Ham & Swiss Sliders

INGREDIENTS

 Print This Recipe

• 24 white dinner rolls I LOVE King's Hawaiian Rolls
• 24 pieces honey ham
• 24 small slices Swiss Cheese
• 1/3 cup mayonaise
• 1/3 cup miracle whip
• . POPPY SEED SAUCE . .
• 1 Tbsp. poppy seeds
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. mustard
• 1/2 cup butter melted
• 1 Tbsp. minced onion
• 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise and miracle whip.
2. Cut Rolls in halves. Spread mayonaise-miracle whip mixture on each side of the roll. Place a piece of honey ham and Swiss cheese on one half of each roll. Fold back into sandwich form.
3. Place rolls close together in a greased 9x13 pan until pan in completely full.
4. Mix together all ingredients of Poppy Seed Sauce. Spread evenly over the tops of all the rolls. *NOTE* I did not use all the sauce. Let the rolls set until the butter has set up a bit. Cover with aluminum foil and Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.
5. Rolls can be made a day ahead and stored in fridge until ready to bake.

Cheese Ball

I made this for classic movie night with hart and jory - it was gone within 10 minutes! Super easy too.

1 brick of cream cheese
6 sliced of cooked crumbled bacon
2 green onions minced fine
dash of salt
chopped pecans

in kitchen aid whip together cheese, onion, bacon, and salt until well combined.
use your hands to form a ball, and roll it in the chopped pecans.

If not serving immediately wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving.

Summer squash pancakes with goat cheese dressing

Over at Rachel Cooks they have an impressive variety of sweet and savory pancake recipes! I coudnt resist posting this one - its on my to try list now!

Summer Squash Pancakes:
8 ounces shredded summer squash (zucchini & yellow squash)
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots
1 large egg – beaten
3-4 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Vegetable oil

Using a food processor shred your squash. Add squash to a large bowl and add shallots, egg, flour baking powder and spices.

Heat vegetable oil over medium heat and drop batter into oil (about tablespoons) and fry until crispy on both sides.

Top with goat cheese dressing and serve with salad and hot capicola.

Makes about 10 small pancakes.

*Note: If you notice the batter start to get runny just add a little more flour. The longer the batter sits the more water the squash will give off.
Source: Nutmeg Nanny

Creamy Goat Cheese Dressing:
2 ounces fresh creamy goat cheese
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon champagne vinegar
3 teaspoons water
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
Salt and pepper to taste

In a blender combine all ingredients and blend until creamy.

Toffee Grape Salad

 (image from nutmeg nanny, recipe from yahoo voices)

Toffee Grape Salad
1/2 c. brown sugar
8 oz. cream cheese
8 oz. Cool Whip
8 oz. Sour cream
2-3 # grapes

Topping:
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. toffee bits

Mix brown sugar and cream cheese. Add in Cool Whip, sour cream and grapes. In another bowl, mix the topping. Add topping right before serving.In a mixer whip together SOFT cream cheese and brown sugar until well blended. Stir in cool whip and sour cream. Fold in grapes. 

Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over the top right before serving. 

* I like to double batch this and use one bag of green grapes combined with a bag of red grapes. 

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

• 
  
• 1 (7 ounce) jar roasted red peppers, drained and diced
• 3/4 pound shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon minced onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons prepared Dijon-style mustard

First you want to strain your peppers and pat dry! If you leave them wet it will affect the consistency of your dip!

Mix together cream cheese, mayo, mustard, garlic, and onion. The gently fold in peppers. Place in baking dish at 350 for 20 minutes. You want the edges to brown and the middle to be bubbly.

Serve with tortilla chips or bread rounds.

* I always double this recipe and buy the BIG jar of pepper slices. But you can find the peppers in small jars pre-diced.

Creamy Pesto Hummus Dip

Ingredients

•  1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 large handful fresh basil leaves
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 1 small handful freshly grated parmesan
• 1 heaping tablespoon tahini
• A splash of lemon juice
• A splash of olive oil
• A few pinches of sea salt
• Olive oil (to garnish the top)
• A pinch or two of each or any: oregano, thyme, basil, red pepper flakes, salt

I blended everything together with my hand blender (food processor works great too, if you have one). Just add as mucholive oil as necessary for it to become smooth and the consistency you prefer .

Scoop into dish and top with a little swirl of olive oil. Eat immediately with pita chips or vegis, or use as a spread in wraps!

enjoy!

(recipe and photo courtesy of www.theendlessmeal.com)

Brazilian Cheese Bread

Saw this recipe on Pinterest and HAD to try it - I think its going to become a regular in this house! Serve it up with a piping hot bowl of Lobster Bisque soup and some bacon wrapped chicken skewers for a DIY Tucanos night! Ps - naturally gluten-free!

