Tomato Mozzarella Bites

I  don't think these even require a recipe... they are stinkin' cute, delicious and make a quick and easy appetizer.

Cut out the guts from some cherry/grape tomatoes, slice up a mozzarella cheese stick (or two or three) into 1-1.5" chunks. Wrap the mozzarella stick in a basil leaf and pop into the core of the tomato. Drizzle with some olive oil and sprinkle with some sea salt and pepper. Done.

(Of course if you are feeling fancy you could sub those baby mozzarella pearls for the mozzarella sticks. I never have them, but usually have these ingredients on hand.)

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Taco Raviolis

Recently we went to a friend's house for a birthday party and I wanted to bring a snack. I did not want to go to the grocery store, so I was limited to the items I had on hand.

After some brainstorming, I came up with these little taco raviolis. Dippable (a party-must), portable and delicious.


Taco Raviolis
Yield: 15+ (It really depends on how full you make the raviolis. You can stretch this pretty far.)

1/2 lb ground turkey (or beef)
2 or 3 green onions, chopped
1/2 packet taco seasoning
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
2 pie crusts (I use the refrigerated kind & keep them in my freezer)


-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

-Brown the ground meat on the stove. Add the taco seasoning and water, as directed on the package. Remove from heat and stir in the chopped up green onions.

-Roll out the pie crusts to about 1/8" thickness. Use a biscuit cutter to cut the dough into circles about 3" in diameter.


-Put a spoonful of taco meat on half of each circle of dough. Top the mounds with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese. Be careful to not overload the dough- you will not be able to close them!

(Too full.)

-Fold the dough in half over the meat to make a half moon shape. Use a fork to pinch the dough closed. If the dough is not staying closed, use your finger to spread some water on the edges of the inside before closing the dough- this will help "glue" the ravioli closed.

-Once all of the ravioli are folded and sealed, lay them onto a sprayed cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the dough is golden.

-Serve warm or room temperature with salsa for dipping.

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Quiche Florentine

I first made this quiche months ago when I had some leftover spinach that I had to creatively use up so that John would eat it. I figured anything covered in cheese would do. It turned out SO good.. and pretty to boot!

Last weekend, I used the same recipe to create the mini quiches for Liz's baby shower. I just cut the pie crust with a little biscuit cutter and baked the quiches in mini muffin tins. Cute and portable!


Once again, I got the recipe from Tasty Kitchen.

The Best Quiche Ever!
Sprucehill

• 6 whole Eggs
• 1 cup Heavy Cream (I substitute skim milk and it is fine)
  
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• ⅛ teaspoons Nutmeg
• 1 dash Cayenne Pepper
• 2 cups Grated Swiss Cheese (I've used cheddar)
  
• ¼ cups Chopped Onions
• 1 whole Pastry Pie Crust

**Feel free to add in veggies and meat! I've done both bacon and sausage as well as the spinach.

-Mix all the liquid ingredients and seasonings together in a bowl. Do not over mix it; I just whisk it together.

-Use your favorite pastry pie crust recipe. I do not have one that I love, so I usually use a pre-made crust (gasp). It is easy and quick and it saves me a lot of time. Pioneer Woman has a good crust recipe on her site.

-Place your grated cheese, onions and whatever filling you choose to put in your quiche in your pastry crust. Sprinkle it around and make sure it is all evenly distributed. Pour the egg mixture over the filling ingredients. You can add a bit more cheese on the top if you like.

-Bake at 350 F for 45 minutes or until it starts to get nice and brown on top. After it comes out of the oven, let it sit for about 10 minutes. It will make it easier to cut and serve.

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Meringue Cookies

For Liz's baby shower last weekend, one of the items I served was fruit salad in (plastic) wine glasses. The fruit salad was topped with almond flavored meringues. I wanted to use the meringues in lieu of whipped cream, figuring it would hold up better. It did!

The recipe I used for the meringue came from one of my favorite websites, Tasty Kitchen. These were SO good. I have been munching on the leftovers since the shower and the rest got devoured at my office!

