Energy Balls

Energy Balls

2 c quick oats

1/2 c ground flax meal

1/2 c wheat germ

2 scoops protein powder (1/4 c) (chocolate or vanilla) 

2 T chia seeds

2 t vanilla

1 c peanut butter

1/3 c honey

1:3 c agave

1/2 - 2/3 c mini chocolate chips

Mix everything but the chocolate chips in the mixer until well mixed. Add chocolate chips. Refrigerate for 1 hour then scoop into balls. 

This is a double batch. You can mix and match the honey and agave, and mix and match the flax and wheat germ. Can also leave out the protein powder.

Cranberry Salsa

 1 12 Ounce bag cranberries

3/4 c sugar

1/2 t cumin

1/2 t salt

1/4 t garlic

1/2 bunch cilantro

4 green onions

1 jalepeno

1/4 c lime juice

Mix all ingredients in food processor. Serve over 8 ounces cream cheese

Blended with 1/2 c sour cream. 

Granola

Homemade granola is something I've wanted to make for a long time and I've finally figured it out.  John loves it.

4 c. rolled oats
1/2 c. wheat germ
1 c. almonds, crushed, or 1 c. sliced almonds
1/2 c. pumpkin seeds
1/2 c. shredded coconut
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 T. vanilla
dash almond flavoring
1/3 c. oil
1/3 c. agave

Mix all dry ingredients, mix liquids, then mix together.  Bake at 300 for 15 minutes, stir, then bake another 15 minutes.

If you stir less (especially after you take it out of the oven) and press the granola into the pan, it will make chunkier granola.  Obviously you can mix up whatever nuts and fillings you like in your granola, add some brown sugar for extra flavor, and more.

Candied Nuts

2 cups nuts
2 at butter
1/2 sugar (either)
1/2 t cinnamon
Pinch salt

Cook on stove top until sugar is dissolved and melted, coating nuts. 

Veggie Salsa

I've made this veggie salsa three times in the last few weeks. I'm amazed how I can suddenly get everyone to eat what is basically a bowl full of vegetables. Just finely dice everything.

2 cans corn, roasted (I toast it in the skillet while chopping everything else)
1 bell pepper
1 small red onion
1 cup tomatoes
1/3 cup cilantro
1 teaspoon garlic
2 limes, zest and juice
Salt and pepper
2 avocados, chopped - add last

Potstickers

I used to make homemade potstickers.  Now I buy them at Costco.  But the homemade ones were good and I would make them again in a different phase of life.
Homemade Pot Stickers
1 lb ground pork
 cloves garlic
1/3 head cabbage
1 medium carrot
2 green onions
1/2 red bell pepper
2 t. Worcestershire sauce
2 t. soy sauce
black pepper
1 t. ginger

Put 1 T. of finely chopped veggies in each pot sticker.  Fry in 2 T. oil, af 1/2 c. wate to the pan and steam for 20 minutes. Or freeze before cooking

Sour Cream Banana Bread

1 1/2 c sugar
3/4 c oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 c mashed ripe bananas
3/4 c sour cream
1 1/2 t vanilla
2 1/4 c flour
1 t baking soda
3/4 t salt

Beat oil and sugar. Add eggs, mashed banana, sour cream and vanilla and beat until smooth. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add to wet ingredients, stirring just until moistened.

Butter and flour just the bottom of two loaf pans. Divide mixture between and bake at 350 for 45 min or until toothpick comes out clean. 

Caramel Corn

1/2 c popcorn, popped

1/4 c butter
1/4 c light corn syrup
1/3 c brown sugar
Bring to a boil. Boil 2 min.

Add 1/2 c marshmallows. Stir 1 min. Pour over popcorn.

I make homemade popcorn in the microwave in a paper bag.  I put 3 tablespoons of popcorn kernels in a bag and cook for about 2 1/2 minutes, watching it.  For this recipe I make two bags worth.

The kids also like the homemade popcorn with butter and salt (the way daddy makes it!)

Pizza Pretzels

I began making pizza for dinner last night and the kids ran in and asked if I was making pretzels. Well, why not? Pizza pretzels were born. We've had these at Wetzel's Pretzels, so it wasn't an original idea, but I'd never made them before.

