Matter."  Page 33 is on using food trays.  The author took herself on a personal retreat (awesome) and the place she stayed had a rule for taking food to your room--any food or drink leaving the kitchen had to be on a tray.  It saved on spills, crumbs, etc., and it's a great idea for taking food from your kitchen at home to your family room so that you can eat and view simultaneously.  I picked mine up at a thrift store.  They are school lunch trays.  The food in my picture looks like school food, too, LOL..but it was really yummy--and low fat-- and maybe I will share the recipes one day!

Source: Elaine St. James, Simplify Your Life.

Stuffed Baguette

I am in favor of recipes that you can make ahead and leave in the fridge until needed.  This recipe reminds me of those pinwheel tortilla appetizers that you buy in the freezer section of Sam's Club.  I would imagine you could come up with several variations of this and pack them for picnics.

Ingredients:

Baguette about 14 inches long

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
4 oz. fresh goat cheese
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 c. finely chopped red bell pepper
1/2 c. finely chopped sun dried tomatoes in olive oil
1/4 c. finely chopped kalamata olives
2 oz. finely chopped spicy salami
2 T. minced Italian parsley
1 t. minced fresh thyme
freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste (if needed)

Directions:

1.  Slice off both ends of the baguette.  Using a long thin knife and working from the both ends, hollow the baguette out leaving about 1/2 inch thick crust all around.

2.  Using an electric mixer beat the cream cheese until smooth and lump-free.  Beat in the goat cheese and garlic.  Stir in the rest of the ingredients.

3.  Working again from the both ends, fill the baguette with the cheese mixture.  Pack the filling tight.  Wrap the stuffed baguette very well in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.  Right before serving, slice* the baguette into 1/2 inch thick slices and serve.  (I left them in larger sections but the small ones work great for appetizers.)

*Hint:  For the most neat looking slices, treat it as a cheesecake - each time slice it with a hot knife.

Source:  bakingobsession.com