Zippy Zucchini Bites

I made these zippy zucchini bites for my coworker's birthday (along with these). I call them zippy zucchini bites because I couldn’t remember the name from the original recipe I found on Pinterest when my coworkers asked me what they were. I called them zippy because they have sweet mint, spicy harissa, zesty lime & tangy goat cheese all rolled up into one little tasty bite, hence the original name. To me that warrants the name zippy, which is also just fun to say & who doesn’t love some alliteration(? <— nerd alert).

I’d make these again. You can make them ahead of time. I chilled mine overnight & then served them at room temperature. I think they’d be a perfect fresh bite for pre-Thanksgiving appetizers because they’re not heavy & really easy to eat! They're also gluten-free & a great non-carb to have on the table. Plus, any kind of rolled appetizer always looks super pretty & fancy, so your guests will be super impressed.

Easy Sweet Potato Chips

This post will be short & sweet just like these sweet potato chips. I’ve been trying to incorporate ways for my husband, Chris to actually enjoy eating sweet potatoes (like I did here). These sweet potato chips proved to be a success! Plus, they’re baked, not fried, so you can feel good about eat them. Even better they’re made with only 4 ingredients! I served them with a simple sriracha ketchup but that’s totally optional.

Peanut Butter & Banana Boats

More often than not, if it’s breakfast time I’m eating avocado toast.  Yesterday was the rare day that I didn’t have avocado toast for breakfast, so I had it for lunch.  I opted to make a quick (yet somewhat fancy looking) protein packed breakfast centered around banana & peanut butter.  I remember seeing something like this on the web - I can’t remember where but I took a mental photo & stored it in my memory bank. Yesterday I pulled that memory out & I must say I’ll be revisiting this quick breakfast that kept me from a growling stomach into the middle of the afternoon. It’s also a great snack or dessert.

Balsamic Glazed Roasted Grapes with Lemony Ricotta Toasts

I really enjoy flavors that mix salty & sweet. Throw in some creamy & crunchy ingredients & you've named all of the attributes I think the perfect snack should have.

I found this recipe on food52.com (yes I enjoy their recipes if you haven't noticed).  It caught my eye when I read roasted grapes & ricotta in one title.  It sounds like my ideal cheese plate all in one. I knew I had to make it.  I didn't have all of the ingredients that the original recipe calls for so I ad-libbed with my own & i spooned mine over some hearty toasts.

It's a pretty unique recipe. I posted this image on instagram & two of my girlfriends debated whether it was a photo of grapes or garlic.  Both are valid responses in my world, but it was grapes in this instance. I highly recommend this recipe, even if you don't have time to roast the grapes make the lemony ricotta & eat it with a spoon.

Buffalo Popcorn

This weekend & well last weekend too had some dreary catch-up-on-your-favorite-shows kind of weather going on in the North East.  If you find yourself in the middle of a tv show marathon here is a great way to spice up your popcorn - make it buffalo style. I used Average Betty's buffalo popcorn recipe or as she refers to it - man bait for a new twist on an old snack with one of Chris's favorite flavors - buffalo hot sauce.



What's your favorite rainy day snack?

Tzatziki Sauce

I love greek yogurt, cucumber & garlic, so it's only natural that I love tzatziki sauce which has all of these delicious ingredients in it.  It's great to dip pita in or to add to a sandwich instead of mustard or mayo. You can make it with 5 ingredients (7 if you include salt & pepper!).

PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM & little baby Evie! I love you both.

Two Bite Party Pretzels

I did it again. I made the pretzels! This time instead of looping the dough into pretzel shapes I cut them into 2 inch bite sized (ok maybe two bite) nuggets. Even easier! Being that this was my second time at the rodeo I baked them a bit longer & am pretty pleased with the almost-Williams-Sonoma-worthy-color I achieved.

Follow the same recipe as I did here & cut your pretzels into the perfect party snack. I'm bringing these babies with me to wine club tonight but if you wanted to make them for your next family gathering especially with little ones around I think they would be a huge hit. I'm going to pick up some dipping sauces too. I'm thinking a zesty coarse grained mustard & maybe a pesto. What's your vote?

