Chipotle Cream Cheese & Spinach Tortilla Appetizers

The other night I had a Stansbury Art & Literary Society Open House. We had been gone all weekend, so after work I had to scramble to find something to create an appetizer with. This is while I was trying to finish projects for the open house as I had a commission piece to finish. I poked around the fridge, and spied some orange marmalade and Dijon mustard. Hmmm I thought, that would be a good combo in something, but what? Easy is what I needed, and something quick. I ran to the store and picked up tortillas and cream cheese. Back home I found a couple of cooked slices of bacon from breakfast, so I had my sweet, salty, savory bases covered, which is my favorite combo for just about any food. These were a big hit with everyone. The topper was that I got another commission for a sunflower painting!

Chipotle Cream Cheese & Spinach Tortilla Appetizers 

1  package green spinach and herb appetizers
1  8 oz. brick cream cheese, softened
3 heaping tablespoons orange marmalade (peach or apricot would work nicely as well)
1 heaping tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 green onions, minced finely
1/4 t. Chipotle chili powder
2-3 slices bacon, cooked til crisp, crumbled

In a mixing bowl whip all ingredients except tortillas together. Divide mixture between 3 tortillas, spread to the edges. Roll up each rather tightly, and cut into 1/2 inch slices. You should get about 8 to 10 slices, with end pieces to snack on. Yield 24 - 30 appetizers

ENJOY!

Tasty Tuesday - Mexi-corn Salad

I had a craving one day for something with corn, and tomato and bell pepper, onion, and then I had to add avocado, cilantro and hubby wanted olives. This is reminiscent of cowboy salsa that you can get at Soelberg's in Grantsville, Utah, but mine has less liquid, and is not so sweet. It's a super cool, super easy summer salad that's a great side dish for sloppy joes, or any grilled meat as well as a Mexican dinner. I would add some minced jalapeno's if you want to make it a salsa, which would be soooo yummy! Oh sure, I thought about adding black beans, but then the corn gets lost and really, it's so good without the beans, unless, again, you want to make it a salsa. Here's the recipe, and happy summertime eating!

Mexi-corn Salad

1 15 oz. can of corn, drained
1/2 cup each diced grape tomatoes, black olives, bell pepper, and purple onion
1/2 a large avocado, diced
2 T.  each minced cilantro, vinegar and oil
1 t. Italian seasoning
1 T. sugar
1/2 to 1 t. seasoning salt
 1/2 t. coarse ground pepper
After mincing and dicing all the ingredients that need it, mix everything in a medium size bowl and chill. Warning, you might want to make a double batch as this will go quickly, even my 88 year old mother-in-law who is rather picky when she knows what the ingredients are, raved about this. Serves 4 to 6. Enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday, Easy Chicken Curry Soup

Time to take a break from the craziness on Facebook and share a delicious recipe schemed up by me yesterday. I'm a hobbling, babbling crazy woman due to pain and meds right now, so I will not be held accountable for telling all people to back off of Ann Romney and get a life.  For now, let's take a look at a recipe perfect for rainy Spring days.

Chicken Curry Soup
 1 chicken hind quarter
6 cups chicken broth
1 cup each diced or chopped onion, celery, carrots, zucchini, and baby bok choy.
1 3 inch cinnamon stick
1 star anise
1 tsp or to taste of curry powder
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2-3 whole allspice
tsp. peppercorns
I 10 oz. can of cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup each jasmine rice and barley
Season to taste.

In a large pot toss in your chicken, onion, carrots, celery along with the broth and spices. Simmer for an hour or until chicken is tender and ready to fall off the bones. Take chicken out and add rice and barley. Simmer until just done, about 30 minutes, and add soup, zucchini and bok choy. Take chicken off the bones and discard fat and skin, then add to pot. Fish out the cinnamon stick and other large spice pieces. This is so easy, and makes enough for 6 to 8 servings. Enjoy! Now go hug someone and tell them you love them. Taa taa. :-)

Foodie Friday- Warming up with Split Pea & Ham Soup

 The other morning we woke up to this, 6 inches of white fluff after a night of blowing snow at almost whiteout conditions. Two days prior the temps had been at 66 degrees, sheesh! I just happened to bring a bag of split peas to my mother-in-laws', already knowing that it would cool down for a day or two, so I was able to satisfy my hankering for split pea and ham soup. We had an over abundance of ham left over from the funeral, and gave away as much as possible, fed the troops with more, and still had a bit to use up. I waited a week as I didn't want us to suffer from ham overload, we already have enough hams in our family.

