Current favorite snack!

 On  fluke yesterday I decided to heat up some hummus. Actually, it all started with me trying to jazz up some store bought hummus. It was suppose to be garlic flavor, but to be honest I wasn't enjoying it as much as my homemade hummus.

 Sadly I haven't made any in a couple months because my blender cannot handle it and my food processor hasn't fared so well the last couple times. It actually shut off on me. Boo. Anyway, back to jazzing up the store bought hummus. I was going to add some rosemary, then decided to go with cumin because I only have dried rosemary. I have issues with dried herbs such as rosemary and thyme. I find they are stiff and you end up biting into them or getting them stuck in your teeth.

  After adding the cumin and tasting it, I decided it did need some rosemary after all. I think it was mostly because I was remembering fresh homemade garlic and rosemary hummus I made this summer. As most of you probably realize, adding herbs to cold items doesn't lend well for flavor. The herbs don't seem to be able to infuse the food as well as if it were warm. So I threw in some rosemary and some fresh ground pepper (don't worry I hadn't added much cumin) and popped the hummus in the microwave for a few seconds.

 Once I had heated it well I stirred it again to make sure the heat and seasonings were evenly distributed. It smelled A-MAZ-ING. I grabbed my grape tomatoes out of the fridge and dipped away. OH MY! It was so yummy. It reminded my of something. I knew I needed bread. Since bread was out of the question I grabbed a few corn chips and dipped away. Want to know a secret? creamy warm hummus tastes a lot like spinach and artichoke dip. Seriously! Who would have thought? Way less fat, yet just as creamy and delicious!

 My point? Hummus, go get yourself some! Or better yet, cook up a batch! I'll even post my recipe tomorrow. It's delicious. Delicious with everything from carrots and grape tomatoes, to bread or corn chips. Even better? My kids like it, and it's on the list of "safe" foods for them to take in school lunches!

Saturday night snack: avocado and corn salsa

Confession time. I hated cilantro. I disliked everything about it. The smell, the taste and the look. Ok in all fairness probably not the look. But defiantly the smell and taste. Then one day while visiting my parents my dad came toward me with a corn chip covered in something involving corn and avocados and told me to try it. Cilantro and I have been friends ever since.

I'm not quite sure where my dad came across this recipe but it's yummy :) Its also pretty! Ok, not so much my photos because I didn't have red onion and had to use white instead. But still so good! Easy too, I should mention this only takes about five minutes to make. Oh and the best part? It's healthy!

So let's review. This snack is yummy, pretty, easy and healthy. Why wouldn't you want to try it?!

Avocado and corn salsa:

1 avocado chopped
1 small red onion chopped
1 cup of frozen corn
The juice of one lime
1 small bunch of cilantro chopped
Sea salt to taste
Cumin to taste (about 1 tsp)
1 dash hot sauce

Mix everything in a bowl and let sit about 5-10 minutes while corn thaws and favors mix.

Serve with corn chips and enjoy :)

Saturday night Snack: Warm Black Bean dip, with a kick!

 You all thought I forgot, didn't you?! I wouldn't forget about my favorite night of the week ;) With the Superbowl today I have been working on perfecting my snack list. I personally am not all that into football, however my dad loves it. Because we love love my dad, my sister and I thought it would be nice to have a Superbowl party for the family to get together.

  Of course, since she doesn't really cook the menu was left up too me! Which of course, I don't mind at all. I decided to do a chicken wing dip (the Recipe is posted here: Chicken wing dip), Pizza, Guacamole and I wanted to do a black bean dip. My dad loves dips and salsa which include black beans, corn, cilantro and lime. They are some of his favorite flavors for dipping. He has not made a warm one yet, so I thought that would be a nice twist. I searched the Internet and came up with some good ideas. When I complied them and added some imagination this is what I came up with.

Black bean dip, with a kick:

1 can cooked black beans (rinsed and drained) OR 1-1/4 cup cooked black beans

1 cup frozen corn

1/4 red bell pepper finely chopped

1/2 jalapeno pepper very finely diced

1 medium tomato chopped

1 small onion chopped

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

1/2 tsp cumin

1-1/2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp cilantro (paste, or fresh, only 1 tsp is using dried)

1 Tbsp fresh lime juice

1/2 cup mild salsa

1/2 tsp sea salt or to taste

1 large clove of garlic minced

In a medium sauce pan saute onions on medium heat until soft.

 Add black beans, corn, jalapeno and garlic. Simmer on low heat until everything is heated through.

Add cumin, chili powder, ground pepper and sea salt, red pepper, tomato, cilantro, lime juice and salsa. simmer for additional 2 minutes.

  Simmer for 3-4 minutes then remove from heat. Let sit 10-15 minutes for flavors to blend well.

Garnish with sour cream and shredded cheese.