Apple Parmesan Basil Bites

I love salty & sweet snacks. Sometimes I just can't choose between the two so to have the best of both worlds in one bite is ideal for my tastebuds. These apple parmesan basil bites are the perfect solution, not to mention super easy to make & they look pretty chic too.  I think they'd be great for a cheese plat at wine club too. You can make them with just three simple ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 1 apple
• Paremesan cheese block
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil

Make it:

1. Wash & thinly slice an apple.
2. Use a vegetable peeler to shave a block of Parmesan cheese. Make equal amounts of shavings per apple slices.
3. Tightly roll about 3 fresh basil leaves & slice thinly.
4. Arrange all components delicately on a plate, alternating apple, cheese, basil.

Whipped Feta & Tomato Crostini

Tonight I am heading to wine club with some of my best girlfriends hosted by my friend Rose.  With wine you always need cheese, so I'll be bringing these whipped feta & tomato crostini. I prepared all of the components last night.  Chris taste-tested for me & confirmed that he "would order it again." So I packed everything up to-go.  I hope the girls like it.

Click through my recipe I adapted from Ina Garten's Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta Recipe.

Baked Sweet Potato Chips

I love those colorful root vegetable chips they sell at the gourmet stores. When they come in an assorted bag the first ones to go (into my mouth) are the sweet potato ones, the meatier the better. So while perusing this month's Whole Living Magazine (are you noticing a pattern here?) I found a recipe for baked sweet potato chips to make at home.

I pulled out my mandolin (that I'm secretly afraid of) to slice the sweet potatoes as thin as I could. If you don't have a mandolin or share my fear of this crazy slicer just use your vegetable peeler & make long strips instead of circular ones. The goal is to get them all the same thickness (which is not very thick at all) so they bake at the same rate, otherwise you'll have some very well done (read: burnt) chips & some raw sweet potato slices on your hands.

Click through for the full recipe.

Almond Butter with Cinnamon

Last night was Fashion's Night Out, but I opted to go home & make butter out of nuts. (God I'm getting old!)

But seriously, ever walk by the fresh peanut butter machine in your grocery store & think I should do that at home with my food processor? [crickets, do I hear crickets?]

Ok, so maybe I'm alone here but I'm into eating non-chemically things, I think they just taste better (& give me better peace of mind & don't have crazy side effects). So I give you HeatherOMade Almond Butter with Cinnamon. 

Ingredients:

• 3 cups raw almonds
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Make it!

1. Add whole almonds to food processor.
2. Blend well. At first it will look like almond powder, keep blending.
3. Scrap the sides of the food processor occasionally.
4. Add cinnamon & salt when large clumps form.
5. About 15-20 minutes later you'll have rich creamy almond butter.
6. Store in an air tight container in your fridge.

Things I plan to do with my almond butter:

• eat it with slices of green apple
• make these yummy treats
• swirl it with vanilla ice cream
• spread it on some bread & top it with honey & sliced bananas

Fresh Guacamole

Everything I learned about guacamole roots back to Trader Joe's & table side restaurant guac prep.  Trader Joe's sells a great little kit with everything you need to make your very own fresh guacamole at home.  After you've used that kit enough you don't even need a recipe & you're able to fly on your own at other grocery stores to buy the ingredients for fresh guacamole all by yourself.

The one & only ingredient that can really make or break your guac is (clearly) the avocados.  Avocados need to be firm yet impressionable (so when you press your thumb into the side of it it should have a little give -not be rock hard or super mushy but just right).  So if your avocados are too hard no amount of mashing is going to make a great guacamole, post pone it or go on a hunt for some more avocados & in the mean time leave your avocados to ripen in a brown paper bag. If they're the other end of the spectrum & are super mushy use them fast before they brown.

Ingredients:

• 1 large (or 2 small) avocado(s)
• 1 clove garlic (finely chopped)
• 1 shallot (chopped)
• 1 jalapeno pepper (ribs & seeds removed, chopped finely)
• 1 lime (zest & juice)
• 2 tomatoes (or 1 large) (seeded & chopped)
• salt & pepper
• red pepper flakes (optional)

Make it!

1. Cut the avocado(s) in half & scoop out the yummy goodness, discard the seed & shell/skin.
2. Mash avocado, garlic, shallot, jalepeno, lime zest & juice together (use whatever works for you, I used a fork, but a spoon for muddler will work too).
3. Stir in the tomatoes.
4. Season with salt, pepper & red pepper flakes.
5. Eat this with everything & on anything. Store in an airtight container (if there is any left).