Southwest Cheesy Dogs with Sriracha Mayo

Did you grow up snacking on  pigs in a blanket? My mom fed us this kid fare regularly and we loved it. However, plain biscuit dough wrapped around a hot dog chunk no longer thrills me, but this updated version with chili powder and mozzarella cheese does!

Ingredients

• 2 - 7.5 oz.tubes of biscuit dough
• 1- 12 oz. package of hot dogs
• 3 Tbsp. of Sriracha chili sauce
• 1 Tbsp. of mayonnaise
• Small amount of shredded mozzarella
• Small amount of chili powder

Directions

• Heat your oven to the temperature called for on the tubes of biscuit dough
• Cut the hot dogs in half crosswise. You will end up with about 16 hot dog pieces.
• Open the tubes of biscuit dough.
• Press each piece of dough into a flat round and wrap it around a hot dog half. 
• Place the dough wrapped hot dogs into a small baking pan. Note: There will be about 4 extra biscuits. I cooked mine in the pan with the cheesy dogs and sprinkled cheese and chili powder on them. They will be done in about 12-15 minute. 
• When all of the hot dog pieces are wrapped in dough, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and then chili powder.
• Place in the oven and back until biscuits are golden brown, about 25 - 30 minutes. 
• While the hot dogs are baking, blend the Sriracha chili sauce and mayo in a serving container.

Let the cheesy dogs cool about 5-8 minutes before dividing them onto a plate. That melted cheese is hot! 

Sallee's Six - Sweet September Snacks

1. Chocolate Chow Mein 

• Microwave 1/4 cup each of peanut butter, butter, and chocolate chips until melted. 
• Put 3 cups of chow mein noodles, 3 cups of Chex mix cereal, 1/2 cup peanuts, and 1/2 cup raisins into a large bowl. 
• Pour the melted chocolate mixture over the cereal and stir lightly until the cereal and noodles are evenly coated. 
• Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and toss lightly until the powdered sugar is evenly distributed. 
• Store in an airtight container.

2. Apple Moons

• Slice an apple into wedges. 
• Spread each wedge with peanut butter and then press granola on top. 

3. Ricotta Apple Pockets

• Roll out pizza dough 1/4 inch thick. 
• Cut the dough into three inch rounds. 
• Fill with ricotta cheese, diced apple, and a pinch of cinnamon sugar
• Brush the dough edges with beaten egg, fold the round in half, and press the edges to seal.
• Poke a hole in the top of each round, then bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. 

4. Chex Pumpkin Pie Crunch                            Click Here for the recipe
5. Chex Funfetti Cake Batter Buddies                  Click Here for the recipe
6. Chocolate Coconut Graham Crackers             Click Here for the recipe

SalleeShares - Cool Food

Been at the pool, or outside working and feel too hot to eat? Chill down with some cool food! Try these five cool foods and lemon water the next time you are going to be out in the summer heat.  

1. Melon Balls
Use a melon ball tool and fill a bowl to the brim with melon balls to keep chilling in the 'frig. For an appetizing bowl - Mix watermelon, cantaloup, and honey dew melons. You can freeze the melon balls and eat them frozen, too! A super light alternative to ice cream. 

2. Mini Pops
Turn fruit juices and instant pudding into mini pops. Simply pour them into an ice cube tray and place a stick - a round wood toothpick, a short skewer, or a craft stick -  into each compartment. The sticks do not have to be straight up and down. Be adventurous!

3. Lemon Water
Keep lemon water in the refrigerator. Create your lemon water by adding about a tablespoon of juice to each quart of water. Add more if you love the taste of tart lemon.

4. Tropical Fruit Salad 
 I love eating tropical fruit salad! Combine a can of drained, tropical fruit mix and a can of drained, mandarin oranges. Add about a quarter cup of flaked coconut, and 2 tablespoons of orange juice. Stir lightly and refrigerate. Feeling adventurous? Sprinkle lightly with one of the following: dried ginger, cinnamon, garam masala, nutmeg, or mace 

5. Veggie Sticks 
Cut celery stalks and carrots into sticks. Keep the sticks in a container in the refrigerator.

6. Grammy's Chicken Salad 
My favorite, chicken salad! Finely chop left over chicken in the food processor, mini-food chopper, or by hand. Add thinly sliced celery, sweet pickle relish, and just enough mayonnaise to hold it together. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cool in the refrigerator. Serve on a bed of mixed salad greens. 

