Crunchwraps

Why is it that the foods that are the worst for you nutritionally usually taste the best?  For instance:  Oreo cookies, french fries, a slice of triple meat extra cheesy pizza, donuts, deep fried pickles, ice-cream...the list could go on and on.  Another example could be almost anything from a fast food restaurant.  It's so easy and convenient but can be oh, so bad for you!

After a long day at work, or a long work week, it's so tempting for me to stop and pick up a quick meal on our way home.  Usually I'll opt for a quick pizza as a surprise for Mike but we certainly enjoy our local fast food restaurants too.  We try to limit how often we eat out--we have to watch our budgets and our waistlines, you know! 

But I've found a healthier alternative, making fast food copy cat recipes at home!  A friend recently mentioned how much he loves Crunchwrap Supremes from Taco Bell.  While I have to admit, I've never had one before, they sounded so good I knew I had to make them at home.  This recipe was so easy to put together (especially because I had taco meat in the freezer), and Mike and I both loved it.

One great thing about this recipe is that you can totally customize it to fit your preferences.  Feel free to use ground beef or ground turkey.  Need vegetarian?  Forget the meat and use re-fried beans instead.  Then top it off with your choice of toppings--tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, guacamole--whatever your heart desires!

Crunchwraps

Makes 2

2 burrito sized flour tortillas
1 cup taco meat
1 medium tomato, diced
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
8 Doritos chips, any flavor (we used Enchilada Supreme)
additional taco toppings as desired

1.  Warm tortillas in the microwave for about 20 seconds, until they are soft and pliable.

2.  Spoon 1/2 of the taco meat mixture onto each tortilla.  Keep the meat in a circle in the center of the tortilla.

3. Top the taco meat with diced tomatoes and then sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

4.  Arrange 4 Doritos chips on top of the cheese on each tortilla.

5.  Starting at the bottom of the flour tortilla, fold the edge up to the center.  Continue in a clock-wise direction around the tortilla, folding the edge up to the center to enclose the filling.  (See above picture for a finished tortilla.)

6.  Spray a small frying pan with cooking spray.  Place the folded side of the tortilla down in the pan and press gently with a large spatula.  Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes, then flip and cook another 3 minutes.  Repeat with remaining tortilla.

Serve hot and topped with your desired toppings.

Inspired by Taco Bell

Saturday Sweetness

What kind of delicious foods did you and your family enjoy this week?  In case you missed some posts here's what I shared earlier this week:

Turkey Meatballs--so easy to make, and if you make them ahead and freeze them, supper is ready in minutes!

Foodie PenPal--a recap of the fantastic box I received in October.

Molten Caramel Apple Cake--a delicious cake that is oozing fall flavors!

I love to browse Pinterest for ideas and inspiration.  Are you following me yet?  If not, you can follow me here.  Here are some of my favorite things I pinned this week:

Glazed Donut Pancakes

I love pancakes and I love donuts.  Combining the two of them is sheer genius!

Source: ohbiteit.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

These cupcakes look amazing!  I love the fall sprinkles too.



Source: ladybehindthecurtain.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Chicken Enchilada Casserole 

This casserole looks amazing!  Mike and I are big fans of enchiladas and I think adding chicken will really put this recipe over the top.

Source: pinchofyum.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Muddy Buddy Cheeseball 

The minute I saw this cheeseball, I knew it had to be from Dorothy.  She took one of my favorite snacks and made it into a cheeseball--way to go!

Source: crazyforcrust.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Peanut Butter Rolo Blondies 

Peanut butter and caramel filled chocolate in a blondie?  I'm sold!

Source: twopeasandtheirpod.com via Melissa on Pinterest

What did you pin this week?

Molten Caramel Apple Cakes

How was your Halloween?  Did you (or your kids) bring home a bundle of candy?  We had a surprisingly low amount of trick-or-treaters through our subdivision this year.  I think it was too cold and wet, as we were still dealing with the rain brought on by Hurricane Sandy.  I started handing out just one or two pieces of candy to each child, but about 15 minutes before I turned our light off, I started giving out handfuls!  And, I still have candy leftover!  C'est la vie...

Now that Halloween is over, I can focus on Thanksgiving...and then Christmas!  But how about Thanksgiving first?  Sometimes Thanksgiving seems to get skipped over, but we all have so much to be thankful for.  I think it's important to really set a day aside to be thankful for what we have (we should be thankful every day too!) 

The weather has drastically changed in the past week.  Last week we were setting records by how warm it was.  This week we've returned to fall weather and it's been cold, dreary, and blustery!  Of course, when it feels like fall I want to enjoy the tastes of fall too!  For me, that means lots of apple and pumpkin flavored foods.  I have a few more fall recipes coming up this month, and today I want to share these molten cakes.

