Lettuce Wraps

Okay friends here it is, the lettuce wrap recipe that's "the one" for me. 

 I've searched and finally found.

For some time, I've been looking for a really good lettuce wrap recipe.  

I've tried a few and they always weren't quite right.  

I finally found a recipe that's delicious, easy and one I will use over and over!

I found the original recipe on damndelicious.net where they claim this is the same

 recipe that PF Chang's uses.  I did change the recipe a bit, below is my take on it.

What you need:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound finely chopped cooked chicken

2 cloves garlic, minced (I use minced garlic from a jar)
for me 1 teaspoon = 1 clove minced garlic
1 onion diced (I do mine in my mini food processor)
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon sriracha
1 8 ounce can sliced water chestnuts (drained & diced)
3 to 4 green onions (thinly diced)
salt and pepper to taste
1 head butter leaf lettuce

What to do:
1. Heat olive oil in skillet and add onion, garlic, ginger and sauces, saute for about
1 to 2 minutes or until onions appear to be translucent.
2. Add chicken and stir until heated completely, about  an additional 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Stir in water chestnuts and green onions and cook until tender, about a minute.

4. Salt and pepper to taste and it's ready to put on the lettuce leafs and devour!
5. To serve, spoon onto open lettuce leaf
and eat taco style with the lettuce leaf replacing the tortilla.

YUM! Just writing this post makes me want to go make a batch of these to munch on!
These make a perfect summer meal with a little melon on the side.
You can serve these as the main dish or as an appetizer.  If you have any of the
chicken mixture left over, it's great as left overs the next day!

I like to use my Grilled Chicken Marinade Recipe or the Perfect Chicken Recipe
and make a big batch of the chicken that I can use in multiple recipes throughout the week.
These lettuce wraps are just one of the ways!

Bacon Wrap Appetizers

What you need:

1 package thick cut bacon

fresh shredded or shaved Parmesan cheese

1 box club crackers (I used multi-grain)

cookie sheet and wire rack that fits inside of cookie sheet

What to do:

1. Cut bacon strips in half (you should end up with about 30 to 40 pieces).

2.  Place Parmesan cheese onto cracker 

4. Wrap cracker and cheese with half a slice of bacon.

Pull it nice and snug and try to have the end of bacon be on the underside of the cracker.

5. Place on the wire rack that is sitting on the cookie sheet.

6. Repeat the above steps until all the bacon pieces are gone.

7.  Place them as close together on the rack as you can,  be sure that

their not touching when you place them on the rack.

8. Preheat oven to 250 degrees and place in oven.

These slow cook and need to be in the oven for about 2 hours.

I know that seems like a REALLY long time, that's because it is, but I promise its worth it!!!

These little things are so delicious and highly addictive.  You should probably make two batches

because they disappear way too fast.  We've had these at my house for our last two New Years

Eve parties and they were a hit both times!
The only bad thing about them is they'll be gone in a matter of minutes. 
You can do these days ahead of time and store them in Ziploc freezer bags.

Place them in the freezer and then when you're ready to start the celebration, just place them on the cookie sheet like shown below and put in the oven (about 300 degrees for 5 to 10 minutes).

Serve immediately while warm.

These are flavorful and so good to eat!  They have a zesty flavor from the Parmesan, if you want

you can switch it up by using brown sugar instead of Parmesan.  Enjoy!!!

Cheesy Breadsticks

For these breadsticks I used my favorite standby bread recipe that's listed under the breads section and is probably one of my first posts in this section, "Milk and Honey Bread".  I mix this up in my bread machine under the dough setting and then do lots of different things with it as you've seen. So to get started on these yummy breadsticks throw together the ingredients listed below.

 

What you need:

1 1/8 cups milk

3 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons butter, melted

3 cups flour (for these breadsticks I did all three cups white flour)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

 

These you will need later as you put together the bread sticks:

about 1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese

2 tablespoons butter melted

Garlic salt and Italian seasonings or dried parsley

 

What to do:

1. Divide dough into two even pieces.

2. Take one section and roll out onto pizza pan sprayed with cooking spray.

(This will be a pretty thin piece of dough)

3.  Sprinkle with as much cheese as you'd like in your breadsticks.  I used about 1 to 1/2 cups shredded cheese, whatever you have on hand should work fine.

