kid food

Pulled Pork Walking Tacos {giveaway closed}

April 10, 2013 by Rebecca 355 Comments

Walking Tacos | www.foodiewithfamily.com

First, I need to get something out of the way. Isn’t my boy adorable? Look at those eyes. That face. That smile. This boy melts my heart. Now, let’s talk about what he’s holding in his hands that’s causing that smile.

It’s that GO GO GO GO time of year. Everything from buds on trees to school schedules is running at breakneck speed toward an explosion of greenery and excitement. Snow has melted here and whether it stays that way remains to be seen, we ARE in New York State after all. The kids, however, are busy puddle jumping, creek stomping, tree climbing, and biking like it’s their job. I suppose it is.

Busy days and activity filled evenings are the standing order. Sometimes you just gotta meet the challenge with a walking taco.

Right about now, there’s a big part of the Central U.S. saying, “You betcha!” and quite a few other folks scratching their heads. A Walking Taco, as I have known it, is a snack sized bag of Fritos (!) or Doritos (?) that is sliced open down the side and piled high with taco toppings.

Yes, you must slice it down the side instead of popping it open in the usual way. Observe my hand model with the filthy-playing-outside-all-day nails.

Why do it this way? Well, it’s for fittin’ in all the stuff, of course. Just look at this spread.

This standard of high school football, baseball, softball, and soccer games, wrestling matches, and community fundraisers is popular both for its ease of preparation and for the lack of additional serviceware needed for it. The chip bag forms the bowl, you pile in all the toppings that you possibly can and a plastic spoon or fork is all you really need to deliver the goods where they’re intended to go.

Since by this point you probably know I’m more than a little fixated on pulled pork (see examples here, here, here, and here) and I’ve waxed on and on about making a ridiculously inexpensive huge amount of pulled pork to keep in the freezer (examples here and here) I’ll spare you that harangue this time around. I’m going to go ahead and assume you have a stash in your freezer or have plans to make some soon. If you don’t, I’m pretty sure you’re aware you can make it easily ~or~ you have a source for purchasing pre-made pulled pork. Any which way you shred that pork shoulder, a Pulled Pork Walking Taco is sure to make your entire crew gleeful.

Heck. It makes ME gleeful. You know how I feel about Fritos.

Can a meal get easier than this? Well, sure… if you call someone to deliver it, but even with the bagged chips, I’m thinking you’re still ahead when you make this at home. With a little creative insulated packaging, you could even take this on a day excursion or a trip to the park for a fast dinner.

What’s your favourite fast meal? Have you indulged in Walking Tacos?

Rebecca

P.S. Here’s a free pro Walking Tacos tip; after you open your bag of chips, but before you start piling in the goodies, slightly crush the chips. This helps them to mix into whatever you add in the bag a little more easily.

Pulled Pork Walking Tacos

Rating: 51

Pulled Pork Walking Tacos

This is a Midwestern and Central US classic gussied up a bit; Fritos or Doritos in a snack-sized bag topped with Pulled Pork, sour cream, salsa, fresh cilantro, avocado cubes and whatever else your heart desires. These fun, portable meals please kids of all ages and make clean-up beyond snappy!

Ingredients

For Each Walking Taco:

1 snack sized bag of Fritos or Doritos
1/3 cup fully cooked pulled pork, reheated You can use this recipe, or this recipe, or use purchased pulled pork.

Optional Toppings:

Shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack Cheese
Shredded lettuce
Fresh cilantro leaves
sour cream or Greek yogurt
salsa
chopped tomatoes
chopped black olives
chopped avocados
guacamole
barbecue sauce
hot sauce

Instructions

Slice the bag of chips open along the side rather than the top. Slightly crush the bag to break up the chips a little bit. Pile the pulled pork in and add as many toppings as you'd like. Pop a fork in there and eat immediately!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/04/10/pulled-pork-walking-tacos-giveaway-le-creuset-anthropologie-and-more/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Giveaway Closed: Congratulations to Jennifer (comment beginning: “Other than fresh bread…”)! Check your email for information on your prize package!

P.P.S. About a month ago, I was invited to take part in a Kitchen Conversations webinar discussing trends in food that was put on by Land O’Lakes. Given my past work with Land O’Lakes, I was thrilled to say yes.

The webinar featured top bloggers Ree Drummond a.k.a. The Pioneer Woman, Julie Deily of The Little Kitchen, Sommer Collier of A Spicy Perspective, Maria of Two Peas and Their Pod, and Brenda Score of A Farmgirl Dabbles. I have to tell you that each of these women is a wizard with butter and nobody does butter better than Land O’Lakes. You should most definitely click on over to their sites and look at the drool-inducing butter-centric recipes they created for the Kitchen Conversations push. I’m just going to say “Butter Chicken Sliders“, “Beef Bahn Mi“, “Meatball Tortilla Soup“, “Garlic Rosemary Parmesan Popcorn“and “Curried Cauliflower with Israeli Couscous and Grains“. Are you drooling yet? I was so hungry by the time our Kitchen Conversation was done. Don’t go until you’ve entered the giveaway, though… Wait ’til you see what Land O’Lakes has in store for you!

