Cowboy Quesadillas

{darn tootin'}
I seriously am in awe over these. I wanted something more on the healthy side for dinner, and when I came across these, I knew they had a permanent place on my menu. The original recipe called for green onions, but I am not a big of fan of green onions. So I tweaked it a bit and used a 1/4 of a white onion. You can easily alter these to your tastes, whatever floats your boat! All you need to know is that these are amazing and you need to try them, asap. Oh, and don't forget the dipping sauce. It's amazing.

Ingredients:
8 large flour tortillas
2 chicken breasts, cubed
1/2 cup white rice, cooked
1/4 of a large white onion, chopped
1/2 cup black beans
1/3 cup corn (frozen or canned works great)
2/3 cup diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cup grated Pepper Jack cheese
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/3 cup barbecue sauce


For dipping sauce just measure out equal parts of ranch dressing and barbecue sauce, and mix together.

Directions: In a medium skillet, saute onions until just barely translucent. Add chopped chicken and cook thoroughly. Set aside. In a large bowl, add rice, corn, beans, tomatoes, chicken and onions and mix together. Then add cheeses and barbecue sauce and mix until evenly coated.
Spoon mixture into each tortilla and grill them up on the skillet... and dip away! For a vegetarian variation you can leave out of the chicken.

Check out those golden crispy delicious tortillas...

Held together by warm, ooey gooey melted cheeses... droll... 

Source: Our Best Bites

Apple Cinnamon Bran Muffins

{i didn't know bran tasted so good}
I was always kind of against all bran infused foods because I thought that's only what heath nuts ate. Again, my palate is expanding. I now am in love with bran muffins. They were really healthy but they didn't taste like it. They kept me full so I wasn't craving potato chips 30 minutes later. Plus, I put huge chunks of fruit in them which just makes everything better. You should give them a try if you haven't already, and if you have.. well, good for you! Give this recipe a whirl when you are in need of a health snack!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup boiling water
1 1/2 cup whole bran cereal (not flakes)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
14 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 whole apples, skinned, cored, and chopped into chunks

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F. Grease 12 muffin cups with cooking spray or butter. In a medium bowl, pour boiling water over cereal. Stir to moisten; set aside.
In another medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl, add eggs, yogurt, sour cream, and oil. Stir cereal and flour mixture into wet ingredients just until moistened, fold in apples.
Spoon batter into prepared pan, filling 3/4 full. Bake about 15-20 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Serve warm and enjoy! 

Baked Potato Wedges

{creative?... Sure!}
This recipe isn't really anything fancy or special. I was craving some baked potatoes... but they seemed kind of boring. So I cut them up into wedges, and covered them in cheese! They were heavenly- and surprisingly very filling! I'll definitely be making these again, and soon!

Ingredients:
2-3 large baking potatoes, cut into wedges
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated (you could also use cheddar)
1/4 lb. bacon
1/4 cup bell pepper
1 green onion
a dash of salt and pepper
sour cream (optional)
parsley flakes for garnish

Directions:
In a 9x9 inch baking dish, arrange potato wedges skin side down. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cover with foil. Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes or until tender, edges should be slightly browned. Meanwhile, cut the bacon into small pieces and fry until slightly crispy, drain and set aside. Chop bell pepper and onion into small pieces. Once potatoes are done, pull them out of the oven and sprinkle with cheese, bacon, bell pepper, and green onion. Bake again for another 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted and slightly bubbly. Garnish with sour cream and parsley flakes if desired. Enjoy!

 

Turkey Pesto Sliders

{it's like homemade quiznos}
I miss American Quiznos a lot. They have Quiznos in Canada, but the menu is different. It makes me sad sometimes. One thing I miss most is the Turkey Pesto. Mmmmm... so good. I had no idea pesto was so easy to make... I've been missing out. We had these for dinner, and I was impressed! I thought it would just taste like a good sandwich, but no- I couldn't stop eating them! I felt like such a fatty because I downed two at night, and then two again for breakfast!

