Salsa

The kitchen is almost done and I am getting back into the swing of things and creating lots in the kitchen. I’ve been making cookies and bread and today I made some fresh chunky salsa. It’s been so warm out and this is the perfect cool snack with some salty tortilla chips. You can also top it on fish, chicken, and steaks or put it in tacos, wraps, and tortillas.

It’s very simple and quick to make.

You will need...

8 firm tomatoes on the vine

1 cup of cilantro, chopped

The juice of 2 limes

2 jalapeno peppers

1 small or 1/2 large red onion

Salt and pepper to taste

Chop up the tomatoes into small bite sized pieces. You can put some of the juice and seeds in but keep it to a minimum. You can save the juice and seeds to put into a tomato sauce.

Add the finely chopped cilantro.

Next chop the onion into small bites.

Now add in the juice from the limes.

Finally, chop up the jalapeno into tiny pieces add in a bit of salt and pepper and the stir it all up.

It’s best eaten when chilled in the fridge for a bit but you can eat it right away if you choose to.

Really Easy Appetizers

With the holiday season approaching fast, it’s time to think about appetizers. If you’re going to a party, hosting a party, or making a big holiday dinner then you may need to make appetizers or bring them.

Appetizers don’t have to be super complicated. I’m sure there are many that are more elaborate and time consuming but we are going to look at making really easy and quick but yummy appetizers so you’re not in the kitchen all day making them.

Easy Appetizers:

1.      Toothpick Caprese Salad. Put a grape/cherry tomato on a toothpick then add on a bocconcini ball, and then piece of basil. Drizzle all of your Caprese toothpick salads with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

2.      Jalapeno Cheese Crisps - Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cook some slices of bacon until crispy and chop and put aside. On a baking sheet place a mound of Parmesan cheese and then on top about a tbsp. of cheddar. Place a jalapeno slice and sprinkle some bacon bits on top of that. Make as many as you’d like. Cook until golden and crisp, about 12 minutes.

3.      Garlicy Dipping Oil – Whisk together ½ cup of olive oil, 4 cloves of garlic, pinch of red pepper flakes and sea salt, ground pepper, 1/3 cup of Parmesan, and a 2 tbsp. parsley. Serve with a sliced baguette.

4.      Apple Bacon Crostini – Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On a baking sheet, place apple medium thick slices about a ½ inch apart. You can choose what type of apple you like (some may like the sweeter ones and some may prefer more tart ones like Granny Smiths). Top the apples first with a thin slice of sharp white cheddar cheese and then sprinkle some bacon bits on top. Bake until the cheese has partially melted about 7-9 minutes. Drizzle with maple syrup and sprinkle ground pepper on top before serving.

5.      Bacon Brussel Sprout Skewers – Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a metal rack inside a baking sheet. On a skewer pierce a piece of bacon then pierce a brussel sprout. Repeat two or three more times depending on how long your skewer is. Place on the baking sheet and roast for 20-25 minutes. Sprinkle with pepper before serving.

6.      Pita Chips – Take some store bought pitas, whole wheat or white and brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fry in a pan until crisp and golden on both sides. Cut into triangles and serve with dip. To make it a sweet bite, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon instead of salt and pepper.

7.      Dill Dip (you can dip the pita chips in this) – Mix 1 cup of sour cream, 1 cup of mayonnaise, 2 tbsp. of dried dill weed, 2 tbsp. of dried onion. 1 tbsp. of dried parsley, 1 tsp. of garlic powder, and a pinch of salt. You can also make this with fresh dill and parsley. I’ve done it with a ¼ cup of each fresh.

8.      Baked Eggs in Portobello Mushroom Cap – Clean some Portobello mushroom caps. Rub them all on the outside with a little bit of olive oil and place a piece of  prosciutto inside them al. Crack an egg in a small bowl and slide into the mushroom cap. Sprinkle with pepper and fresh herbs of your choice. Bake for 20-30minutes at 375 degrees.

9.      Baked Wrapped Date – Slice a date lengthwise and remove the pit. Fill with goat cheese and close back up. Cut your back slices in half and wrap each date with back and secure with a toothpick. Arrange on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Turn onto the opposite side and bake for 5-8 more minutes. Keep turning and baking for 5-8 minutes until the entire thing is crispy and golden. Place on a paper towel to cool.

10.  Deviled Eggs – Hard boil 6 eggs. Once cooled, peel the eggs and slice lengthwise. Scoop out the yolks and place in a bowl. Mash the yolks with a fork until crumbled. Mix in 2 tbsp. of mayonnaise and 2tsp. of mustard. Mix and mash until you form a paste. You can add more mayonnaise if you’d like it creamier. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Pipe the filling into the egg or spoon in with a small spoon. Sprinkle with paprika and fresh herbs.

DIY Cat Toy and Dog Treat

It’s a week dedicated to your pets. We’re showing you how to make a DIY cat toy and some homemade dog treats. Of course not everyone has cats and dogs so create something for the pet that you have. I have a bird so I know that they like millet treats and seed treats made with honey so you can find a recipe for something that includes that.

First up...a homemade cat toy.

We used a brand new chopstick along with some colourful feathers that we got at the dollar store, some of our card making ribbon, jingle bells, some string, and a glue gun.

To start off, wrap the chopstick with ribbon. We had a design idea in mind (a candy cane). We chose a white ribbon and we tightly wrapped it around the chopstick. Start by gluing one end with a bit of the ribbon and wrap it around; then when you finish, glue that last piece of ribbon.