As a thank you for a stimulating discussion on what foods are on the rise in popularity this year, Land O’Lakes sent me a gift package to review and will send an identical package to one of you, my readers. Wanna see what’s in it? Of course you do!

The giveaway includes:

-one BEAUTIFUL and seriously serious Le Creuset enamelware sauté and frying pan.

-THREE gorgeous kitchen items from Anthropologie

-one full-value coupon for any Land O Lakes® Butter Half Sticks

-one full-value coupon for Sauté Express® Sauté Starter which includes butter, olive oil and herbs or spices.

How to Enter:

This doesn’t get much easier. Just leave a comment here on the blog telling me what your absolute all-time favourite dish is that’s made with butter! That’s it! The winner will be announced on this post on Friday, April 12, 2013. Good luck everyone!

Disclosure: Land O’Lakes sent me a gift package as a thank you for participating in the webinar and is sponsoring the giveaway of an identical gift package to one Foodie with Family reader. This contest is only open to U.S. Residents. Sorry, international friends! All opinions remain my own.

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, kid food, Party Food, Recipes Tagged With: family-friendly, giveaway, kid friendly, party food, quick and easy, seasonal, Snacks, Super Bowl

One-Pot Creamy Shells and Cheese | Bonus 2-Ingredient Taco Mac Hack

November 2, 2012 by Rebecca 18 Comments

Friends: I’m participating in the 30 Days of Gratitude on the Foodie With Family facebook page. Won’t you join me when you can and share a little or a big something you’re grateful for every day? And if every day is too much in your life right now, how about just whenever you can? Click here to be part of a thankfulness movement!

I’m going to start this post with a confession and spend the rest of it haranguing you into making this my way. Sounds fun, right? Let’s get started.

My confession: I don’t like baked macaroni and cheese. Right now there are two groups of people reading this. Group A is gasping and fanning themselves and ready to storm me and revoke my foodie card. Group B is saying, “Big whoop.” It’s okay. I understand. I often feel like I SHOULD like it since it’s a little of a lot of things I love in one package. I just don’t. It’s a texture thing.

I DO, however, ADORE creamy mac and cheese and I’m OVER-THE-MOON in love with shells and cheese. There’s just something so awfully cute about shells and I love the way they trap all the good saucy stuff. What I didn’t love about that, though, was how ever-loving messy the process was with the bechamel in one pan and the noodles in another and the blah blah blah. Then a few years ago, I read my beloved White on Rice couple’s creamy stove top mac and cheese recipe and the clouds- they parted. They cooked the pasta IN the milk. Well, duh. Why didn’t anyone ever think of that before?

Over the past couple of years, I’ve tinkered with the recipe to reflect my family’s preferences. While there are many versions of stove-top creamy mac and cheese out there, this one is our favourite (and if you pile my Taco Mac Hack on top, it’s garner-cheers-at-the-table good.)

I’ve made countless versions of this one-pot mac. I know what DOES work and what DOESN’T. I am giving you my version today: the one that never fails us. But here’s where the haranguing comes into play. This recipe is easy IF YOU DO IT EXACTLY AS I SAY. If you’ve been around here for long, you know I don’t say that often. When I say it, I mean it. Of course, there are still a couple of items up for negotiation (like what milk you use and whether you pursue the taco mac angle or go au naturel. The noodles not the nudie, if you follow my meaning…)

Here are the rules:

Choose your milk: You can absolutely choose to use skim, one-percent, two-percent or whole milk here. That is not going to effect the end texture as much as how decadent the final product is. That’s a choice.
Use small shells: not medium shells, not elbow macaroni, not ditalini, not spaghetti, not linguine… You get the picture. This recipe was refined using small shells. And yes, it really DOES make a difference here. I tried doing this using equal weights of other types of pasta. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. It worked EVERY time with the shells.
Use half Monterey Jack cheese and half extra sharp Cheddar. The reasons are multiple. Monterey Jack is a smoother melting cheese than Cheddar and it’s milder. Combining the two in equal parts gives you the tang of Cheddar and the smooth gooey loveliness of Monterey Jack. Win/win… And while we’re on the subject of cheese.
Grate your own cheese. No, I know. The bags of pre-grated stuff are super convenient. I use them from time to time, too. The thing is, the little shreds of cheese in those bags are coated with powder that keeps them from sticking together. Handy for pre-grated cheese, but not so wonderful when you’re melting it and WANT it to come together. Just hike those socks up and grate the cheese. It’s a one-pot meal, you’re still a head of the game even after you mess up the cheese grater. And speaking of cheese, make sure you have it grated before you start cooking. Why? Because you…
DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM THE POT. Heck, you probably shouldn’t even stop stirring. You’re using the starch coating the pasta as thickening power in the sauce. As the pasta cooks, that starch goes into the milk (as the milk is being absorbed by the pasta) to make it thick and creamy. Thick and creamy likes to stick to pans. Things that like to stick to pans like to scorch. Scorched creamy shells and cheese is a sad, sad thing. Just keep stirring. It’s a small price to pay for fabulous creamy mac made in just one pot. You’ll be so glad you did.