 Ingredients:
6 slider buns (I used Kaiser Buns, the soft ones)
6 slices of Provolone cheese
12 Deli Turkey slices
Pesto Sauce (see recipe below)
Mayo

Directions:
Make an open faced sandwich- come on, it's pretty easy. I 'toasted' mine to get the full Quiznos effect by setting my oven to broil and placing my sandwich on a baking sheet (open faced) for about 5 minutes until the turkey was heated through and the cheese was melted. Then spread as much or as little mayo as you'd like, then a couple spoonfuls of pesto sauce- and shove in your mouth!

Pesto Sauce Recipe:
2 cups fresh/frozen basil (or 16 frozen cubes)
1/4 cup sunflower kernels (or pine nuts)
2 gloves of garlic, peeled
a dash of salt
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

In food processor (or blender) blend all the ingredients together for about 30 seconds. So easy. Who knew?

Source: Annie's Eats

Quick Cinnamon Rolls

{so sweet i can feel the cavities and diabetes setting in}
I don't know about you but when you are out shopping at the malls with the scent of the CinnaBun station from what seems like miles away, some form of symbiosis happens in my brain, and I immediately think- Christmas. But really, they are good any time of the year! Just make sure to go see your dentist after wards. 

 Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup warm water
6 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup oil
3 tablespoons instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
5 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon (essentially as much or as little as you'd like)

Directions:
In a medium bowl add water, sugar, oil and yeast. Mix to combine and let rise for 15 minutes. In a large bowl, or stand mixer with bread hook, add yeast mixture, half the flour, salt and eggs. Mix with hook, once it's combined add remaining flour. Dough should clear the sides of the bowl. If you don't have a stand mixer, your hands work just fine! Spray your counter, and roll out dough into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Spread with a thin layer of butter, enough so your cinnamon and brown sugar will stick to the dough. Sprinkle cinnamon, and then sprinkle with brown sugar. Roll up long ways, and cut into 18 (1 inch thick) slices. Dental floss works great. Place on sprayed cookie sheet. Let rise for for 15 minutes.

After a final rising, pop them in the oven and bake at 400F for 15 minutes, or until the tops are slightly browned. Cool slightly and frost with your favorite icing.
Powdered Sugar Icing:
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk
Mix together in a medium bowl. Add more milk or powdered sugar to reach the consistency to drizzle over cinnamon rolls.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 3oz package of cream cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Beat cream cheese and butter with electric mixer until smooth, then add powdered sugar and mix until well blended, then add vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy.

Soft Pretzels

{i could just eat these all day}
I have to give credit to my dear hubby, Warren, for coming up with the idea of making pretzels. It was his idea. I hate to admit it, but that's what we had for dinner... straight pretzels. Sad, huh? Oh the joys of being poor married students- livin' on a prayer, baby!

 Ingredients:
For the dough:
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
4 1/2 cups flour
4 tablespoons melted butter
veggie oil for greasing the bowl

Finishing:
Cooking spray
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel or Kosher Salt

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine water, sugar, salt and yeast. Mix with mixer on low to dissolve yeast. Add in flour and melted butter and mix until just before dough starts to come together. Then add dough to your awesome 1980's Bosch mixer, using the bowl fitted for the dough hook (or if you are living in today's world, your Kitchen Aid mixer with dough hook). Mix until dough comes together and clears the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes. Transfer dough to a bowl lightly greased with veggie oil, turn once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 50-55 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Preheat your oven to 450F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and spray with cooking spray. Bring the 10 cups of water and baking soda to a boil in a large pot.

Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope shape about 20-24 inches long. Make a "U" shape, and then twist, pinching the ends down to secure (you all know how to make a pretzel shape... we've all watched the guy do it at the Pretzel place in the mall). Don't judge my kitchen... or my husband who has his tongue sticking out.

Once each piece is in the shape of a pretzel, pop one or two in the boiling water. Keep it in there for 30 seconds, removing it using a slotted spatula. Place it back on the parchment paper. Once they have all had their boiling bath, brush them with the egg wash and sprinkle with salt. Then bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown or darker on the edges. Let cool before eating!

Serve with whatever you like to eat them with... my top favorites are cream cheese with marinara, nacho cheese, caramel, and chili (weird, huh?).

