buffalo cauliflower bites

I had a head of cauliflower in my fridge just waiting for something to happen with it. I've wanted to make these brilliant Buffalo Cauliflower Bites for a long time and since I had no particular plans for the this said cauliflower I took the opportunity. It was super quick and easy and had my husband wanting more. The tangy buffalo coated cauliflower hot to the touch dipped in the cool creamy blue cheese dressing is mind blowing. Perfect little side to any dinner or just a great appetizer while you wait for dinner to finish cooking. 

Ingredients: 

1 head cauliflower 

1 cup milk 

3/4 cup whole wheat flour 

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 cup Franks Red Hot Sauce 

Blue cheese or your choice of dipping sauce

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 450

Combine flour and milk to create batter. Add garlic powder. Cut up head of cauliflower into bite size pieces. Dip each cauliflower into batter. Shake off as much excess batter and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake for about 15-20 minutes. Flip them over midway. 

While they bake, melt unsalted butter in a wide sauce pan. Add Frank's Hot Sauce and stir. Remove cauliflower from oven and throw them in the sauce pan. Toss them in the sauce to coat. Place them back on the baking sheet and back in the oven for about 10 minutes until they turn golden. Flip them again to get the underside. 

Remove and serve while hot with Blue Cheese (you won't be mad!) or your choice dipping sauce. Enjoy!

on a nacho bake...

Holy cow. This Nacho Bake was totally a spur of the moment thing and yet, I'm so happy that it happened! It was finger licking good! Sometimes dinner just has to be fun and this was one of those nights were we just wanted to sit in front of the television and veg out. However, this could be a great appetizer or would of been perfect for Cinco de Mayo! Of course you can super creative with nachos but here's how I made mine.

Ingredients: 
Tortilla chips
1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup water
Taco Seasoning
1 can black beans 
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 green peppers
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded 
1/2 cup Ortega Taco Sauce 
Jalapeño slices for garnish 

Directions:
1. Cook ground beef on a skillet until it browns. Add taco seasoning and water and cook for a few minutes. Add blacked beans, cook for 10 minutes and set aside. 
2. Saute green pepper in olive oil until tender and then add them to the ground beef and mix everything together. 
3. Take a oven safe dish and later tortilla chips on the bottom. Add ground beef mixture and then the cheese on the top. Pour taco sauce over it and set into a oven that's been preheat to 350. Bake for 15 minutes until cheese has melted and it bubbly. 
4. Top with jalapeño slices and serve with sour cream & guacamole. 

Enjoy!

on deviled eggs 2 ways...

Happy Easter everyone! I hope all of you are able to spend quality time with family and friends. We started our morning with a visit from the Easter bunny. Sebastian was very happy to see some goodies waiting for him in the living room. And soon we'll be getting ready to head over to my in law's to enjoy some great food and lots of laughs.  

I don't know about you but deviled eggs are a tradition for us. Easter isn't Easter without deviled eggs and I always manage to make a Traditional Deviled Egg and then another kind. This year I created a Chicken Dill Deviled Egg. They turned out delicious and so I knew I had to share just in case any of you need a quick idea for this morning before all your guest come! Get crackin'!

Classic Deviled Egg
Ingredients:
10 eggs hard boiled
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon white vinegar
paprika for garnish

Directions:
1// Boil eggs. Cut hard boiled eggs in half and scoop out the yellow yolk into a mixing bowl. Add all the rest of the ingredients in with the yolk. Using a kitchen aid or hand mixer blend everything together until mixture becomes creamy.
2// Pipe yolk mixture into eggs and sprinkle paprika on top.

When making these Chicken Dill Deviled Eggs I simple added the following ingredients to half of the recipes above. Since I was making two different kinds it was easier this way. 

Chicken Dill Deviled Eggs
Ingredients:
*use all the same base ingredients as above*
1 chicken breast, minced
1 teaspoon Worchestire sauce 
1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped 

Directions: 
1// Mix all the ingredients above into the other half of the Classic Deviled Eggs. 
2// Garnish each egg with a sprig of dill.

