Mini Corn Dogs

These are always a huge hit when I make them because who doesn't love a good corn dog. These are bite-sixed mini corn dogs though, perfect for snaking or a little pre-dinner treat. Since they are so cute, it only seems natural to name them Corn Puppies (thanks Alison!) These are the definition of semi-homemade, super easy and super quick.

Mini Corn Dogs aka Corn Puppies

1 package of corn muffin mix (we like Krusteaz)
5-6 hot dogs (we like the 97% fat free Hebrew National)
cooking spray

1. Preheat oven as directed on the muffin mix. In my case, 400 degrees. Spray mini-muffin tray with cooking spray.
2. Prepare muffin mix according to package. I just needed to add 1/2 cup of water and shake!
3. Pour/spoon muffin mix intro prepared muffin tray. Fill each about halfway.
4. Cut hot dogs into 4-5 pieces each. Put one hot dog piece into each muffin mix.
5. Back about 10 minutes.
6. Cool on a cooling rack at least 5 minutes before serving. They are hot when they come out of the oven and too good resist so be careful!

**my muffin mix yields 6 normal muffins but it makes 24 of these little guys**

AEM

Easy Pad Thai

This was a delicious and easy way to whip up some dinner. Heck, I was making crab rangoon for an appetizer, I couldn't switch over to spaghetti and meatballs after that so we tried this. We really liked it.

Easy Pad Thai

1 8oz package of wide lo mein noodles
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 scallions (green onions), white and green parts, separated and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup peanuts, chopped
1-2 cups cooked, sliced chicken breast

1. Cook noodles according to package.
2. Combine brown sugar, lime juice, and soy sauce
3. In a large nonstick pan, heat oil over medium-high heat.
4. Add scallion whites and garlic and cook, stirring constantly about 30 seconds. Add eggs and cook, scraping pan with spatula until eggs are almost set (about 30 seconds). Transfer eggs to a plate.
5. Add noodles, scallion greens, chicken and sauce to pan. Cook, tossing constantly, until noodles are soft (about 1 minute). Add egg mixture and toss to coat, breaking eggs up gently.
6. Serve noodles topped with cilantro and peanuts.

Original Recipe: http://browniesfordinner.com/2010/05/11/easy-pad-thai/

AEM

Baked Crab Rangoon

I tried to take on crab rangoon today and I almost won. The recipe below is good if you like crab and has less than 1g of fat per rangoon! If you don't really like crab (like us) there's a tip at the end for additions....Lesson learned!

Baked Crab Rangoon

12-15 wonton wrappers
1 6oz can white lump crab - drained
1/4 cup fat free cream cheese
1 tablespoon light mayo
2 finely sliced green onions
cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a dozen cups of a mini-muffin tray with cooking spray.
2. Mix together crab meat, cream cheese, mayo, and green onions in a bowl.
3. Place each wonton wrapper into the cups of a mini-muffin tray. Fill each with crab filling.
4. Lightly brush the inside corners of the wonton wrappers with water and bring the 4 corners to the center to create a little pouch (or leave the wrappers open). Once all are closed, spray tops with cooking spray.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes (keep an eye on them after about 17 or so to be sure they don't burn). Cool about 5 mins before eating, the filling gets hot! We dipped them in sweet and sour sauce.

**if you aren't a huge fan of crab, add at least 2 tablespoons of cream cheese and 1 tablespoon of mayo to the initial mixture**

AEM

Thai Peanut Chicken Pizza

Nothing is off limits when it comes to pizza around here. While I was struggling to come up with dinner last night and finally deciding on pizza, Alison suggested Thai Peanut Chicken Pizza. Brilliant! I'll be honest, this was good and pretty rich but I wouldn't say it was great. Something needs to be tweaked, possibly a little more soy sauce...

Thai Peanut Chicken Pizza

chicken (I used a leftover breast), cooked and cubed

pizza crust (we like Boboli's thin whole wheat crust)

1/2 - 1 cup mozzarella cheese

1 tablespoon peanut butter

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon water

2/3 cloves garlic, minced

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes for some heat

1/4 cup peanuts

1/2 cup bean sprouts

1/2 cup shredded carrots

sesame seeds for garnish

1. Cook and cube your chicken if you're not using leftovers. About 20 minutes at 400 degrees should do the trick. 

2. Prepare the veggies you are planning on using (I just microwaved mine for a few minutes)

3. Add peanut butter, sugar, soy sauce, water, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes into a small sauce pan. On medium heat, whisk just until it begins to boil, remove from heat. 

5. Use the peanut butter/soy sauce as your pizza sauce and spread a thin layer on the crust. Top with chicken and cheese. Bake according to pizza crust package instructions. 

6. Once cheese is almost melted top with peanuts and place in oven for another 2 minutes. Top with bean sprouts, carrots, and sesame seeds.

AEM

Thanksgiving Wraps

We are suckers for Thanksgiving and therefore do not believe it should only come around once a year. Every now and then we'll create a mini-Thanksgiving with turkey and stuffing and the whole nine yards. Then there are the days when we are just far too lazy for that so we make a delicious and quick 5 minute meal: Thanksgiving Wraps...

Thanksgiving Wraps

1/2 lb deli Turkey
1 cup Stovetop Stuffing
1 can whole cranberry sauce
shredded lettuce
tortillas/wraps

1. Make the stuffing according to directions.
2. Spread cranberry onto tortilla. Top with turkey. Add stuffing and lettuce.
3. Roll/wrap!

AEM

Birthday Wishes

Mike's mom is celebrating a special birthday this year so we wanted to do something extra nice to show our love. Her gift was best opened in a specific order so I created tags for each piece so she'd know which order to open things. She also likes sweets and since it seemed inappropriate to travel across the country with cake, it seemed only reasonable to bring cake pops! This time we tried "chocolate covered strawberry" pops which means strawberry cake with chocolate frosting, Mike's favorite combination thus far!

AEM

Coconut Shrimp

Ok, I honestly can't handle the thought of zucchini after last week so we're started this week off with an Asian flair. We have baked coconut shrimp fairly and we think they are delicious.

Coconut Shrimp

1/2 lb shrimp - peeled, deveined
2 tablespoons flour
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup sweetened coconut
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare cookie sheet: line with foil, top with oven-safe cooling rack, spray with cooking spray
2. Put flour in a bowl or plate and add salt & pepper to taste. Put egg, beaten, in a separate bowl. Combine coconut and panko on a third plate.
3. Dip shrimp in flour, then egg, then coconut/panko. Line them up on the cooking rack/tray. To be honest, I did it the sloppiest possible way but it made it so much easier. I put all of the shrimp into the flour at once and coated them. Then I put them all into the egg at once and coated them. Then, one-by-one I dipped them into the coconut/panko mixture and then put them on the tray. One hand was the "wet hand" to pull the shrimp out of the egg and drop them into the panko while the other hand was the "dry hand"which coated the shrimp in panko and transferred them to the tray.
4. Once all shrimp are on the try, spray lightly with cooking spray.
5. Bake for 10 minutes, flip, spray with cooking spray and cook another 8-10 minutes or until done.
6. We like to dip them in sweet and sour sauce

AEM