Alright, that’s it for my brow-beating. Is anyone still with me? If so, let me tell you about my Taco Mac Hack. It’s so simple it hardly counts as a recipe, so it’s a freebie here. Top your One-Pot Creamy Shells and Cheese with leftover taco meat or browned Mexican-style chorizo and a couple candied jalapeños on top. Ta da! You’ve hacked your mac into Taco Mac. If you’re the ketchup on your mac and cheese type, add a dollop of salsa!

One-Pot Creamy Shells and Cheese | Bonus 2-Ingredient Taco Mac Hack

One-Pot Creamy Shells and Cheese takes creamy mac and cheese to new heights of decadence and ease while only dirtying one pan. For creamy mac lovers and last minute mac and cheese cravings.

Bonus: 2-Ingredient Taco Mac Hack included in the recipe!

Ingredients

1 pound small shells pasta (Do NOT use medium shells.)
4 cups milk (plus extra, in case!)
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup grated extra sharp Cheddar cheese
freshly ground pepper to taste
Optional for Taco Mac:
Fully cooked taco meat or browned chorizo
Candied Jalapenos

Instructions

Add the small shells, milk, butter, mustard, salt, garlic and onion powder to a large saucepan over medium heat. Stirring nearly constantly and taking care to scrape the spoon across the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking and scorching, slowly bring the mixture to a simmer then drop the heat to LOW. Don't forget this or you'll be sorry!

Continue stirring and simmering the pasta for about 15 minutes, or until the milk is almost completely absorbed. Test a piece of pasta (carefully, though, because this stuff is MOLTEN at this point.) If the pasta isn't fully cooked and the milk is almost gone, add more milk in -1/4 cup at a time- until the pasta is fully cooked. This will add a small amount of cooking time (3-5 minutes) to the overall cooking time.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the grated cheese.

Put a lid on the pan and let it rest, undisturbed for 3-5 minutes. Give it one more stir and taste. Add the black pepper to taste and serve hot.

Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator in a tightly lidded container and heated up with a splash of milk in the microwave or in a saucepan.

To Make Taco Mac:

Sprinkle re-heated taco meat or crispy brown chorizo over bowls of hot Creamy Shells and Cheese and top with candied jalapenos if desired.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/11/02/one-pot-creamy-shells-and-cheese-bonus-2-ingredient-taco-mac-hack/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Comfort Food, kid food, Main Dish, Pasta, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: budget friendly, family-friendly, kid friendly, quick and easy, quick meal, Vegetarian

Mexican Poutine | Sweet Potato Fries with Chorizo and Queso Fresco

October 16, 2012 by Rebecca 7 Comments

You know those nights when you walk into the kitchen and feel like the last thing you want to do is put spatula to pan and do anything? I had a serious case of kitchen funk a couple weeks ago. The good thing (or bad thing, depending on your perspective-du-jour) about having kids is that I don’t have the option to sit out a meal. For a couple reasons -all equally valid- that just is not going to happen.

My kids don’t skip meals (or mid-morning, mid-afternoon, mid-anytime snacks) lightly. There is much moaning, weeping, gnashing of teeth and rending of hair if we even approach missing one of their fifteen daily repasts.
I have such an acutely developed sense of maternal guilt that I can’t short shrift them on any food. From the time that my eldest child was born, my pediatrician has given me the business about every one of my kids being underweight at every visit. I started getting a complex that she thought I wasn’t feeding them.
I’m a hungry person. Even if the kids weren’t here, I get downright surly if I don’t get at least two decent meals a day. Oh sure, at nearly forty years old, it’s starting to catch up with me, but I can eat just about everyone I know under the table. Feeeeeeed me!

All those reasons are explanations of why I don’t skip meals, but that doesn’t prevent me from phoning it in from time to time, and I don’t mean takeout. Living as far out from civilization as I do, any takeout beyond a sub or sub-par pizza isn’t a reality. Besides, even when I’m feeling at my laziest, that little frugal angel on my shoulder thwaps me upside the head and says, “Are you kidding? For the price of ONE of those subs, you could buy the deli meat and rolls for two sandwiches each and a bag of chips to boot.”

So when I walked into the kitchen last week and drew a blank, the well-stocked freezer and pantry that I cultivate in my finer moments came to the rescue. I grabbed a bag of homemade chorizo from the freezer, blankly shoved it in the microwave to defrost a bit, because when all else fails, chorizo wins the day. Then I stood staring into my pantry. Nuttin’. I had no idea. In a moment of pique, I whined to myself, “What I wouldn’t give for a plate full of poutine.” At that moment the proverbial lightbulb went off in my head. I didn’t have the goods or the fortitude to make a real poutine -with fresh fries, gravy and melty cheese curds- but I did have the stuff to make a riff on it.

With renewed enthusiasm, I broke up the chorizo in a hot pan and started browning it. While that browned, I tossed the innards of a bag of good frozen sweet potato fries onto a sheet pan and into the oven. I fetched a jar of my favourite salsa from my basement shelves and a brick of queso blanco from the refrigerator.

