Chicken, Bacon & Cream Cheese Mini Taquitos

1/3 of a 16 oz package bacon (about 6 slices)
- I used jalapeno peppers instead of bacon.
1/2 of an 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
2 cooked chicken breasts, chopped
8 flour tortillas (10-inch)
Canola Oil
1 medium avocado, pitted, peeled and cut up
1/4 C mayonnaise
1/4 C sour cream
1 T milk
1 1/2 t white vinegar
1/8 t salt
1/8 t dried parsley flakes
1/8 t onion powder
dash dried dill weed
dash garlic powder
dash ground black pepper



1. Cook the bacon however you prefer to cook it. I baked mine for a crisper bacon. Chop cooked bacon.

2. Stir the bacon, cream cheese and chicken in a medium bowl.

3. Cut each tortilla into 3 3-inch circles using a round cutter. Spoon about 2 teaspoons chicken mixture in the center of each tortilla round. Roll the tortillas around the filling and secure with toothpicks.

4. Pour the oil into a heavy 4-quart saucepan (I used an electric skillet) to a depth of 3 inches. Heat the oil to 350 degrees.

5. Add the taquitos to the saucepan in batches (do not remove toothpicks) and cook until well browned on all sides. Remove the taquitos from the saucepan and let drain on paper towels. Let cool for 5 minutes. Remove the toothpicks before serving.

6. Avocaco Dip: Mash the avocado in a medium bowl with a fork. Stir in mayonnaise, sour cream, milk, vinegar, salt, parsley, onion powder, dill weed, garlic powder and black pepper. Serve with taquitos for dipping.

Cinnamon Honey Butter

Have you ever eaten at the TEXAS ROADHOUSE? Do you agree with me that their honey butter is amazing? I found the recipe below and it is delicious. It is great on toast, bagels, muffins, pancakes, waffles and dinner rolls.

Cinnamon Honey Butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a medium bowl, combine butter, confectioners' sugar, honey and cinnamon. Beat until light and fluffy.

Nutrition: Servings per Recipe 16. Calories: 99, Fat 5.8g, Chol 15mg, Sod 41mg, Carbs 12.8g, Fib 0.1g, Prot 0.1g

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

I made this for a dinner party I had last night and served it with pita bread slices. It was a big hit and has only 16 calories and no fat!!

ROASTED RED PEPPER DIP

2 large roasted red bell peppers (see roasting tips below)
2 teaspoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/8 teaspoon cayenne

In a food processor, puree the peppers and juice, tomato paste, vinegar garlic, and cayenne until almost smooth.

Nutrition Facts: 1/4 cup is 1 serving. 16 calories, 0 g Fat, 0g Sat Fat, 0g Trans Fat, 0mg Chol, 23mg Sod, 4g Carb, 1g Fib, 1g Prot, 7mg Calc.

ROASTING TIPS: Preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet with foil and arrange the bell peppers on a baking sheet. Broil 3 inches from the heat, turning frequently, until charred on all sides, about 10 minutes. Let stand until cool enough to handle. Place a strainer over a small bowl. Peel the peppers over the stainer, discarding the cores and seeds and allowing the juices to drip in the bowl.

Cheese Sauce

We tried this cheese sauce last week. It tasted great and was super easy to make. The best part about this sauce is you can make it as hot or mild as you want. You can use it with anything you want to have some cheese sauce. We had it with pasta and with chips.

Cheese Sauce by Kenji

INGREDIENTS:

- 8 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese (or a mix of cheddar and pepper Jack—see note), grated on large holes of a box grater
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
- 2 teaspoons Franks Red Hot or other hot sauce


METHOD:

Add cheese and cornstarch to sauce pan. Toss to combine with 2 forks. Add 1 cup evaporated milk and hot sauce. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with whisk until melted, bubbly, and thickened (about 5 minutes). Mixture will look thin and grainy at first but will thicken and come together after heating. Thin to desired consistency with additional evaporated milk. Serve immediately with fries, tortilla chips, pasta, burgers, or hot dogs.

To reheat the sauce, microwave it on high heat, stopping and stirring every 30 seconds until it's fully melted.

NOTES:

This cheese sauce is gooey and tangy. For a spicier version, substitute half the cheddar cheese with Pepper Jack and add 2-3 minced pickled jalapeños, or to taste.

Adapted from Kenji at Serious Eats.

Creamy Jalapeno Sauce

This dip is the homemade version of what you can get at Chuy's. It is very good and we really enjoy it. Milo and Holly even really like to eat it. It is modified from the recipe we received. It seems that we always have to experiment with how many jalapenos to put in as they don't all have the same amount of heat in them.