1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup tapioca flour (sometimes labeled tapioca starch) no substitutions - found this at Fred Meyer
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup grated cheese - I used whole milk Queso Fresca (the mexican cheese found over by the sour cream) and a little bit of grated Sharp Cheddar. But really any cheese will do. 

Dump all ingredients (minus the cheese) into the blender. Puree until smooth. Add in cheeses and pulse a few times. Dump Batter into mini muffin tins (I of course just had regular sized ones and it worked great - they will just be bigger than the Tucanos version.) Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until puffed and golden.

I doubled my batch and came out with 21 larger puffs.

Shrimp dip

My neighbor lindsay brought this over for me yesterday and I have been eating it nonstop ever since.



PS this recipe makes a ton!  We usually halve it, but do as you please!

3 blocks of softened Cream Cheese (or low fat kind)

3 ½ C Sour Cream  (Note a small container is 2 C)

1/8 tsp Ground Pepper

1 tsp    Salt

1 ½ tsp Garlic powder

1 ½ tsp Onion powder

1 tsp    Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp    Lemon juice

2 cans tiny shrimp, drained.



Make sure Cream Cheese is room temperature before blending it together with
the sour cream.  Add everything but the shrimp.  Blend thoroughly.  Add
additional seasoning to your taste.  Then add one can shrimp and blend with
mixer until it is broken up.  Then spoon in the final can of shrimp.

Best Cold Spinach Dip EVER

My neighbor brought this to a party and imagine my shock when she told me it was the recipe on the back of the Knorr packet! Since then I have consumed two entire bowls of this dip single handedly. Quick easy and so so good! 

10 ounce box frozen spinach, cooked, and drained (squeezed really really well)

1 packet of vegetable soup mix (any packet will do, not just Knorr)

16 ounces of sour cream

1 cup mayo

1 can water chestnuts, chopped

3 green onions chopped

Combine everything and mix well. Serve with crackers, veggies, or bread!

Buffalo Chicken Balls

These are my favorite appetizer at the moment....and can easily be made gluten free by using non breaded chicken, and GF panko (at fred meyer) or substituting GF bread crumbs. Mom, do you have a picture of these from last night???

Ingredients:

For balls:
1/2 a bag of frozen fully cooked breaded chicken strips (sometimes called fritters)
1 1/2 cups of hot sauce
1 stick of butter
2 celery ribs finely diced
2 green onions finely diced
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese or gorgonzola
4 ounces cream cheese (half a brick)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

For coating:
Flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
3 eggs beaten
Panko bread crumbs (about 2 1/2 cups)

Oil for frying

Method:
Bake or microwave chicken strips according to directions.
To make the buffalo sauce combine hot sauce and butter in small saucepan and melt together (can also be done in microwave)
Dice up chicken and combine with buffalo sauce. Drain off excess sauce.
Dump buffalo chicken into kitchen aid
Add diced celery, green onions, blue and cheddar cheeses, and room temp cream cheese, and stir until combined.

To coat:
Dump flour onto a plate. Dump beaten eggs onto another plate, and panko onto a 3rd plate.
Roll buffalo mixture into 1 inch balls
roll the balls into flour
roll the floured balls in the egg
roll the egg balls in the panko
*you can put the prepared balls in the fridge at this point if you made them ahead. I just seal them in a tupperware container

fry in hot oil until golden brown

Morroccan Dip

Here is the Mango Curry dip from the MGCC site. I changed it up a bit, but the idea is generally the same. I used full fat cream cheese, light sour cream, regular raisins, and spiced apricot jam in place of the chutney which I could not find in walmart (maybe fred meyer has it though?) Either way this recipe is a keeper for us. Even Gabe who claims to despise Indian food quite liked this and we at half a plate together watching Casablanca. Try it...you'll like it!

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. cream cheese 
• 2 Tablespoons sour cream I used 4T because it was still really thick after just 2T
• 1 tablespoon curry powder Looks like they use yellow curry, but I used red curry powder, and closer to 2T
• 2/3 cups mango chutney 
• 1/3 cup chopped green onions
• 1/3 cup golden raisins 
• 1/3 cup pecans, chopped

Method:

1. Mix cream cheese, sour cream and curry powder together until well blended.  
2. Spread over bottom of serving dish.
3. Spread mango chutney over cream cheese mixture.
4. Combine green onions, raisins and chopped pecans and sprinkle over chutney.
5. Serve with crackers.

Note ~ Mango chutney can be found in the 'Asian foods' section at the grocery store.

Pioneer Woman Salsa

I never thought I liked salsa. And then I met the Pioneer Woman and she taught me how to make this delicious quick & easy addicting recipe. The secret is of course: NO CHUNKS. (Who knew that chunky texture was the culprit behind my disdain ??) 