 

 

4. Roll other half of dough on counter, roll into circle shape the same size as the dough with cheese already on the pizza pan(dust counter lightly with flour to prevent sticking).

5.  Place second circle of dough on top of the first layer of dough that was sprinkled with cheese,

then gently pinch the edges together all the way around the circle.

6.  Brush the top with melted butter, then sprinkle with garlic salt, grated parmesan and add a little crumbled dried parsley or if you want an Italian twist to it sprinkle with Italian seasonings.

 7.  Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

After these are done baking, I cut the circle in half and then all the way across into about 1 to 1 1/2 inch thick bread sticks.  This makes about 24 bread sticks.

 

These go great with any soup or can be good by themselves dipped in Alfredo sauce, ranch, or marinara.  I hope you enjoy these as much as we do at our house.  They always disappear fast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Baked Zucchini Chips

This is an awesome way to use some of that zucchini in your garden. 

 If you don't have a garden this year like me, you can pick up some zucchini

 at the local produce stands or farmers market. 

I used the zucchini that I had on hand and they were actually really small. 

The chips turned out delicious, but next time I'd like to use a medium sized zucchini like it
 suggested in one of the original recipes I found for these. 

 

What you need:

2 1/2 cups thinly sliced zucchini (1/4 inch or thinner)

1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated fresh parmesan (or Italian blend finely shredded cheese)

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons milk (you can use any kind, I used 1%)

Cooking spray

 

What to do:

1. Combine bread crumbs, grated parmesan, garlic powder, seasoned salt and black pepper.

 

For the bread crumbs I toasted some really good wheat bread I had from a local bakery we like.

I let it sit out for a while (at least an hour) when it is all dried out you can just crush it with a rolling pin and have your own delicious bread crumbs. To get the bread crumbs,

I place the toast inside a Ziploc baggie, then zip it shut and roll with rolling pin. 

This helps prevent having a crumby mess all over

 your kitchen counter. If you don't want to do this you can buy a container of bread crumbs

 in the baking section at the grocery store.

 

2. Place zucchini slices in bowl and drizzle lightly with some olive oil, then gently toss.

I tried coating with crumbs and they didn't stick well so added the milk and gently tossed.

This made all the difference and made the crumb mixture stick to the zucchini.

 

3. Place zucchini slices coated in crumb mixture onto a baking sheet

 that has been covered with cooking spray.

4.  Bake at 425 degrees for aprox. 25 to 30 minutes or until browned and crisp.

 

Another option that I haven't tried yet is to bake them on a wire rack that can sit on your cookie sheet.

The wire rack needs to be coated with cooking spray. 

This should help the chips not to stick to the baking sheet & to have just the right amount of crunch. 

 

These were delicious and the more you ate the more you wanted to eat.

  They disappeared in a matter of minutes and everyone kept commenting on how good they were.

They have quite a kick in flavor with all the seasonings and are a zesty, fun treat.

This recipe is a combination of two I found; first, from health.com

 and second, from the food network.

 

 



Pepperoni Stuffed Pizza Rolls

What you need:

20 Rhodes dough rolls (thawed)

Shredded Mozzarella cheese, approx 2 cups (this will vary depending on how cheesy you like it)

1 package sliced pepperoni

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons melted butter

Italian seasoning (about one teaspoon)

Marinara or pizza sauce(if desired for dipping rolls in)

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Spray 9 x 13 baking pan with cooking spray.

3. Cut pepperoni slices into bite size pieces(I use my kitchen scissors to do this).

4. On lightly floured surface, one at a time; take individual thawed roll dough

 and roll out to about double original size, should be small rectangle shape.

5. Place a large pinch of shredded mozzarella cheese and pepperoni in center of dough.

Combined this will equal about a heaping tablespoon of pepperoni and cheese.

