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.

 

Baked apples in caramel sauce

The other night, the family was clamoring for something sweet.

I tried this on a whim and it went over well.

You should try it!

Baked apples in caramel sauce

Prepare the apples:
Peel and slice 2 apples. I used green ones.
Put apple slices in a microwave-safe bowl.
Stir in 1 Tablespoon sugar.
Shake the cinnamon jar once over the top. Not too much.
Microwave about 1 1/2 minutes on high. 
Test with a fork. Microwave longer if desired.

Prepare the caramel sauce:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
4 Tablespoons butter
Pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon maple flavoring (or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract)

Mix together the brown sugar, milk, butter and salt.
Heat the mixture over medium-low heat for about 6 minutes. 
Add maple flavoring.
Heat another few minutes until desired thickness or until your patience runs out.
Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

Drizzle some caramel sauce over the apples. 

Top with whipped cream if you have some and if you are in the mood.

There will probably be some extra caramel sauce. And that's juuuuust fine.  :)

Have a lovely day.
 

This post was shared on:
Robyn's View -- Foodie Friends Friday 

Cream cheese fruit dip for real life

 

I made this fruit dip the other day. It was healthier than my normal recipe with all the powdered sugar.

Cream Cheese Fruit Dip for Real Life

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese

1/3 cup honey

2 Tablespoons milk

Directions:

Mix ingredients well until fluffy.

Serve with chopped fruit.

Here's the real life part:

Apparently, there is something sticky on the table along with a laptop, cooling rack and some drumsticks. Yeah, I live with drummers.

What's that you say? I can't hear you! It's too loud in here!

Have a lovely day!

 
Shared on these sites:
Mad in Crafts
Flour Me with Love
Pursuit of  a Functional Home
Adventures of a DIY Mom
Growing Home Blog

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 

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??

Cereal bowl cake for emergencies

Rambunctious kids?

Doggie accidents?

This cake makes it all better ... in a hurry!

CHOCOLATE TOFFEE STRAWBERRY CAKE IN A CEREAL BOWL

Ingredients

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons toffee chips

6 strawberries, sliced

Directions

In a microwave-safe cereal bowl, combine the flour, sugar and  cocoa.

Add the egg, milk, oil and vanilla. Mix thoroughly.

Stir in the toffee chips.

Heat for 3 minutes in a 1000-watt microwave.

Arrange the sliced strawberries attractively around the edge of the cake.

Sprinkle more toffee chips in the middle. Why not?

Now it's a good day. 

 

This post was shared on these neighborly websites:

Creating my way to Success

Mad in Crafts

Flour me with Love
Adventures of a DIY Mom
Learning the Frugal Life
Growing Home Blog
Countrified Hicks 
Handy Man, Crafty Woman   
Robyn's View -- Foodie Friends Friday

Granola bars in five minutes!

Yay, five minutes! I timed it.

GRANOLA BARS IN FIVE MINUTES

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

2 cups oats

1 cup crispy rice cereal

Sprinkling of chocolate chips

And if you want, add in other stuff such as:

broken pretzels, sunflower seeds, raisins or any other nuts, seeds and/or dried fruits

Directions:

1. Boil the first three ingredients over medium-high heat.
2. Simmer for 2 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and add other ingredients except chocolate chips.
4. Press mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan.
5. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and gently press them down.
6. Cool and slice into bars.

At our house, this has become as routine as honey popcorn. 

Quick and easy, that's for me!

Honey popcorn for snuggle time

 

In the mood for something warm, sweet and salty with crunch? 

Honey popcorn is it!

Ingredients:

2/3 cup unpopped popcorn

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons honey

salt to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Get the popcorn popping in an air popper.

Melt the butter.

Add the honey and stir.

 

In a large mixing bowl, pour the honey butter over the popcorn. Stir to coat.

Spread on a baking sheet. Try to evict the old maids as you go. 

Take a hike, old maids.

 

Bake for about 6 minutes.

Sprinkle with salt before serving. 

Snuggle time!

This post was shared on these neighborly websites:

Learning the Frugal Life 

Handy Man, Crafty Woman
Frugally Sustainable
Fresh Eggs Daily Blog 
Robyn's View 
Natural Living Mamma

 

Pumpkin seeds four ways

Got some pumpkin seeds on your hands?

Then, you're on the way to a frugal, tasty snack!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Quickly rinse and dry about 2 cups of pumpkin seeds.

Mix the seeds with 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of oil.

Now, choose a flavor:

Sweet with a kick:

Add 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper.

Curried:

Add 1 tablespoon curry powder.

Onions and garlic:

Add 1 tablespoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon onion powder.

Sugar and spice:

Add 2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1 tablespoon brown sugar.

After stirring in the additional spices, spread the seeds on a baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Allow to cool and salt to taste. 

Eat as a snack or toss on a salad. Yummy and healthy!

This post was shared on these neighborly sites:

Adventures of a DIY Mom
Learning the Frugal Life
Growing Home Blog
Handy Man, Crafty Woman
Frugally Sustainable
Robyn's View 

Spruced up oyster crackers

In a constant effort to replace chips at our house, I tried this recipe last night. 

Everyone liked these juuuuust fine.

Spruced up oyster crackers 

Ingredients

1 package of Hidden Valley Ranch mix
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
5 cups oyster crackers

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Mix everything together except the oyster crackers.
3. Stir in the oyster crackers.
4. Spread crackers on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan.
5. Bake for 15 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes.
6. Let cool.

Yum.

Different kind of chips

Every shopping trip I buy a bag of junk. Salty, carby, expensive junk.

So, I decided to make my own salty, carby junk. 

Bagel chips! 

This recipe is a starting point.  Add whatever spices suit your fancy.

Here is how I did it:

Bagel Chips

Ingredients

Package of bagels
olive oil (I started with 1/2 cup and then added more)
a few teaspoons of Italian seasonings
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 
2. Slice bagels--thinner slices will become crispier slices.
3. There will be quite a few bagel pieces. That's just the way it has to be.
4. Mix the spices and cheese into the olive oil.
5. Brush bagel slices and bagel pieces with olive oil mixture.
     (I used a lot of oil and kind of regretted it. A thin coating will do.)
6. Bake on a cookie sheet for about 15 minutes or until desired crispness.
7. Add more salt if you like.