So get out the blender my friends! And on with the recipe:

You will need:
1 can of whole tomatoes
2 cans of Rotel (one original one mild - but honestly Ive been using the store brand knock offs and they work wonderfully. All it is is diced tomatoes and green chilis)
1 med onion chopped
Juice of 1 small lime
1 clove of garlic chopped
1 bunch of cilantro
1 jalepeno pepper chopped (I omit the seeds and sometimes only put in 1/2 a pepper. Because Im a wimp and I dont enjoy my tongue being torched!)
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt

You take all these ingredients and throw them in the blender or food processor. Puree. Voila! 

* Photos courtesy of The Pioneer Woman herself! Thanks Ree!

Cowboy Salsa

This recipe comes from Lisa. It is so yummy and sure to be a hit at any party!
Do this first ~

Boil together:
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
let cool then add:
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Mix together in bowl:
1 can black-eyed peas, drained & rinsed
1 can pinto beans, drained & rinsed
1 can shoepeg corn, drained
1 small jar (2 oz) pimentos
green onions (2-4) chopped
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup finely chopped celery (about 3 stalks)
1 small jar/can chopped jalapenos

Pour liquid sauce over veggies. Let sit awhile - overnight is best.
Serve with tortilla chips (blue are best!)

The first time follow the recipe; after that you can experiment adding or taking away ingredients.

Bobbin's Salmon Dip

Time to don your best red coat and get out your marching hands....because this little recipe will have you ready for tea time - in no time a'tall! Brought to you by the main soldier dancer herself: The Sherry Bobbins' Infamous Salmon Dip:


Ingredients:
Cooked Salmon, seasoned to your taste and flaked with a fork
1 brick of Cream Cheese
Diced green onions
*Bacon is optional


Prepare:
Soften cream cheese to room temp and stir in salmon. Top with chopped onion and if you want - some bacon. This is all to taste, so if you like it fishier add in more fish. I usually like to make it more cheesier, onionier, and baconier. But thats just me. And are those even words?


Serve with small bread rounds, crackers, vegetables, bagels, or if you are alone and this is depression food, or chick flick food - a large spoon will do.

Loaded Heart Attack Fries

If you have a football game coming up, or just a lonely sack of potatoes that are in search of a life calling, this Appetizer will bedazzle you and your audiences alike. They have all the main ingredients necessary to induce a food addiction, so be forewarned: you may crave these in the night.


Ingredients:
4-5 potatoes washed but unpeeled
Olive oil, salt, and pepper - enough to coat potatoes
Grated Cheddar cheese - about 1 1/2 cups
4-5 Diced green onions
1/2 pound (4-6 slices) of bacon cooked and crumbled


Prepare:
Slice potatoes into thick fries
Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper
Spread out on foil lined baking sheet
Bake uncovered at 375' for 30-45 minutes or until fork tender
Broil another 5-10 minutes to crisp them up. They will turn golden brown
Remove from oven and sprinkle cheese on top
Then sprinkle bacon over the cheese
And finish off with the onions over the bacon
Put back into a warm over, just until cheese has melted everything together
Remove and serve immediately with sour cream, ketchup, blue cheese, or fry sauce for dipping!!!

Its a BOY Boneless Buffalo Wings

If you're pregnant and you know it make some wings. If you're pregnant and you know it make some wings. If you're pregnant and you know it, and you really want to show it, if you're pregnant and you know it make these wings: (Dont worry, there are no actual wings involved. Just delicious spicy boneless chicken breasts.)


2-3 chicken breasts (dethawed and cut into chicken nugget sized bites)
2 eggs (beaten, salted, and peppered)
1 cup of flour salted and peppered, in a large ziploc baggie
Oil for frying



Sauce:
1/2 stick of melted butter
1 1/2 cup of hot sauce (I used some random mexican hot sauce - I dont think it matters what kind)
1 tablespoon vinegar

1. Heat oil on med/high heat
2. Place raw chicken bites in egg mixture. Let sit 10 minutes.
3. Throw chicken into ziploc baggie and shake until well coated
4. Fry 5-6 bites at a time until golden brown and crispy looking
5. Place in oven safe dish
6. Pour sauce over fried chicken and roll around until well coated
7. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes
8. Let stand 10-20 minutes before eating
9. Dip in ranch or blue cheese dressing!!
10. Take tums or Zantac
11. Pass out in greasy food coma whilst patting your belly in sheer bliss  

* As an equally delicious alternative you can toss these fried babies in a honey bbq sauce. Just mix about 1 cup of your favorite BBQ and add in 1/3 cup of honey.  So GOOD!