Fire Crackers

I threw together these Fire Crackers with a bit of an inspiration, but also with a lot of "I think I'll do this instead...".

It's a great party or get together food, which is perfect because they are also very simple to throw together.  These little crackers can pack some heat, yet they are pretty darn addictive.  I would know.

First off, preheat your oven to 250 degrees.  I started off with one stick of butter plus about 2 or 3 tablespoons.  On a large baking pan, evenly spread out slices of  butter and slip the pan into the oven to melt.  Watch this closely, butter begins to burn very quickly!  Once the butter is melted, add to your baking pan about 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, 2 to 3 tablespoons red pepper flakes, 1/2 packet of Ranch dressing mix, 1 teaspoon of parsley, 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt, 1/4 teaspoon onion powder.  This was the point where I just added as I felt it was needed and kinda guesstimated on measurements.  This is definitely a "what you like" type of process.  Mix the butter and spices well.  Add 2.5 cups Cheez-its, 2.5 cups Mini Club crackers, and 2.5 cups Soup and Oyster crackers (or Mini Saltines).  Toss the crackers well, coating evenly with the butter mixture.  Bake for 30 minutes, pulling the pan  out once at 15 minutes to toss the crackers well once again.  Allow the crackers to cool and then store in an airtight glass jar.

M&M Granola Trail Mix

Around this time of year, several Fall and Holiday type of recipes emerge from our recipe boxes.  They hang around for the rest of the year, and on into January of the new year.  Often, the two recipes I'm highlighting today, end up in small portions for gift baskets or in a Christmas tin for small gifts for friends.  They are perfect for fending off the vultures hovering in the kitchen disturbing the work snacking on while Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner is being prepared.  ;)  They are also great Super Bowl snacks to have out during the big game!

A couple years ago, about this time, I introduced to you my family's twist on Chex Mix (photo on right).  Today we are going to look at an M&M Granola Trail Mix (photo on the left).  A sweet friend gave me a tin of this trail mix a couple years ago at Christmas and it quickly became a favorite.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons honey

3 cups granola*

2 cups M&Ms*

1 cup nuts (of your choice; mixed or peanuts or almonds, etc)

1 cup pretzel twists

Directions:

Melt honey and butter over low heat, gently stirring, until blended.  Remove from heat, and add granola, nuts, and pretzels.  Stir until coated with honey and butter mixture.  Spread on cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 10 minutes.  Spread on wax paper and allow to cool.  Mix in M&Ms.  

*Notes:

The original mix I received as a gift is exactly as the above recipe.  However, when I make it, in place of traditional granola, I often use Kashi Honey Almond Flax Cereal.  Also, I find that 2 cups of M&Ms are just a little too much; I often cut back to only 1 cup.  Lastly, I increase the butter/honey mixture by a little bit -- it coats the dry ingredients much better, and I don't feel so badly about it as long as I'm using raw local honey and real butter.  I could definitely see adding sesame seeds as well as dried cranberries.  I personally do not care for raisins  though I know many would prefer them over the cranberries.  Any of these additions should be added with the granola, nuts, and pretzels.  

Homemade Salsa

I love this salsa recipe.  It's so simple to throw together and the flavor is very full and... well, you can't stop eating this salsa!  It makes up quite a bit, which is a very good thing.  I've recently started using Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes, but I've also used just regular Diced Tomatoes.  I've considered using some of the tomatoes that have other flavors already thrown in, but since I use fresh green onions, cilantro, lime, and garlic, I usually end up getting plain tomatoes.  I'd love to try fresh tomatoes, but just haven't yet.  The bonus to that is it's usually easy to have the ingredients on hand.  Which is nice when you live 20 minutes from town!

Ingredients:
2 cans Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
1 can Rotel
1 small can tomato paste
1/2 to 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
2-3 green onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Serrano pepper, seeded and diced
sea salt, to taste
juice of one lime

Directions:
In a blender, blend tomatoes, Rotel, tomato paste, garlic cloves, Serrano pepper, sea salt, and lime juice.

Transfer to a large bowl and mix in (by hand) cilantro and green onions.

Store in clean mason jars or a glass refrigerator dish.

Pretzel Bites with Honey Mustard Sauce

Why, yes, this is another Pinterest find.  I can't help it.  But this doesn't even begin to cover the multitude of recipes and ideas I've been pinning.  It's a sickness, I tell you.