6. Fold sides over and gently pinch together where they meet.

7.  Place seam side down in a 9 x 13 baking dish.

8. Brush tops of rolls with melted butter

9. Sprinkle with Italian seasonings and grated Parmesan cheese.

10.  Bake at 375 for about 18  to 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Let these cool for a few minutes and then you're ready to enjoy!  I like these warm and fresh out of
the oven.  It's great to fix if your having friends over for a game or movie night or just add a salad and you have a complete meal.  You can use marinara or ranch for dipping sauces.
You can mix it up using any combination of fillings you like.
Whatever you would like on a pizza you can just put inside with these stuffed pizza rolls.  It would be good with ham, pineapple, and cheese too.  Have fun with this mix it up with something different or stick with something safe like I did.  In my book cheese and pepperoni are always a good combination.
Also you can make your own dough and do the same thing.
Rhodes is just a good alternative if you don't love making bread dough.

Happy Cooking . . .

Razorback Salsa

What you need:
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 14 ounce can black beans (drained)
1 14 ounce can black eyed peas (drained)
3 medium tomatoes diced
1/2 cup onion chopped
1 bunch green onions washed and chopped
1 tablespoon fresh minced garlic
1 green bell pepper chopped
1 red, yellow, or orange bell pepper chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 8 ounce bottle Italian dressing
1 small bag frozen white super sweet corn
1 finely chopped jalapeno pepper (optional)


What to do:
1. In large salad bowl, combine crushed tomatoes, black beans, and black eyed peas and frozen corn.
2. Chop tomatoes, peppers, green onion, onion, parsley and jalapeno pepper (if desired).  Add to mixture in bowl.
3. Add minced garlic and Italian dressing (that you shake up really well).  This recipe was found in a cook book I have called Company Best - compiled by Judith Jackson, Gina Pitts, Kimberly Roy and Ann Seamons.  I adapted the recipe to my families likes and this is reflected in the ingredients listed above.  The original recipe called for hominy not white sweet corn.  This is a family favorite.  This is fresh,  healthy and delicious.  Whenever we go to a family gathering this is what I'm requested to bring. It's great for a crowd and can be a great appetizer or a great meal.  If you like fresh veggies you'll love this!  It's great with Tostitos scoops, corn chips or pita chips.

Sweet Corn Guacamole

If you like avocados your going to love this! 

 I like it so much, I could probably eat the whole bowl by myself.

                                              What you need:
                                              1. 4 avocados (small) or 3 big ones
                                              2. 1 1/4 cups frozen super sweet white corn
                                              3. 5 green onion stalks chopped
                                              4. 1 green bell pepper chopped
                                              5. 3/4 cup jicama chopped
                                              6. Fresh parsley chopped (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
                                              7. 3 tablespoons salsa (I use Pace picante sauce)
                                              8. 1/2 lime
                                              9. Bag of tortilla chips or 
                                                  you can slice cucumbers and use them as your chips
                                            10. Garlic salt

                                             What to do:
                                            1.  Put frozen corn in bowl and allow to thaw
                                            2.  Chop green onions, bell pepper, jicama, and parsley
                                            3.  Combine the ingredients listed above
                                            4.  In separate bowl, peel and scoop out avocado, 
                                                  mash with potato masher.
                                            5.  Mix avocado with above chopped ingredients and add salsa
                                            6.  Squeeze in lime juice and mix gently and thoroughly
                                            7.  Season to taste with garlic salt or seasoned salt

Now it's ready to enjoy and I promise you will!  This is sweet, crunchy, fresh, and healthy.  You want to mix this together right before serving so that the avocado doesn't turn brown.  Squirting lime juice into the avocado will slow it down in turning brown. The batch we made tonight disappeared to fast and my family was asking when I'll make more. This recipe was inspired by a visit to the California Pizza Kitchen Restaurant.  We ordered an appetizer that was similar to this and decided we could totally do it at home.  This is our version of what we ate and let me tell you we make it over and over and it always disappears really fast. A twist on this recipe is to add some black beans that have been drained(about 1/3 cup).  Have fun with it and add whatever sounds good to you.