Also, I recently discovered that my pizza dough and pretzel dough recipes are exactly the same. Embarrassingly, they are printed right above each other on the paper I've been reading them off for four years. Here's the recipe again:

1 T. yeast
1 c. warm water
1 T. sugar
2 T. oil
2 1/2-3 c. flour

For the pizza (and pizza pretzels), I add a couple teaspoons of minced garlic. I don't usually let my pizza dough rise, but I usually go through the double rising process with pretzels. However, since I had planned on making pizza, I didn't have time. So I skipped it and they were fine. The dough was actually amazing and I think it's because I added a squirt of the soy lecithin that's been lying around my kitchen unused for several years. It made the dough really stretchy, satiny, and it looked like the pretzel dough the bakeries use.  If you're interested in this, I found a helpful article on dough enhancers.

Once the dough was mixed, I made the usual pretzel shapes, skipping both rising steps.

Boil them in baking soda water for 10 seconds on each side. Sprinkle plenty of mozzarella cheese and add some pepperoni slices.

Bake the pizza pretzels at 425 for 10-12 minutes. 

Turkey Cheeseball

Here's the turkey cheeseball we made this year. My original idea!

It's just my regular cheese ball recipe, covered in nuts with carrots, Craisins and Wilton candy eyes for a face/feet.

We also made one for Halloween that was covered in crushed Doritos and had an olive jack-o-lantern face.

Dipped Marshmallows for Roasting

John had the idea to start a new tradition of roasting marshmallows on Thanksgiving. He made these special marshmallows for roasting. They are actually pretty easy.  Just get the marshmallow wet, then press it in the crumbs.  He used:

• graham cracker crumbs and shaved chocolate
• peppermint crumbs and shaved chocolate
• Oreo crumbs
• graham cracker crumbs
• peppermint crumbs
• and more Oreos

We don't have a BBQ, so we went to the park with some charcoal and roasted them in the grate.  Yum! My favorite was the Oreo.  John liked the peppermint with chocolate shavings. The kids liked them all.

Homemade Microwave Popcorn

Microwave popcorn is one of our new favorite snacks.  It's easy, it's filling, it's really cheap, and the kids think it's a special treat.  We first tried it on New Year's Eve when we had a movie night in the living room, with the sleeping bag.

Put 1/4 c. popcorn kernels in a paper bag. Fold the top of the bag down.  Microwave on the popcorn setting, or for 2-2 1/2 minutes. listen carefully and turn the microwave off when the kernels slow down popping. Mine cooks for 2:15.

I don't add oil or anything, though I've heard it will help more kernels pop. I like that it's really low-cal and fat free.  Also I can reuse the paper bags if I don't add oil.

Elephant Pretzel

Maggie still loves to help make homemade pretzels.  She made this adorable elephant pretzel during our last batch. It even stayed together through the boiling and baking steps.

Cheeseball Appetizer

I've made a lot of different (but very similar) cheeseballs. Once I made cheeseball truffles, rolled in different mix-ins, for a baby shower. For Thanksgiving, Maggie and I made this snowman cheeseball from Betty Crocker. We didn't use the recipe, just the snowman idea. Here's my generic cheeseball recipe with some mix-in/roll-in ideas.

1 pkg cream cheese

2 c. grated cheese

Blend together.

That's it! You can use any kind of cheese for a different flavor. I just use my standard colby-jack. I like to mix chopped green onion in mine, but here are some more ideas for mixing into the cheeseball, or pressing/rolling onto the outside:

1/2 t. dry mustard

chopped walnuts

chopped pecans

sesame seeds

parsley

paprika

diced olives

diced sundried tomatoes

diced red pepper

To make the snowman, we "frosted" two cheeseballs with some cream cheese whipped with milk. We used raisins, a carrot, pretzel sticks, and celery to decorate. I used a peeler to make thin strips of celery for the scarf. Maggie was a really big help.

Halloween Food

We've done some fun food things for Halloween this year. My favorite was probably the Stuffed Pepper Jack-o-Lanterns - mostly because the Mexican Stuffed Pepper recipe I've been using is sooo good. The kids loved the ghost bananas best.

