Snickerdoodle popcorn

I was looking for a sweet snack using what I have around the house and came across this recipe - and yummy! My husband said between this (crack corn as we call it now) and the pretzel recipe, we should sell this stuff. I hope to find some more popcorn recipes as well, so be on the lookout!

INGREDIENTS

1 bag microwave popcorn, popped
8 Tbls butter
1/3 C sugar
1 Tbl cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

Put butter, sugar, and cinnamon in the microwave for a minute. Stir and microwave another 30 seconds. Stir well again. Pour mixture over popcorn to coat well and bake for 10 minutes at 200 degrees, stir, and bake another 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Halloween Popcorn Balls

While it is only September, this is the time of year I start getting excited for the holidays - I blame the stores who put out decorations in August, but still! With than in mind, I've been browsing through old magazines and watching for festive recipes I can try. I started out looking for more soups and stews and anything that contains pumpkin when I came across this recipe. I figured it is simple enough to get things started, and can potentially be a perfect snack for our road trip tomorrow - so here goes nothing!

INGREDIENTS

1 bag microwave popcorn, popped
1 C candy corn
10 oz mini-marshmallows
1/4 C butter

Non-stick spray

DIRECTIONS

Mix popped popcorn and candy corn in a large bowl.

In a medium sauce pan over med-low heat, melt butter. Once melted, add marshmallows and also cook until melted and smooth, stirring often.

Pour marshmallows over popcorn and candy corn, mixing well.

Spray hands with non-stick spray. Form popcorn balls, about 2 in diameter and place on wax paper. Marshmallow mixture is EXTREMELY sticky so use palms to shape into a ball.

Store in air tight container for up to 3 days.

Enjoy!

Quaker Granol Bites

Yum. I received my free trial of these Quaker Granola Bites in the mail and set them on the counter for a few days, basically forgetting about them. Until Yesterday. As I stated in my previous post, my husband was up late, meaning he would sleep late, leading to dinner being later, and ultimately causing me to snack - which brings us to these little morsels of GREATNESS. I have to admit these were far better than I imagined, and I will in fact be purchasing these for work snacks.

The little pouches have 90 calories per pack, 0g of trans fat (3.5g total fat though), and have 10% of your daily value of fiber - and fiber is good.

I tried the chocolate ones and loved them, my stepsister told me the peanut butter ones are also de-lish (I am not a huge peanut butter fan, but I might be will to give these a whirl anyhow), and I can only image the cinnamon ones are addicting too.

So, go out and get yourself a box!

Fresh Salsa Cheat

I love salsa almost as much as I love my husbands guacamole and over the years I have made several different batches. I use to chop everything by hand - ughh! To make it worse, I enjoyed the salsas, but the flavor was never quite what I was looking for, it was always missing layers of flavor so I kept trying. And trying. And trying.

Then I found what I was looking for - my husband's mother and uncle both made a homemade salsa with the layer of flavors I was looking for so of course I asked for the recipe. I about fell out of my chair when they told me the secret. "Start with a jar of Pace" *GASP* What? So they told me again, start with a jar of pace and add your own ingredients, them mix them all in the blender and Voila! Fresh flavored salsa in a matter of minutes. This solved so many issues for me it was unbelievable - part of the reason I don't like jarred salsas is the chunks of cooked (I DO NOT like chunks of cooked tomatoes in anything - odd, I know) AND it allowed me to have that fresh flavor I enjoy so much. Add to that how easy this is and I knew it was the end to my "homemade salsa in a flash" search. Plus, you can change the flavors by changing the salsa you start with as well as the fresh ingredients you add, but here is my basic method.

INGREDIENTS

1 average size jar of your favorite salsa

2-3 roma tomatoes

1/2 - 1 red onion

2-3 fresh peppers (Serrano, Jalapeno, etc)

Handful of fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS

Chop tomatoes and onions into manageable pieces to add to blender / food processor. Seed peppers. Combine all ingredients in blender / food processor and process until smooth. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips.

Matty's 'mazing Guacamole

Normally Sunday night is reserved for a grand dinner served on our china and enjoyed at the dining table ... well, not yesterday. We were all set to get our surround sound set up after being in our house for almost 2 years so we spent the day in the attic ... and lost our battle, which really doesn't matter here other than it explains why we wanted a quick dinner. Sooo - we decided on Taco Night which is one of my FAVORITE'S, especially when my wonderful husband makes his oh-so-tasty guacamole. Yum. Seriously, yum! And to think growing up I never ate guac - how crazy was I!?!?! And what makes this even better is when served with the lime Tostito chips - let's just say perfection.

***Note: all measurements are approximates, we never measure for this. Feel free to add as much or as little as you want - I like mine chunky with lots of stuff besides avocados.

INGREDIENTS

2-3 avocados
1/4 C diced red onion
1/4 C diced roma tomato
1/8 C fresh cilantro
1-2 Serrano peppers, seeded and diced (can use jalapenos)
juice of 1 lime, fresh
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder

DIRECTIONS

Peel and seed avocados and place flesh into a bowl. Use 2 forks to chop / smash avocados until desired consistency. Add onion, tomato, Serrano, and cilantro and mix well. Squeeze limes to add juice, watch for seeds. Add garlic powder and salt to taste. Serve with tortilla chips.

NOTE:

Avocados should be slightly soft to the touch, enough to give way when pressed but not super soft. I think of it almost like chilled cream cheese.

Roma tomatoes are best since they remain firm even after being diced.

If using garlic SALT, omit the remaining salt.

Amazing Herbed Pretzels

I'm a huge snacker and sadly have to admit that snack foods are my weakness - potato chips, tortilla chips, salsa, queso, guacamole, crackers, cheese, chicken dip, hummus - you name it and at one point, I'm sure it's been in my hand. At times I attempt to fight this snacking urge, and reach for carrots and bell peppers rather than the salty goodness, but it's not often I am able to say no to such wonderful items. Luckily, I found this pretzel recipe, which may not be as great as veggies, but it HAS to be better than eating fried, greasy, salty potato chips dipped in fattening, creamy sides. Just one warning, we think some how this mixture of spices causes a reaction that leads to an addiction and quickly you'll realize that you ALWAYS want some of these bitesize munchies available.

INGREDIENTS

3 Lbs Small Pretzels (waffles tend to work the best)

1 Tbls Garlic Powder (not salt)

1 Tbls Dried Dill

1 Pkg dry Ranch Seasoning (I think its 3 Tbls)

1 C Oil

DIRECTIONS

Mix all but pretzels in a bowl.

Place pretzels in a large, oven safe dish. Pour seasoning over pretzels and stir to coat.

Bake at 250 for 15 minutes, stir, and bake another 15 minutes.

Eat.

So simple. So totally simple. And so good. I hope you enjoy!