When the fries came out of the oven, I piled them in a bowl and threw obnoxious amounts of crispy chorizo and queso blanco on top, hit it with a few well-aimed dollops of salsa and a shower of chopped cilantro and sat down to congratulate myself on making my doldrums pay dividends. Don’t ever let anyone tell you nothing good can come of self-pity and laziness.

Just please do me a favour, don’t tell my kids I said that.

Mexican Poutine | Sweet Potato Fries with Chorizo and Queso Fresco

This Mexican flavoured riff on the above-the-border Quebecois classic, poutine, replaces the traditional French fries with sweet potato fries, below-the-border spicy, crispy, garlicky chorizo, and crumbled queso blanco or queso fresco. Spicy, salty, sweet, crispy, soft, cheesy, simple, and utterly satisfying!

For Game Day munchies, movie night and hectic days!

Ingredients

1 bag frozen sweet potato fries (or a large batch of homemade sweet potato fries.)
1 pound bulk chorizo, preferably homemade
1/2-3/4 cup crumbled queso blanco or queso fresco (or shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese if either of those is unavailable.)
Optional: salsa and chopped cilantro, to taste

Instructions

Bake the frozen sweet potato fries according to package directions. While they bake, break up the chorizo in a hot skillet over medium to medium high heat. Stir while cooking and continue breaking it up with a spoon.

Fry the chorizo, stirring frequently, until it is fully cooked and has taken on some deep brown, crispy areas.

As soon as the fries come out of the oven, use tongs to transfer them to a serving plate, use a spoon (use a slotted one if your chorizo is very greasy) to pile the hot chorizo on top of the fries. Scatter the crumbled cheese over the top. If using the salsa and cilantro, add immediately before serving.

Dig in!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/10/16/mexican-poutine-sweet-potato-fries-with-chorizo-and-queso-fresco/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Comfort Food, kid food, Meat, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks Tagged With: budget friendly, family-friendly, kid friendly, quick and easy, quick meal

Cheesy Spinach Puffs

October 12, 2012 by Rebecca 17 Comments

Today has been a Monday kind of Friday. I overslept, didn’t get to my tea until ten this morning, then dropped and broke a plate. I started writing this post earlier, got about two-thirds of the way through it and then somehow or another, the internet pixies deleted it. I know I didn’t hit that delete button! So, after standing up, hiding in the bathroom and eating a very large chocolate bar, I’m making another attempt at finishing it because this recipe is just too good not to share. Maybe Popeye snuck in and botched my post while I was cleaning up the broken plate, the greedy Spinach hoarding twerp…

Or maybe I was overcomplicating things -as I am wont to do and this was divine intervention. It was a rather long-winded draft and a rather convoluted morning. Either way, here I am and here you are and here is one of our favourite snacks. Obviously it’s heavy on the spinach (read: Popeye reference above) which TOTALLY cancels out the insane amount of cheese (three different kinds!) and butter in it, right?

Of course it does! Besides, cheese does a body good and it makes spinach an easier sell to my anti-green-veg-contingent. In fact, the first time I made these, my most anti-green-veg of the bunch said, “What’s da green stuff, Mama?” I responded, “Try it and tell me how you like it.” He took a tentative nibble, smiled, and ate the rest while bouncing away from me. “Wait!” I called, “Didn’t you want to know what the green stuff is?” “Don’t care anymore! Dese are tasty!” he called from the other room.

All things considered, at least it is Friday. Around here, that means movie night. At this point in the day, I can’t think of anything I’d like to do better than fire up the wood stove to eleven, pop in a movie, cuddle with my kiddos and eat my weight in these Cheesy Spinach Puffs. The beauty of this is that my kids munch right alongside me, eating scads of spinach without even thinking about it. I call that a win.

Oh, I know I’ve shared more than one cheese plus spinach plus egg combo before… Yes, I clearly have a thing for it. Obviously. Today’s recipe, however, is just about the best thing you can do with that wonderful combination, and that is saying something. It’s just plain crave-able. Moist, spinach-studded, cheese and egg puffs get toasty, crispy bits around the edges and taste great alone, but they really sing when dunked in warm marinara or pizza sauce. It’s enough to turn a Monday-feeling-Friday into a Friday-all-the-way.

I can’t even wait for tonight. Cheesy Spinach Puffs, here I come!

Two important notes:

I emphasize generously greasing the muffin pans for a reason. Eggs like to stick. Melted cheese likes to stick. Put the two together and you’ll be weeping a thousand salty tears unless you have massive amounts of non-stick cooking spray and/or non-stick mini-muffin liners. Trust me. That’ll totally mess up the Friday-all-the-way vibe!
Make extras! These freeze well, reheat beautifully and are great to have on hand for last minute snacks.

Cheesy Spinach Puffs

Rating: 51

Cheesy Spinach Puffs

Moist, spinach-studded, cheese and egg puffs get toasty, crispy bits around the edges and taste great alone, but really sing when dunked in warm marinara or pizza sauce. This is a favourite movie-night snack at our house and has won over even the most ardent anti-green vegetable protesters in our family. The smaller you chop the spinach after squeezing it dry, the easier it is to get it past picky eaters.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped or grated on a cheese grater
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced or pressed
3 eggs
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan, Romano or Asiago cheese
½ cup Italian style breadcrumbs
1 pound frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed hard repeatedly to remove as much liquid as possible (*See Note Below Instructions)
½ teaspoon salt
Optional: warm marinara or pizza sauce or Ranch dressing for dipping

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously -and I DO MEAN GENEROUSLY- spray 48 mini-muffin wells with non-stick cooking spray. Eggs are culinary glue. If you don't grease the tar out of those mini-muffin wells, they will stick!

Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan or frying pan. Stir in the grated or finely chopped onion and cook on low, stirring frequently, until the onions are very tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for an additional minute. Remove the pan from the burner and set aside.

Put the squeezed-dry spinach on a cutting board and chop a few times with a knife to separate the spinach and make the pieces smaller.

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk. Whisk in the ricotta cheese until smooth. Switch to a wooden spoon, add the remaining ingredients –including the cooked onion mixture and the chopped spinach- and mix until evenly combined.

Divide the mixture between the mini-muffin cups. Bake the puffs until set in the center and lightly browned around the outside edge (begin checking at 20 minutes.)

Let them rest in the pans for about 3 minutes before trying to remove. If any of them stick, run a butterknife around the edge to loosen them.

Serve warm or room temperature with marinara or pizza sauce.

*Note: To get the most liquid squeezed from the spinach, put the spinach in a colander over the sink. Grab only as much as you can comfortably fit between your hands, cup your hands around the spinach and squeeze flat repeatedly until almost no more liquid can be squeezed out. Put that handful of spinach on the cutting board and repeat until you've finished squeezing all of it.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/10/12/cheesy-spinach-puffs/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

This post is my contribution to the efforts by Hidden Valley Ranch and the Chef & Child Foundation. According to their website: “The Chef & Child Foundation (CCF) and the makers of Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® dressings & dips are partnering to host the Lunch Break for Kids fundraiser to showcase how simple, good food can make healthier bodies and stronger family connections, as well as support CCF’s national Childhood Nutrition Day in its mission to promote healthier eating to kids and their families through community-based initiatives.” Please take a moment to visit their website and look for opportunities to help in your area!

The Hidden Valley® Original Ranch®, dressings & dips has provided me with free product to help with my review, but anything I receive from Hidden Valley does not affect my thoughts on its company or their product.

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Breakfast Foods, Comfort Food, Happy Healthy and Wise, kid food, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks, Vegetarian Tagged With: budget friendly, family-friendly, Frugal Food, kid friendly, party food, quick and easy, Snacks, Vegetarian

Big Batch Crisp Topping and Any Fruit Crisps | Make Ahead Mondays

October 8, 2012 by Rebecca 12 Comments

Desserts are the big to-do. The thing over which you slave for hours or -in some cases- even days and present with a flourish to ooooohs and aaaahs. I’m as guilty of that as the next food-obsessed gal, from time to time.

But really? Desserts are supposed to be a relaxing thing. Grab a spoon or a fork, a plate or a bowl of the good stuff, plop down somewhere comfortable and give a good ahhhhhhhh. They’re supposed to feed your soul without taxing it first. In fact, ‘DESSERTS’ are ‘STRESSED’ spelled backwards. Tell me if this has ever happened to you.

I’m going through my day getting done what needs to be done. I make dinner and think to myself, “Oh, we don’t need dessert tonight. We have a big dinner and that’ll do the job.” Then after dinner, when it’s just me and my honey sitting on the couch, I think, “I wish I’d made dessert. I could go for something a little sweet right now.”

Is anyone with me? I know it can’t be just us with should’ve-made-dessert regrets. ‘No desserts’ backwards is ‘stressed on’. See?

I have a solution.

Make a big batch of crisp topping -essentially, this is sugar, oats, flour, a little spice and a lot of butter- drop it into canning jars or other airtight containers and pop it in the freezer.

When you hit the dessert-regret stage of the evening, fill a little ramekin or two or a big pan with fresh fruit or even canned pie filling. In a pinch, you could put jam in the ramekins.

Hot Buffalo Chicken Dip

October 3, 2012 by Rebecca 13 Comments

Why did the chicken cross the road? I’ll get to that in a moment.

One thing I absolutely, positively adore about living in Western New York is that I can honestly say I live in the birthplace of the hot wing. If you order ‘wings’ in a nearby restaurant or bar, you’re going to receive that hot, spicy, zippy, deep-fried, buttery tip-of-a-chicken’s-wing that is known the rest of the nation over as Buffalo Wings or hot wings. If you order Buffalo wings here, they’re going to know you’re not a local.

You know the story of how the ubiquitous bar food came to be, right? A hungry Buffalonian and his college buddies piled into the Anchor Bar where his mom was working. They begged for something -ANYTHING- to eat. (Right here is where the story gets me in the heart. I know how boys eat. I feel this story deeply.) Mrs. Bellissimo (the mom in question) threw a bunch of wings into the fry-o-later and tossed them with a special sauce, served them to the hungry boys, and a legend was born. There are other versions of the story, but they too all center around Mrs. Bellissimo and her restaurant. In short, Mrs. Bellissimo is widely acknowledged to be single-handedly responsible for one of the best-loved snack foods in North America. God love her, ’cause chickens fear her very name.