Pumpkin Muffin Tin Meal

Orange & Black Muffin Tin Meal

Ghost Banana Snacks

Monster Meatballs

Stuffed Pepper Jack-o-Lanterns

Spider Crackers

Homemade Fruit Snacks

I saw this on Skip to My Lou and knew it would be perfect for an activity with Maggie. We made them in a Jell-o Bean mold, or you can use candy molds or probably even silicone ice cube molds.

1 3 oz box flavored gelatin
2 packages unflavored gelatin
1/3 c. water

Sprinkle the gelatin over the water in a small saucepan. Let sit 5-10 minutes. Heat over medium heat and stir until dissolved, 2-5 minutes. Pour into your molds (I used a plastic measuring cup with a spout) and let cool for 20 minutes. Pop out and eat!
They came out really easily, but were super sticky to themselves, our fingers... pretty much everything except the mold. So I did dust them with a bit of cornstarch.

Update: I made these again using fruit juice. I used 1/2 c. fruit juice and 3 1 oz packages of unflavored gelatin. I used apple juice, so they were kind of gross, but I think pineapple or a red juice would be yummy. They were not as sticky as the jell-o ones.
I made them in a rubber ice cube tray from the dollar store! They came out great once they cooled enough.

Cheese Ball

Here is a simple and quick-to-make appetizer that I get rave reviews about.

1 8 oz package of cream cheese
2 c. shredded cheese (any kind - I usually use colby jack because that's what I keep on hand).
dash of ground mustard or cayenne pepper
sliced green onions
chopped walnuts

Mix the cheeses, spices and onions thoroughly and shape into a ball. Roll in walnuts.

I have also made this into cheese truffles. I made one inch balls and rolled some in nuts, green onion, sesame seeds etc. You could use pecans instead, add in pimento or diced green chilies etc. It's very easy to mix up and almost impossible to mess up.

Soft Pretzels

1 T. yeast
1 c. warm water
2 1/2 to 3 c. flour*
2 T. oil
1 T. sugar
6 T. baking soda in 6 cups water

*I use about 1/4-1/3 amount of whole wheat flour.
I always double this recipe. We can eat 12 pretzels really fast, so I make two batches and put some in a Ziploc in the freezer once cooled. The one time I only made one batch it was very disappointing and hardly worth the effort. I use 9 T. baking soda in 9 c. water when I make two batches.
This is a fair amount of work, but worth it if you love soft pretzels. They don't have the fake aftertaste of the store-bought ones and the cost works out to be less than 6 cents per pretzel!

In a bowl, dissolve yeast in water. add 1 1/2 c. flour, the oil, and the sugar. Beat for about 3 minutes to make a smooth batter. Gradually stir in enough of the remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured board and knead until smooth and satiny (about 5 minutes) adding flour as needed to prevent sticking. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease top, and cover and let rise until double (1 hour).
Punch down dough, turn out onto a floured board, and divide into 12 pieces. Shape each into a smooth ball by gently kneading. Then roll each into a smooth rope about 18 inches long, and twist into a pretzel shape. Place slightly apart on a greased baking sheet, turning loose ends underneath. Let rise, uncovered, until puffy (about 25 minutes).
Meanwhile, in a 3-qt stainless steel or enameled pan (not aluminum) bring soda water to a boil, adjust water to keep water boiling gently. With a slotted spatula, lower 1 pretzel at a time into pan. Let simmer for 10 seconds on each side, then lift from water, drain briefly on spatula, and return to baking sheet. Let dry briefly, then sprinkle with coarse salt and let stand uncovered.

Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 12-15 minutes (I cooked mine for 9 1/2, so watch them) or until golden brown. Transfer to racks, serve warm with butter, mustard or cream cheese. Or let cool completely, wrap airtight, and freeze. Microwave frozen pretzel for about 30 seconds to reheat.

Enjoy!

Hummus

At John's request, I made hummus for the Pampered Chef party I had last night. I used this recipe (from Allrecipes) because I couldn't find tahini at my grocery store. I will admit that I haven't tried a lot of different hummus, but I thought this was pretty yummy. If you have a food processor, this sure is an easy appetizer to make. I served it with carrot sticks, cucumber sticks and two kinds of crackers.

1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained, liquid reserved
2 ounces fresh jalapeno pepper, sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced

In a blender or food processor, combine garbanzo beans, jalapeno, cumin, lemon juice, garlic and 1 tablespoon of the reserved bean liquid. Blend until smooth.