Cinnamon Crunch Nuts

Yummy note: This is a love and hate snack in my house. I just love these cinnamon crunch nuts and will eat them any time of day for a quick bite. However, my kids both have nut allergies, so whenever I make it, they give me the evil eye and are like, seriously, mom, you are making a yummy smelling treat that we can't have?! Yes, my darling kids, sorry, it is not all about you this time, haha. So now I try and make it when they aren't around or late at night to stop teasing them with the waffling smells of cinnamon and nuts in the house. Just so you know, the other bad part of this snack, it can be quite addicting; the cinnamon sugar spice goodness and the saltiness combined with the crunchiness, yeah, the ultimate sweet and salty snack. Good luck trying to stop with just a few of these bad boys. These cinnamon crunch nuts are amazing when tossed with granola on top of yogurt or ice cream.

Ingredients:

1 egg white
2 tablespoons Fireball Whisky (or can substitute with water)
1 tablespoon butter
1 pound pecan halves or other mixed nuts
1 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon - 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon (depending on how spicy you like them)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl, whip the egg white until frothy. In a separate bowl, melt butter and whisky together. Mix together sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Add nuts to the foamy egg white, add butter and whisky and stir to coat the nuts evenly. Toss the nuts in the cinnamon sugar mixture until coated. Spread the nuts out on the prepared baking sheet. Bake at 250 degrees for anywhere between 45 minutes and 1 hour, or until coating starts to crunch up. Stir nuts every 15 minutes. Depending on your oven and mixture of nuts used, sometimes they are ready within 30 minutes of bake time, so keep a close eye on them so they don't burn. 

Zucchini Salsa

Yummy note:
This is my first year with a much larger garden. I will say right now that my garden has been getting out of hand lately with the weeds and ground cover. I was doing fairly well early on, but it has recently got crazy-so if anyone has tips to control the weeds for next year, I'm all ears. I am honestly about ready for it all to be done for the season. The early raspberry bushes are done and have been pruned, the pumpkins are going well with about 6 pumpkin babies, however the vines have also took over a good portion of the garden. I am still getting a handful of peppers and zucchinis, too, which is nice for a late harvest. And then there's the tomatoes, they are close to fizzling out. However, I really got a decent crop out of my tomato plants this year, so I can not complain about that. I've planted a few different varieties, ranging from roma to heirloom, so I've been able to get some nice batches of salsa and tomato sauces. A few years ago, a friend introduced me to this zucchini salsa, which is similar to this recipe below. The biggest difference between the two, is the time involved in making the salsa though. The original recipe takes a 2-day approach with the zucchini in a brine overnight, while this one incorporates a sautéed zucchini instead and only takes a few hours start to finish realistically. Both recipes are on the mild side and not a lot of heat, but you could easily ramp up the heat by putting in more jalapeños and their seeds or a hotter pepper. This recipe yields about 8 pints of salsa.  

Zucchini Salsa

Original recipe http://www.food.com/recipe/salsa-with-zucchini-with-a-hint-of-lime-319758

Ingredients: 
8 cups of tomatoes (peeled and chopped)
olive oil 
1 1/2 lbs of zucchini (about 6 cups shredded) 
1/2 tsp salt 
4 cups of diced sweet onions 
3 jalapeños, diced 
1-2 habaneros, diced 
2 bell peppers, diced (either red, orange, or green)
4 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, diced 
6 garlic cloves, diced 
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt 
1 tsp ground black pepper 
1/3 cup of light brown sugar 
1 lime, juiced and zested 
1 1/2 cups of vinegar, 5% acid
12 ounces of tomato paste 
1-2 tbsp fresh basil or 1-2 tbsp fresh cilantro