Serve warm with hint of lime corn chips (or regular if your prefer!)

Hope you have enjoy the game!

Saturday night snack: pizza pockets!

  Tonight I decided to make something I never have, pizza pockets :) I was even really naughty and used all in bleached flour instead of whole wheat!

To make these, use the basic pizza dough recipe I posted under the pizza post. Like I stated, I used all unbleached all purpose flour. I also used an extra quarter cup of warm water.

Pizza Dough recipe: http://5bulmers.blogspot.com/2012/01/saturday-night-snack.html

My dough looked like this.

After letting it rest for 10 minutes I pinched off 8 round balls of dough.

       Next I flatted them out, not as flat as I would if I were making a pizza..

  Then I put a rounded Tbsp of tomato sauce, you can use more if you can fit it (I just used left over Ragu that was in my fridge), and whatever toppings we wanted. The kids wanted just cheese, Trev had hot peppers and mushrooms and I had hot peppers, mushrooms and green peppers.

*Tip- don't let the sauce run over the edges, it makes it harder to seal them up later.

Then I added our cheese (as much as I could fit, about a Tbsp or less) and closed them up.

Make sure to seal them well!

                               

Then flip them over (These would make the perfect item to freeze for quick cooking in a pinch. You could freeze them at this point).

When you have done this to them all, bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.

They should puff up nicely and lightly brown on top.

Let cool and enjoy!

Saturday night snack: nachos

Sorry this ones a little late. Big stuff, our youngest, has been sick for the last several days. This week we had nachos for our weekly snack. I know you've all probably made them before, but here is how I like them :)

Nachos ingredients:

Corn chips
Green peppers (had to use red pepper this time)
Mushrooms
Green onions
Tomatoes
Shredded marble cheddar cheese.
Salt
Pepper
Re fried beans
Salsa
Sour cream

The amount depends on how much toppings you like. I love my loaded, while my hubby likes his light on the toppings and heavy on the cheese. It's all personal preference.

Place corn chips on baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Top with cheese (half of what you want) veggies (except green onions) then remaining cheese. Place some re fried beans on the side.

Place in oven preheated to 350. Bake until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and top with green onions.

       Place on plate an top the received beans with salsa and sour cream. Serve and enjoy.

Saturday Night Snack

  Saturday night means something in our family. In our house, Saturday's official title is  "Movie night". It's the night we play wii, watch movies, play board games and have snack foods. The kids, look forward to this night. Trev and I do as well. You might remember that as part of our goals for the new year, our rules on junk food got stricter. Only on weekends is the new rule. By only on the weekend we mean, only on movie night.

  I'm sure that you all have a snack night too. in an effort to have a little more direction, and write in my blog more I thought I would start doing a  "Saturday night snack" post each week. This week it was pizza. I know that homemade pizza, although delicious, can be a pain to make. It's certainly not hard to make, however the process is very long. As a busy mom I don't always have an hour and a half to wait for the crust to be done. This was one of those times. It was 5pm and there was no way I could wait until 6:30pm or 7:00pm to serve dinner! I went in search of a recipe for a quick crust.

   I found a pretty good one, and adjusted it a bit. I modified it to use half whole wheat flour. This of course meant adjusting the yeast and I found I needed some more water. You could use all whole wheat flour if you want. I probably will next time. Also I should mention that this crust was fairly thick. I made a 15" pizza with it. I could have easily made two 12" pizzas by spreading the crust thinner. Here's the recipe:

Basic pizza crust

1-1/2 Tsp Active dry yeast

1 cup warm water
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tsp sugar
1/4 Tsp sea salt
1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached flour

Pizza toppings of your choice.

    Place 1 cup warm water and yeast in a bowl. Allow to process for about 5 minutes. Add the oil, sugar, sea salt, and flour. Mix until a smooth and fairly elastic dough has formed. If your dough is too dry add some of the remaining 2 Tbsp water until dough is the right texture. Don't worry if you add a little too much water and the dough gets sticky. Just sprinkle in some extra flour and that will fix the problem.

  When dough is finished sit on an oiled pizza pan, or a pizza pan and allow to rest about 10 minutes. The dough will not really raise. That's ok. After 10 minutes spread your dough on pan. Bake at 400 (425 if your oven runs on the cooler side) for 8-10 minutes; until lightly browned. I would recommend watching the dough and poking a few holes with a fork if it's bubbling a lot. A huge air bubble tried to form in my crust.

   Remove from oven. Top with your favorite pizza toppings. We used 1/2 jar of pasta sauce, onion, green pepper, and mushrooms. We often also add olives, pineapple and tomatoes. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and ground pepper, then top with about 1/2 a large brick mozzarella cheese, shredded.  Bake an additional 8 minutes. Remove from oven. Allow to cool 5 minutes. Cut and serve.

Have a fantastic weekend!!