I’m going to go ahead and assume you’ve had real, proper wings before now; you’ve had that magical combination of vinegar based hot sauce and butter tossed on deep-fried chicken wings. Am I right? So you know how a wing is supposed to taste; buttery, spicy, zingy, chickeny, and altogether addictive.

This hot dip is everything that a good wing dunked in blue cheese or Ranch dressing is, but in dip form. You start with a generous portion of cooked, cubed chicken mixed into a concoction of cream cheese, Ranch dressing, and hot sauce and bake it until it’s bubbly and steaming hot. Your brain will scream “WINGS” when you scoop a cracker or celery stick into this dip.

You’re not going to be screaming from the heat. In wing parlance, you’ve got mild, medium and hot, in most cases. This dip is a medium. It’s not going to make your head leap from your neck and run away yelping unless you’re the wussiest of all wussy eaters. If you are, and you still want to try the dip on for size, reduce the hot sauce but don’t you omit it…. then it would just be creamy chicken dip and that would be sad. Just sad.

…And now for the blue cheese issue, because I know some of you have one. If (sigh) you don’t like blue cheese (sigh again), yes, you can substitute mozzarella or Monterey Jack, but it will not pack that true wing punch. Wings are almost always served with a side of blue cheese dressing (Ranch if you ask for it) and some celery sticks.

Speaking of celery sticks, they would make an admirable conveyance for dip-to-mouth if you have them handy. I, however, did not. This is mainly due to the fact that my children have lately taken a serious fancy to ants-on-a-log for breakfast, lunch and dinner and had cleaned out my crisper drawer of all available celery whilst I was whipping up this dip for them at their request. *Shaking fists toward children.*

Ah well. Lack of celery sticks notwithstanding, this is mega-satisfying and fun. Crackers, tortilla chips, corn chips or breadsticks are all fantastic when dunked into, dolloped with or otherwise spread with Hot Buffalo Chicken Dip.

I guarantee this as man/boy friendly food, given that my man/boys ate up a batch in about ten minutes flat. I can also personally guarantee this as chick food, so long as your fellow chicks like wings as much as I do. Chicks and Wings. For a multitude of reasons, don’t ever let anyone tell you they don’t go together.

So why did that chicken cross the road? To get the heck out of Buffalo!

Buh-KAWK!

Hot Buffalo Chicken Dip

Bubbly, cheesy, spicy, and full of chicken, Hot Buffalo Chicken Dip is a snacker's dream. Welcome at parties, on game day, or just for a fun hot snack, this dip is everything you love about Buffalo wings minus the bone.

Instructions for preparing this with a slow-cooker are also included.

Ingredients

8 ounce brick of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons dry Ranch dressing mix
1/2 cup hot sauce, preferably Frank's Red Hot or Sriracha
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (or grated mozzarella or Monterey Jack if you dislike blue.)
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely minced or pressed
2 cups of cooked finely chopped or shredded chicken

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add the softened cream cheese to mixing bowl. Use a fork to break up the cream cheese and smoosh in the milk, mayonnaise and ranch dressing. Switch to a sturdy spoon to continue smashing it and mixing it until smooth. Mix in the hot sauce next, whisking to combine until smooth. Stir in the remaining ingredients until evenly combined.

Scrape the mixture into a casserole dish or oven safe bowl and bake* for 20-30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

*This mixture can also be prepared in a slow-cooker on low (2-3 hours) and kept warm for a couple hours afterward.

Serve hot with crackers, corn or tortilla chips, celery sticks, or bread sticks.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/10/03/hot-buffalo-chicken-dip/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Comfort Food, kid food, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks Tagged With: family-friendly, football food, kid friendly, party food, quick and easy, Snacks, tailgating food

Three In One Pears: Canning Ginger Pears, Dark Ginger Pear Syrup, and Pear Juice | Make Ahead Mondays

September 24, 2012 by Rebecca 5 Comments

It is officially harvest time and officially fall and I am officially so excited about it that I’m about to explode. This is high gear food preservation season for me. I have an ant-and-grasshopper parable complex and I start flying around stuffing things maniacally into jars. My benchmark -and you may have heard me mention it before- is “Would I love to eat this in the middle of winter?” If the answer is yes, I figure out a way to preserve it. Since freezer space is at a premium (I’m saving room for the venison that I’m hoping will fill it), I rely on canning to hang onto that harvest freshness year ’round.

I’ve had to scale back my canning efforts this year due to a busy summer schedule, but this has been a good thing. I’ve had to focus on what we really want to eat, what we want to give as gifts, and what makes me weepy-happy to have on the shelves. Among those are home canned pears. Not just any pears, mind you, but my favourite ginger pears in dark syrup.

Home canned pears are -on their own- some of the best things on earth: tender, sweet, and full of pear-y goodness. When you add just a smidge of the warming power of ginger to those pears, they absolutely sing. Hang on. I need to channel my best internal infomercial hawker.

But wait… There’s MORE. Not only is this one of my favourite things to eat, it’s one of my favourite kinds of recipes; it’s a three-fer! Three recipes for the price of one!