Directions: 
Yummy note: This recipe is to be canned using the waterbath canning process. If desired, you could always cut down the ingredients and make a smaller batch and not can this recipe for a fresh salsa. 
Prep tomatoes by placing them in a pot of boiling water. Remove after about 30 seconds or once you see the skin beginning to peel. Then place them into a bowl of ice water to cool before removing the skins. Remove the skins and cores and chop tomatoes. Place the tomatoes in a strainer over a bowl to catch the juices. In a large stock pot, drizzle in a little olive oil and add the shredded zucchini and 1/2 teaspooon of salt and sauté the zucchini until it starts to reduce. After the zucchini has reduced down and is less watery, add in the reserved tomato juice from the chopped tomatoes to the pot and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until most of the liquid is gone. While this is reducing, chop and prep all of your other vegetables. Next, add in all of your other ingredients, except for the fresh basil and cilantro. Simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes. If the consistency seems to thick or chunky for your liking, you can finish up and puree the salsa a bit with a quick pulse of a hand blender. Just be careful not to splatter the hot salsa. Finish by stirring in the fresh basil or cilantro. Fill hot clean sterile jars with the salsa and check for air bubbles with a spatula and wipe the jars edges clean with a damp cloth, and screw on bands. Adjust the bands so they are not super tight, but just enough so that they are on there with slight resistance. Process the jars for 15 minutes in a boiling waterbath canner. If the jars do not seal properly, place the jars in refrigerator and use within the next few days. Store canned jars and use within a year or so. Yields 8 pints. 

Yummy note: New to canning - Check here for some tips - http://www.freshpreserving.com/canning-101-getting-started.html

Granola

Yummy note: 
Just recently I've been making my own granola more, I really don't know why I didn't before. It's great, as you can control the quality of the ingredients that go into the granola, which in turn makes it amazing compared to the prepackaged store stuff. My kids have several allergies to contend with so it is often easier for me to just make my own stuff than to buy and contend with potential contamination. I found this granola recipe, seriously to no surprise from Alton Brown. My daughter recently has been getting hooked on old Good Eats episodes, so it's awesome to find gems like these and rewatch with her. Did I mention before that I got to meet him a few years back and he's got to be one of my favorite food aficionados. So thank you Mr. Alton Brown for your amazing granola recipe, as it is hands down a keeper in our book and always gets rave reviews.  

Granola 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/granola-recipe.html

Ingredients:
3 cups rolled oats or old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup slivered almonds*
1 cup cashews*
3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut
6 tablespoons dark brown sugar (equivalent to about 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
6 tablespoons maple syrup (equivalent to 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
1/4 cup vegetable oil or coconut oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins

Directions:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, nuts, coconut, and dark brown sugar. In a separate bowl, combine the maple syrup, vegetable oil or melted coconut oil, and salt. Pour the liquids into the dry ingredients and stir well to coat mixture evenly. Spread out the granola onto 2 large cookie sheet pans. I lined my pans with parchment paper, but I don't think it is necessary. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to ensure the granola does not burn and to achieve a nice brown and crunchy golden granola. Remove pans from the oven and pour granola into a large bowl and mix in any additional dried fruit or raisins. Keep stored in an airtight bag or container. This will keep for several weeks usually, if it lasts that long in your house before it is gone. :)

* Yummy note- I have swapped out these ingredients to be sunflower seeds and other dried fruit to give it crunch and variety to eliminate the nut allergy concerns. Also, this recipe can be done in a dehydrator or oven. I've done it both ways numerous times and it has worked great. If using a dehydrator, dry according to the manufacturers recommendations, but usually the granola takes about 4-5 hours to achieve desired dryness and crunchiness.