Here's a recipe I created from browsing other recipes and reaching into my memory bank of watching my mom and stepmom, both excellent cooks. I had to make a substitution or two as my mother-in-law doesn't keep much in the way of herbs and spices around. It's easy and quick to get started. I must say, this came out sooooo yummy and is the perfect comfort food on a cold and stormy day. Serve with crusty french bread, fresh fruit and you have a meal to live for!

SPLIT PEA & HAM SOUP

2 cups dried split peas, sorted and rinsed

1 ham bone, if available

2 cups diced ham - use good quality ham, not the cheap stuff

1 medium onion, diced

2 large peeled and coin sliced carrots, quartering the larger coins

3 stalks of celery, diced

2-3 tablespoons of EVOO or extra virgin olive oil

1 quart chicken stock + 1 quart water

1 teaspoon each thyme, tarragon or mint, lemon pepper

1 bay leaf

2 dashes cayenne pepper  and a dash of seasoning salt if needed 

In a large soup pot over medium heat add olive oil and veggies, cook until tender. Add ham and bone and cook for 5 minutes more. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to a simmer and let soup bubble gently until the peas break down, about an hour or so. The soup should be somewhat thick when stirred, but not gloppy, yes that's a word. :-) Taste to see if you need any seasonings, and serve with warm bread and fresh fruit. Serves 6-8. Enjoy!

Leftover Magic - Velveeta Weenies

There's something so deliciously creamy and cheesy about Velveeta isn't there?! It was a staple in our home growing up, and my children loved grilled cheese sandwiches with Velveeta slices. I haven't bought any for about 10 years or more though because I thought it had more calories and was more expensive than regular cheese. At least that used to be the case.
I found out over the holidays that Velveeta actually has 1/3 less calories than regular cheese, and now, it's as inexpensive or less than cheddar depending on the week. We used it for our Christmas Eve bash when we usually have cheesy bean dip. I like to use Cheez Wiz so the dip is nice and smooth but the local store was out so I decided to use Velveeta, oh yum! Okay, I realize it's a cheese product, but hey, why split hairs when going for taste and creaminess?
What is this all leading to? In my quest to not let food go to waste I had some leftover items in the fridge that needed to be used. Nathan dogs, Velveeta, leftover sour cream and yogurt, potatoes, and onions that we bought way back in October at 25# for 3.84. Can you see where I'm headed? Well here's what my hubby dubbed Velveeta Weenies.

Velveeta Weenies
2 T canola oil
3 Nathan dogs or any other hot dogs sliced into coins
3 medium potatoes, cubed
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cupped cubed Velveeta
1 can Mexi corn with liquid or 1 cup frozen corn plus 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
Tabasco, a dash or two
pepper

In a large frying pan over medium heat, saute onion in oil for 5 minutes. Add hotdog pieces and brown lightly. Add the cubed potatoes and corn liquid. Cover and turn down heat to medium low and let simmer for about 10 minutes or until potatoes are done. Add cheese and corn. Stir to melt cheese. Add sour cream or yogurt and stir in with a dash or two of Tabasco. Taste and season with a dash of salt and pepper if needed. Serves 6.

Good Neighbors

I am so lucky to have good neighbors here in Joseph! We care and share alike so I'm going to share with you. I was recently gifted a few packages of elk and venison. So I pulled a pack of elk steaks out yesterday and made some chili with what I had on hand. Here's the result and the recipe.

Elk Chili
1 lb. elk steak, cubed
2 T. bacon grease
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1- 16 oz. can black beans, drained ( I saved the juice and froze it to use in soup)
1- 16 oz. can chili beans with liquid
1- 16 oz. can diced tomatoes
1- 8 oz. can tomato sauce
2 fresh jalapenos, chopped
1 t. each basil, oregano, sage
1 bay leaf
1 T. cumin powder

In a medium size pot saute elk and onion in bacon grease until meat is no longer red. Add garlic and cook a minute more. Add the rest of the ingredients and let simmer for 45 minutes to blend flavors. Serves 6-8
I ate mine over a bed of chopped lettuce and onion, topped with cheese and Tapatio. We scooped with burner heated corn tortillas. Yummy!