How is this even possible? Oh gosh. It’s so easy, it’s almost criminal. You know how light fleshed fruits brown when cut unless they’re treated with lemon juice, fruit fresh, citric acid solution or somesuch? That little lemony bath that prevents your pears from becoming ugly and brown does double duty. After all the pears soak in it, you leave just a couple in the drink and boil it, then strain. Ta da! A delicate, mild pear juice with a bit of body. And the pears you soaked? You warm them and then pack them in a dark ginger syrup (courtesy of raw or brown sugar) that has been steeping some finely sliced ginger. You pack the extra syrup -because there WILL be some- into other jars and Vi-Oh-Lee! You have pear juice, ginger pears in dark syrup, and ginger pear syrup.

Let’s examine the possibilities, because they’re numerous! Aside from eating the pears straight from the jar, you can bake them in a crisp, eat them on vanilla or pumpkin ice cream, serve with roasted pork, toss into smoothies or winter fruit salad. Yes, you can drink the pear juice as is, but it’s wonderful in party punch or hot toddies, and since it is sweet enough without added sugar, it’s wonderful for the kiddies. “Dark ginger pear syrup?” you say. “What do I do with THAT?” Oh people. Oh my. You drizzle that on ice cream, over apple pie, add a tablespoon or two in apple or pear crisp, use it in mixed drinks, or pour a little over ice then top off with seltzer for -wait for it- GINGER PEAR SODA. Holy moly.

Is there work involved? Yes, but it is worth every second of effort. I even have a tip to share with you on how to get through the pears more easily (although it’s playing it a little Thomas Keller)… After hours upon hours of pear processing over the years, I’m happy to say that I have the method. Here’s how it’s done:

Cut the pear in half. Seriously. Start here before you peel it.
Use a vegetable peeler -not a paring knife- to peel the pear. That way you only pull away the skin and don’t lose any precious pear flesh.
Use the small end of a melon baller to remove the tough core at the base of the pear.
Use the larger end of the melon baller to remove the seed area from the pear.
Repeat.

I can’t wait to hear how you use your Three-In-One Pears. I’ll just wait here slurping them right out of a jar.

Three In One Pears: Canning Ginger Pears, Dark Ginger Pear Syrup and Pear Juice | Make Ahead Monday

This recipe requires a little time commitment, but you get three different products for your efforts. You'll find it was more than worth it when you crack open a jar of delicately ginger flavoured tender pears in a dark, caramel-scented ginger syrup, or drizzle some of the extra syrup over a bowl of vanilla ice cream or into a pear crisp, or sip on a glass of chilled pear juice.

Ingredients

For the Dark Ginger Syrup:

4 1/2 cups raw sugar (Can substitute light brown sugar if raw is unavailable.)
6 cups water
2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and cut into very thin matchstick like pieces

For the Ginger Pears:

8 to 12 pounds fresh pears, ripe but firm, plus 6 extra pears (for the juice)

For the Pear Juice:

12 cups fresh, cool water
3/4 cup lemon juice

Instructions

To Make the Dark Ginger Syrup and Ginger Pears:

Prepare canner, jars and lids. Follow this link for more detailed instructions on how to do this. You will want 6-8 quart jars and 2-4 pint jars or 4-8 half pint jars and the lids/rings for them.

Combine the raw sugar, sliced ginger and water in a large stainless steel saucepan. Stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar, bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat. Add a lid to the pot, turn off the heat and leave on the burner to keep warm and infuse with the ginger flavour. This is the dark ginger syrup.

Combine the juice ingredients in a stainless steel, plastic or glass bowl. Set this near a cutting board on the counter top. It is going to do double duty by preventing discoloration of the pears and then becoming juice.

Working with one pear at a time to prevent browning, cut the pear in half, peel with a vegetable peeler and use a melon baller to remove the tough core and seeds from the pear. Ease it into the lemon water. Repeat until all of your pears are peeled and cored and in the water (including the 6 extra pears.)

Remove the lid from the syrup and place it over medium low heat until steam is coming from it. Gently warm all but 12 of the pear halves in a single layer until heated all the way through. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pears, cored side down in overlapped layers, leaving between 1/2-inch and 3/4-inch of head space (err on the side of more rather than less head space if necessary.) Be sure you've left 12 pear halves in the lemon water.

Use a ladle to pour the hot syrup over the pears (allowing the ginger shreds to pour into the jars, too.) Remove air bubbles from the jars (using a thin, flexible knife or a chopstick and adjust syrup levels if necessary. Wipe rims, center lids on jars, and screw rings into place until fingertip tight.

Pour additional syrup into pint or half pint jars leaving 1/4-inch of head space, wipe the rims, center the lids on the jars, and screw the rings in place until fingertip tight.

Place those jars in the canner, cover with water, bring to a boil and process the jars for 25 minutes. When the time is up, turn the heat off, remove the lid from the canner and let the jars sit in the water for 5 minutes. Transfer the jars to a cooling rack and let them cool undisturbed overnight, then remove the rings, wipe down, label and store.

To Make the Pear Juice:

Transfer the liquid and 12 remaining pear halves to a large stainless steel pot. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and let simmer uncovered until the pears are falling apart.

