Quick Chex Mix

I know the real recipe isn't terribly difficult or hard to find on the internet, but I was too rushed to look it up before we went camping last weekend and came up with this:

INGREDIENTS

1-2 cups each of:
Pretzels
Peanuts
Corn Chex cereal
Wheat Chex cereal

... you can honestly throw in whatever is in your cupboard.  Cherios?  Life cereal?  cheese-its?  Throw 'em in.

2 TBS worchestershire sauce
2 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp onion powder

DIRECTIONS

Mix your dry ingredients together.  Top with sauce & spices.  Mix well.  Bake for 10 minutes in 350 degree oven.  Cool and eat!

School Snack- Fruite & Cheese Kabobs

I've got to be honest.  Being responsible for snack at preschool once a month is so stressful to me.

It's not as easy as going to the store and buying a box of animal crackers and a carton of milk.  If only.

The stress comes from the restrictive diet that all of the little preschoolers are on.  Snacks are supposed to be nutritious (read: no cookies) and not contain the following ingredients:

eggs

peanuts

peanut butter

tree nuts

red dye number 4... or is it 12?

Mangoes

So that leaves me with what, carrot sticks?

This is the snack we went for today.  I was kind of proud of the mini skewers, even though I resorted to toothpicks when I realized late last night that we didn't have any kabob skewers after all.

So here you have it:

Cheese
Strawberries
Grapes

You could also use blueberries, cantaloupe, pineapple... or whatever else will not fall apart when you stick it with a tooth pick.

If I were a kid in preschool I'd be happier with frosted animal crackers, but that's just me :)

Pretzel Chicken Chunks

For the past few years we've hosted my husband's office party at our home in January.  When it came time to pick the recipes this year we came to this one, a favorite of his staff.  "We don't need that much food," my husband said.  "We can skip it this year."

But the following day he fielded questions from his staff about whether or not we'd have the pretzel chicken and spicy mustard.  So it went back on the menu.  I'll share it here.

I'm not sure what makes it such a hit.  Honestly, I haven't tried it.  There is pretty much nothing in the world I hate more than the taste of mustard.  That's probably why the dipping sauce is SO HOT.  I just throw it all together without testing it myself, and hope people eat it.

INGREDIENTS

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

3/4 cup prepared Dijon-style mustard

2 tablespoons honey

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

3/4 cup crushed pretzels

DIRECTIONS

1.            Cut the skinless, boneless chicken breast halves into 1 inch cubes.

2.            Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

3.            In a small bowl, combine mustard, honey, cayenne pepper and garlic salt. Mix together, and set 1/2 of mixture aside to be used as dipping sauce.

4.            Coat chicken chunks completely in remaining mustard mixture, and then in pretzel crumbs. Place coated chicken on prepared cookie sheet.

5.            Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve with reserved mustard dip.

VERDICT

So.... like I said.... I've never actually tried it.  But it seems to be a hit!

Homemade Wheat Pretzels

We've been eating a lot of pretzels lately. The Auntie Anne's make-at-home kind. They are delicious. But expensive.

So I decided to break out my old Better Homes & Gardens cookbook and try the recipe from scratch.

It had scary ingredients in it like Yeast. I'm not a bread baker. I have no idea how to use yeast. It requires exact temperatures. And rising. And I'm not very talented at following directions.

But we tried it out anyways.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups white flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 TBS cooking oil
1 tbs salt
2 TBS salt
3 quarts boiling water
1 slightly beaten white egg
1 TBS water

DIRECTIONS

In a large mixing bowl stir together 1 1/2 cups of flour and yeast, set aside.  In a medium saucepan heat milk, sugar, oil and 1 tsp salt.  Heat until warm.  Add milk mixture to dry mixer.  Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, then high for 3 minutes.  Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can with a wooden spoon.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  Kneed in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough, about 6-8 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball.  Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease the surface of the dough.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size.

Punch dough down.  Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, let rest 10 minutes.  Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.

Roll dough out into ropes, cut into strips about 16-inches long.  Shape into pretzels.

Bake on 475 degree oven for 4 minutes.  Lower temperature to 350.

Disolve 2 TBS salt into boiling water.  Lower pretzels, 3 or 4 at a time, into water.  Boil for 2 minutes, turning once.  Remove from water, drain on paper towels.  Place on baking sheets.

In a small mixing bowl stir together egg whites and water.  Brush pretzels with mixture.  Sprinkle with salt.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

VERDICTWell, that was interesting. I never imagined that you made pretzels by baking them, boiling them, and then baking them again. But they turned out all right.

My biggest mistake was substituting 1/2 of the flour with whole wheat flower. That was too much. Waaaaayyy too much. Very wheaty.  And the instructions DO say 1 1/2 cups, not half and half.  I missed that step.  But by this point you know how well I follow directions.

But they were still good. A little too much effort for a quick snack, but good.

NUTRITION

Calories:  121
Fat: 2g 

Cheese and Garlic Artichoke Spread

Clearly no one beats Wegmans... for anything.  But at $4.99 for a tiny container of cheese spread, I can try and make it myself.  Here is my attempt:

INGREDIENTS

6	cups shredded mozzarella cheese (at room temp)
1 1/2	cups grated romano cheese
1 1/2	cups grated parmesan cheese
1	tablespoon fresh coarse ground black pepper
1	cup minced garlic
1	cup extra virgin olive oil
2	teaspoons fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

1. In large mixing bowl, mix all ingredients together.
2. Fold until all is blended.
3. Keep refrigerated in mason jars with lids, or in containers with tightly fitting lids.
4. To make garlic bread, slice french bread and place on cookie sheet.
5. Spoon spread onto bread.
6. Toast, bake, or broil until cheese is bubbly and nicely browned.

VERDICT

Not Wegmans, but not bad.  And, um, SO much leftover.  I didn't use half of the mix and there's enough for another 50-60 toasts.

Pinecone Cheese Ball

A cream cheese and Mexican-flavored cheese ball that looks like a pinecone?  It's Christmas, why not.  And since we've got another few months of snow here in Upstate New York, you can try this recipe out for your next party.

INGREDIENTS

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened

2 cups Shredded Four Cheese Mexican Style Cheese

2 Tbsp. GREY POUPON Dijon Mustard (I HATE mustard... so I skipped this)

2 Tbsp. chopped canned green chilies

1/3 cup Sliced Almonds, toasted (toasted?  really?  I just took them out of the bag as they were.)

DIRECTIONS

PLACE cream cheese, shredded cheese and mustard in food processor or blender container; cover. Process until well blended. Stir in chilies.

PLACE on sheet of wax paper; shape into 4-inch oval to resemble a "pinecone." Insert almonds in rows to completely cover cream cheese mixture. Cover.

REFRIGERATE at least 2 hours or until firm. Let stand at room temperature 15 min. before serving. Serve as a spread with crackers.

VERDICT

Is it really a pinecone?  Questionable. 

Edible?  Yup. 

Enough for a big crowd?  Definitely.