Hummus

Both are from Julia Deery

Black Bean Hummus

1/3 c. pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
2 med/large whole garlic cloves
1 15oz can black beans
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp water
juice of 1/2 a lemon or more
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup cilantro chopped (use the stemps, they have lots of flavor)
1/4 tsp chili powder and a few sprinkles of hot red pepper flakes

1. Place the pumpkin seeds in a dry saute pan and toast over low heat for 5 mins, stirring halfway through or until the seeds start to turn golden.

2. Place the pepeitas and garlic clove in a food processor and pulse for 1 min.

3. add remaining ingredients and puree until smoothe.

Traditional Hummus

4 garlic cloves
2 cups canned chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/3 c. tahini
6 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp water or liquid from chickpeas
8 dashes hot sauce

Pulse garlic in the food processor until minced. Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and process untilt he hummus is coarsely pureed. Tase, for seasoning, and serve chilled or at room temp.

Oreo Rice Crispies

Oreo Rice Crispies (from here)

6 cups Rice Krispies cereal (I'd try 5 next time)
20 regular oreos, crushed/chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
5 cups mini marshmallows
3 tbsp butter

Mix Rice Krispies and Oreos in a bowl. Add marshmellows to a large miccrowave safe bowl. Add butter to marshmallows. Microwave for 3 minutes.

Spray at 9x13 casserole dish.

Stir marshmallows and add to rice krispie mix. Press into pan.

Cheerio Treats

Cheerio Treats (From here)

Notes: I liked these, but I love Cheerios....so...

1 c. sugar
1 c. corn syrup
1 c. creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
5 cups Cheerios

In a large sauce pan, combine sugar and corn syrup. Bring to boil over medium heat.

Allow mixture to boil for 1 minute and remove from heat.

Add peanut butter and vanilla until smooth.

Add Cheerios and mix until coated. I would maybe consider adding in chocolate chips or something along those lines as well too.

Drop mixture by the spoonful onto waxed paper and allow to cool -- I would probably go parchment over wax.

Chocolate Covered Caramel corn

from here

2 bags microwavable popcorn (I used 1 cup (before popping) of air popped - no salt)
4 tbsp butter, cut into pieces
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 c. light corn syrup
2/3 c. sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pop popcorn and put into large roasting pan or two 9x13 pans. You should have approximately 24 cups of popped corn. Remove as many unpopped kernels as you can. Turn the oven to 250 degrees and place the popcorn in the oven to keep warm.

Place the butter, sugar, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar melts, and continue to cook, stirring, until the butter is melted and the candy begins to boil.

Stir in the condensed milk and insert a candy thermometer. Continue to cook the mixture stirring occasionally until the candy reaches 238 degrees. Remove it from the stove and stir in the vanilla (I think we forgot to do this).

Take the popcorn out of the oven, pour caramel over it, stirring so the pieces are evenly coated.

Return the popcorn to the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes.

If you do a half batch or use 2 pans, cooking time will be ~25 mins. It is done with the caramel darkens and bubbles all over the pan.

Remove the popcorn from the oven and allow it to cool completely at room temperature before breaking it into pieces by hand.

Place the chocolate chips in a large microwave-safe bowl and microwave until melted.
Pour chocolate over caramel and to coat the pieces. I only chocolate covered half of it and then mixed it together. Put the chocolate covered corn in the refrigerator to quickly set (about 15 mins).

Store in an airtight container.

Check Muddy Buddies

Chex Muddy Buddies/Puppy Chow

9 c. chex cereal
1 c. chocolate chips
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. margarine or butter
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. powdered sugar

Pour chex into large bowl and set aside.

In 1 quart microwave-safe bowl, combine chocolate chips, peanut butter, and margarine. Microwave on high for 1 1/2 mins or until smooth stirring after one minute. Stir in vanilla.

Pour chocolate mixture over cereal stirring until all pieces are evenly coated. Pour cereal mixture into large ziploc bag with powdered sugar. Seal securely and shake until all pieces are well coated. Spread on wax paper to cool. (I never let them cool on wax paper!).

Taco Dip

Taco Dip (that mom made)

2 8oz cream cheese
1 8oz sour cream
1 16oz refried beans
1 pkt. taco seasoning
lettuce, tomatoes, cheese

Spread refried beans in bottom of jellyroll pan (or 9x13...it will just be thicker). Mix cream cheese, sour cream, and taco seasoning together and spread on top of refried beans. Top with lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes.Serve with tortilla chips.

Fruit Salsa

Fruit Salsa with Baked Cinnamon Tortilla Chips (from here)


Notes: I haven't made this yet, so notes are from original site.

• 1 kiwi, peeled and diced
• 1 Golden Delicious apples – peeled, cored and diced
• 4 oz. raspberries
• 8 oz. of strawberries, diced
• 1 Tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 Tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor (I used my strawberry freezer jam)
• 10 small flour tortillas (the fajita size that’s about 7 inches)
• 4 Tablespoons melted butter (or butter flavored cooking spray)
• 2 cups cinnamon sugar

1. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.
2.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3.Coat one side of each flour tortilla with melted butter (or butter flavored cooking spray). Sprinkle tortillas with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Using a pizza cutter, cut each tortilla in half and then cut each half into 4 wedges. Arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. (if using cooking spray, spray tortillas again with cooking spray).
4.Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture. Best when made and eaten the same day otherwise the fruit gives off so too much juice and it gets runny. Serves around 5-6.

Sweet Chex Mix

Sweet Chex Mix (from here)

Place in large bowl:
1 (16 oz) box of corn Chex
1 can of peanuts, lightly salted (I usually go light on the peanuts for my husband's preference, so use whatever amount suits you.)

Melt 2 cups of butter or margarine in a pan. Add:
1 1/2 cups corn syrup
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
--Bring to a boil. Boil for 1-2 minutes. Pour over cereal and peanuts. Stir and pour out onto wax paper. Let sit for a couple of hours and then store in an airtight container.

Christmas Crunch

Christmas Crunch
1 24 oz. pkg. white bark coating (we use Kroger candy coating, but you can also use white chocolate)
1 box of corn chex
1 large bag of mini pretzels
1 large jar of salted dry roasted peanuts
1 package of plain M&Ms (you can use holiday varieties at any time of year
to make it holiday themed – Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc.)

You can really use any size packages you want. It depends on how much of each you want in your mix.
Just have fun!

Cover a fairly large area of your counter space with wax paper and tape down.

In a very large bowl, combine the chex, pretzels, peanuts and M&Ms. You might have to work in smaller batches if you can’t fit everything in one bowl with room to mix. Dump the peanuts and M&Ms in last so they don’t all sink to the bottom.

In a smaller bowl, melt your bark coating in the microwave in 30 second intervals and stir in between. Don’t let it go for too long at once or it will scald and you will have to toss it out and start over.

When the bark coating is melted, gently pour into the larger bowl and toss with the dry ingredients. You can adjust the amount of coating you use based on your preference. I usually stir a little bit in, toss, stir some more in, toss again, etc. to make sure everything gets a little bark coating on it so it will stick together.

Working quickly, dump the mixture out on your wax paper and spread out in a thin layer to dry. Once it’s dry, break it apart into pieces and store in an airtight container or divide into decorative cello bags to give away.

Note: If you half your mix ingredients and bark coating, it will be a little easier to work with in two batches. Otherwise you will need a really large bowl and workspace to spread out on the counter.

Enjoy!