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Creamy Jalapeno Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 jalapeno, (with seeds)
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup green tomatillo sauce
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/8 bunch cilantro
- 1 1/2 packages ranch dressing


METHOD:

Mix all in a blender. Chill.

Roasted Potato Wedges

These are really good and not hard to make. I like them better than fries because you know what is in them.

Roasted Potato Wedges

Potatoes (number and variety of your choosing, russets work well)
1/4 cup olive oil (approximately)
Salt
Fresh herbs

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Wash potatoes.
Cut potatoes into wedges.
Toss with oil, butter, salt, pepper, and whatever else you’d like: garlic, balsamic, spices, etc. .
Roast for 15 minutes.
Shake around. Stir.
Roast for another 20 minutes. Check ‘em. Keep cookin’ ‘em.
Take ‘em out. Check the seasoning. Add more if necessary.
Sprinkle with herbs.
Serve immediately.

Original Recipe from Pioneer Woman.

Hot Artichoke Dip

This is the appetizer that we had for Thanksgiving. It tastes really good. This would work well for a Super Bowl party as well. We got a package of crackers at Costco that are the more expensive brand. The whole combination is really good.

Hot Artichoke Dip

2 15-ounce cans artichoke hearts (packed in water), drained

2 cloves garlic (we only used 1 clove)

2 cups grated parmesan cheese (we used 1 cup fresh and 1 cup refrigerated)

1/2 cup reduced fat mayonnaise

2 tsp lemon zest (we added a squirt of lemon juice)

1/2 tsp salt, to taste (optional)

1/8-1/4 tsp cayanne pepper (optional)

black pepper, to taste

In a food processor, pulse artichoke hearts and garlic to chop. Add all remaining ingredients and whizz until smooth. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.

Heat in the microwave or in a 400F oven for 10 minutes.

Makes about 2 2/3 cups

Original Recipe from Baking Bites.

Papaya and Other Fruit Salsas

We wanted to try another fruit salsa. We found this recipe in our new cookbook and wanted to try it. We made pineapple salsa. It was very tasty.

The author also suggests that you can substitute the papaya with mango, pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, Crenshaw, peaches, nectarines, apricots, grapes, blueberries, etc. His list contains most fruits although he states that for less juicy fruits you may need to increase the oil or citrus to get the desired consistency.

Papaya and Other Fruit Salsas

2 c. firm but ripe papaya, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1/2 c. diced red onion
1/2 c. diced red, yellow, or green bell pepper or a combination
2 T minced fresh chile, to taste, or hot red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste
1/4 c. or more chopped cilantro fresh leaves
1 T extra virgin olive oil
3 T freshly squeezed lime juice, plus more to taste
salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Put all the ingredients in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Let sit for about 5 minutes, then taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more chile, lime, or salt as needed.

2. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to a couple of hours. (Bring back to room temperature before serving.)

This recipe is from Mark Bitmann's "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian."

Watermelon Salsa

This is a recipe that we've made lots of times before. We thought we'd post how we make it. I believe we got the recipe from Alysha.

Watermelon Salsa

2 c. watermelon
1/4 c. cilantro
2 green onions
1/3 c. lime juice
1 green or yellow bell pepper
Tabasco to taste

Mix together and serve.

Cinnamon Chips

We recently found this Cinnamon Chips recipe. We tried them with some mango salsa and they are very good. Sorry, we forgot to get a picture. You can see a picture of them if you click on the link below.

Ingredients:
10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
butter flavored cooking spray
2 cups cinnamon sugar

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat one side of each tortilla with cooking spray. Cut into wedges and arrange on a large baking sheet. [I cut the tortillas first and then sprayed them after I put them on the pan.] Coat wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Spray again with cooking spray. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes.

Link to original recipe at Two Fat Als.

Parmesan Fondue

Parmesan Fondue

1 1/2 cups milk
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, cubed
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 loaf french bread cubed

In a large saucepan, cook and stir the milk and cream cheese over low heat until cheese is melted. Stir in Parmesan cheese and garlic salt; cook and stir until heated through. Transfer to a fondue pot or mini slow cooker; keep warm. Serve with bread cubes, crackers, vegetables or pretzels.

Turkey Roll Ups

I made this name up by the way. This is the recipe for the turkey/ham roll ups we had at our appetizer Christmas dinner. It's really easy. No tricks or secrets to this one.

You need a package of lunch meat. I use lowfat Turkey. It needs to be the thicker sliced kind. I just use the generic brand.

One container of Garden Vegetable Cream Cheese. I also use reduced fat.

Spread the cream cheese over one side of the lunch meat. Roll it up. Cut it into 1 inch pieces and put a tooth pick in it to hold it together and for easy serving.

Enjoy!