White Chocolate and Cranberry Biscotti

Yummy note: So anyone that knows me, I really enjoy baking and cooking for others; especially, doing surprise goodie drop-offs or mailing a fun package out to friends with a yummy treat delivered at their door. This winter, I thought I'd add another treat to cookie day, besides our typical sugar and gingerbread cookies and make some biscotti. I've never made biscotti before, but I knew it would hold up well for traveling and it lasts long so that making it a few days before getting to hand them out wouldn't be an issue. This month's Secret Recipe Club pairing had a biscotti recipe that was a perfect choice- White chocolate and berry biscotti sounded good to me! This month's Secret Recipe Club feature recipe is coming from Nayna Kanabar's blog called Simply.Food. Nayna's blog has a variety of recipes and features them all with a vegetarian flair. What also is nice about Nayna's blog Simply.Food is that many of the recipes are pretty straight forward and easy to execute without a lot of craziness. Two more recipes on my radar that I can't wait to try from Nayna's are these: I'm a sucker for a good rice pudding, however the last recipe I tried to use, it was a miserable fail, so I might have to try out her recipe for rice pudding in hopes for perfection! Also these bread rolls look bakery perfect and the recipe isn't too scary or time consuming, so I think these would be amazing with the next bowl of homemade soup I make! Happy Secret Recipe Club reveal day. 

White Chocolate and Cranberry Biscotti 

Adapted from: http://www.simplysensationalfood.com/2014/12/white-chocolate-and-berry-biscotti-with.html

Ingredients: 
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup mild-flavored olive oil
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup white chocolate drops
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add in the sugar, dried cranberries, and white chocolate chips. In a separate small bowl, mix together the wet ingredients- eggs, water, vanilla, and olive oil. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture a little at a time until the flour form a dough. Once the dough has formed, divide it into two loaves. Bake on a greased and/or parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for about 40 minutes until golden and then let the loaves cool completely. Next, using a sharp serrated knife, cut the loaves on a diagonal into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Place biscotti on baking sheet again and bake the biscotti slices for the second bake, about 15 minutes, until they are golden brown on top. Cool completely before enjoying or packing up.

White chocolate chips and cranberries went into this biscotti, but I'm sure many other varieties would be delicious. 

Mixing it all up.

Forming loaves of biscotti dough. Warning, this gets a little sticky :) 

Biscotti loaves after the first initial bake. 

Good looking white chocolate and cranberry biscotti ready for the double bake. 

Have biscotti - ready to travel! 

Biscotti individually packaged up perfect for sharing.

An InLinkz Link-up

Apple Strudel

Yummy note: Every fall, I love to hit an apple orchard and pick apples. I don't know what it is, but the apples you pick directly from the trees seems much more different than if you would just pick them up at the store. Earlier this fall, I found a small local orchard and we ended up picking a bushel or so. The apples were lots of varieties and sizes and tasted amazing, but, Oh so many apples left... what to do with them before they spoil. Let's see we've had a steady supply of applesauce, apple pie, apple crisp, apple cobbler, apple pork chops, and others, you get the idea. I was thinking maybe we can make an apple butter since I haven't made that before, but then when I got this month's Secret Recipe Club assignment blog, The Avid Appetite - this Apple Strudel looked perfect. I am always a sucker for the little strudels in the doughnut case, so I could only imagine how these might taste if I can make it at home and eat them fresh and warm from the oven. I've never made a strudel before, so it was worth a shot, especially when Rachel from The Avid Appetite said it was only like 5 minutes worth of prep time, now that sounds like a winner. 

Apple Strudel

Adapted from The Avid Appetite and Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry

Ingredients: 
1 egg
1 tbsp water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp flour (plus a little extra for rolling out dough)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large apples, or 4 small apples- peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
1 sheet of puff pastry (1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package), thawed

* optional - 2 tbsp dried cranberries, powdered sugar (for dusting or to make a simple glaze of water and powdered sugar) 

Directions:
Thaw a sheet of puff pastry. Then preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel, core, and thinly slice your apples. Mix the apple slices, sugar, flour, and cinnamon together in a mixing bowl. Next, prepare to roll our your puff pastry sheet on a floured surfaced. The pastry should be rolled out to about 16 x 12 inches. Next, place the apple mixture on the bottom half of the pastry only. Note - leave a small border around the edges with no apple mixture and then start to roll up the pastry very carefully without ripping the dough and keeping the apples tucked inside. Once it is rolled up, tuck in the ends and place on a greased baking sheet. To finish, cut small slits on top of the pastry and brush the top with the beaten egg and water mixture. Bake for about 35 minutes and then allow to cool slightly before enjoying. Top with sprinkled powdered sugar or make a simple glaze of powdered sugar and water.