I absolutely adore Molten Cakes.  I find it quite entertaining  to stick my fork into a cake and have a deliciously gooey center ooze out.   That was certainly the case for these Molten Caramel Apple Cakes.   Between the caramel and the apples, these cakes just scream fall!  Plus, because Mike and I can never eat an entire cake between the two of us, I was thrilled that this recipe makes just 2 single serving cakes.  Mike opted out of eating his (silly boy!) and so I enjoyed his cake for breakfast one morning!  Shhhh....don't tell!

Molten Caramel Apple Cakes

Serves 2

2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs

2 eggs

1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup caramel ice cream topping
3 tablespoons flour
1 small apple peeled and chopped
Powdered Sugar

1.  Spray bottoms and sides of 2 8-ounce ramekins with baking spray. Sprinkle cracker crumbs onto bottom and around side of each cup.

2.  In large bowl, beat eggs with wire whisk until well blended.

3.  Beat in brown sugar.

4.  Beat in caramel topping and flour until well blended.

5.  Stir in apple.

6.  Divide batter evenly among custard cups. Place cups on cookie sheet.

7.  Bake at 450 for 20 minutes or until sides are set and centers are still soft but not liquid (tops will be slightly puffed). Be careful not to over bake the cakes!

8.  Remove the ramekins from the cookie sheet. Let the cakes for stand 3 minutes before running a small knife along sides of cakes to loosen.

9.  Immediately place a plate upside down over top of each cup; turn the plate and cup over. Remove cup. Sprinkle cakes with powdered sugar.

Serve warm.

Source:  A Crafty Cook

Foodie PenPal

It's time for the Foodie PenPal reveal!  This month, I received a fantastic package from Courtney.  We both think that we'd get along really well since we both love food and are runners.  I knew I could expect a great box from Courtney and she certainly didn't disappoint!

Courtney sent me some great snacks--a Pineapple Upside Down Cake Larabar, a Sweet Indian Curry Coconut Milk Chocolate Bar (I can't wait to try it!), and Chocolate Hazelnut Butter.  I enjoyed the Hazelnut Butter on an apple for lunch one day.  And, the Larabar is part of my lunch for this afternoon!  The Naga Bar is tucked away for a day I'm really craving chocolate!

Courtney also sent me some Cranberry & Hazelnut Crackers.  She said that she received them from a PenPal and loved them so much she sent me a box too! 

Courtney also sent me some Pure Honey and Starbucks Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa.  It's kind of funny because a couple of weeks ago Mike and I were talking about how cute those honey bears are and then Courtney sent me one. Also, you simply can't go wrong with Caramel Hot Chocolate!!!

Courtney, thanks again for an awesome box!  I appreciate it (and you) so much!  :)

I sent a package to Deb...if you'd like to see what I sent, visit her site:  Cooking on the Front Burner.

Are you interested in participating in Foodie Pen Pals? Here's some important info for you!

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! -The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
-Foodie Penpals is open to US & Canadian residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa.

If you’re interested in participating for November, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

You must submit your information by November 4th as pairings will be emailed on November 5th!

Turkey Meatballs

A couple of weeks ago my friend and I got together and spent a few hours making freezer meals.  We both work full-time and sometimes struggle to put a healthy homemade meal on the table every night after work.  Making freezer meals turned out to be an excellent solution!  We spent about 4 or 5 hours putting together our meals and each of us ended up with 14 freezer meals.

One of the recipes that we made was meatballs.  We mixed the meat, rolled them into balls and flash froze them before placing the meatballs in freezer bags.  When I was ready to use the meatballs, it took a minimal amount of time to cook the spaghetti (or spaghetti squash in my case), heat up some sauce, and cook the meatballs.  A healthy and delicious meal was on the dinner table in a record amount of time!

We're already planning our next freezer meal cooking day, as we've deemed our recent one a huge success!  Some of the recipes we froze are already on my blog, like pizza dough and beef stew, but I have a few new recipes that I'll be sharing in the future.  Have you ever made freezer meals?

Meatballs

Makes approximately 24 1-inch meatballs

1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

1 egg, lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon milk
1 Tablespoon ketchup
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound ground turkey

1.  In a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients together until completely combined.

2.  Roll meat into 1 inch balls.

**If you're freezing the meatballs: place the rolled meatballs in a single layer onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet and place in your freezer for approximately 1 hour.  When the meatballs are hard, place them in a Ziploc freezer bag and freeze.  When you're ready to cook the meatballs, continue at step 3.

3.  Preheat a small amount of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.

4.  Add meatballs to the warm oil and cook for about 5 minutes per side, turning the meatballs as each side browns.  Cut into one meatball to ensure that it is completely cooked.

