Baked Cinnamon/Sugar Tortilla strips (GUILT FREE)

My Sister said to me."sure wish I could have something sweet and yummy" I said "I can make Tortilla Strips with cinnamon and sugar" Then I thought to myself, not good cuz they are fried. Well, I experimented and this is what I came up with. Kind of guilt free Yummy snacks

Pre-heat to 350

You will need 2 8inch flour tortillas (I think they even have fat free ones)
Butter Spray
1/2 cup Sugar
Cinnamon to your liking

Mix sugar and cinnamon together and set asdie
Cut tortillas into 1/2 -3/4 inch strips
lay in single layer on cookie sheet
Spray with butter spray and then sprinkle generously with cinnamon and sugar
Turn and repeat on other side.
Place in heated oven for 12-15 min. until crisp.

let cool for a minute and ENJOY!

You can use as many Tortillas as you wish. Just adjust sugar and cinn. You can store these in a ziplock. Make sure they have been out of oven for a long time to cool completely. What am I saying lol there won't be any left to store

Ever cut that piece of fruit that wasn't ripe?

OMG how many time has this happened? A million! then its like damn...you either eat the flavorless hard thing or throw it away. Dice it up, toss it in a small pot with a little water or juice and cook it. You can add a little honey or sugar or agave to sweeten it up. Maybe a dash of spice. Cinnamon, star anise maybe. and cook it until it is soft. It is quite tasty. I am cooking 3 pears as we speak. I will have the yummy stuff with some baked Brie.

Asparagas

So you see some lovely asparagas at the store but you really don't want to cook it right away? When you get it home get a shallow tupperware or something like it and put about a half inch of water in it and stand the asparagas up in container. They will stay fresh just like they are growing. I cut about a 1/4 inch off of the bottom first and I use a square container so they don't fall over.
When you decided to cook them, you can Blanch them, then use them however you like.
To Blanch them you will need a Shallow pan. I use a skillet. You will also need a vessel of some sort that will be big enough so you don't bend them and it needs to be filled with ICE and water.
Take each piece of asparagas holding at top and bottom and kind of bend. it will snap off where the woody part stops. This will guarentee that you will not get any woody pieces.
get your pan with a couple inches of water in it. You can salt it if you want. When water is at a good simmer toss your asparagas in and watch them turn a beautiful dark green. This process takes about a minute only. Take them out and drop them in the ice water. this stops the cooking process.
when completely cold take them and place them on a kitchen towel and dry them.
You can now grill them, or eat them just like that or do whatever you want with them.
I store them wrapped in paper towel in a container in the fridge.

You can make little bundles about 4 pieces and wrap them in prosciutto. You can then grill them to get prosciutto crispy or just leave them as they are.
Enjoy!

Cherry Angel Dessert

This is really yummy but it is a make ahead. Needs to sit in fridge over night. I am doing this by memory so I hope it is right. dont think you can mess it up

1 large store bought Angel Food Cake
2 Large boxes of French Vanilla pudding. I have used reg vanilla and cheesecake pudding and it was great
Milk to make pudding
1-2 cans of cherry pie filling
Triffle dish if you have one. or a large glass bowl

Make pudding until pretty thick
Tear up angel food cake and set aside
open cans of pie filling

this is done in layers
Cake first, then pudding then pie filling repeat until your bowl is full. I think I ended up with the cherries on top.
Place in fridge over night.
Scoop out to serve like you would a triffle.
Very yummy
Enjoy!

Kinda Cobbler

Need something in a pinch for dessert or a pot luck? This is just what you need.

1 box yellow cake mix
1 stick melted butter
2 cans pie filling of your choice. cherry, blueberry or apple. if you can find peach in a can that would be good too

13x9x2 pan   pre-heat 350

Dump cake mix in a bowl and add the melted butter. Mix well! remove about 3/4 cup and set aside. (this will be your topping. if you want more topping hold out more.
Take the mixture and pat it in the bottom of your cake pan to make a crust.
Dump your pie filling on top and spread out evenly. Take reserved stuff and crumble in on top as even as you can. Pop in the oven and bake about 20 minutes or until it is golden on top and bubbly. Serve hot or cut in squares and serve cold or room temp. You can serve with a scoop of ice cream too
Enjoy!

KIWI That strange little fruit.

Kiwis's are the strangest looking little things but quite tasty when ripe. We all know what they kinda look like which is quite funny. If you have never had one you should try them.

For an easy peel, cut a thin portion of the top off. Take a teaspoon and slide it inside the skin and go around Kinda like when you do a soft boiled egg. Sheesh did this make sense? The fruit inside will come out whole on your spoon.

Never add Kiwi to Jello as it will prevent the pectin in the jello from setting. You can place these ontop of  creme brule or tarts. if doing a tart you can use Doctor Octor cake glaze to cover them.
If your Kiwi's are hard a fast way to rippen is to place them in a bag with an apple.

Hope this was helpful

Crab Salad

Do you ever buy the Crab Salad from the deli at the grocery store? Some times it is quite pricey. Today I made it for not to much money. I pretened I had food allergies and I asked the butcher what was in it. He told me lol I made up the amounts and surprisingly enough it tastes like theirs.