Marvelous Meringue Cookies

• 4 whole Egg Whites, At Room Temperature
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Almond Extract
• ½ teaspoons Cream Of Tartar
• 10 drops Food Coloring

1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees.
2. Beat egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Increase speed to medium-high. Add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until sugar is dissolved and stiff peaks form. Beat in extract and food color until blended.

3. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls about 1 inch apart onto 2 large foil-lined baking sheets sprayed with baking spray.
4. Bake both sheets of meringues at the same time for 45 minutes. Turn the oven off. Let the meringues stand in the oven for 1 hour or until cool.

**I piped the meringues into cute little whipped cream shapes.

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Veggie Pizza

Veggie Pizza

1 roll/can of crescent rolls (the garlic butter ones work nicely!)
4 oz cream cheese (I like to use chive/herb), at room temperature
4 oz sour cream
1/2 packet of ranch dip mix
Assorted veggies, chopped up (green peppers, broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, green onions, etc.)

-Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
-Spray a cookie sheet with some baking spray and then roll out the crescent rolls onto the pan. Flatten the dough and make sure to pinch the seams together to create a large "sheet."
-Bake the dough for 5 minutes- enough so that the dough puffs up. Remove from the oven and flatten the dough and spread out a little more, if possible. (You can just do this with your hands.. or a rolling pin if it is too hot for you.)
-Stick the cookie sheet back into the oven for another 5 minutes, or until the dough is cooked through and golden.
-Meanwhile, combine the cream cheese, sour cream and ranch mix.
-When the crescent dough has cooled, spread the cream cheese mixture onto it.
-Top with your cut up veggies and then cut into slices for eating!

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White Trash

White trash in the perty new crystal/glass dish from Grandma!

This is a family favorite- we make this every year at Christmas. Once you make it, be prepared to not be able to stop eating it!
1 box Cheerios
1 box Chex
1 can of peanuts
1 bag M&Ms
1/2 bag of mini pretzels
1 bag of white chocolate melties/bark
1- Combine all of the above. You can reduce the amounts based on your bowl (or stomach) size.
2- Pour the bag of white chocolate melties/bark into a microwave safe bowl.
3- Microwave for a minute and stir. Repeat until all of the chocolate is melted.
4- Pour the white chocolate over the cereal/M&M mixture.
5- Stir the mixture until the white chocolate is covering everything.
6- Place wax paper on cookie sheets and then spread out the white trash so that is cools and dries separated (and not in giant hunks).
7- After the white trash is cooled, put it back into an air tight safe container to store (and munch from).

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Dill Dip

My cousin has always brought this to every family party & then I promptly do not leave it until it is gone. It probably doesn't help that I am addicted to carbs.

You will need:
1 (16 oz) container of sour crem (I use fat free)
about 1/2 cup of mayonaise
2 tbsp dill weed
4 green onions
1 tsp garlic powder
a shake of salt & pepper
1 sourdough bread round

Various veggies- carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, etc.

1- Combine the above ingredients (except the bread- duh).
2- Cut the center of the bread out to create the bowl. Then cut up the center of the bread into chunks.
3- Cut up your veggies.
4-Plop the dip into the bowl and serve with the bread and veggies!

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Turkey Enchilada Dip Pinwheels

I used this recipe as inspiration, with some modifications. They were a hit.

1 pound of turkey breast (whatever came in a package.
2 (8oz) packages of light cream cheese, softened

4 green onions, chopped

1 (8oz) jar of mild salsa

1 clove minced garlic

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp paprika

4 or 5 tortillas

1- Saute and then shred the turkey breasts.

2- In a large bowl (I used my new stand mixer!) combine the shredded turkey, cream cheese, green onions, salsa, and garlic.

3- Season with cumin and paprika.

4- Microwave the tortillas between two damp papertowels for about 30 seconds (this helps the toritllas roll better).

5- Spread the tortillas each with the mixture, then roll up as you would an enchilada.

6- Wrap the rolls in saran wrap and then refrigerate for an hour or two.

7- When the rolls have become a bit harder, unwrap them and slice into pinwheels.

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