**You can also freeze the meatballs after cooking them.

Adapted from:  Finding Joy in My Kitchen

Saturday Sweetness

I don't know about you, but I find a lot of inspiration via Pinterest. I try to limit the amount of time I spend browsing, because it certainly would be easy to spend all day on Pinterest!  I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite pins from each week with you, so each Saturday I'll be featuring some recent pins that I thought were sweet--both literally and figuratively.  I'd love for you to join in my posting some of your favorite pins in the comments!

Apple Cider Baked Donuts

Source: foodiemisadventures.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Banana Bread Pancakes

Source: chelsniccuisine.blogspot.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Cookies and Cream Popcorn

Source: ericasweettooth.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars

Source: lifessimplemeasures.blogspot.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Butterfinger Fudge

Source: crazyforcrust.com via Melissa on Pinterest


Easy Creamy Mac & Cheese

Source: clevercraftycookinmama.blogspot.com via Melissa on Pinterest

If you choose to re-pin any of these recipes, please be sure to pin from the original website, not mine. Thanks :)

Apple Cinnamon Popcorn

Early this week I had the honor of attending the first ever Online BlogCon, a fabulous online blog conference put on by Dorothy and Ashton.  The best part about the conference was that I could attend on my on time.  There was no travelling required and I could read the posts in my pajamas if I wanted to!  The speakers were so informative and I met a lot of new bloggers through the Facebook Group.

I learned a lot from the conference and I'm still trying to absorb all the information.  I'm trying to implement some positive changes around here, and I hope that you'll find them to be positive as well.  One change that's already in place (and has been a long time coming) is my Recipe Catalog.  It's the new tab up at the top and I've categorized every recipe on this blog.  I hope that makes it easier for you to find recipes!

 

Mike and I don't go to the movies too often, but when we do, we try to go on a Saturday morning so we can get the matinee pricing.  Then we don't feel too bad about splurging for a popcorn and pop!  The movie theater we go to has a flavor station where you can add your own flavors to your popcorn--anything from ranch to white cheddar to caramel to apple cinnamon.  I love sweet popcorn so it's no surprise that I tend to sprinkle the caramel and apple cinnamon on our popcorn. 

We often have movie nights at home on the weekend, and that means popcorn!  One night I decided that I wanted flavored popcorn.  I ground up some apple chips until they were like powder.  Then I mixed in some cinnamon and sugar and sprinkled it over our popcorn.  It was delicious!  I kept the leftovers in a glass container and now I find myself craving popcorn even when it's not movie night!

 

Apple Cinnamon Popcorn Flavoring

 

1 (2.5 ounce) bag crispy apple chips

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 Tablespoon sugar

 

1.  In a blender (I used our bullet), grind the apple chips until they resemble a powder.

 

2.  Add cinnamon and sugar and blend to mix.  (Feel free to add additional cinnamon or sugar to suit your tastes.)

 

Sprinkle flavoring over popcorn.  Store in an airtight container.

 

Deep Dish Cookie Pie

I've found that once you get out of your routine, it can be quite challenging to get back into it.  For the past 2-1/2 years, I've been working out 5 or 6 days a week.  Since I began running 2 years ago, I've been almost constantly training for a race.  When I wasn't training, I was doing strength workouts or Zumba just to keep moving.  Since my half marathon last month, I've had absolutely no motivation.  I had told myself I could take the week following the race off from training to give my body a chance to rest and heal.  Well, that week has turned into a month!  I get up every morning to make Mike's lunch and then rather than staying up to exercise, I've gone back to bed.  I just can't find the motivation--a nice warm bed sounds so good!  Some mornings I'll wake up and tell myself that I'm going to work out and the next thing I know, I'm crawling back in bed.  This morning I was convinced I'd go to the gym...but I didn't.  So, if you've seen my motivation, will you please send it back to me?

This dessert has absolutely nothing to do with running or motivation.  Unless of course you count that this deep dish cookie pie is so delicious the taste will motivate you to run to the kitchen to make it.  That was a bit of a stretch but run with me on this...haha.

My friend and I discovered the blog Chocolate Covered Katie around the same time.  It's a blog featuring healthy desserts.  We had my friend and her husband over for dinner and she brought along this pie for dessert.  I absolutely loved it!  She had me try to guess what the pie was made of and I had absolutely no clue.  Who would have thought that such a delicious dessert was made from garbanzo beans?  Honestly, I don't think that you would know it was healthy if I didn't tell you.  Please don't be alarmed by the ingredients in this recipe--it's amazing!