A few months ago, Rachel featured my taco pizza in the Secret Recipe Club, so it was great to return the favor this month! Don't forget to check out a few of these other recipes from The Avid Appetite like this hearty but quick meal- Italian goulash, or some seasonal pumpkin butter, or wait, these cupcakes that could go with some fall tailgating - Irish car bomb cupcakes.

An InLinkz Link-up

Kettle Corn

Yummy note: This month I got Debbi Does Dinner Healthy! Yeah! She is our wonderful host in our group C with the Secret Recipe Club, so this was fun to spotlight one of her recipes since I've never had her blog before. Debbi featured my chocolate brownie bites a few months ago during our Cookie Carnival! I wanted to really try for one of her healthier recipes, as she does a lot of great lower calorie (under 500 calories) recipes. Snacks are always our downfall here, and we like to indulge on them, so I had that in mind when looking. However, don't let Debbi fool you, as she has some serious guilty food treats on her site. The recipe I chose, feels like it should be under both categories, as it is so delicious, seriously we've made it a handful of times already since I first found this recipe on her site! So a toss-up between the "healthier" snacks to try from Debbi's site was either these cinnamon pretzels which I got in a holiday plate one year and was like, "oh, these are good, and simple, I so got to make these sometime" or this sweet and salty kettle corn. Then I ran across this post, and totally took me back to my childhood days, when my mom would let me dip apples in cinnamon-sugar for a treat. Then, want to talk crazy food, the not so healthier side, that needs a shout out because I've never heard of this before -- Twinkie Pie! So thank you Debbi for so many options to choose from... but the real winner was homemade kettle corn!  Make sure sure to stop by Debbi's blog Debbi Does Dinner Healthy! and say, Hi and thank her for all the work she does with hostessing the group C Secret Recipe Club.

Kettle Corn 

Original recipe here: Debbi Does Dinner Healthy

Ingredients: 

4 tbsp. coconut oil 

1/4 cup white sugar 

1/2 cup popcorn kernels 

Salt, to taste 

Directions: 

Add the coconut oil, sugar, and popcorn kernels to a large pan with a lid. Heat pan over high heat, once the coconut oil starts to melt, give a nice stir to coat the popcorn kernels. Quickly, then cover that pan! Note, seriously, cover it with a lid or else you will be sorry. Flying popcorn everywhere, not to mention that coconut oil gets pretty hot and can burn your hand or whatever else those flying popcorn kernels can hit.  So once the kernels start to pop, with the lid on, shake the pan every few seconds to allow even heating. The shaking of the pan, ensures you don't have burnt popcorn on the bottom of your pan. When the popcorn popping has slowed, it is almost done and you can remove it  from the heat. Finish with a dash of salt to taste. Then dig into that big bowl of crunchy sweet and salty popcorn!

4 simple ingredients = easy snack! 

Yummy yummy kettle corn... those brownish-yellow spots on the popcorn were the best.. like bits of caramel-like crunchy sugar...

Somebody gave the big thumbs up for mom on making this healthier, sweet snack!
Oh, and did we mention it is dairy-free treat, too! yeah, mom!