Zombie Crunch Snack Mix

Bill, my husband, loves to watch shows and movies about zombies. He also loves to eat a snack while watching zombies closing in on the next, horrified victim. When I asked him to help me name this snack mix, I should have known he would want the word "zombie" in the title. 

You can be in the kitchen making a batch of crunchy, salty, sweet, buttery, peppermint chocolate Zombie Crunch Snack Mix while your sweetie watches zombies eat people too.

Prep. Time: About 10 minutes    Cook Time: About 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1- 2.9 oz bag of popped Movie Theatre Butter popcorn.
• 10 oz. of vanilla almond bark, or half a package
• 1 Tbsp. all vegetable shortening
• Mini pretzels
• 2-3 candy canes, broken into small pieces  I put the candy canes into a zip top bag and use my meat tenderizing mallet to break the canes into small pieces. The size depends on your preference. 
• Semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions

• Place popped popcorn into a large, shallow bowl
• Add desired amount of mini pretzels, chocolate chips, and broken candy canes on top of the popcorn. No measuring is required. 2 or 3 handfuls of pretzels and a handful of chocolate chips. It is that easy. 
• Microwave 10 oz. of vanilla almond bark following the package directions.
• Add 1 Tbsp. of shortening to the melted almond bark and stir until well blended
• Drizzle half of the melted vanilla almond bark mixture evenly over the popcorn snack mix.
• Stir gently to lightly coat the popcorn snack mix.
• Repeat with the remaining half of the vanilla almond bark mixture.
• Turn the coated popcorn snack mix out into an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet and spread out evenly.
• Place the cookie sheet in the freezer compartment of your refrigerator for five minutes.
• Remove from the freezer and gently break the clumped mixture into smaller pieces. 
• Store the Zombie Crunch Snack Mix in zip top bags or a storage bowl with a tightly fitting lid. 

Zombie Crunch Snack Mix spread out on a lined cookie sheet.

After cooling in the freezer for five minutes, the Zombie Crunch Snack Mix is ready to gently break apart and eat. 

Yield: Enough to feed 2 hearty snackers or 3 light snackers

Twenty Minute Crab Delight Salad

Warning: this can be highly addictive!
This is food porn at its best. Plus, six ingredients and twenty minutes to prepare makes this a quick and easy recipe to prepare. 

I do not have any pictures at this time because Bill and I cleaned the bowl out before I could take any. lol...lol 


Yield: 4-5 servings as a salad

Ingredients

• 12 oz. imitation crab meat
• 2 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise Do not use salad dressing, it just won't taste the same.
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced celery  My mandoline makes this a 30 second job.
• 1-2 scallions or green onions, thinly sliced 

Directions

• Place cream cheese, mayonnaise, and lemon juice into a small bowl. 
• Whisk until well blended.
• Set aside.
• Place crab meat into a 1 quart bowl and break it apart with your hands.
• Add the celery, onions, and reserved dressing.
• Stir until the mixture is well coated with the dressing.
• Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator until serving time.
• An appetizer that you can serve with crackers or you can place a scoop on a bed of salad greens for lunch, dinner, or a snack.

Hummus, Love It or Leave It?

Hummus, do you love it or leave it?

For those of you who don't know me well, I work at one of the local elementary schools. 

The sixth grade class has been working on a country project that includes a presentation. 

Believe  it or not, I volunteered to give a three minute presentation on food. Not just any food, but immigrant food that has become popular in America. Now you know where I am going with this blog post don't you? 

Hummus was one of the foods that I picked to prepare and to talk about. 

This recipe has been taste tested by twenty-four, sixth grade students and three coworkers. My taste testers heartily approved this hummus recipe. 

Just in time for the holidays, a crazy good, five ingredient hummus dip. Plus, you can make five ingredient, yogurt flat bread to accompany the dip.

Ingredients

• 30 oz. of cooked chick peas (garbanzo beans), drained and liquid reserved
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. dried cumin
• 4 Tbsp. lemon juice

I bought dried chick peas and cooked them according to the package directions.