Tip: Hard boiling eggs can be a challenge. I like to say that I have perfected it. I know many people that always tell me that they despise making hard boiled eggs because when they go to peel them it's never simple and clean. 
One of my favorite food bloggers went and tested three different hard boiling methods and found that the "Quick Boil and Let Sit" method works the best. Funny, because that method has always been the one that I've used!! I swear by it and so if you aren't familiar with this method jump on over to Baked Bree and check it out. I will never us any other way.
** Also I scoop the deviled egg mixture into a ziplock back and use that to pipe it into the egg whites. So simple and less messy.**

Have a great day!
xoxo.

on cilantro ginger hummus...

I took a three day hiatus from the blog. Sometimes you just need that, you know what I mean? It was a nice because I did some things that I don't normally have time for like give myself a fancy manicure which we all know that takes some time to do. Also I took Sebastian to see that new kid's movie out The Croods. Sebastian and I give it two thumbs up! We loved every second of it and I highly recommend it if you have a little one.
So, now that I'm back I wanted to share a fun hummus recipe with you. I adore hummus. I use my food processor the most to make all kinds of hummus. I'm on a huge cilantro kick lately and this Cilantro Ginger combo has become my favorite out of all that I've experimented with. Making hummus is super easy and I always like to keep some in the fridge to snack on with Wheat Thins or toasted pitas! Yum! 

Cilantro Ginger Hummus
Ingredients: makes about 2 cups
1- 15 0z can chickpeas, drained 
1/4 cup Tahini (sesame paste) 
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinaigrette 
1 garlic clove
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup cilantro
1 whole plum tomato
2 whole scallions 

Direction:
1// Combine everything into a food processor and puree until it becomes smooth. Easy! 
tip: if you like your hummus a bit more smooth or runny then instead of draining the can of chickpeas leave about 1/4 cup and add it in with everything else. If you enjoy hummus to be a little bit on the thick creamy side then go ahead and stick to my recipe. 

Have you made hummus? What's your favorite kind to make? 

xoxo. 

on good eats tuesday v.2...

After my lousy weekend I wasn't able to do what I had originally planned for this weeks feature so I decided to do something fun & easy and something I've been wanting to make for a super long time. Crab Rangoons!! We love rangoons and every time we order from our local Chinese Take-Out restaurant we always get an order of crab rangoons. It's a must! Well, now you can just make them in the comfort of your own home. Hurrah!


Ingredients: makes about 20 
1 can crab meat (or you can use 6oz of imitation crab if you'd like)
1 block of cream cheese
4-5 green onions, diced
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon powdered sugar 
a pinch of salt 
won ton wraps
1 tablespoon melted butter

Add first six ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix. I used my old hand mixer to make things go a bit quicker. Yes, it's really that simple!

Next all you have to do is construct the mouth watering bites. I bought a pack of won ton wraps at Wegmans in the "Asian" isle. However if you're not cool like me and don't have a Wegmans I'm sure you can find them in any Asian supermarket or specialty food store. Lay the wrap down on a flat surface and place a dollop of the mixture right in the center. Have a little bowl of cold water next to you and dip your fingers in the water and moisten the edges of the square. You can kind of see the sheen of the water in the above square. This in turn with help the dough stick together. You can form the rangoon into two different shapes. First you can take the bottom corner and fold it up to the top corner making a triangle. 

Once you make the triangle then pinch all the seams together and your done! The other shape you can make is, what I like to call, the pouch. Forget technical terms here my friend. Here it's called the pouch. 

This one takes a little bit more time but really it's done the same way. Grab all the corners and join them at the top. It will automatically form into a pouch and then pinch all the seams together. Don't forget the step with the water because what's really helps the seams stick together. 

Put these bad boys on a baking sheet then brush some melted butter on top and bake for about 12-15 minutes. I chose to bake them. Baking is just one option, you can also deep fry them. I just was looking for the healthiest route.

When done, pull them out and they should have a nice golden brown look. Two things to watch out for: First, make sure you don't over fill the rangoons because otherwise they will spill out when baking, I know because a few of mine decided to overflow. Secondly, these are really great warm but beware that the filling will still be hot before you try to take a bite! Yikes. I learned this first had also. Burnt. Mouth. Not. Fun.

These gems are great for an appetizer or you can have them as a side like us with our vegetable stir-fry :) Hope you enjoyed this weeks installment of Good Eats Tuesday. Check back next week for a really sweet treat!!

♥A.