An InLinkz Link-up

Southwestern Eggrolls

Yummy note: A new year, brings along a new Secret Recipe Club blogger to feature. It has been about 3.5 years since I've been involved in this recipe posting group, and have been lucky to review a wide variety of bloggers and different types of recipes. This month might have been one of the first blogs that I can remember having with the SRC that featured a variety of content on the blog, besides cooking. What fun this site was -  Jenna at The Painted Apron has an abundance of creativity and drive, not to mention tips, how-to's and more on this site, http://thepaintedapron.com/categories/  -  wow! Please make sure you stop by her blog, The Painted Apron and dive on it. You will just love Jenna's creative ideas and projects.  So I am a sucker for pizza and breads, so this recipe here almost won my heart, the creative use of breadsticks on this recipe and turning it into like a flower-shaped "pizza". Perhaps the kiddos might like it for Valentines. So Jenna has this series she does called Take Out Tuesday, which I got sucked into and finally decided to pick one from here, as everything was looking just amazing... southwestern eggrolls is something I've never really dabbled with trying to make, as I'm not an eggroll person, I would rather have like a potsticker, dumpling, or something a little smaller to nibble on for an appetizer. The filling for these eggrolls is fantastic and I was eating it just as a salsa towards the end of it!

Southwestern Eggrolls

Original recipe adapted from The Painted Apron

Ingredients: 

1/2 bag of fresh spinach 

1/2 cup shredded cheese, I like the Mexican variety best like Chihuahua

2 green onions, finely chopped

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

12 wonton wrappers or 6 eggroll wrappers

1 bag (about 12 oz) of Fire Roasted Black Bean Blend frozen veggies (consisted of sweet corn, black beans, red and poblano peppers)  

OR 

1 ear corn

1/2 can of black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 can of diced green chiles, drained

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prep a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. Heat the spinach, just slightly just until it begins to wilt. If you are using the prepared black bean veggie mix, microwave for about 1/2 of the time desired in the directions, just until it starts to thaw and cook partially. In a large bowl mix together the corn/bean/pepper mixture with the wilted spinach, cheese, onions, chiles, and seasonings. Prep your wonton wrappers or egg rolls and place a good spoonful of the filling near the center. Fold the sides in and then fold bottom over filling and close tightly. Tip- use a small amount of water near the corners of the eggroll/wonton to seal. Repeat with the remaining and place them slightly apart on the prepared baking sheet. You can also spray the tops of the eggrolls with cooking spray to help prevent them from drying out while baking. Bake for about 10 minutes of so for the smaller wonton bites, or closer to 15-20 minutes if you use larger egg roll wrappers. Make sure to flip them halfway through baking.

Quick tip- I found these frozen veggies and used this as a replacement for the canned beans and chiles since I couldn't find any fresh corn this time of year. It was a fantastic substitution. 

Mix all ingredients together. 

I could eat this here with a spoon... can you say, Salsa!?!

I easily made dairy-free versions, by leaving out the cheese in some and replacing it with a substitute as well. 

Make sure to place enough filling towards the center so your appetizer doesn't explode!

Ready to bake! So pretty looking with the veggies inside. 

Your crispy southwestern eggrolls are done! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Corn Dog Mini Muffins

Yummy note: The kids really love the corn dogs, however, it is tricky finding brands that are dairy-free to suit our family's allergy needs. So I went searching to find a recipe to try out and make our own that I could modify. While deep-fried corn dogs are absolutely delicious, these baked ones are a little on the lighter side, if you can call anything corn dog-related "lighter." -Haha. These corn dog muffins are quick to throw together and you have a snack, appetizer, or little meal ready in like 15 minutes, start to finish. The mini muffin-sized corn dogs only take about 6-8 minutes to bake off and they are ready to enjoy. You get about 24 mini corn dog muffins with this recipe. You could probably make them in bigger muffin cup tins, if you wish, but my kids have requested even less corn dog batter in each cup or put more hot dog pieces in it for the next round when we make them.  