Directions

• Put chick peas (garbanzo beans) in your blender container. 
• Add the salt, garlic powder, cumin, and lemon juice. 
• Add 2-4 Tbsp. of reserved bean liquid. 
• Blend until smooth. 
• Taste and add more salt, if necessary. I found 1/2 tsp. to be sufficient.
• Put hummus into a container with a tight fitting lid.
• Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

Serve some pantry style flat bread with your hummus!
Five ingredients from your pantry are all you need to make a batch of
 Busy Night Yogurt Flat bread.

Yield: about 1 quart of hummus 
Note: This recipe can be reduced by using half of each ingredient.

Valentine's Day Mini-Pretzel Bites for the Nonchocoholic

The inspiration for these salty sweet bites occurred while I was making butter cream fondant mini-roses. The rose pink balls of fondant were just a little smaller than a chocolate kiss and I found myself wondering if the fondant would stick to a mini-pretzel. Only one way to find out. The mini-pretzels and the bag of candy were soon sitting on the counter top beside the fondant.

Carefully, I flattened a fondant ball on top of a pretzel. The fondant stayed. Next, I gently pressed a candy into the center of the flattened fondant. I repeated this process several times. Two pretzels broke when I pressed a candy just a little too hard into the fondant, but other than that, everything went smoothly.

Valentine's Day Mini-Pretzel Bite Ingredients

mini-pretzels
coated chocolate candy
butter cream fondant - see recipe below

Directions

• Roll out a log of fondant to about 3/4 inch. 
• Cut log into pieces 
• Roll into balls about the size of a chocolate kiss.
• Place a ball on top of a mini-pretzel
• Flatten the ball gently with your thumb
• Place a coated candy on top of the fondant
• Gently press it into the fondant.
• Repeat until your fondant is gone, or until you have the desired number of pretzels.

 Yield: 70 to 80 mini-pretzels

NOTE: You will have left over ingredients to make more bites with, or to use in another project

To take a tray of mini-bites to an event, I would recommend layering the bites on a tray, fondant side up, and wrap well with plastic wrap. Fondant will melt if it gets wet.

Butter Cream Fondant

Yield: about 1 1/2 pounds

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup shortening 

1 pound of powdered sugar (half of a 2 lb. bag)

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (clear for snow white fondant, brown for ivory fondant)
food coloring for desired colors

1/4 tsp. salt

Note: This recipe can be doubled for a yield of 3 pounds.

Directions

• In a large bowl, stir together the shortening and corn syrup. 
• Mix in the salt and vanilla flavoring
• Then gradually mix in the confectioners' sugar until it is a stiff dough. 
• Divide and add desired food coloring.
• Knead by hand until the fondant is smooth and flexible.
• If the dough is sticky, knead in more confectioners' sugar until it is smooth. 
• Wrap fondant in plastic wrap and place in an air tight container.
• Store in the refrigerator.

A Trio of Addictive Appetizers

New Year's Eve is movie night at the Bonham house. Traditionally, a full meal is not served. Instead, a selection of appetizers and finger foods are set out buffet style. About 6:00 P.M., a pot of dark roast coffee is brewed and sparkling water is available in an assortment of flavors. Cherry Limeade is a family favorite. Try this trio of addictive appetizers at your next special occasion. Your family, friends, and acquaintances will love them.

• Cocktail Mini-Sausages

These bite sized gems are addictive. Bill loves the sauce and has me make it for chicken wings and baby back ribs.
The recipe.
Dinner rolls were on the table, too. Anyone desiring a mini-sausage roll had that option.

• Shrimp Stuffed Baby Portobello Mushrooms
  

I doubled the original recipe and did not use the shredded mozzarella. The end result was great. Another addictive appetizer for my recipe box.
The recipe.

• Garlic Shrimp Spread
  

Ingredients

• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/8-1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 10 medium, peeled and deveined frozen shrimp

Directions

• Melt 1/4 cup of butter in a medium nonstick skillet over medium to low heat.
• Add garlic powder and shrimp to skillet.
• Saute until the shrimp are thawed.
• Put the shrimp and butter in a food processor or mini food chopper.
• Cube the cream cheese and add it to the food processor.
• Blend until the mixture is smooth.
• Place the mixture in a bowl
• Cover with plastic wrap
• Chill in the refrigerator until firm.

Makes about 1-1 1/2 cups of spread.
Serve with round, all-purpose crackers