Egg rolls with spicy orange dipping sauce

I have made these easy egg rolls many times but keep forgetting to post the recipe. Well, here it is. 

The spicy orange dipping sauce is also good when you want to jazz up some bland chicken nuggets. Yum.

Egg rolls

Ingredients:

1 box of phyllo dough (1 pound box of 40 sheets)
1 bag of shredded cabbage (or slaw mix)
Butter, approximately one stick

Directions:

Grease a baking dish with butter.
Melt some butter in a bowl.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Unwrap one of the packages of phyllo dough and flatten 
  the sheets.
Cover with damp paper towels to keep them from drying. 
  They dry out quickly!
Grab a couple of sheets of phyllo dough and butter them.
Put some shredded cabbage at one end and roll it up, egg roll
  style. You can tuck the ends in but I'm lazy.
Continue until all the sheets of phyllo dough are used.
Brush tops of egg rolls with melted butter.

I only prepare half a box of phyllo at time since that much
   feeds my family.
Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes until golden.

*Most of the time my phyllo dough rips willy nilly. I just go
    with it. No big whoop.

Spicy orange dipping sauce

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups water
2 Tablespoons orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 1/2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Directions:

Mix ingredients and bring to boil.
Cool for 10 minutes.
Stir in 3 Tablespoons corn starch plus 2 Tablespoons water
  over low heat until thickened.

 

Finger food frenzy

Raw meat wimp-out update: Things are looking up. Just a few months ago, I wouldn't have entertained the thought of making these chicken fingers.

Sure, I would cook chicken breasts in the oven, not that I wanted to. The family kept demanding to be fed, though. What's a mom to do?

"Ick, ick, ick," I'd repeat to release some raw meat heebie-jeebies as I draped chicken breasts one by one into the pan and then into the oven. 

A puddle of dish soap and a paper towel would be waiting for me at the sink. I couldn't get my hands clean fast enough.

I still don't enjoy the process but look at me go! This chicken fingers recipe is pretty hands-on, but if I can do it, you can do it.

Everyone agreed it was yummy. I think I'll do it again sometime!

Chicken Fingers

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1/8 cup baking powder

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

3 pounds of chicken breasts, thawed

2 eggs, beaten

1 stick of butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Line a baking sheet with foil and grease it. I used olive oil.
3. Mix the first 8 ingredients in a large bowl.
4. Beat the eggs in a shallow dish.
5. Cut the chicken breasts into 1/2" strips.
     I used kitchen scissors and didn't even wear food handling gloves!
6. Roll some chicken pieces in the egg.
7. Then coat each piece with the flour mixture. Shake off excess.
8. Put chicken pieces on the foil-lined sheet. 
9. Drizzle with some butter.
10. Bake about 7 minutes. 
11. Turn the chicken over and bake another 7 minutes.
12. They should be white inside, not pink.
13. If they are at all pink, bake a few minutes more.

We had a finger food frenzy on Friday! 

On the menu: 

chicken fingers, cheese and crackers, pineapple chunks, pickles and green olives.

 No big whoop.

Hope you're having a lovely day! 

Homemade tortilla chips

Oh my goo'ness, you simply must try these homemade tortilla chips.

They are super easy but also crispy and good!

Tortilla Chips

Ingredients:
Soft-shell flour tortillas
Olive oil
Garlic powder (and any other spices which sound good)
Salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Lightly grease a cookie sheet with olive oil.
Cut the tortillas into four pieces...or eight pieces. Up to you.
Place the cut tortillas on cookie sheet.
Brush with olive oil.
Sprinkle with a bit of garlic powder.
Bake at 400 degrees for 5 to 7 minutes--until they are golden but not too dark.
Salt the chips as they come out of the oven.
Serve with a bowl of salsa.

 
Shared on these neighborly sites:
Mad in Crafts
Flour Me with Love
Tales from Trish
Adventures of a DIY Mom
Growing Home Blog 

Happy Pretzel Day!

Who loves pretzels? I love pretzels!!

Here is how I make them...

Soft Pretzels 

Ingredients:

4 teaspoons yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 ¼ cups warm water

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve above ingredients and let sit for about 10 minutes. The mixture should foam a little.

Into the yeast mixture, add the following ingredients:
3 ½ cups flour
½ cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

On a floured plate or board, knead the dough. Add about one cup more flour as needed during kneading.

Lightly oil a large bowl and roll the dough in it, so that all sides of the dough are lightly covered with oil.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a greased towel and let rise in a warm place for about an hour and a half.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Shape dough into 12 pretzel shapes or about 24 twisty sticks. It seems twisty sticks are faster to shape, easier to handle, and brown more uniformly when baking (but you do what you want).

In a saucepan, dissolve ½ cup of baking soda into 4 cups of hot water. Simmer gently.

Dunk one or two pretzels at a time into the water. Use a slotted spoon or wire basket-type spatula so some of the water drains off. (Stir water mixture often to prevent baking soda from clinging to the pretzels).

Bake pretzels on a greased baking sheet for about 8 minutes or until golden brown.

Immediately brush with melted butter.

Then, enjoy them as is…or
*dip them in a bowl of parmesan cheese; or
*sprinkle a cinnamon/sugar mixture on top; or
*sprinkle course salt on top.

These are so soft and delicious--you’ll want to eat them all at once.

Taco dip for you and me

Thought I'd share my favorite taco dip recipe.

TACO DIP

Ingredients

2 cans of refried beans
1 pound of shredded cheddar or taco-flavored cheese
Sour cream
Salsa
Lettuce
Chopped black olives
Chopped onions
Tortilla chips
Guacamole (if I had my way...but my family violently protests)

Instructions

• Spread the refried beans in a 9 x 13 microwaveable dish.
• Microwave according to bean directions.
• On top of the beans, spread some sour cream.
• Then spread some salsa.
• On top of the salsa, sprinkle most of the shredded cheese (save a little).
• Top the dish with chopped lettuce.
• Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.
• Decorate with dainty dollops of sour cream, salsa and...
       GUACAMOLE (living vicariously through you if you don't mind) 
• Add black olives and onions.
• Place a bowl of tortilla chips nearby to accompany your masterpiece. 

Is this recipe similar to your favorite taco dip??

Time to "PARTY!"

 

Gotta love AFTER Christmas. 

Party and relax.  

Party and relax. 

Party and relax.