Deep Dish Cookie Pie

2 cans garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed) (500g total, once drained)
1 cup quick oats
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup chocolate chips

1.  Blend the garbanzo beans, oats, applesauce, vegetable oil, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar very well in a food processor (not a blender).   If needed, do this in 2 batches, depending on the size of your food processor.

2.  Mix in chocolate chips, and pour into an greased 10" springform pan.

3.  Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

4.  Let the pie stand at least 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

Slice and serve.

Source:  Chocolate Covered Katie

Homemade Cheez-It Crackers

I'm a big snacker.  I blame it on my grandparents :)  Our family jokes that every time we go to Canada to visit, all we do is eat.  A typical day consists of a lot of food:  breakfast at 8, coffee and snacks at 10, lunch at 12, tea and snacks at 3, supper at 5:30, tea and snacks at 8.  Whew!  That's a lot of eating!  I don't think I eat that much when I'm at home, but I definitely enjoy my snacks!

Lucky for me, Mike enjoys his snacks too.  However, we both have different preferences when it comes to snacking.  I like sweet snacks--a piece of cake, a brownie, a donut, a piece of chocolate etc.  Mike won't turn down a sweet snack like ice-cream but he definitely prefers salty snacks like chips.  One of his favorite snacks is Cheez-It Crackers.  Sometimes I have to ration them out for him because he could eat an entire box in one sitting!

This month I was assigned to Delicious Existence for the Secret Recipe Club.  Her blog focuses on eating healthier foods.  I began browsing through her Kitchen Adventures posts and came across a recipe for Homemade Cheez-It Crackers.  My search ended right then and there as I knew a certain somebody would be thrilled with this snack.

I did make a lot of changes to the ingedients in this recipe as we do not eat vegan.  I used all purpose flour, butter, and real shredded cheese.  I've noted a few tips through-out the recipe as well.  My crackers did not get very crispy, but I think I made them too thick.  They still tasted really similar to Cheez-Its!  I'm looking forward to making these crackers again with different cheeses and rolling them thinner.

Homemade Cheez-It Crackers

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
4 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into pieces
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
5 Tablespoon water

1.  Combine the flour, butter, cheddar cheese, cayenne pepper, and paprika in your food process and process until you have small crumbs.

2.   Add the water and continue to process until a ball of dough is formed.

3.  Form a circle of dough with your hands and wrap it in plastic wrap.

4.  Refrigerate dough for 45 minutes, then place in the freezer for 15 minutes.  (I believe you could also just refrigerate overnight and bake the crackers the next day.)  You want the dough to be very cold.

5.  Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out to 1/8" thick.  (I placed the dough on a floured surface and then covered it with the plastic wrap.  Then I rolled the dough out with a rolling pin.  This prevented the dough from sticking and I didn't have to keep adding flour.)

6.  Use a pizza cutter to cut dough into 1/2" squares.  If desired, gently poke each square in the center with a round skewer to create the traditional Cheez-It look.

7.  Transfer squares to an ungreased glass pan and bake at 350 for 15- 20 minutes.  (My squares were thicker than 1/8" and took 23 minutes to bake.)

8.  When the crackers are golden and crispy, removed them from the oven.

Allow the crackers to cool before eating them.  Store any leftovers in an airtight container.

Source: Delicious Existence

Pumpkin Donut Muffins

The days are getting shorter and the temperatures are dropping.  The leaves are changing and the wind is picking up.  Pumpkins and apples are dominating the market and blog-land.  Fall is here in full force!

I love to use fresh seasonal products, so I'm really enjoying pumpkins and apples right now.  I made some homemade pumpkin puree and decided to use that in this recipe.  The texture and color is slightly different from canned pumpkin puree.  Mine was a light yellow color and I strained a lot of water out of it before adding it into the recipe.  The muffins cooked up perfectly and have a subtle pumpkin flavor.  The cinnamon sugar coating gives these muffins a slight crunch and they really do taste like donuts!

Pumpkin Donut Muffins

Makes 12-16 muffins

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/3 cup buttermilk
1-1/4 cups pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
2-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.  Set aside.

2.  In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk and pumpkin puree.  Set aside.

3.  Place the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

4.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until well combined. 

5.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and add flour mixture and pumpkin mixture alternating between the two.  Beat until just combined. 

6.  Scoop the batter evenly into greased muffin tins.  (A 1/3 cup measuring cup is perfect for this!)

7.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

8.  Let the muffins cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

9.  While the muffins are cooling, melt the butter in a small bowl.

10.  In another small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.

11.  Working one a time, dip each muffin into the melted butter.  Then roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture until completely coated.  Return muffins to the wire rack and cool completely.

Store leftovers in an airtight container.

Source:  Brown Eyed Baker