Next we took red ribbon and wrapped it around the white like a candy cane. Glue the ends only again.

Now that you have your stick/handle wrapped, you can prepare you attachments.

We tied string to some green feathers.

Tie some jingle bells onto the ribbons. We threw in some green, polka dots, and sparkly ribbon to the mix. We did about three with the jingle bells and left the rest of the ribbons plain.

Now tie some string to the pointy end of the chopstick; make sure you tie a tight knot and use hot glue to make sure that everything stays in place.

Secure all of the ribbons and feather strings together with string tie a knot and glue once again to make sure that everything stays in place.

Here’s your cat toy present for your little fluffy friend.

Now for the dog treat.

You will need:

¼ cup of hot water

8 chicken bouillon cubes

1 package of active dry yeast

1 tsp. of sugar

1 ½ cups of tomato juice

2 cups of flour

2 cups of wheat germ

1 ½ cups of whole wheat flour

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

In a large bowl, pour the hot water. Then add the sugar and yeast and let it stand for 5 minutes.

After that, add in the chicken bouillon and crush them with a fork as you stir them in.

Add in the tomato juice, 1 cup of the white flour, and wheat germ. Stir until you form a batter. Then add in the rest of the white flour along with the whole wheat flour. The dough will be dry and stiff so use your hands to mix it the rest of the way.

Sprinkle flour on a flat surface and start to roll small balls of dough out to a ¼ inch thick.

Cut out shapes, a dog bone might be a good shape.

Place on a cookie sheet and bake for about an hour.

Dry in a turned off oven for four hours or so.

Serve with a bowl of water or wrap up nicely for your pups Christmas present!

Nachos and Salsa

I’m excited that for this post. We are doing a nacho post as part that you can make for dad for a great Father’s Day snack and we are going to make nachos and snack on them today! We know that there are so many different types of nachos that you can make. As we were looking up recipes we came across so many techniques and types that you can make. We have put some links below of some good recipes/toppings so you can take a look at those. We’ve also got a step by step how to for making some really simple and very yummy nachos.

Triple Cheese Nachos

When I make nachos, I either use a tin foil plate or a flat Corningware dish. You can also line a cookie sheet with tin foil and bake the nachos that way. For these cheesy nachos, we are grating some cheddar, mozzarella, and Monterey Jack cheese to sprinkle on the chips. Once the cheese is grated, put a layer of chips on the bottom of the dish. We’re using a dish so layering is easier this way. If you use a cookie sheet, then you might want to do one good layer if it’s not super high. We’ve chosen the round smaller corn chips for these nachos. Now you can sprinkle all three cheeses on top and then another layer of chips and then another layer of cheese. You might want to add another few layers depending on how many people you are feeding. Broil on low and remove once the cheese is melted. Make sure you keep your eye on the nachos. They tend to broil fast and you don’t want burnt nachos.

Fully Loaded Nachos

These ones have quite a few toppings on them and you can even add more than what we did. First of all, you want to cook any topping that need cooking and cut up any toppings that need cutting and of course grate your cheese.

We are using bacon bits and ground beef, so we are going to cook those first. Fry the bacon in bits and cook until crisp. Then you can cook up your ground beef. Add a little bit of salt and pepper for flavouring or you can use seasoning salt instead. Put those aside after they are cooked. If you prefer chicken, feel free to cook up some chicken to spread on top.

Next chop up any veggies that you plan on using. We’re keeping it simple and just using some firm Roma tomatoes and green onions, but you can use popular things like jalapenos, peppers, black olives, beans etc. Make sure to cut them up in smaller bite size pieces.

Lastly before putting it all together, grate the cheese. You can use Monterey Jack because it’s gooey and will hold all the ingredients together or if you like cheddar better, then feel free to use that or you can combine the two.

Now we’re gonna do as we did before. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil, get a tin foil plate, or use a flat Corningware dish. Do a layer of chips. You will probably want to use the big restaurant style chips as they’re bigger for all those toppings to go on top of.

Then sprinkle the topping on with a bit of cheese and if you’re doing it in a dish then place another layer of chips on top and more of the toppings and a good layer of cheese. Broil in the oven on low until they are nicely baked and then serve warm and cheesy.

You can put some sour cream on the side as well as guacamole or some salsa. We usually get the salsa from the jar, but sometimes when I have some free time I like to make my fresh homemade salsa. I provided the recipe below if you want to give it a try.

Homemade Salsa

This recipe makes about 4 cups of salsa

You will need...

2 medium on the vine red tomatoes

2 medium on the vine orange tomatoes

2 medium on the vine yellow tomatoes

*If you can’t find or prefer to only use the red tomatoes, then that’s fine. I’ve only made it with red tomatoes.

1 small red onion

1 crushed garlic clove

2 jalapeno peppers

¼ cup of chopped cilantro

Juice of 2 limes

Pinch of sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

How to...

Remove all of the seeds and insides of the tomatoes and chop into small bite size pieces. Place them in a large bowl. Then combine the rest of the finely chopped ingredients into the bowl with the tomatoes and toss. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes so that all of the flavours can meld together. I like to make it the night before and then you can really taste all of the flavours the next day when you eat it. It’s great with nachos but it also tastes good on burgers, grilled meats, chicken and in wraps, omelettes, quesadillas, burritos.

Links

Here are a few links to some nacho recipes and cool toppings...

http://www.foodnetwork.ca/entertaining/photos/nacho-recipes-you-need-to-try/#!victory-lap-nachos

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/best-nacho-recipes_us_58935512e4b070cf8b810a44

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/articles/50-nachos