Anyway, these pretzel bites are just as good as they are in the mall stores!  They don't keep well, though, so you may as well eat them all at once.  Just throwing that out there.  You're welcome.

As for the Honey Mustard Sauce -- It's incredibly simple to throw together and is (rather surprisingly) really good!  Much better than the jarred stuff on the market, I think.

The pretzel bites come from the blog Two Peas and Their Pod.  They share an amazing sounding/looking and easy cheese dip here as well.  I'll definitely be trying that some day, but on this particular day I used a Honey Mustard recipe I found online somewhere.  This would also be great with chicken strips or as a dressing on a salad.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoon prepared mustard
2 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon lemon juice


Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, honey, and lemon juice.  Store covered in the refrigerator.

Reindeer Cookies

These Reindeer Cookies were one of the hottest pins on Pinterest right before Christmas.  I thought they would be a big hit with the kids at our Christmas dinner.  These little guys were incredibly easy to make, though a bit time consuming.  It would be a really fun afternoon with the littles in your life, though!

I actually wanted mini M&Ms for the little noses, but couldn't find any in the grocery store.  Next year, I'll begin looking a little sooner and try to come up with some, because I think that would be more tasty than a red hot.  ;)

I've also seen this same concept done with white almond bark to create little snowmen, with mini M&Ms for buttons down the front and using Wilton Food Writer Edible Color Markers to draw in eyes and nose.

Ingredients
Nutter Butter Cookies
Chocolate Almond Bark

Wilton Candy Eyeballs

Pretzels

Red Hots

Directions:

According to package directions, melt about 3 blocks of chocolate almond bark.  Completely coat 1 Nutter Butter cookie.  Working quickly before almond bark hardens, place your pretzel for the antlers, and then place your eyes and nose.  Continue this method until your almond bark becomes a little too stiff to coat nicely.  Allow the cookies to harden on wax paper until set and then store in an airtight container.


Note: I used about 6 blocks of chocolate almond bark to coat an entire package of Nutter Butters.  3 blocks of almond bark was a good amount to melt at a time; I found I was just getting to the unworkable point as I got to the end of the first batch of melted bark.

Special K / Wheaties Clusters

I first had these during a music camp at church (think VBS except we learned a musical in one week to perform on Friday night).  I remember the ladies working hard in the kitchen making us snacks while we rehearsed.  Thank you Kristy! :)  They are so yummy and just enough different to be something "new" for a lot people. The recipe I have is actually named "Special K Clusters" and indicates that Wheaties is an alternative for the cereal. For some reason, I've always made them with Wheaties, so I adjusted the name when I wrote the title.

Ingredients:
1 cup white Karo syrup
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup peanut butter
5 cups Special K or Wheaties flakes

Directions:
Bring Karo syrup and sugar to a rolling boil.
Remove from heat and add vanilla, peanut butter, and cereal; mix well.
Working quickly, drop by spoonfuls on wax paper.
Once the clusters set up, transfer to an airtight container for storage.

Chicken Enchilada Dip

Here's a really great dip that's super easy to throw together -- and the best part is it warms up in a Crock-Pot.  It would be perfect for football bowl games, Christmas and New Year's parties, and family get-togethers this season!

Ingredients:
1 family size Cream of Chicken soup
1 bundle green onions, chipped
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 (16 ounce) tub sour cream
1 pound chicken fajita meat, cooked

Directions:
Combine the first 4 ingredients until well blend.  Add in the fajita meat.  Heat through in Crock Pot and serve with tortilla chips.

Chex Mix

In my family, we have our own version of Chex Mix.  Over the years, the recipe (which probably originated from the original on the Chex cereal boxes) has progressed into the recipe below.  Every year, about this time, we start making Chex Mix and it remains a staple through the holidays.

Ingredients:
1 stick of butter*
1 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
5 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
several dashes of hot sauce, depending on your preference

2 cups each of:
rice Chex, corn Chex, wheat Chex, and Cheerios
And various amounts (to your liking) of: pretzels, mixed nuts, Cheez-Its, and oyster crackers.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 250.  On a large jelly roll pan, place the stick of butter and allow it to melt completely while the oven heats.  Once the butter is melted, add the sauces and seasonings and mix until well blended.  Add cereals and other chosen ingredients.  Toss until pieces are well coated.  In a 250 degree oven, bake one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

*you may need to add a bit more butter, depending on your cereal and addition amounts