Line a colander that is positioned over a large stockpot with at least two layers of cheese cloth and and use a large measuring cup or ladle to scoop the pear/water mixture into the colander. Let it slowly filter -without pressing it down- until it stops dripping through the cheese cloth. This may take up to two hours.

Place the stockpot over medium high heat and bring it up just to the point where steam is rising from the top- 190°F. Ladle the hot juice into prepared jars, leaving 1/4-inch of head space in the jar.

Wipe the rims, center the lids, and screw the rings in place until fingertip tight.

Place the jars in the canner, cover with water, add the lid to the canner and bring to a boil. Process for 10 minutes, turn off the heat, remove the lid from the canner and let the jars rest in the water for 5 minutes. Transfer the jars to a cooling rack and let cool undisturbed overnight. Remove the rings, wipe down and label and store.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/09/24/two-in-one-pears-canning-ginger-pears-dark-ginger-pear-syrup-and-ginger-pear-juice-make-ahead-monday/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Canning, Condiments, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, kid food, Make Ahead Mondays, Rebecca, Recipes, Stretching your dollars, Vegetarian

Chunky Monkey Chewy No-Bake Granola Bars

September 21, 2012 by Rebecca 13 Comments

Happy Friday, everyone! I have such a treat for you today!

We are a granola family. I’ve been making homemade granola for years upon years. My second born son has a real thing for it; he doesn’t like breakfast cereal, but he adores granola. I try to keep it on hand for him at all times. This is something of a task since I’m feeding a small regiment who likes to squirrel away fistfuls of granola in their jeans/shorts/shirt/jacket pockets and nibble on the stuff constantly.

I used to buy chewy granola bars to supplement their snacking but stopped when a.) I realized how much money I was spending in granola bars alone to keep up with five boys’ stomachs and b.) I looked at the ingredients list. You know that sound on Popeye? The aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhOOOOOOOOOgah! sound? Yeah. That’s what happened when I read that list and saw three of the ingredients I try very hard to avoid feeding my family in a granola bar -A GRANOLA BAR, PEOPLE! What?!? I put my eyeballs back in my head and the box of granola bars back on the shelf and vowed to learn to make it myself.

A couple years passed (I was busy, what can I say?) and I saw these chewy granola bars from my friends Maria and Josh. “Oooooh, yeah,” said I to myself. I thought I might change it up a bit, amp up the nutritional value and toss a little dried fruit in there. As the mother of the honyaks I have, I knew my choices were limited. One child ONLY likes dried bananas while another just doesn’t like any dried fruit at all unless it’s minced to the point of disappearing in something. Since it was bananas or nuthin’, I decided to go the Chunky Monkey route: banana, toasted walnut and chocolate. You know, because if there are nuts and fruit in it it’s healthy even if you cover it in chocolate, right? It’s dark chocolate. That’s practically health food by itself. Ahem.

I whipped up a batch. As soon as I transferred them to my cutting board there was a SWOOOOOSH and five boys materialized behind me: “What are you doing?” “What are those?” “Can I have one?” “Is dere fwoot in dose?” “Are those GRANOLA bars?” Then came the silence when five hands conveyed five granola bars to five mouths.

Then five hands reached back toward the cutting board for more. I call that a win. A big win. Big bonuses: the granola bars are simple to make AND they end up cheaper than the ones you purchase. Easy, cheaper AND better for you? Sign me up. These will be a regular at our home. Thanks for the inspiration, Maria and Josh!

Chunky Monkey Chewy No-Bake Granola Bars

These banana, toasted walnut and chocolate granola bars are fabulous. They're chewy, sweet, crunchy, and satisfying. They're everything a purchased granola bar SHOULD be but isn't. Besides, I dare you to find Chunky Monkey granola bars on the shelf. Can't be done! Not even in Vermont!

Inspired by Maria and Josh from Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter or sunflower seed butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups quick oats
1/2 cup crispy rice cereal
3/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts
3/4 cup chopped dried banana chips (Store bought or homemade chips can be used.)
3/4 cup cup dark chocolate chunks or chocolate chips

Instructions

Place an 8-inch by 8-inch square of parchment paper into the bottom of a pan of the same size.

Stir together the oats, crispy rice cereal, walnuts, and banana chunks in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter then stir in the brown sugar, honey, and peanut or sunflower seed butter. Bring to a boil. Once it's bubbling hard, let it boil for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Be careful, it will bubble up crazily when you add the vanilla!

Immediately pour over the dry ingredients and gently but quickly stir it in thoroughly. Turn it into the parchment lined pan right away and press into the pan evenly. Sprinkle the chocolate chunks or chocolate chips over the pan and let stand, undisturbed, until the chocolate looks shiny, about 5 minutes. When the chocolate looks very shiny it should all be melted and can be spread evenly with an offset or silicone/rubber spatula. Let stand until the chocolate has firmed back up.

Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen any chocolate that stuck to it, then turn the large block of granola bar onto a cutting board. Flip it chocolate side up and cut into bars of your desired size. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week... not that they'll ever last that long!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/09/21/chunky-monkey-chewy-no-bake-granola-bars/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com