1 Lb Imitation crab meat. Pull it apart so it is stringy(mine was packaged by the store so it was about $2.00 0
Pkg ready chopped Cole Slaw.  I used Dole ( I used about 1 -1 1/2 cups.
2 small stalks of celery chopped fine (strings removed) I am a weirdo and I hate the strings
1/4 to 1/2 cup mayo (you can adjust this by how wet you want it to be)
Black pitted Olives sliced up ( I used about 8)

Just mix it all up. Add more mayo if needed.
I sure hope this made sense lol
Serve with Ritz type crackers

Helpful little tips

When making a salad use a wood, ceramic or china bowl. Never use metal as things will get yucky from the acid in the dressing.

NEVER use a metal knife to cut lettuce for a salad...it turns brown. Tear it up. Tell them its RUSTIC lol or invest in a plastic knife made just for lettuce.

NEVER store your tomatoes or mangos in the fridge. They do not belong there. Have you ever bought a mango and it was brown inside? they put them in the walk-in and they got cold. a big NO NO

Don't throw away your bread ends or your slices if they get hard. toss them in the freezer. When you need bread crumbs grind em up. you can toss in a pan with a little butter to brown them and top off that mac n cheese. Or use your old bread to make Bread pudding. You can make bread pudding with just about anything OLD. Bread, donuts, french  bread...anything. Probably even an old shoe lol

Left over onion and you won't use before it will go bad. dice it up and toss it in a baggie and the freezer. You can use them in anything you are cooking.

Red and Green peppers on sale? Buy em up...slice them up put in baggie in freezer. Great for soups casseroles, eggs etc.

Cheese on sale? If you are going to cook with it, you can freeze it. Do NOT think you are gonna freeze it and eat it on a sandwich cuz you are not. The texture changes but it will still melt.

Left over Chicken stock. Pour it in ice cube trays freeze and toss in a baggie. I should get a kick back from the baggie people lol

Putting away HOT food. Martha Stewart says just cool for a bit before placing in fridge. DO NOT seal the lid on the container leave it sit loose or not at all. when cooled then you can cover

Extracts...ever open a bottle that was empty and you knew you didn't put it away like that? The heat here will cause them to evaporate. I was told by someone who owned a spice store to keep them in the fridge.

Well I hope some of these little tips were helpful.
Enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate cake

This is a cake my Mom made when we were kids....before it was cool to be Vegan...hell it was before there was a vegan lol This is one of those make ahead kinda things. It actually is better the next day

Pre-heat to 350

13x9x2 Pan do not grease. This is the only vessel you will need.

3 Cups all purpose Flour (You can use cake flour or sift, I sift) I also used Unbleached
2 Cups Sugar
1 Teaspoon salt
2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
1/2 Cup of Unsweetened Cocoa powder
3/4 Cup Vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons white Vinegar (I'm sure cider vinegar would work)
2 Teaspoons pure vanilla
2 Cups of Water

Sift flour, sugar, salt, soda, and cocoa together into a 9 x 13 inch ungreased cake pan. Make three wells. Pour oil into one well, vinegar into second, and vanilla into third well. Pour cold water over all, and stir well with fork.  Make sure you mix it really well.             
Bake at 350 degrees  for 30 to 40 minutes, or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean. 
You may frost this if you want but trust...it doesn't need it. 
Let COOL completely before serving.   
ENJOY!            

Cinnamon Palmiers

Someday I will get a camera so my pics don't look so yucky.

These are Cinnamon Palmiers

Here is how to make them

You will need:

Preheat oven to 400

1 box Pepperidge Farm puff pastry. (in frozen section)

2 Tablespoons of melted butter

Cinnamon

Granulated Sugar

Sugar in the RAW, Turbinado or sanding sugar

Thaw pastry out for about 40 minutes at room temp.

When thawed unfold and place on a lightly floured board. Roll out just a little to smooth out creases. Keep the shape uniform.

Cover liberally with RAW (or one of the others) sugar, run your rolling pin over it to press the sugar into the pastry. carefully turn pastry over. Brush with some of the melted butter. Now sprinkle evenly with granulated sugar. Make sure you use enough, they need the sweet. (you can use truvia or splenda I'm sure) then Cover evenly with a good amount of cinnamon.

When this is done start at the end closest to you and tighty roll up to the middle. Now roll the other side towards you to the middle. Slice into 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Lay them down so you can see the swirl.

Bake for approx 15 min until evenly golden brown. Let cool before eating.

Now get your coffee or hot tea and ENJOY!

Leftover Roast

I love Roast! I always used to cook them in the oven but, a few years ago I started doing them on the stove-top. I always cook mine with veggies, potatoes, celery, onions and carrots. I made one the other day and it was fabulous. I used red wine. Well, Now it is time to turn it into something else. Here is what I did..
I Sliced it in thick slices, then shredded it all up. I chopped up all of the onions, celery. potaotes and carrots that were left. There wasn't a lot of veggies left so I smalled diced half a whit onion and two small potaotes. I had thick juice left so I put it in a frying pan. It was about 3/4-1 cup. I added the raw onions and potaotes to it and simmered them until they were soft. I tossed in a can of ORTEGA diced green chili, cooked it for a couple minutes then added all the shredded beef and veggies that were cooked with it. I added a little fresh ground pepper but NO salt. I tossed in some salsa (picante) and some diced pickled Jalepenos. Covered it and let it simmer on low so all of the flavors could meld together. After about 20 minutes I uncovered it and let it cook somemore so the liquid would cook off a bit. Now to make the burritos.
I use Flour tortillas and some grated cheese. I place the cheese on the tort then the hot meat so it kind of melts the cheese. Roll up your burrito and enjoy!