Directions for freezing:
You can do this many ways, they all work just fine. After the dough was split into 8 pieces, I froze them just in their ball form. You can also twist and boil them, and then freeze, so you just have to bake them straight from the freezer. I don't, however, recommend baking them and then freezing because reheating causes them to be tough and chewy.

Source: Annie's Eats via Alton Brown

Pizza Bites

{um, can you say... yum?!}
I was blog stalking one of my favorite cooking blogs, Annie's Eats, and I came across this delectable little recipe. I thought about it for weeks, and finally I decided to try it out. Holy cow, if I never eat a Little Caesar's Pizza again, this will be the reason why.

Photo updated 02/08/2011

Ingredients:
1 recipe pizza dough (I'd give you mine, but it's actually a family recipe that I can't share, but here is a good one
4 string cheese's (yeah, I know- you can use normal Mozzarella, don't worry)
40 pieces of Pepperoni 
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Italian Seasoning
Garlic Salt

Directions:
Take a small amount of pizza dough, and roll into a ball- should be about the size of golf ball or slightly larger. Then take a chunk of cheese (I cut up my string cheese into 6 equal pieces) and two slices of pepperoni and fold them together inside the pizza dough. To close the little ball of dough, pinch it closed so that there are no holes for cheese to leak out of. Once you have all your little pizza bites made, which you should end up with about 20 or so, place them in a greased 9 inch pie dish and brush with olive oil, then sprinkled with garlic salt and Italian seasoning. Bake at 400F for about 15 minutes or until the tops are slightly golden brown. Serve them with your favorite pizza sauce! 

 Photo updated 02/08/2011

Original recipe from Annie's Eats.

Ham and Cheese Croissants

{breakfast food, redone!}
One thing I miss most about the Inn is the croissants. They were my absolute favorite things to eat. I miss them greatly. I got this idea the other day when the deli meats were on sale for $3. If you are thinking 'how in the world is that a sale?'... trust me, compared to the regular price of $5, it's definitely a sale. I basically had to buy some because that is just something I could not pass up. Thus, my idea occurred. However, I have to admit that I didn't make the croissants myself- it was too hot to bake and I knew I was strapped for time, so I cheated and bought the pre-made ones in the can. If you are interested in making your own, I highly suggest this one- it's my favorite! 

Ingredients:
1 container (or as much or as little as you'd like) deli ham (you could experiment and use turkey if you wanted)
1 block of Swiss Cheese (again, more or less- you could even try cheddar with the turkey)
4 strips of croissant bread dough cut into long, right triangles (throw in a little geometry for ya)

Directions:
Roll out one triangle of dough, and place 2-3 slices of ham on top. It's best to not bunch it up, instead lay them out flat. Then take 1-2 small slices of Swiss and place on top of ham. Roll up the dough starting at the larger end, ending with the smallest corner of the dough. Do this for each one, place on a greased baking sheet and bake at 375 F for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. You can try serving with ranch dressing, if you're in the mood to try something different. :) 

This could be served for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even a snack!  
  

Mummies

{who said your food couldn't be cute, too}
Great for Halloween... perhaps?

Ingredients:
1 package (8 bread sticks or 11 oz.) bread stick dough
1 package (16 oz) hot dogs (Brats, Cheddar Dogs, Cheddar Brats maybe even... yum!)
Mustard and poppy seeds for the eyes (if you want you could opt the mustard for Cheese Whiz)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F. Using 1 dough strip for each, wrap hot dogs to look like mummies, leaving opening for eyes. Place on ungreased baking sheet.
Bake 12-15 minutes or until light golden brown. Place dots of mustard and poppy seeds for eyes. 

Seven Layer Dip

{a classic crowd pleaser for all ages}
I made this dish for a group of friends, it was gone in 15 minutes. But I don't mean to brag ;)

Ingredients, in order:
1 can refried beans 
3 mashed avacado's with lemon juice and green tabasco sauce
1/2 c mayonnaise with 1 cup sour cream
3 chopped tomatoes (I used about a 1/2 cup [more or less] of salsa)
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 small can of chopped, black olives

Layer on a serving platter in order, don't forget the chips!