Corn Dog Mini Muffins

recipe adapted from http://realmomkitchen.com/10232/no-fail-corn-dogs-cornbread-pancakes/

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups pancake mix 

1/2 cup cornmeal 

1 egg 

1 cup water 

4-5 hot dogs 

Optional topping: 

1-2 tablespoons honey

1-2 tablespoons butter

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together pancake mix, cornmeal, egg, and water together. Spray mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. Cut hot dogs into pieces, no more than about an inch long. You should have about 24 cut pieces, enough to fill muffin tin cups. Scoop batter into the tins, each cup should be about two-thirds full, with enough room to place the hot dog pieces in without overflowing the cup. Bake in preheated oven for about 6 minutes. Then if you wish, add on additional honey/butter topping and bake for an additional 1-2 minutes until done.  

    

Just a few ingredients to make these. 

A cookie scooper makes this task of filling the muffin tin cups easier. 

Place cut pieces of hot dog in middle of batter. 

Add on optional honey/butter glaze at the end. 

Recipe makes about 24 corn dog mini muffins! 

Chocolate and Peppermint Swirl Cookies

Yummy note: This month, my group with the Secret Recipe Club is on a break, so we will be back with our regular group posting in mid-January. Instead, a few of us (like 60-some bloggers!) decided to get in the spirit of the holiday fun and do a Cookie Carnival, which is basically a virtual cookie exchange. I wish I had some addresses of my fellow Secret Recipe Club friends, as I'd ship them some delicious cookies that I ended up making. I made not one, but two different cookies from my cookie match, Sawsan from Chef in Disguise. My cookie match had some awesome choices to pick from...she calls herself a "food explorer" which is perfectly fitting for her as she tries out and blogs about various foods from around the world. Speaking of trying food from around the world, I think this is one of my first international bloggers to review in the SRC so it was an exciting find. Sawsan has such a variety of recipes on her site, and if you are ever looking for traditional middle eastern cuisine, please check her blog out as that's her speciality. Now on to the cookies- I picked these chocolate and peppermint swirl cookies as my daughter has been asking me for mint chocolate things lately, so I thought she'd really enjoy these, and they are super festive! With so many choices on Sawsan's blog, I had to try the date and ranger cookies as well from Chef in Disguise and those were packed full of flavor and might be my new favorite as well. :) I hope you all enjoy making some cookies this holiday season and share some with your friends and family as we did. 

Chocolate and Peppermint Swirl Cookies

recipe here:  http://chefindisguise.com/2011/12/13/chocolate-and-peppermint-swirl-cookies-with-basic-cookie-dough/

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

For the chocolate half:
2 tablespoons cocoa

For the peppermint half:
1-2 teaspoons green food coloring
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

Directions: 
Mix butter and sugar until creamy, then add in the egg and vanilla/almond extracts. Gradually add in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Divide the dough in half.  And add cocoa to the one batch, and the green food coloring and peppermint extract to the other. Chill for about 15 minutes. Roll each dough out on waxed paper, forming two different large rectangles. Next, place the two rectangular-shaped dough sheets on top of one another. Peel the one waxed paper sheet off and trim dough if needed to align. Use the waxed paper as a guide and roll up rectangle starting with the long side. Refrigerate for another 15 minutes or so, and then cut the log into 1 cm slices. Arrange on a prepared baking sheet and bake in preheated 375 degree oven. Bake for about 5-8 minutes or until the cookie starts to set and the bottom begins to brown. Sawsan noted to briefly set the cookies under the broiler to brown the tops slightly if desired. Allow to cool before removing from pan and enjoy!  

Roll out dough into rectangles and stack on each other. 

Roll up using the long edge of the rectangle to start your swirl cookies. 

Use a sharp knife and cut out 1 cm thick slices and bake.

Festive Chocolate and Peppermint Swirl Cookies! 

I had to try out Sawsan's go-to cookie recipe, also. The Chef in Disguise said was probably her favorite cookie recipe and I see why... it is fantastic, chewy, flavorful cookie, that I even snuck a few for breakfast. Yummy.. So try out the oats and date ranger cookies too if you are looking for a good comfort cookie. 

Oat and Date Ranger Cookies

Happy Holidays from Heather at It's Yummy to My Tummy!

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